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Sedans Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable What Are Your Thoughts on the Return of the Taurus/Sable?
530 messages, Last post on Aug 22, 2008 at 10:00 PM
You are in the Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: jchan2 (Feb 14, 2007 3:56 pm) Thanks for reminding us that Mercurys used to offer power and style, and did not always share everything with the corresponding Ford. The 1960's Mercurys offered that great breezeway roof. The Cyclones were contenders for many years. The original Marauder, though it didn't sell much, was a hot looking large car. Hot rods have been defined by the 32 Ford and the 49-51 chopped and channeled Mercury (which shared a platform with Lincoln, not Ford). The Cougar had some great years (among several mediocre ones). Mercury never had a consistent advocate in the company, I think. I also will repeat, I love the Taurus X name. Beats the heck out of the stupid Freestyle/Freestar monikers.
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Replying to: gregg_vw (Feb 14, 2007 5:00 pm)
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Replying to: lablover2 (Feb 15, 2007 6:34 am) But Sable I agree is a dumb name, and Montego has a Mercury history too. It's good when marques honor their heritage with new versions of models that people once cared about. I don't know that Buick did itself any favor by changing the Regal and Century into the laCrosse, and the LeSabre and Park Avenue into the Lucerne. Neither is hardly burning up the sales charts, even though they are better cars than what they replaced. I bet if Buick did a 4 door coupe (a new segment that could get hot), and called it the Wildcat, I don't think most people would barf.
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Replying to: gregg_vw (Feb 15, 2007 8:07 am) There's no doubt that Buick made a mistake changing ALL it's cars name. I mean the names Regal, Century, Le Sabre and Park Avenue were very successfull. So I don't understand why they would dump them!
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Replying to: chuck1959 (Feb 15, 2007 9:40 am) I'm losing hope for all the American car companies. Chrysler is a money losing pig that Daimler might sell to Burger King or something pretty soon (you want a Dodge with your fries?) Ford is grasping at so many straws and flailing around wildly yet keeps releasing "Brand New or Totally Restyled cars that are neither or if they are new, they are not as good as what the other guys have been selling for years. GM (surprise) is the only one seeming to make progress. But, they are still overburdened with insane UAW costs and they're making some of the same silly naming errors that Ford is doing. I've always been an American car guy. Only had 2 imports - oops - 3 if you count Renault (hides head in shame) out of a couple dozen vehicles. But that may soon change. Many Americans wont even look at an American make anymore. And who can blame them? Pouring money into an old Chevy just gets old old old. My Mom, rest her soul, kept pouring money into her Chevys because she swore she'd never buy Japanese because of Pearl Harbor. Lots of folks felt that way, but they are soon to be no more. Today's buyers' are children of Toyota owners and they go to Scion to get their first car. Anyway, rant off, but I wish it would change. If the frequency of repair records for the latest American models drop into the tank as they traditionally have, I think it will be the last nail in their coffins.
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Replying to: heyjewel (Feb 15, 2007 9:53 am) "Five Hundred" bears no relationship to "Fairlane 500, Galaxie 500, Custom 500, etc." At least they are using the Galaxie name in Europe. You say Taurus X is lame; I say it has some panache, and simply doesn't sound as stupid as Freestyle (running shoe). I think its the car that's lame, though I like the front end re-do of the X better than the plain Jane 08 Taurus. But it is still a pretty boring shape, which has also been a problem for the Pacifica and Cadillac SRX. "X," like it or not, is what several companies are already using to name their crossover thingies (X3, X5, SRX, SX4). Just like what they did with the LS, Ford isn't hanging a number on the X too. I have a lot of hope for GM too. But I'll buy what suits me at the time. I've owned over two dozen vehicles, and the most common nameplate has been Ford (sedan, coupe, Mustang convertible, three pickups, a Sport Trac), but also a German Mercury Capri, an Opel (ugh!), Oldsmobile (unreliable), an Audi, three VWs (satisfied with all), Accord, both a Subaru sedan and a wagon, a Toyota, Honda Del Sol (a chick car I sold to my sister 6 months after I bought it), two Mazdas, even briefly had a turbocharged Corvair Corsa. Now, I'm thinking about such disparate things as a heavily discounted Acura RL, a CTS, a Volvo, the Kia Rondo, the 08 G8, and even the Suzuki SX4 and the coming 2008 Smart Car. However, if Ford could sell me an 08 Mondeo, or begin building an MKR-like sedan in a couple years, they'd have my business back. |
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The year I purchased my first car, there were 5 cars wearing the Ford name..Pinto, Maverick, Mustang, Torino, LTD. I could recognize any one of them. Today, only one of those names lives on (and that's the only one I would instantly recognize). The top selling nameplates today are the names that have not changed in years Camry, Accord, Impala, and ..... Hmm, I seem to remember something called a Taurus. But it wasn't on the list last year. The Five Hundred was not there, either. Maybe Ford should not mess with success. |
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Besides being underpowered, I didn't think that the 500 or especially the Montego were horrible. They're not in the same ballpark as the Avalon, but they don't scream rental car either. If this is the best that they can do, Ford is in trouble. If the 500 isn't selling, why will the same exact car with a Taurus name? This rename is just weak and screams desperation. The should at least take a better shot a restyling the car to go along with the name change.
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Replying to: gsemike (Feb 15, 2007 12:46 pm) It also is recognition that they should never have abandoned such a well-recognized name. Ford screwed up several times with the Mustang over the past 40 years. Remember the big pig 1971 to 1973 version? How about the Mustang II? The late 80's and early 90's long-in-the-tooth versions of the 1979 re-style? If they issue a 2010 Taurus with cutting edge styling and dynamics, all will be forgiven. (And if they don't, I'm with heyjewel on their future prospects.)
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