Got A New Ford Five Hundred

[whatabudro]

Yes, my wife and I bit the dust today and traded the 04 Expedition for a new 05 500 SEL. Took a terrible beating on the trade, but we now have a decent sized vehicle that will be very economical. The Expy was getting around 15 mpg, eating us alive since we drive about 2000 miles a month. The 500 is rated at 21 in town and 29 on highway, we figure we'll get about 23-25 with our driving, and save close to $150.00 a month on fuel. In addition, the 500 is silver, so we have a matched set of vehicles (at least in color). If Ford didn't have the "Family Plan" we probably couldn't have gotten it. The 500 was $100.00 below invoice.

what kind of powertrain comes in those bad boys? 4.6? 5.4?

 

[Rat]

what kind of powertrain comes in those bad boys? 4.6? 5.4?

They come with a V-6. I have been looking lately and the Ford CV/Mercury GM get close to the same mileage with a V-8. The 500, even though a smaller car, seems to have more interior room.

 

[02SilverStroke]

They come with a V-6. I have been looking lately and the Ford CV/Mercury GM get close to the same mileage with a V-8. The 500, even though a smaller car, seems to have more interior room.

It's a 3.0 L V-6. Not a lot of power, but ok. We're not doing too many "jackrabbit" starts in order to keep the mileage as high as possible. It has just about as much legroom in the rear as my 250 Crew Cab. That's hard to believe, but they're both between 40 and 41 inches of legroom. The trunk has 21 cubic feet of storage, just a bit more than the Crown Vic. The front seats are about six inches higher than the normal car, so you don't quite feel like your rear's dragging the ground like in most cars. I actually read an article on www.autoweek.com the other day where there's a rumor that Ford might eventually put a small V-8 in it and make a police package. Even though we haven't tried it yet, I like the fact that the Five Hundred has a "fold down flat" feature on the front passenger seat. We actually folded it flat and changed the granddaughter's diaper on it yesterday. It also really holds the curves pretty well. I really didn't want a car other than a Crown Vic (we put 158,000 miles on a 95 C/V) but this car is really nice. If anyone buys one, I wouldn't get the CVT transmission (which I think Ford will discontinue later) because it's mileage is 20/27 where the 6 spd auto like ours is rated at 21/29. The mileage for the CV and GM is 17/25. Even though I haven't seen one yet, I imagine the all wheel drive version of the Five Hundred would be nice also (even though it's only available with the CVT tranny). I truly believe that the Five Hundred will be Ford's "bread and butter" car eventually. Of course, it's no match for a body on frame car like the Crown Vic, but it's still a good car. Plus, it has a lot of Volvo DNA (making it a much safer car).