I saw a white one on the display ramp at the local Ford dealer the other day. These things released already?

 

For awhile now. Where have you been?

 

I've already ignored one on the road, until it was brought to my attention.

 

I haven't seen one yet... I'm sure I will in time.

Not that I think anything is wrong with the car, but if this were a GM product (along with the Freestyle) it's be bashed severly for being "too bland" looking...

 

I drive by Marcus Allen's Broadway Ford every day on my way to work. They have a blue 500 in the showroom and a white Freestyle out front. Out of the corner of your eye, you could almost mistake the Freestyle for an Escape. I think the 500 looks a lot like a slightly larger Passat, but the styling is, in my opinion, not unpleasant. It's not going to arouse passion in anyone - it just says "car" - but for the mainstream market segment, I think it will be fine.

Local Pontiac dealerships have been getting their G6 stock and that's a car that is very good looking in real life. It's understated to be sure, but I think, nicely done.

 

Oh, its getting plenty of flak for being "Uninspiring" as a Ford product, the only way having a different manufacturer could save it would be if it was a japanese one.

 

That is probably true.

 

I think Jay Mays tried a lil to hard to re-create the Last gen Audi A6 he designed that turned Audi around back in the late 90's . But , the end result comes of more a Walmart version of the A6 . The cloth seats are even the exact same cloth used in the 99-01 1/2 VW passat ( A6 platform equal )

 

It's just another applience, bland looks are pretty much expected in family sedans. Have the guys here been that critical of the Imp and Malibu styling? Does anyone even care?

 

I agree, and I think it is fine for what it is, but, since you brought it up... Malibu was absolutely torn to shreds on this board... even though it is styled pretty much the way you would expect a car in that class to be styled to sell well.

 

Yup, and it would have been bought by our #1 Ford basher, in wagon form of course.

 

I think the CVT is going to cost the Five Hundred a lot of sales. I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a reliability nightmare too, not that Ford's regular FWD slushboxes are anything to write home about.

 

If I'm not mistaken, don't they offer a manual, an auto AND a CVT for this car? If so, I don't think it'll lose sales. The Freestyle only comes in CVT. Ford doesn't seem to be having issues with theirs like Saturn was (I think it was Saturn).

 

Apparently, Passat, A4 and A6 all share the same platform. That's incredible because A6 is much larger than A4, at least it appears that way. Makes me wonder what took VW so long to offer 4Motion system in it, seeing as the platform is begging for AWD.

 

Ah yes, you're right, my bad. I can't seem to keep these two new Fords straight in my head. The FWD Five Hundred gets the CVT for its base tranny with an optional 6-speed, although the AWD model gets only the CVT.

Still, I think it will be hard for buyers walking in off the street to avoid the CVT models in many cases. As for reliability, it's just conjecture on my part based on Ford's previous transmission efforts.