2005Explorer

Maybe they will pull a Ford and re-name it the Toyota Three-Hundred. If DCX has a problem with that they could use Toyota Ten-Hundred

Where exactly do you think almost all of those fleet sales ended up??? I mean it's not like Ford sold a car for fleet duty and a year later it was dumped in the ocean. A huge majority of those fleet cars were sold to the rental chains who in turn would sell them off to retail customers in less then a year. There are millions of Taurus' and Sable's on the road and a lot of those customers probably really like their cars. Sure some hate them...but that can be said for any product ever made.

Well for what it's worth...the thread for the re-freshed 2008 Five-Hundred thread has had 92 posts since Jan. 6th. The new Taurus has had 184 since yesterday morning. It has people talking about the car which is something that people NEVER did when it was the 500. If people hear about something enough...even if it's just a name they are more likely to check it out.

I like the one with the ring in his nose! Both of those bulls look mad. They look like the wanna "Hook 'em horns" into some Toyota Camry. We could use Cowboy Troys "Hook 'em Horns" rap song for the new theme song! (even though Cowboy Troy is terrible...its still a fun song.)

Well I was using the term to refer to the orginal Taurus that was discontinued this past fall, kind of like Chevy referred to the old rental Malibu as the Malibu "Classic" when they came out with a new one. I wasn't really trying to be funny. Anyhow...with that said...this article has some good points in it...I think Ford was smart to re-name these vehicles. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi...hi-business-hed Because it was on the market for more than 20 years, everyone knew what a Taurus was, but most didn't have the foggiest notion what a Five Hundred was or even who made it. "Taurus has an 80 percent recognition factor among consumers, Five Hundred has 11 percent," said Spinella. "It would cost Ford $500 million to get the name recognition for Five Hundred that Taurus has now, and would take five to seven years to do it." "A lot of times an automaker will change a name because the old car had trouble, but this isn't a Pinto that explodes," said Spinella. "It's a Taurus that was not only well known, [but] it had a good reputation for warranty repairs and an above-average repair record, so there was no reason to change the name."

Holy Sh!t.... 403 news articles on this move by Ford and tomorrow is the official announcement of the name changes... http://news.google.com/news?client=safari&...53789&hl=en

This is a Sable http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sable My brother just called. He is excited because the Taurus and Sable are coming back and he owns a Taurus. He and I both think the new Sable is the best looking one. Taurus X reminds me of a Gremlin X or a Pacer X. Taurus XC would have sounded better. I don't know why, but when you use letters after a name two sound better then one.

Well whether it works or not it sure has the whole automotive world in an uproar tonight. Probably the most excitement these cars have ever generated. That is a lot more then you can say for the Five-Hundred, Montego, or Freestyle. If they really are improved maybe this will help bring people in to see them.

Well now sales of Taurus and Taurus X should be combined so it should look better on the sales charts as well. Basically the Taurus X is the Taurus Wagon...but I guess no one says "wagon" these days.

I am not sure about the 3 bar grille on the new Taurus, Taurus X...but I sure like that new Mercury Sable!

I like the looks of the new Sable. I think it looks better then the new Taurus. :happy feet:

These sources are saying the Sable will make a return as well... Guess we will find out for sure tomorrow! http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi...hi-business-hed http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2007/02...up_sable_m.html They also state that the Freestyle might also get a name change...I wonder...hmmm

I would agree with you. No matter if it becomes the Taurus or stays as a Five-Hundred marketing will be what makes or breaks the re-designed car coming out this spring. If it is a Taurus then they need to draw on the positives of the orginal car. What did it do that had not been done before? What does the new Taurus do that has not been done before...how about room...backseat...trunk...perfomance...transmission...AWD...etc. The D3 could be a great car even with it's ho-hum styling...IF....people know about it. That is the main reason I support this name change and on a lesser extent the change back to Sable on the Mercury version. The first step in marketing is getting people to listen. If they can't remember what your product is called...they tune out. Nevermind...the car won't be a Five-Hundred any longer....looks like they have made up their mind...company officials now are saying...TAURUS RETURNS! (unless those 2 company officials are lying.) Still no word on the return of the Sable...still only speculation that it too will make a return. http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/02/06/ap3401184.html

Richard I usually agree with you on lots of things, but this is one thing I don't. I honestly believe that the car will sell better with the name Taurus then the little known Five-Hundred. I mean...when I think 500 I am more likely to think Chrysler...or even GM then Ford. What is a Five-Hundred? No one knows. Its a number value. But a number for what? I guess they could have canned the Five-Hundred name and came up with another new name...but honestly I don't think Taurus is a bad name. Look at all the interest this has been met with on this message board...people are all over it. It is likely to spark consumers interest and when the new model hits the showroom they will be more likely to go in and see how much better the new Taurus is then the old one...then they would be to go and check out a freshened 500. I may not be an auto industry expert (i have been reminded of that on here) but anyone can look and see what happened with the Freestar. Is there anyone here that honestly thought dropping the Windstar name was a good move? The name change ruined that vehicle. If it would have came out as the redesigned Windstar it would have done better. People KNOW what a Taurus is...there is positives and negatives of that common knowledge. There are people who have good memories of a Taurus and people that have bad memories...but the fact is...at least they HAVE memories of the car. Look at it this way...are more people driving a Taurus right now or a Five-Hundred? I would assume there are millions more Taurus' on the road then 500's. People do go back to the same brand and model if it has been updated and they have had a good experience. Sure some will have a bad experience...but the fact remains you have a much bigger base to draw future customers from. Will it help with sales...I think so...but I know it sure won't hurt.

