Ford 500 a good car ?

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Originally Posted By: Plawan
Originally Posted By: GumbyJarvis
Mitsubishi Mirage?
ehhh!


Throwing that out there.
They can be found, new, automatic, for 7000$

Even the base model probably has more options than a 2002 saturn
 
Not to mention, better gas mileage, a warranty, and he did mention japanese, and a new 0-50mi car versus almost 50k mi car
 
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They are good cars. I would have no trouble owning one- an automatic one. BUT... if you want a Cobalt, you are settling for a much different car in many ways. The 500 is a really nice car, but it's much larger, and heavier than a Cobalt. The Cobalt has a 2.2/2.4 4 cylinder, compared to the 3.0 V6 in the Ford. They are both nice cars in their own right, but are on fairly different ends of the spectrum.
 
They are very nice vehicles, and yes very reliable too.
Few know that the 500 was based on the platform of the Volvo S80 of the same era, so the car is very safe, and solid as well.

The only problem my Dad had was the AC Compressor died at 80k
and cost plenty to replace. The compressor design on this model was not good, and the drive shaft seal fails often allowing the refrigerant to leak out massively when it fails.
 
If anybody ever talks about snake oil and increase in the fuel economy, this is the graph I need to throw at them!
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
Duratech 3.0 was much earlier than 2008

IIRC it was available as an option on taurus in late 90's the base engine was the vulcan.

Google says it was in the ford 500 in 2004+


My mother's 2002 Sable had the 3.0 Duratec...I think it was introduced in the first year of the bubble-body Taurus/Sable (1996?), replacing the 3.8 OHV as the optional engine. It's not bad, though not especially powerful (200HP, IIRC) by today's standards.
 
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: Rand
Duratec 3.0 was much earlier than 2008

IIRC it was available as an option on taurus in late 90's the base engine was the vulcan.

Google says it was in the ford 500 in 2004+


My mother's 2002 Sable had the 3.0 Duratec...I think it was introduced in the first year of the bubble-body Taurus/Sable (1996?), replacing the 3.8 OHV as the optional engine. It's not bad, though not especially powerful (200HP, IIRC) by today's standards.


The Duratec first showed up as the 2.5 in the Ford Contour in 1995. The 3.0 in the 500 is basically still the same, it's a pretty reliable engine. The one in my Taurus has over 200k, it's the transmission that's dying, not the engine. The engine is a little under powered for the larger size of the 500 over the previous gen Taurus that they were still selling. They went to the larger 3.5 Duratec at some point when it was relabeled Taurus in the 2008/2009 model year.
 
Coming from a Towncar/Blazer I thought the 3.0L was under powered at first too. After I learned it just needed more RPM's than the others to get moving all was well. Mixed driving I am getting 23. On the interstate at 70 MPH it was more like 27 MPG but that was with 4 aggressive snow tires.

I always wanted a Volvo and the 500 chassis it the S80 Volvo chassis used 1998-2006. Ford owned them at the time and just used it for the next generation when they left the Taurus name for three years and 2008-09 Taurus is on the same chassis with some front and rear skin changes (grills have the current Ford look).
 
Originally Posted By: sirgerman
Well I am going to offer $6000 for the Mercury and see how it goes, I found this one, good price but still on the fence

Taurus 2007


Yeah that one is pretty nice as well. Kind of fits right btwn the Cobalt and the Ford 500. Good price, low miles...of course I'd offer lower to start with. Great deat at 5k.
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: sirgerman
Well I am going to offer $6000 for the Mercury and see how it goes, I found this one, good price but still on the fence

Taurus 2007


Yeah that one is pretty nice as well. Kind of fits right btwn the Cobalt and the Ford 500. Good price, low miles...of course I'd offer lower to start with. Great deat at 5k.


Do you know anything about a Taurus 2007 ?
 
The 2007 you have listed is basically a base model, it was the last year for 4th gen Taurus and was pretty stripped down at that point, sales were low and lots of fleet sales. There was the SE and the SEL. The fully loaded one is the SEL. Those have leather seats and climate control. The 2007 only had the Vulcan engine which was just 140 hp. The last year for the Duratec in the 4th gen was the 2005 model year. There's also the Mercury Sable in the LS trim, those more often had the Duratec engine. Most 2005's are probably Vulcan engines, The 8th digit in the VIN would be an S if it were Duratec or U if it was the vulcan on the 4th gen Taurus. Once you step up to the 2008 or 2009 Taurus, that was a different generation and I think those all had the 3.5 liter Duratec engine. I think all the 500's had the 3 liter Duratec engine.
 
A 500/Montego is a big leap in size from a Saturn or Cobalt.

Did we already establish your budget range? Closer to 10k gets you a couple model year old Elantra, Fiesta, Fit, Versa depending on your luck
 
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
T The 2007 only had the Vulcan engine which was just 140 hp.


The 2007 Vulcan was 155 hp and 186 torque, it ain't impressive but its adequate enough for normal driving.
 
What about a Ford Fusion? Front wheel drive and decent with either the 4 or 6cyl engine. Decent transmission. Just avoid the added complexity of the awd ones. Nice upgrade from the Saturn and a Cobalt. But not as big as the Ford 500.
 
That 2007 Taurus actually doesn't look to bad, if you don't mind the terrible city mileage. I had a 99 Taurus Vulcan and i really liked the interior room and ride was nice until the shocks aged.

Coming from that Saturn i don't think you'll miss anything the Taurus doesn't have. The Vulcan is very easy to work on and lasts forver. They had most of the transmission bugs worked out by then as well so it should give you about another 100k trouble free miles before it starts showing age.





Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
What about a Ford Fusion? Front wheel drive and decent with either the 4 or 6cyl engine. Decent transmission. Just avoid the added complexity of the awd ones. Nice upgrade from the Saturn and a Cobalt. But not as big as the Ford 500.






I really like the sport version of the fusion with the better transmissions too.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
T The 2007 only had the Vulcan engine which was just 140 hp.


The 2007 Vulcan was 155 hp and 186 torque, it ain't impressive but its adequate enough for normal driving.


Never had the Vulcan, just had the Duratec which had around 200 hp depending on year. I thought that was adequate.

The 2004+ Taurus had weaker transmissions, the spline would go after around 100+, but that's also somewhat of a [censored] shoot as some did last to 200k+. The 500 isn't know for great transmissions on the AWD, the FWD were ok.
 
Originally Posted By: sirgerman
I just talk to the guy from the mercury I offer him $6500 he wants $7000 I told him I have to think about it


I looked at these last year and was impressed with the non-AWD models. But that sounds high. What does Edmonds.com say the PP value is for one of that year, options, mileager, condition in your area? I always found that to be accurate and also a powerful negotiating point when people have inflated value opinions.
 
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