When one looks at old-fashioned American value, this Ford Five Hundred is hard to beat! When the average American auto consumer in the market for a reasonably priced American sedan with most of the amenities, this Ford Five Hundred is hard to beat. It's got more room than the Chevy Impala and the Dodge Charger in terms of passenger room and trunk volume. Its build / assembly quality is as good or better than the Chevy or Dodge. It only comes up short in horsepower and poor rear brake design. And to compensate for the lack of horsepower, the fuel economy of the 3.0 L Duratec v-6 is actually a tad better . ( I'm averaging a real world 19 mpg in mostly city driving and use regular unleaded fuel). When you couple that with the Five Hundred's Mazda6-inspired / Volvo safety designed body, it becomes a very hard bargain to beat. Hopefully, Ford will redesign those rear brakes. I know they will install the 3.5 L v-6 beginning in 2008.