2006 Ford Five Hundred SEL 3.0 DOHC from North America

Summary:

Well Ford - You've Lost Me

Faults:

Car has needed a brake job almost every 15000 kms.

First, the front brakes began to severely pulsate. They were replaced. Then the back, then they were replaced. This cycle continued twice, with me needing 4 replacements up to 70000 kms.

From day 1, the engine had a small tick, which worsened over time. The tick was greatest at the time the car was given back to Ford. The dealer was stumped and so was Ford, as to what to do.

Alternator was replaced at 50000 km as was the battery.

Power steering pump and rack replaced at 40000 km.

Power window switches and 2 power door lock switches were replaced at around 25000 km.

Left signal bulb kept blowing, but dealer kept replacing it at no charge and said no chance of any 'electrical short.'

The day the car was returned to the dealer, he expressed no desire to sell it on his lot, and said they will allow Ford to sell it through their auction.

General Comments:

The car has adequate acceleration, which satisfied me. I'm not one for jack-rabbit starts.

The car was very comfortable to drive and be a passenger in.

The maintenance issues described above make this car a bad buy. Even if my car was a lemon, the dealership and head office should have taken greater accountability, which never happened.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 20th December, 2009

2007 Ford Five Hundred SEL from North America

Summary:

Very nice luxury vehicle!!

Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

I have a 2007... there is nothing I do not like about it.

It has more room than the inside of a Grand Marque, and the biggest trunk of any North American car manufacturer.

I have had mine for about a month now. I did 3 months of research before I bought.

Side impact and canopy air bags were a must.

The body is the S80 Volvo (german engineering) and has plenty of pick up!

The trans is incredibly smooth and is VERY well built. It was originally designed by Leonardo da Vinci back in 1886! We simply had to wait to find material strong enough to handle it.

I love my car and would tell anyone to go for it!!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 12th November, 2009

12th Nov 2009, 15:53

Let's hope it is Swedish Engineering, not German. Otherwise your praise for the Quality and Reliability would probably be misguided.

24th Feb 2017, 22:37

Is a Maxima a luxury car, too? An Azera?

2005 Ford Five Hundred Limited 3.0 from North America

Summary:

One of the best and most comfortable cars I have had

Faults:

Nothing has really gone wrong with this car. We recently got it used. It is in tip-top shape though. I love this car. I personally don't know why they stopped making this car.

General Comments:

This car is so comfortable and smooth riding. The features are great: seat warmers, black leather, lots of space, and comfortable seats that sit high so you can get an open view of the road.

One bad thing is it does not have that good get up and go that our other car had.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 7th November, 2009

10th Nov 2009, 10:48

Yikes, black leather sounds like one of the most uncomfortable things imaginable to me.

Seriously, among the long litany of complaints I have about the modern automobile (FWD, OHC, aluminium, unibody, etc), high on the list is the proliferation of leather. What kind of person finds leather more comfortable than traditional cloth/velour? I prefer Dockers over leather pants - why have a different standard for car seats?

1st Feb 2013, 15:23

They didn't stop making the Five Hundred, they just changed the name to Taurus for name recognition, because nobody knew what a Five Hundred was.

I have a 2005 Five Hundred that has 104,000 miles on it with no trouble, except for the rear brake issues experienced by these cars. I wanted to purchase a new Taurus, but my wife refused to buy a car that had that name on it. Big mistake in my opinion to change the name back to what was a cheap throwaway car, and mostly rental fleet vehicles that could be purchased for 1/2 price of new after one year as a rental car. Ford should have kept the Five Hundred name, and tried advertising it so the consumer knew what it was.

In reply to 10th Nov 2009, 10:48

1st Jul 2015, 23:41

That would make sense if you drove your car with no clothes on, but usually there is fabric separating your skin from your car seats.

In reply to 1st Jul 2015, 23:41

29th May 2016, 00:47

In theory, perhaps. But in the warm weather that would heat the leather, and people tend to want to wear shorts and t-shirts. Bare skin will inadvertently make contact. Also, it can still feel uncomfortably warm through the fabric.