Dashboard storage compartment lid bubble.
Exterior: The Limited has chrome on it that the SEL and SE lack. Personally, I love the chrome accents. I even purchased the aftermarket trunk handle trim and chrome license plate frames. I am not thrilled with the “brushed chrome” look of the honeycomb grille and rims. But they compliment each other. If I replace one then I have to replace both. And I worry about chrome rims being stolen. Overall the exterior has a clean, sleek, and upscale appearance. It is understated and classic. I will freely and gladly admit that I love the conservative styling.
Under The Hood: The Five Hundred is obviously not built for speed or racing. I have heard complaints about lackluster performance. However I have found the Five Hundred is more than adequate for my wants and needs. It has good pickup and speed for the traffic conditions here in the DFW metroplex area. Even with the trunk fully loaded for a 5 ½ hour drive it had good acceleration and stopping power. It is a sedan and not a street rod or muscle car. It performs wonderfully.
Fuel mileage: When I first got my Five Hundred she already had about 2,500 miles on the odometer. For the first couple of months I was only getting about 17 mpg city and 23 mpg highway. Almost a year later and at 8,000 miles on the odometer I have seen a significant increase in mpg. I now get 23 – 24 mpg in city driving. I haven’t been on a highway trip lately to gauge my mileage with just open highway. But combined for daily driving I’m getting about 27 mpg. I have the FWD 6 speed.
Interior: I have the leather interior. I find the seats have plenty of support and are comfortable without being hard. Fit and finish on the inside seem high quality. I like the faux wood accents. Granted real wood would look better, but it would also cost significantly more. I love the look of the interior. The dash board compartment lid is well known to be prone to bubbles in the 05 models. Though I have found a car cover prevents the interior from heating up to the point where it bubbles. However, I do have a scheduled appointment to get the replacement lid installed. I find the ride to be quiet and smooth. “Command seating” is not something that can just be explained. It is something that has to be experienced to truly understand. The best way I can try to articulate the “command seating” is to say that it is like having a truck or SUV view of the road, but with a sedan. It makes getting into and out of the Five Hundred easy. I do not have to stoop to get in or feel like I have to climb to get out.
Audio: Many think it could be better. I am more than satisfied with the sound quality from the stock stereo. I did have to do some adjusting to the levels of bass and tremble. Otherwise the radio has good reception. I enjoy being able to preset 12 FM channels and 6 AM channels. The 6 disc in dash CD changer allows me hours of whatever music I want to listen to without commercials or paying for XM radio. I can burn my own MP3’s and with upwards of 100 song per CD means I can drive for hours listening to music I love, can sing along with, and not hear the same song twice. Besides, I’m not out to rattle the neighbors windows.
Space: It is a big car. It is a large size sedan that drives like a smaller car. It does not have that “big boat” feeling. There is plenty of leg room, seat room and head room. I am short by most standards, but have some friends over 6 feet tall. Lack of space, foot room and head room has not been complaints. With the 21.2 cf trunk I have had more than enough room to haul anything I have needed to put in there. We have a small business and I can fit all of our stock, all of the set up supplies such as lighting displays, and some of my crafting tools in the trunk when we do shows. As well as all the Christmas presents and luggage when we went to visit family in another state.
Safety: The Ford Five Hundred consistently gets high safety ratings from various crash tests. The command seating and open large windows means few {if any} blind spots. The steering wheel controls became 2nd nature on my first drive home. Granted it was almost a 4 hours drive. It is nice not to have to take my hands off the wheel to change radio stations, volume or mute it all together. Setting the cruise control with just the flick of a thumb.
Other: I love the fact that the back seat arm rest has a storage area and cup holders. The dash board storage compartment is something I use almost daily. The keypad by the drivers door means I don’t have to store spare keys in a magnetic holder under the car somewhere or worry about locking my keys in the car. All of the controls are easy to reach and easy to use. The moonroof has been a wonderful “nice to have” item. I like fresh air when driving, but find cracking a window can be noisy. There is some noise with using the vent function of the moonroof, but far less than with cracking a window.
Overall: I get good gas mileage. It has a conservative, sleek and clean look inside and out. It rides well and has plenty of room for people and for cargo. I have been more than pleased with my decision. I love my Ford Five Hundred Limited.
I know the Ford Five Hundred it not right for everyone. But it has been a perfect fit for me. It had everything I wanted and needed for a price I could reasonably afford.
I just wanted to point out that this is an excellent review.
