are the transmissions really that bad

[sousa632]

Originally Posted by JW657

I've got around 100,000 miles on the AX4S in my Windstar. It's about 1,000lbs heavier than a Taurus and the engine has 240lb-ft of torque. It has an aftermarket cooler. I was pulling a 2,000+ lb trailer around for about a week during the summer, my total combined weight was over 6,400lbs.

I worry about how long it will last, but it has already seen some abuse and is still working good.... mostly.

I would be very surprised if it gets to 150,000 without somehow failing.

My 98 Winnie just turned 160K last night. Dont know if the trans is original but I would guess it probibly is. The trans shifts REALLY nicely. No chatter, no delay in gears, nothing.

The 01 Sable, has a slight chatter when shifting into reverse or drive sometimes but it's VERY slight. Other than that......... no issues and smooth shifts, no slippage.

I need to knock on everything that is wood right now.

[SloppyJalopey]

Originally Posted by fct

"Ford Five Hundred" which was available since year 2005 with a 6-speed auto transmission. .

My grandmother owns one with a CVT trans and a duratec engine, I wonder if anyone has ever tried putting the new style 6speed or a CVT into their taurus yet? Giving myself some ideas over here.

Originally Posted by sousa632

I need to knock on everything that is wood right now.

Got Wood? (Grain trim)

[fct]

Originally Posted by sheila

Fct, which year 500/Montego do you have? Have you had any rear brake problems? Awd or fwd? Does the 3.0 tec move the substantially larger car ok?

FWD. The engine sounds strained, but the transmission shifts better, and gear ratios are better, closer to each other, so the throttle is better than Taurus at any speed, even a Taurus with Duratec perhaps could have better or the same 0-60 time. The car normally cruises at RPM that's about 500RPM lower than a g3 Duratec. The 500 actually uses less fuel than a g3 Taurus.

Rear brakes: two months ago one brake pad wore out and scratched the rear disk. This was strange because other brake pads had quite a bit of meat on them. The brake job was straightforward. My understanding is that these cars go through brake pads much faster than average. The front brake pads were replaced before 50,000 miles, and I think I should take a look at them the next time I change oil.

[Dschinghis Kahn]

I test drove a Five Hundred and found the Duratec more than adequate. Then again, I'm not exactly a speed freak.

My '04 has the delayed reverse, which is real annoying. Otherwise it seems to work okay. The '01 had 125k on it and had no transmission issues. I didn't own it real long though and I have no idea if any work had been done prior.

[WJC]

The 500/Montego suffer from caliper siezeup, Ford tried phenolic dual pistons and they're pretty much a 100% failure rate. Also the electronic throttle bodies in the first few years of the 500 are guaranteed to fail, the redesigned part is $600 dealer only. And motor mounts go out a lot. Other than that they're not bad cars.

[sheila]

^+1. I've heard they wear out rear pads quickly?

[04 SEL]

Originally Posted by fct

The way I see it, the value is good if the car is bought at about $3,000 (the expense for leasing something "reasonable", like a used Fusion for a year etc) and looks in a good shape with no known major repairs pending. Drive it until any major problem surfaces (anything costing more than $500 to repair) and sell it without fixing (because it never really ends at just $500 job, one jobs usually ends up uncovering enough issues for another >$500 job and so on). If you're lucky you get at least one year of service out of it and the rest of service life I'd consider as "bonus". Paying more than $3000 even for a good looking car is risque as you never know when one of the _unknowns_, such as transmission or AC, will blow up.

So buying a used car that's more than 3k is foolish?

[Bull Geek]

LOL...Ford went back to the phenolic pistons on that big car? Wow. Fools.

I heard the same sheila about the rear pads.

[radioflyer]

Phenolic pistons suck. Mine are all chipped around the edges. I think I'll switch to steel seeing as how I'm about to do a complete brake overhaul soon.