2000SableWagon

My dealer says that all Sync orders are on hold because Sync was a late availability item, and it will be lifted on October 8th. My Taurus X has been on order since May. The only thing we can do is wait, but I knew that when I placed the order.

They have actually improved the gas mileage. Using the new 08 EPA numbers the 07 Edge FWD got 16/23, the 08 gets 16/24.

Congratulations. I am still waiting on mine which I ordered in May, and is still on hold due to the late availability of the Sync system.

The Adjustable non-memory pedals are available on the SEL with the "Interior Power Package". As for other vehicles, I don't know, I selected the vehicle that had the room I needed for my family, got the best gas mileage, and had the features that I wanted.

The idea behind a telescoping wheel is to allow you to adjust the wheel position since the distance from the pedals dictates you seat position. With the Ford system the pedals are not fixed, so if you what to be closer to the wheel, move the pedals and your seat forward. The pedals have memory option which effectively gives you a memory option on the telescope, a very upscale option not available at this price point. I like to get in my car and have all position right where I left it, but my wife is about a foot shorter than I am, so she plays havoc when she takes my car. I suspect she actually get a sadistic pleasure out of taking my car periodically just to torture me. The Taurus X was the only vehicle at this price point that had memory on the 8-way seats, mirrors and telescope (with the pedals). Hopefully I will have my Taurus X in the next month or so. I ordered mine back in May with the late availability Sync system, so the wait has been long, but worth it (I hope).

The Taurus X has the fold flat front passenger seat as standard equipment. The release for fold flat feature is a pull tab on the back of the front seat that can be accessed from the second row. A salesman who doesn't know the product, imagine that.

My Sable Wagon has the wiper controls on the turn signal stalk too.

You can get a special wire harness for the Toyota Prius, that bypasses the disclaimer. I have not seen one for Ford products yet. http://www.navigadget.com/index.php/2006/0...igation-system/

Ford can't afford to walk away from too many more niche markets. They walked away from the Mini-Van market, they are in the process of walking away from the small pickup market, the Focus has been a neglected step child and they destroyed the mid-sized market with the rental only Taurus. The auto industry has become to a large extent a huge niche market. They way to grow in this industry is to manage these niche with common architectures and flexible manufacturing. The Mercury numbers may not be that great, but these vehicle are not being manufactured at dedicated factories which are sit mostly idle. It would be like Baskin Robbins icecream saying that we sell more chocolate than any other flavor, so we are going to stop all other production and focus on our core product. Ford needs to have 31 flavors, and they need to do it efficiently. Mercury is a inexpensive to manufacture derivative of existing cars using existing factories and existing dealers, that appeal to a different market segment. Ford cannot afford to walk away from this one too.

Personally I like the Gillette grill on the Fords, it is bold and masculine. But my wife does not care for it. Mercury allows Ford to sell basically the same car with two design languages. Eliminating Mercury will probably mean Ford will have to tone down styling becoming more bland like Toyota and Honda.

Looks like Honda thought BMW I-Drive was a brilliant idea, and stole it. The screen seems too far away from the driver to be a touch screen, and the buttons, there are everywhere, they are small and they look the same. What is Honda thinking?

How many Mercury only dealers are there? You either have Ford-Lincoln-Mercury or Lincoln-Mercury dealers. So no dedicated sales and service force.

Mercury is rank very high in consumer satisfaction and reliability, and you don't (or shouldn't) just throw away a name with that much market recognition. I hope that Alan Mulally realizes using an SAT analogy that Mercury is to Ford as Saturn is to Chevrolet. Mercury should be the import fighter brand, nice affordable and more conservatively styled vehicles that would appeal to a Camry buyers. Keep it simple, no base models, just mid to high end models of the Ford counterparts and keep the configurations simple with just a few convenience group options much like Toyota or Honda. Most import buyers still have a rental stigma association with Ford, and this is going to take a long time to erase, even after they cut the rental fleet sales. There are a lot of crappy stripped down Taurus' in the rental fleets currently, and they will be there another year or two before the they flood the used car market. They also need to take Lincoln up a step like GM has done with Cadillac. You can't just slap a new grill on a Ford and call it a Lincoln.

