Well you get a cheaper 500/Taurus if you buy the Sable and when it comes to the Grand Marquis their styling is so-so in my eyes.
I could never buy a Townhouse and have to share walls with my neighbors. This is by far the oddest looking Townhouse I have ever seen and hopefully their is a good drainage system between those two roof peaks. Now in Freeville, NY there are houses that share one well which means you have to be on good terms with your neighbor or just buy the other house and use it as a rental.
If Ford were to replace the current Taurus with that bodystyle, it would represent such a massive improvement that I doubt anyone would recognize it as recycled tooling.
Agree with you there, test drove a Taurus in 2010 and the center console is too large. The turn signal indicator is quite annoying as well, sounds like the pop top on a just opened bottle of cheese sauce.
People had the opportunity to buy that body style the first time Ford offered it, and sales were underwhelming. People apparently do not want a large sedan that looks like a super-sized 2000 VW Passat, no matter how roomy it is.
Or an over-inflated 94 Audi A6. There is a guy down the street who bought one of the last of these Sables. Not that long ago, but there seems to be a Honda Accord living in its place in the driveway. Bet there is a story there that I’ll have to ask about next time I see him out.
In people’s defense, nobody is buying the cramped and ugly current Taurus either. This body was introduced as the ‘500’ with a bum CVT and a weak engine. When the drivetrain and name were fixed, I don’t think anybody wanted to associate themselves with such an outward expression of Ford management.
They are, however, buying the current Explorer, which is basically a rebodied Freestyle/Taurus X.
It would be interesting to compare the sales figures, but, based on a visual count, it seems as though sales did increase for the rebodied Taurus as compared to the Five Hundred/Taurus.
Ugly? That’s a personal opinion. In my opinion, it’s not a raving beauty, but I don’t think it’s ugly. One can say the same thing about the styling of the current Toyota Avalon and the Chevrolet Impala.
The real problem here is that people are deserting large cars for crossovers. Sales of large cars, in general, aren’t too hot. Which is why the next Taurus will be based on a modified Fusion platform.
My 2007 500 was a monthly nickel and dimer, I spent $1400 (warranty deductibles and repairs not covered) on it in the 9 months I owned it above and beyond the $250 monthly note. It thoroughly soured me on Ford for the indefinite future.
I believe the Passat’s designer also later did the Five Hundred/Montego (rebadged as the Taurus/Sable in 2008) for Ford. This is a 2005-7 Montego in the photo, I believe. Sable had different headlights, taillights and front side marker lights.
Not only are the interiors very roomy in the old Five Hundred/Monteego/Sable/Taurus (before the makeover) but the trunks were massive. Unlike the Panther which had a “basement” portion of the trunk big enough to drop a golf bag into the intended replacements had a huge rectangular box with 21 cubic feet of very usable room.
Too bad Americans couldn’t be sold on the practicality of it.
Oh yeah, I’ve always loved those Panther trunks on the thought that I could likely put my golf bag in the “basement” on a permanent basis but still have room for the groceries.
I’ve seen kits on line to level the trunk and keep the lower part kind of like a hidden compartment.
I don’t know if this is a CC Effect or what, but one of my neighbors has the same set of cars, which they always park in the same order. If I’d seen this post earlier in the day, I would’ve snapped a picture of them on my walk home from the bus.
The Montego/Five Hundred were such good looking cars, but I really didn’t take notice of them at all when they were new. I can’t explain why, but I know I’m not alone on this. The re-styled Sable/Taurus version didn’t help things either – they stood out more, but mostly because of those hideous clear taillights!
I agree that they’re good-looking, but from the moment I first saw them the design did look VW/Audi derivative. A co-worker had a Five Hundred and I will say the interiors looked nice and felt well put-together.
It is remarkable how small the Grand Marquis looks next to the Montego. It probably has a lot to do with the SUV-like height of the Montego/Five Hundred twins.
I am reminded of what I saw a few weeks ago in San Francisco. Two San Francisco Police cars were parked in front of a restaurant (not a donut shop). One was a new Taurus-based Police Interceptor, the other an older Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. The new one just looked BULKIER when parked next to the CVPI, but by itself, its sleek lines fool the eye into thinking it is smaller than it is.
We have a Ford 500 in our work fleet and some new Taurus’s too. I greatly prefer the old Panther’s. The leg room old Panther’s is far better than the newer platform, and I love RWD cars.
Have two of the Five Hundreds, they are such great cars, comfortable, drive like a tank, very competent and tight cars. I think the problem at the time was that they were very expensive cars, $30k to $35k ten years ago. Too conservative in styling and too much plastic in the interior for the price.
The interior has tons of room, even in back, and outward visibility is great. The depreciation the first few years was so bad, you could get them in perfect condition for $10k or so within a short time from new.