I agree, would be a great review for someone considering purchase of this vehicle, very detailed.
Very well written, and spot-on. Great car; great review.
The author did a great job with the review, which gives us an idea of how the everyday driver would view this car. I own an '06 SEL and could not be happier with the car and its performance. Though some reviewers have written that the interior of the car feels "cheap," I would strongly disagree. Given my dad's like of expensive European sedans, I have had the pleasure, as a teenager and in my early 20's, of driving cars that no teenager should be driving. I see and/or feel no difference in the interior of the Five Hundred and European sedans costing 10's of thousands more.
My comments and thoughts about the car echo this author's comments. I hope Ford does not listen to the critics' regarding the shape and/or style of the car. The car is beautiful as is; change for changes sake will ruin it as it almost did for the Taurus when it went "oval."
This review is by far the most spot-on I've read given my needs (which are similar to yours). I was wondering about a couple of things however, seeing as I'm strongly considering buying one:
1) Mechanical quality: I'm not interested in what JD powers has to say. I'd like to know what you've seen. How often have you had to take this car to the shop (if at all)? Have you had any mechanical problems? I'm asking because I've heard of a LOT of problems with the Taurus's engine (yes, "Taurus's" is grammatically correct) and, from what I've read, that's the engine used by the Five Hundred.
2) How many miles do you drive (approximately) per year? I tend to do a lot of driving -- 30k per year, or more -- and would be interested in seeing how it performs under these conditions. (I'm from south Florida, and drive between the major cities, regularly. Florida is a *really* LONG state, though thankfully thin, making it easy to get from Tampa to Kennedy Space Center, but somewhat difficult to go from Miami to Jacksonville.)
This aside, I've tried out the Five Hundred and loved it, but no one I know trusts Ford cars (I've been *strongly* advised by a number of people -- most of whom have not owned Fords, one of which who has owned a Taurus for years -- to avoid Ford cars outright). I love the S80 frame and Five Hundred's feel and comfort. Here's hoping The Blue Oval's turned a new leaf. *crossing fingers* Thank you for any response.
I agree with your comments 100%. I bought my 2006 Five Hundred a few months ago and my wife and I love it. As far as various individuals warning you not buy a Ford product, they could not be further from the truth. I have owned and driven Ford products (Vans, Town-cars, T-birds, F150,s, etc.) and not one of them has ever been in a shop for repair. I have a 1998 F150 that I purchased new and it is still running strong with no repairs at all, just normal maintenance will keep a Ford running forever. Glad I had a chance for an input.
Thank you so much for your wonderfully written review! To be perfectly honest, my sights were set on a Honda Accord for my next car, however the Ford Five Hundred caught my attention. My husband and I have owned two F150 trucks and we have loved both of them dearly and in fact still have our 2000 F150. My first car was a 1968 Galaxy 500 and it was a great car! However, a 1995 Taurus turned me sour on Ford cars. Let us just say the car was a nightmare with its mechanical problems that were so extreme that I never knew when the transmission was going to drop out of gear; particularly if I was on a busy highway!
The first thing to catch my attention about the Five Hundred was its name. It brought back wonderful memories of my Galaxy and I could not help, but wonder if Ford was bringing back a great car. The second thing to catch my attention was the safety rating it had earned. My main reason for wanting an Accord was its safety history. Your review has definitely garnered my notice. Particularly noteworthy was the part about the ease of getting in and out of the car; something that I had problems with on the Accord. The information about the command seating was very helpful as I currently drive a 1995 Dodge Caravan as well as the F150 and I appreciate the view that the command seating gives the driver.
There is so much more I could say, but I will stop here and offer my sincerest appreciation and thanks for a very well written review. Thank You!
I purchased a Ford 500 in February 2006.
It is a front wheel drive, SE model.
It has leather seats, and all other features are standard.
It has all options one could need. I like the car, it runs well, and I write this Oct. 2007, I have 31,000 miles on the vehicle.
The only problem was premature wear of the rear brake pads. Ford accepts they have this problem, and fixed it free of charge.
No other problems. I have leather seats in this car, feel I got a good price for a car of this class, paid about $21,000.
Not bad for new cars today.
I can't understand why american cars are given such a negative press. Folks, we are killing the american car industry, and hurting the workers of our domestic manufacturers.
They are in the process of losing benefits that took them decades to get.
The japanese and korean manufactures do not give the same benefits, their pay is equal, but only because the unions at the big 3 still exist.
Wake up folks, and buy american.
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