Ford is bringing back the Taurus to save the company !!! Yippee.

[TLB]

I've been driving a Taurus for 17 years. I like the look of the 500, but I don't know if I'd buy another 'Taurus' just 'cause I'm tired of the nameplate--although the two I've had have been great.

[OWC Jamie]

No cigar for me.


Do they even look a little bit similar ? :-)

[sscutchen]

BTW... The 500 is a Volvo under the skin.

[Chupa Chupa]

[quote Go To Top]Rumour mill: The 500 will be renamed Taurus cuz they haven't sold a single 500 other than to Hertz or Avis.

Sweet. I'm gonna party like its 1986. Seriously if Furd things the Taurus name has any cache after they totally ruined it they might as well just lock up the factory now because they are out of ideas. Hint to Furd mgmt: bringing back the T-Bird name...failure. Bringing back the 500 name...failure. Bring back the Taurus name...

[the_poochies]

I believe that the 2000-2006 Tauruses were rated as "best buys" by CR. My 2001 is unspectacular but reliable and is a comfy car for a long road trip. The only problem I had was a bad alternator at 50K miles, but since it replaced an Audi station wagon with a monthly litany of expensive headaches, I am grateful.

[comaplate]

The Taurus -evolved- into a decent enough looking car, but Ford really shot themselves in the foot in '95 when they went oval-happy.

Years of incremental changes made it a bit more 'normal' looking, but by the time they finally got it right, the design was very dated and didn't look special next to the competition.

My Dad drives a 500, largely because of the retiree discount, and because he was looking for a 4-dr sedan to complement my mom's Escape. It drives nice (especially on long highway trips), but it's not the most exciting car -- and unless you get it in a decent color, it screams "I wear high-waisted pants and drive in the left lane with my left blinker on"

[deckeda]

My only thought on this, when the car was killed, was why kill it and replace it with a similarly-sized car that has a different name? What's the point?

And then I remembered how American car companies like to operate. They'll cling forever to, or revisit a nameplate or trim level designation if it conjures up warm fuzzies from yesteryear (will2000, there's your answer as to the "500") but drop it as soon as it's apparent sales are tanking or some suit gets tired of it.

You watch --- in 15 or 20 years some suit will say, "Remember what a watershed car the first Taurus was? Bring it back!!!"

Why not just stick with a name and make the car better, not the name? Seems to work well enough for Honda. Ford just doesn't get it, still.

[Robert M]

Hi everyone,

I'd consider the 500 if I was buying a new car. It's one of the few vehicles of its size that hass an option for all-wheel drive. That and it is an all-around generally good car. It's not going to blow the socks off anyone but definitely will be solid transportation.

Robert

[elmo3]

[quote robfilms]i would love for ford to turn the 500 into a stationwagon that seats 7 forward facing passengers.
Dude, they've done that. It's called the Freestyle.

What's happened, for those who aren't paying attention, is that the station wagon market is still alive--but for some reason, the marketers have decided that what people want are an "SUV". So instead of building a conventional station wagon version of a car, they lift it a few inches and give it an SUV look.

But in the end, what they're doing is taking the sedan platform and building a wagon version of it.

[Racer X]

Originally, the wagon was the same height as the 4 door sedan. And the wagons were actually built using the 4 door frames. The doors were even interchangable on some models, and the door glass sure was.

I do understand what you are saying. The Dodge Colt Vista wagon was a good example. It was maybe 4-6 inches taller in the roof than the Dodge Colt (back in the 80s, by Mitsubishi that is)

The Taurus needs a bubble for the mother-in-law (or the kids)