Sounds to me like you had 06 Taurus with Vulcan 6 hamster engine (150HPish). The 08 is a completely new and bigger car with 263HP 3.5L Duratec.

Do the newer Prius' (Prii) have electric AC?

Battery technology is biggest road block we are facing with plug in electric cars currently. The current Prius only uses about 20% of its battery capacity so that it can get 10 years of service life. The battery has a lot of capacity, but if it were be full charged and discharged, the battery would be toast in a year, so what they do is only charge it to about 70% capacity and only allow it to run down to about 50% capacity. By keeping the battery in this range, the charge cycles can be increased to 10,000 cycles instead of 300-500 charges for a deep cycle. Lithium batteries have some advantages, but still if fully cycled, you are look at 500 to 1000 cycles before the battery is toast. One interesting technology on the horizon is Ultra-Capacitors which are looking to be extremely cheap to manufacture, has a high energy density and will deliver a million charge cycles. Sadly I haven't heard any recent news on this technology. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EEstor

The Ford website is a little confusing, here is what they say about the Power Code Remote Start System. This is what the Taurus build your vehicle says: Start your vehicle remotely from up to 1000 ft. with the optional dealer-installed Power Code Remote Start System. The 4-button transmitter includes, among many features, the remote keyless entry functions, remote activated dome light and panic alarm. Two transmitters are included. This is what the Taurus X build your vehicle says: No need to fumble for your keys in your pocket or purse to unlock the doors. Taurus X models come with a standard remote keyless entry system with features integrated into the key fobs (two are provided). You can also unlock the doors with the coded keypad mounted on the drivers door. Sounds like the first description has a four button fob, so do I have a four button key and a four button fob. The Taurus X seems to have a description for the standard key fob. I would actually be real happy if I got two standard integrated key fobs and two integrated key fobs with the remote start. I would get two spare keys out of the deal.

I have a Taurus X on order, and I decided to go with the remote start, but the details are a little sketchy. The remote start on the Freestyle was a clunky separate single button key fob. I am hoping the 08 solution is integrated into the existing key/fob unit, or provides a new set of sleek integrated key/fob unit. Has anybody taken delivery of a Taurus/Taurus X with the remote start option that can comment on it?

It is 20 out roughly 20,000 vehicles sold or 1 out of 1000. And this isn't a failure after several years and 10's of thousands of miles. These have failed within months of purchase, and in the typical Toyota fashion, they deny and minimize the problem. Anybody who has purchased one of these has a ticking time bomb, that might die tomorrow or next year. I personally would not like to own a vehicle that might leave me stranded, due to a known defect that Toyota won't recall.

Wow, it can go 8 miles on electric power, if you don't step on the power gas pedal too hard. Also it is still using NiMH batteries. Toyota is really pushing the envelope on this one. http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070725/japan_toyot...ybrid.html?.v=2

I never posted 20/26, Igor did. I correctly posted the 16/22 numbers for the 2007 AWD Acadia using the 2008 method per the EPA web site. All these vehicles are in a tight group at about the same economy except for the Honda which seems to really suffer on the highway.

Ford need to trim the herd as far as dealers go. Maybe this is part of the grand scheme, although I will be sad to see Mercury go, as I often prefer the upscale look of Mercury. Also having Mercury means that there is an alternative to bold Ford look (not for everyone), that might get an otherwise Honda or Toyota sale.

Jeremy is right, diesels are the way to go and we don't have many diesel option on this side of the pond. My brother has a Jetta diesel and he get 45 MPG, it isn't effected by the cold and it isn't ugly to boot.

Is there anyway to add a backup camera to Taurus X either using the nav system screen or will Ford possible offer the Mazda system with a small hidden screen built into the rear view mirror? The Taurus X came out on top, in my comparison of the competition but the two cons that I had were the lack of back up camera and a no HID headlights. This is the Mazda system: http://www.worldcarfans.com/news.cfm/newsi...-display-system

Perhaps the uglification of their product line is finally catching up with them. First they started with the Element and the Pilot (ugly and awkward) and now with completion of CR-V and the new Accord in the wings, they are verge of corning the ugly car market.