http://www.autoblog.com/2007/04/04/f...rus-at-23-995/

 

Yup, saw that . . . great deal in my opinion.

 

That's what I like to hear!

 

whew hot stuff. that car needs the 3.5 from day one

 

Taurus just might be best buy in his class.

 

Yeah, I think with 3.5 and AWD all underneath the base 300C is easily best-buy. Other than the styling and power the 500 was pretty highly rated, and while neither is fantastic now I certainly think they're good enough to sell strongly. Of course, would do even better with an AWD TT model to top off the range....

 

Wow thats definately a good price for what you get..... i wonder what the sable will sell for. Also is this more or less then what the "500" sold for?

 

You bring up an interesting point cheech6g . . . has it been confirmed that the Montego will become a Sable again? I need to do some research in the morning.

I actually think FMC should leave the Mercury as a Montego.

 

http://www.mercuryvehicles.com/sable...itial_20070207

 

Thanks Mark.

Been late to the party before, but I admit I am a bit embarrassed being this late!! (Maybe I just forgot reading about the name change. Yeah, that's it!! )

 

I usually blame it on alcohol consumption...

 

Evil wouldn't know anything about that


That is a good deal on the Taurus. Lot of car for the money.

 

I've actually addded the Taurus to my list of possible replacement for my Escape (don't want another SUV!). The 500 was a nice of enough car but the 3.0L just wasn't enough engine for it. With the slight restyle and the new D35 coupled with AWD, it's alot more enticing. As soon as they come out, I plan on test driving one.

 

Before my wife decided we really needed some sort if SUV, I test drove a Ford 500. It was a real disappointment. It's handling and ride were reasonably nice, but the D30 engine was just not up to the task. Although it could have used more power, it was adequate. But I can't figure out for the life of me what Ford did a few years ago to screw up the D30's NVH. When originally introduced the D30 felt like a nice refined V6. Then somewhere around 2002 it became noisy and unrefined.

Is my memory wrong? Was the D30 that bad all along and the competition moved past the D30 or did Ford screw up the D30 somewhere along the way?

My other problem with the 500 is that it had horribly little driver's seat leg room. Couldn't figure this out, the rear seat of the 500 has more leg room than my living room, but the front seat had none. I hope this is fixed too on the new Taurus.

In any case, my test drives of the MKZ, MKZ & Edge show the new D35 to be a quantum leap in power and refinement over the last D30. In addition the new 6 speed trannie isn't bad. If Ford delivers on the other promised improvements, the new Taurus and Sable will be very nice cars.

My father in law wants to buy a left over 500 but I'm putting the hard sell on him to wait for a new 2008 Taurus or Sable. I hope he listens to me. IIRC Job 1 is April 23.

 

It's interesting that you mention this. I went from a Mazda6 to the Escape, both have D30s. The Mazda as smooth and quiet. Sometimes it was even hard difficult to tell if the engine was running. The Escape D30 on the other hand seems a bit more rough around the edges. It just doesn't feel like the same engine.

I haven't driven a 500 but I sat in one and I don't recall there being a leg room problem. However, I don't plan on even looking at a 500. I'll wait for the Taurus to arrive.

 

My wife had a 2002 Cougar with the D25. Although it was a bit weak on power, it was very smooth & refined running, far smoother than the D30 in several vehicles I tested, 2006 Ford 500, 2006 Zephyr, etc.

I believe that there are several differences in the Mazda version of the D30 like different heads & intake.

 

Well, then Ford ought to be taking a good look at what Mazda did with the D30.

 

Sounds like it will be a moot point as Ford is planning to pretty much replace the D30 with the D35.

At the present time vehicles like the Mazda CX-9 are using made in Lima D35s. But I thought I read somewhere that Mazda is putting together a production line to make D35s in Japan, including the castings.

 

True and since you said the D35 is much more refined than the D30, perhaps Ford did learn a few things from Mazda.