As a euro lad…I only practiced Tracer. Which is as a Mercury a real rarity here and is hard to get any kind of North-Am. Ford/Mercury. The little Tracer was the far most reliable car that I owned till now. The treatable challenge is how to get a Sable/Taurus or a Crown Victoria/Grand Marquis… I had chance to inspect all of these in euro terms rare models inside and outside and it was always a pleasure to face with those roominess inside and robust appearance outside. The opinion of mine is so so good…
These new Fords (well and everything else) just love that stretched ladybug cockroach look. I can’t get into it. Never a big Aero Panther fan but it look so much cleaner and more nimble and doesn’t have those itty bitty windows.
I saw this article a few weeks back and meant to comment, but seeing as though I’m usually at work, I wasn’t able to. But then something else happened that reminded me I never commented. I was quickly visiting my folks last week, and my dad said to me, look what came in the mail. It was a recall notice from FORD Motor Company. I immediately started thinking of all of the random Ford Products that graced our driveway growing up. The first to come to mind was a 1990 Ford Taurus SHO, black on black. Everyone is my family loved this car, as my parents were just coming off of a long stint of multiple Volvo 240’s, sedans and wagons, DL’s and GL’s. It was a much needed change. The next two cars to come to mind were a 1982 Ford Crown Vic 2 door, and a 1985 Mercury Grand Marquis. The 1982 was driven by my mom after a 1975 Volvo 164e, and before the barrage of Volvo 240’s. The 1985 Grand Marc was picked up in 1998 as an extra car for my brother and myself, high school, college, etc. I digress, the recall was for non of these cars…
I forgot that when my grandfather died in January of 2000, his last car was a 1997 Mercury Grand Marquis. My grandmother didn’t want to drive it or sell it, so that meant my Dad took over on it. At the time, my mom was mid lease on a terrible 1998 Mazda Millenia, and my dad driving a sweet 1995 Volvo 960 Wagon. The 960 got sold, and my dad started driving the Mazda to throw some more miles on it, and mom’s daily driver became her dead Father-in-laws Grand Marc. Anyhow, it was that car that just had a recall. Of course my dad and I started talking about how my brother ended up totaling it one icy New England evening, and I never even saw what the recall was for.
Hope this makes a few people laugh…
Well you get a cheaper 500/Taurus if you buy the Sable and when it comes to the Grand Marquis their styling is so-so in my eyes.
I could never buy a Townhouse and have to share walls with my neighbors. This is by far the oddest looking Townhouse I have ever seen and hopefully their is a good drainage system between those two roof peaks. Now in Freeville, NY there are houses that share one well which means you have to be on good terms with your neighbor or just buy the other house and use it as a rental.
If Ford were to replace the current Taurus with that bodystyle, it would represent such a massive improvement that I doubt anyone would recognize it as recycled tooling.
Agree with you there, test drove a Taurus in 2010 and the center console is too large. The turn signal indicator is quite annoying as well, sounds like the pop top on a just opened bottle of cheese sauce.
People had the opportunity to buy that body style the first time Ford offered it, and sales were underwhelming. People apparently do not want a large sedan that looks like a super-sized 2000 VW Passat, no matter how roomy it is.
Or an over-inflated 94 Audi A6. There is a guy down the street who bought one of the last of these Sables. Not that long ago, but there seems to be a Honda Accord living in its place in the driveway. Bet there is a story there that I’ll have to ask about next time I see him out.
In people’s defense, nobody is buying the cramped and ugly current Taurus either. This body was introduced as the ‘500’ with a bum CVT and a weak engine. When the drivetrain and name were fixed, I don’t think anybody wanted to associate themselves with such an outward expression of Ford management.
They are, however, buying the current Explorer, which is basically a rebodied Freestyle/Taurus X.
It would be interesting to compare the sales figures, but, based on a visual count, it seems as though sales did increase for the rebodied Taurus as compared to the Five Hundred/Taurus.
Ugly? That’s a personal opinion. In my opinion, it’s not a raving beauty, but I don’t think it’s ugly. One can say the same thing about the styling of the current Toyota Avalon and the Chevrolet Impala.
The real problem here is that people are deserting large cars for crossovers. Sales of large cars, in general, aren’t too hot. Which is why the next Taurus will be based on a modified Fusion platform.
My 2007 500 was a monthly nickel and dimer, I spent $1400 (warranty deductibles and repairs not covered) on it in the 9 months I owned it above and beyond the $250 monthly note. It thoroughly soured me on Ford for the indefinite future.
The Taurus name WAS affixed to this body and it even got a bigger motor and a 6 speed trans. Nobody wanted it then either
I believe the Passat’s designer also later did the Five Hundred/Montego (rebadged as the Taurus/Sable in 2008) for Ford. This is a 2005-7 Montego in the photo, I believe. Sable had different headlights, taillights and front side marker lights.
I have a Taurus exactly like that Sable. It really is a terrific car. Reliable and roomy.
Not only are the interiors very roomy in the old Five Hundred/Monteego/Sable/Taurus (before the makeover) but the trunks were massive. Unlike the Panther which had a “basement” portion of the trunk big enough to drop a golf bag into the intended replacements had a huge rectangular box with 21 cubic feet of very usable room.
Too bad Americans couldn’t be sold on the practicality of it.
