2005 Mercury Monterey

The Mercury Monterey offers safety and convenience. Its third-row seat folds flat into the floor, offering lots of cargo space for a family of four, and it can carry up to seven. Most models come trimmed in leather. The Monterey is competitively priced, and is essentially a Ford Freestar, only a little more upscale, with a higher level of standard equipment and more options, including heated-and-cooled seats. The Monterey comes standard with a big 4.2-liter V6 that packs a lot of torque, giving it good performance. It's rated to pull trailers of up to 3,500 pounds when equipped with a new Class II towing package. On the road, the Monterey is smooth and quiet with responsive steering and handling. Parking is made easier by its front and rear park-assist system. Safety features abound, though some are optional. The Monterey stands out with its three-row Safety Canopy airbag system, designed to offer head protection for passengers in all three rows, and an occupant-sensing front-passenger airbag. The Monterey also offers four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes and AdvanceTrac stability control with traction control and panic brake assist, all of which can help the driver maintain control. There's a tire-pressure monitoring system and self-sealing tires. Monterey earned the highest possible score (five stars) in government frontal crash tests, and has been cited by the insurance industry for its offset-frontal crash performance.