The Ford 500 ...observation

M

Mike Poore

Crabmonster
At the DC auto show I picked up a Ford BOLDMOVES 07 CAR booklet, and found on page 18 (they don't number them, you have to count)the most amazing claim. I quoteth:

"Five Hundred also has the largest trunk - incorporating grocery hooks to keep bags steadfast - of any sedan in North America. The low liftover height and big-time capacity make way for up to 8 golf bags (matching the 8 beverage holders in the cabin)"

Now, one might wonder why a car with seating for four, five if someone wants to sit on the hump, would need to carry 8 golf bags, and have 8 cup, uh, beverage holders? However, considering my F-150 with seating for two, in the Captains chairs, which has four cup, uh, beverage holders, which, doing the math, works out to two, cup, uh, beverage holders, per person; which I suppose is the correct ratio. Only difference is, depending upon how they were stacked, one might suppose 50 golf bags could be placed in the bed of said truck.

The other seemingly glaring inconstancy in the claim is that Ford seems to be forgetting the Crown Vic/Mercury GranMarquis/Lincoln Town Car, which one might argue, has a larger trunk than said Five Hundred.

I propose a new game while traveling ....spot the Five Hundred. I'm not sure I've ever seen one, although it might simply be a problem of picking out the amorphous transportation appliances from the crowd. :shake:

Better dump that stock, Joe.
 
guess what the 500 trunk has more capacity than the cv. in fact when we got our first 500 in at the dealer that was the one thing that stood out in my mind the most.....the massive trunk. its huge
 
The 500 has a luggage capacity of 21.2 (cu. in.) while the panther platform has a luggage capacity of 20.6 (cu.in.) which is not a big enough difference to show off about IMO.

Also, the 500 has less HP and a shorter wheelbase then a standard Crown Vic LX Sport.
 
The rear leg room in a 500 is worth the price of admission if you have more than 1 friend to take along!
 
Unfortunately, I had to dump my stock a long time ago, when it was down to $18.50 per share. I took enough of a beating....


My poor Father is probably rolling in his grave. He started working at the Buffalo Stamping Plant as soon as it opened in 1950. He and his team of Machinists kept the place running for many years....

I fear the worst within 5 years, so sad....
 
If I needed the extra interior and trunk space I would have purchased the 500. We have plenty of them around to drive here at work.

Sit in the drivers seat of a 500, get it all set up to where you like everything set up to drive. Then get out and sit 'behind yourself'. Way more room than the Maruader.

Nice car inside, but no performance and I don't like the look of the Passat/500.
 
mrjones said:
According the the Michigan State Police tests, it's also quicker than a CVPI. It ought to be quite a bit quicker when it gets the 3.5L V6.
Click to expand...

And if there's not enough room for a cage, there's always that roomy trunk to carry prisoners in...
 
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Well first off, the 8 golf bag claim is just for people to visualize the size, being that most people know what the size of the average golf bag is. Sort of like when people compare something large to "the size of two football fields".

As for the trunk space, the 500 wins over the CV hands down. While the numbers may not be the big a difference, the flat layout of the 500 trunk makes it much easier to fit things in compared to the Panther trunk. Plus, the rear seats fold down in the 500, giving you the entire rear seat area added to the trunk for very large items.

As for the interior, the rear seating area is larger than any other car I've ever seen. You can fit 3 adults comfortably in the rear, 4 with a bit of a squeeze. It's amazing that such a small car has so much room inside, PLUS in the trunk.

Even with the 3.0, the car is not "slow" by any means, and the CVT with AWD option makes the car unstoppable in the snow.

The 500 may not look like much, but it's one of the most versitile cars Ford has ever built, and yes I own one.
 
500 is a really nice all around car...very comfortable and great mileage...seats sit up a bit and I like that...rear leg room is great...my son gets 32 highway mpg...biggest issue is FWD...willie
 
I've sorta eyed the 500 as a possible commuter car option in the next year or so for me. I'd like to move further out from the city, and if I do, I'll need a commuter car...I'll have trouble driving the Marauder in VA traffic 70 miles a day. ;)

The 500 looks like a nice option, their resale value is pretty bad, plenty in a small radius near me between 13k and 17k with 30k or less on the clock.