A friend with a town car always said: “Big enough for 4 golf bags or 2 bodies”.
Oh yeah, I’ve always loved those Panther trunks on the thought that I could likely put my golf bag in the “basement” on a permanent basis but still have room for the groceries.
I’ve seen kits on line to level the trunk and keep the lower part kind of like a hidden compartment.
Only 2? Come on. You can fit 2 people in the trunk of a 4th-generation Accord, if they’re willing to cuddle.
You could put at *least* 4 in a Town Car.
I don’t know if this is a CC Effect or what, but one of my neighbors has the same set of cars, which they always park in the same order. If I’d seen this post earlier in the day, I would’ve snapped a picture of them on my walk home from the bus.
The Montego/Five Hundred were such good looking cars, but I really didn’t take notice of them at all when they were new. I can’t explain why, but I know I’m not alone on this. The re-styled Sable/Taurus version didn’t help things either – they stood out more, but mostly because of those hideous clear taillights!
I agree that they’re good-looking, but from the moment I first saw them the design did look VW/Audi derivative. A co-worker had a Five Hundred and I will say the interiors looked nice and felt well put-together.
It is remarkable how small the Grand Marquis looks next to the Montego. It probably has a lot to do with the SUV-like height of the Montego/Five Hundred twins.
Agree, the Montego looks almost bloated. I know they are plenty roomy kind of like its 2005 and suddenly its 1955.
I am reminded of what I saw a few weeks ago in San Francisco. Two San Francisco Police cars were parked in front of a restaurant (not a donut shop). One was a new Taurus-based Police Interceptor, the other an older Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. The new one just looked BULKIER when parked next to the CVPI, but by itself, its sleek lines fool the eye into thinking it is smaller than it is.
We have a Ford 500 in our work fleet and some new Taurus’s too. I greatly prefer the old Panther’s. The leg room old Panther’s is far better than the newer platform, and I love RWD cars.
Have two of the Five Hundreds, they are such great cars, comfortable, drive like a tank, very competent and tight cars. I think the problem at the time was that they were very expensive cars, $30k to $35k ten years ago. Too conservative in styling and too much plastic in the interior for the price.
The interior has tons of room, even in back, and outward visibility is great. The depreciation the first few years was so bad, you could get them in perfect condition for $10k or so within a short time from new.
I still thought getting into the 500/Montego/Sable/Taurus of this era was too cramped-sideways. Otherwise, nice cars.
Give me a split bench any day.
“Mercury lovers live here”? I’ve blown the image up real huge, but I’m stuffed if I can find anything relating to Freddie in it… 😉 #Queenfan
As a euro lad…I only practiced Tracer. Which is as a Mercury a real rarity here and is hard to get any kind of North-Am. Ford/Mercury. The little Tracer was the far most reliable car that I owned till now. The treatable challenge is how to get a Sable/Taurus or a Crown Victoria/Grand Marquis… I had chance to inspect all of these in euro terms rare models inside and outside and it was always a pleasure to face with those roominess inside and robust appearance outside. The opinion of mine is so so good…
I always liked the 500/Sable style but not the bloated steering wheel. Inside the car was hugely spacious as well as the trunk.
The ‘new’ Taurus does nothing for me.
These new Fords (well and everything else) just love that stretched ladybug cockroach look. I can’t get into it. Never a big Aero Panther fan but it look so much cleaner and more nimble and doesn’t have those itty bitty windows.
I saw this article a few weeks back and meant to comment, but seeing as though I’m usually at work, I wasn’t able to. But then something else happened that reminded me I never commented. I was quickly visiting my folks last week, and my dad said to me, look what came in the mail. It was a recall notice from FORD Motor Company. I immediately started thinking of all of the random Ford Products that graced our driveway growing up. The first to come to mind was a 1990 Ford Taurus SHO, black on black. Everyone is my family loved this car, as my parents were just coming off of a long stint of multiple Volvo 240’s, sedans and wagons, DL’s and GL’s. It was a much needed change. The next two cars to come to mind were a 1982 Ford Crown Vic 2 door, and a 1985 Mercury Grand Marquis. The 1982 was driven by my mom after a 1975 Volvo 164e, and before the barrage of Volvo 240’s. The 1985 Grand Marc was picked up in 1998 as an extra car for my brother and myself, high school, college, etc. I digress, the recall was for non of these cars…
I forgot that when my grandfather died in January of 2000, his last car was a 1997 Mercury Grand Marquis. My grandmother didn’t want to drive it or sell it, so that meant my Dad took over on it. At the time, my mom was mid lease on a terrible 1998 Mazda Millenia, and my dad driving a sweet 1995 Volvo 960 Wagon. The 960 got sold, and my dad started driving the Mazda to throw some more miles on it, and mom’s daily driver became her dead Father-in-laws Grand Marc. Anyhow, it was that car that just had a recall. Of course my dad and I started talking about how my brother ended up totaling it one icy New England evening, and I never even saw what the recall was for.
Hope this makes a few people laugh…