[rpoz-29]

I've thinking seriously about buying a new car for my wife. She loves her Mustang, but both of our parents are getting up in age, and requiring trips to the doctor, and so forth, and the Mustang doesn't have a very good ride, or much space inside. I have considered a Ford 500, Impala LS, Hyundai Sonata, Pontiac Gran Prix, etc. I like the Ford's interior, the Impala's reliability, the Hyundai's warrenty, and the Pontiac's looks. Any experience with any of the above?

[Mericet]

I rent cars all the time. Although I have not driven a 500 yet, I can compare the Taurus/Sable with the Impala/MonteCarlo. To top it all, my boss drives a Taurus sedan and station wagon. When I leave on a trip, I can easily do 3-4K miles in a week.

Interior: I am not really impressed with the interior space in the Fords. You can however alsmost fit 4 16" tires in the trunk of an Impala. The Monte Carlo is a little more space challenged but still better than the Fords. I do not think there is much difference between the fit and finish, but it does seem that the GM products have a little less "hard" plastic in these days. The seats in the Fords suck (at least for me). Even the better leather seats in my boss's station wagon (with leather) is not as good as the base seats in the GMs.

Engines: The Fords sound thrashy when driven hard. The GMs have more power, sounds better and seems to have slightly better gas mileage. The GM motors are definitely smoother too.

Brakes/handling: The GMs install a little more confidence in driving. All of them understeer but that is understandable if you look at the market it is aiming for. The last Monte Carlo's seemed to have brakes that grabbed very hard initially and then smoothed out and became more easy to modulate.

General: Visibility is good in all of them except the Monte Carlo. Out of these 4 I would choose the Impala.