The AWD's are harder to find, and I'm not sure how easy it will be to spot a CVT online. When were CVT's originally introduced? I'd be curious to try one.

At anyrate, they'd hold their own in bad weather, get good gas mileage, and look comfortable. Styling is boring though...but they look like in a year or so a decent lower mileage one will be under 10k in price. That sounds like a good option.

I hear these are based on Volvo chassis too, I wonder how their reliability will be.
 
Well, I own one of each and here are my observations: the trunk is probably a bit bigger in the 500/Montego but not nearly as deep. No way to put in a trunk organizer for instance. That said, you can fold down the rear seats and even the front passenger seat and I bet you could fit a pretty good size ladder in there. Regarding interior room, the seats are totally different from the MM, in the 500/Mon you sit up like you were driving a minivan or something, making it very easy to get in and out of. Visibility is great but the center console does squeeze your right leg a bit. The back seat is like having an extended Town Car, no kidding. On performance, well, the 3.0 is adequate and will cruise on the highway at 75 mph all day long with no problems and get 29-30 mpg doing it. Mine has the 6 speed and is not AWD. Around town it gets around 22 mpg, great for a car this big. Looks-wise, its pretty invisible. Not pretty but not ugly either, just plain Jane. All in all, a great daily driver with lots of capabilities and good milage to boot. I think if you are looking for a pratical car and can get a good price, it is worth it. I do see more and more of them around now (the 500, I hardly ever see Montegos) Oh, as of now the only real differences between the 500 and the Montego is the Montego uses more sound deadening material and the headlights are HID which are fantastic. My 2 cents.
 
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They actually make a nice trunk organizer for the 500, I have one in my 06....

1362500_029.jpg


As for looks, I agree the styling doesn't set the world on fire, but since Ford obviously has someone with a mental deficiency styling their cars lately, I think the 05-06 500 looks pretty decent. We added 05 Mustang wheels and the factory TSB fender spats to ours, and it makes the car look much nicer than stock...

1362500_026.jpg
 
The Taurus had revolutionary styling... when it was introduced just over 21 years ago. Since then it's continually muddled it's way toward mediocrity. The 3rd gen jellybean cars at least made an effort to be a conversation piece again, it's just nobody had much nice to say about how they looked.

I think all the AWD cars are CVT.

From what I can tell, most folks driving a 500 are happy with it and would buy another one. Problem is, it was such a dud introduction into a Hemi-powered 300C market place that not many folks ever bothered to drive one.

No home run, but maybe a basehit that the 265hp motor will help them to build on.

Oh, my '78 Marquis has a bigger trunk, but won't get 29 mpg ever.
 
Canadasvt said:
If I needed the extra interior and trunk space I would have purchased the 500. We have plenty of them around to drive here at work.

Sit in the drivers seat of a 500, get it all set up to where you like everything set up to drive. Then get out and sit 'behind yourself'. Way more room than the Maruader.

Nice car inside, but no performance and I don't like the look of the Passat/500.
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Well said.
I have driven plenty of them as rentals, and continue to be amazed at the total lack of performance this car has. It reminds me of a 4 cylinder Camry.
 
Power Surge said:
They actually make a nice trunk organizer for the 500, I have one in my 06....

1362500_029.jpg


As for looks, I agree the styling doesn't set the world on fire, but since Ford obviously has someone with a mental deficiency styling their cars lately, I think the 05-06 500 looks pretty decent. We added 05 Mustang wheels and the factory TSB fender spats to ours, and it makes the car look much nicer than stock...

1362500_026.jpg
Click to expand...

Hey, I stand corrected. I had asked at the dealer how much it costs for a cargo net and they said $60 so I bought a generic one at Pep Boys for $20. I like that organizer, I wonder how much those go for?
 
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