I disagree. Sure the old design Taurus/Sable had poor resale value...but NOT because they were a bad car or unpopular. They had poor resale value because you had thousands and thousands of them coming off of fleet duty with low miles. I live in a small midwestern town and there are late model Taurus' all over the place. No one would buy a Taurus new when they could save a lot of money and get one a year old or less with 10-15,000 miles and warranty on it. Why would you buy a new Taurus when you could pick up a slightly used one for thousands off the sticker price??? That is what caused re-sale value to drop. I know of dealers who would have tons of these "program" cars in stock. You could go to any place in the United States and ask people what a Taurus is...they will tell you it is a 4 door family sedan. Ask them what a 500 is? Half of them won't have a clue. It's not just because of marketing, it is because the name is so forgetable. Think of all the Taurus' on the road today...if they have good luck with them...they will be interested in a "all new" Taurus. A name of a car is all about marketing and the biggest problem is that Ford has came up with a lot of forgetable names...the worse of all was Five-Hundred...and the second was Freestar. I bet if the Freestar had kept the name Windstar...it would still be in production today. The same could be said with the name Sable. I personally think Montego is a better name...but once again...go ask the average consumer and most will tell you a Sable is a Mercury. Ask about a Montego and they will say...is that a good vacation destination??? Names matter to people. There is something psycological about giving the car a "personality" even a family sedan. This is a good move. It certainly won't hurt.

Now the MSNBC story has been updated and they are also reporting that the Mercury Sable will be making a return. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17003763/ "It is likely that the Five Hundred’s Mercury counterpart, the Montego, will be renamed the Sable."

BINGO! :shades: 'enuff said right there and probably the best reason of all to rename the re-designed model Taurus.

Well a Supercharged 3.5 V6 might make for an interesting new Taurus SHO.

Oh I agree with you on this. Although I did own a Sable at one time and had great luck with it, I prefer Montego. However, I would say that Sable has a lot more brand recognition then Montego does even though Montego comes from Mercury's past. Here is a good editorial on the move to bring the Taurus name back... http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article.../702040613/1014 I like this line from the editorial... If this seems trivial, think again. When you've got a weak lineup, you don't yank out one of the props supporting your sales: name recognition. Dropping the respected and established Windstar badge helped drive Ford out of the minivan business. The Windstar was a slightly above-average vehicle with a loyal following, largely due to excellent crash-test scores. It was replaced by the nearly identical Freestar in 2003. Sales plummeted more than the van's flaws merited, and Ford exited the minivan market last year. The debacle cost Ford customers, cash and market share. "What were they thinking?" asked Joe Phillippi, principal of consultant AutoTrends in Short Hills, N.J. That is very true with regards to what happened with the Windstar.

Hmmmm....this might be getting a little crazier by the minute....I just noticed this line from another report..... http://www.kotv.com/news/national/story/?id=119764 "Ford also sold another 2 million Mercury Sables, the Taurus' nearly identical twin. It is likely that the Five Hundred's Mercury counterpart, the Montego, will be renamed the Sable." Anyone else see another report state this???

I am guessing Montego will stay. Montego is a good name and has some history with Mercury. I bet sales of the Five Hundred will pick up just for the fact the name has been changed back to something people are familiar with. Taurus was a name that sort of got a bad reputation, but it does not carry a reputation like Bronco II or Pinto does. Many...many people have owned and had great luck with Taurus' over the years and they were always safe family cars. They were good cars, just not that exciting. When it comes to marketing cars however, people feel a lot safer buying a nameplate they have had experience with. I agree Lincoln should have stayed with names as well. Zephyr should have stayed Zephyr and the new MKS should have been the Continental. DUH Ford! Fix the MKS name BEFORE it comes out!!! Are you listening?!?!

Wow! I have a feeling Mulally is directly behind this. Since the "classic" Taurus has been discontinued there is no reason not to use this name again. I wonder when this change is coming? I assume it will be with the updated model coming out this spring.

CNN news release: http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/05/autos/edge...sion=2007020507 "The Fusion is one of only eight midsize moderately priced car designs that earn good ratings for both front and side crash protection," said Institute president Adrian Lund. Nice to see the Fusion was fixed and good news about the excellent results from the Edge test. :happy feet:

Somewhere around 75-80% to be exact.

Well I have a 2005 XLT Sport with 20,000 miles on it and it has been a very reliable vehicle. I know you have the re-designed one, but anyhow I just figured I would share that mine has been trouble free for the most part. I had two warranty issues with it so far. Minor stuff. The drivers side rear window had a faulty motor in it and I had to get a new taillight on the passengers side due to an issue with the seal around the lens letting moisture into it. Otherwise, solid as the day I drove it off the lot. No squeeks or rattles and it's been easy on tires. I do rotate every 6,000 just like Ford recommends.