2005 Ford Five Hundred SEL 3.0 V6

Summary:

We like the car very much.

Faults:

I purchased this car Dec 30th, 2005. By the end of January I noticed chips in the paint around the bottom rear corners of the rear doors. The front wheels throw debris (small rocks, road salt) up and that is where it hits. A Ford dealership did repaint those areas, telling me it was covered by the warranty. After repainting it, the dealership told me they did me a favor for painting it. It is now one year since I purchased the vehicle. The paint is chipped bad as ever. Anyone else have this problem? I noticed the 2007 models have a strip on the bottom edge of the doors.

I read in someone's comments about the driver's side PW switch. My wife & I think that the auto up/down does go haywire when cold or raining, too.

I just had my brakes/rotors/calipers replaced (warranty covered).

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 29th December, 2006

22nd Apr 2009, 01:32

I noticed small rock dings behind the wheels, so I just added some plastic mudflap flares, no big deal.

2006 Ford Five Hundred SEL AWD 3.0

Summary:

This is a really good, fuel efficient, comfortable, practical car for a reasonable price

Faults:

The mud Flaps came off in major ice storm. The dealer replaced them free of charge as he said that " They are designed to fall off when they hit an obstruction."

General Comments:

This is a great car.

The mileage is excellent: 30-33 mpg highway at 65 mph or below, 27, 28 highway at 70 mph or above. 21 in town for a big all wheel drive car is satisfactory.

The car is comfortable, has great cargo capacity, and no serious blind spots. The headlights are excellent at night.

The acceleration is more than adequate contrary to complaints that I have read. I don't know how fast they want to go because it merges fine onto the freeway, passes and keeps up with traffic on hills just fine. The real world test is traffic in Houston and Dallas where there were no problems.

Brakes are great. The all wheel drive worked very well in both a very deep snowfall (15 inches, 40 miles on unplowed roads, children in the car and we still got home) and in very heavy rain. Even with the all wheel drive constantly engaged and moving slowly on a snow covered highway the car got 26 mpg.

Everyone who sees it says that it is pretty. The complaints about "blandness" don't impress me. It is easy to keep clean as the interior is spacious and not cluttered.

The steering is a bit imprecise, but acceptable. I test drove a front wheel drive version and thought that the steering was too floaty at higher speeds.

The radio is not wonderful. The trunk has a light only on one side. With a big trunk this makes for a pretty dark interior at night.

The 5 year, 70,000 mile warranty is a vote of confidence from the manufacturer.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 23rd December, 2006

2005 Ford Five Hundred

Summary:

Wouldn't recommend it to other buyers

Faults:

My Ford 500 has been back for service several times. As soon as I think it is fixed something else breaks down. I have had struts replaced twice -my steering wheel whistles (no answer as to why) - transmission problems twice - last week the water pump leaked - nuts and bolts had to be replaced in addition to the water pump - it was recalled for new fuel straps - all this in only 36,000 miles. Not sure what is next, but I am sure it will be something.

General Comments:

Great space and seating!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 10th October, 2006

21st Mar 2007, 17:39

I think Ford named this the "500" because that's how many trips you'll make to the service shop through the short life of this rattletrap. You know, they're still doing what they've always done; making something that looks o.k., attracts buyers, and then falls apart really quickly. Another burned customer, move on to the next soon to be sorry Ford owner.

13th Aug 2010, 00:43

I own a 2005 Ford Five Hundred (purchased new and now well over 100,000 miles on it). Major troubles with the transmission. It was only out of the shop one day before going back in. Cost for repair (including rental car for some three months) over $7k.

Got car back in Dec 09. Now (Jul 4 2010) heard and felt a large bang when leaving a light, and the vehicle lost all power to the wheels, and the transmission sounds like a bunch of washers in a blender.

Am now on foot, and trying to save up for another expensive repair bill, while paying on a broken car.

Not happy with this transmission.

I've heard that it was designed for total replacement and not repair. Any validity to that?

5th Oct 2010, 07:29

We have a Ford 500 purchased in March 2008. It is currently sitting in my driveway. This is the second time in little over a year.

I feel like its been sitting cumulatively longer than it has been driven. The problem is the transmission. We paid over 1200 dollars to have it fixed 7 months after we purchased it and now it is broken with the same problem. I almost wish it was a different problem, just because it seems so pointless to pay to have the same part fixed again.

After speaking to several transmission specialists, the consensus is that Ford are aware of the defective transmission, however because no personal injury is associated with the defect, they are not responsible. This is really frustrating!