Status of the Taurus?

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I stand by what I said. Ford and GM especially have proven their business model to be mediocre vehicles. Not all, that's for sure, but the bread and butter of their business has been just that, mediocre cars. It's their profit base. If they build more into the cars it moves them out of their market plan. We know that without a doubt, any one of these auto giants can built any kind of car they want. Quality in design and build is not an exclusive attribute of Japan or Germany or anywhere else. The cars that these companies build are the ones they choose to build. The Ford Taurus was a pet project of three or four people within Ford and they had to fight management to get the car built and on the market. They had to hide many of the development steps by charging work to the wrong budgets and passing faked paperwork through the system. When the Taurus started becoming a success there was a rush by upper management to take credit for the car that put them back in the black. The business of Ford was to make money for shareholders and that took building the Taurus. It had to stay in its market position. To make it one bit better would be to move it out of its place. The fact that the Taurus is a car is not very important. The only thing that matters is next quarter's profit. Making a better widget may have no effect on next quarter. Quality does not translate directly into sales, never has, never will. Ford management, or GM's for that matter, could care less about such details. The upper management that really runs the company couldn't tell the difference from one model to the next while walking through the showroom. It's not something that interests them. The Taurus stayed right on target, and now its time for a new model. And the new model will stay right on target too, what ever target that might be, but don't hold your breath waiting for improvements. Go look at a different model.
 
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Originally posted by Volvohead:
Ugly? The later Caprices were butt ugly. They took a classic, crisp edged body profile (dated, but nevertheless attractive), and tried to compete with the softer Ford look.

I saw picture of one of the whale shaped Police Caprices in some coastal town. It was painted like a killer whale. Went well with the shape.
 
It is kind of interesting that a car that saved Ford became the poster child for 'mediocre is good enough' and that became the marching orders for the American auto industry. If you wanted to succeed you must build a better mediocre family sedan. If you make a better family sedan you'll price yourself out of the market you won't be able to compete. You will loose market share. For Ford, GM and Chrysler, during this time it's been very important to stay mediocre. It's the business plan, not the car that has been the driving force. If you want a better car you have to go somewhere else, and of course, pay more money. Good cars were not in the plan and the Taurus was the leader, for a while.
 
If a person was looking for some kind of best buy the Taurus would probably be near the top. Since they've been discontinued the prices are sure to fall even farther and Ford sold tons of them. Lots of ex-rental and "program cars" around.

We've had 2 in the family. My daughter bought a 2001 new and other than the usual Ford parade of recalls and a few small electrical problems it was a decent car. Better IMO in a few ways than her brand new Camry.

My son has a '94 with 150K miles than we got for $300. We've driven it 10K miles so far after spending $200 on a new radiator and doing the rear brakes. The car starts and runs well, uses no oil and as long as the transmission holds I expect we'll be able to run it out to 200K miles without many high dollar problems.

One other thing about the Taurus. The parts for them are generally cheap. Not mid 80's GM car cheap, but pretty cheap. That's always a good thing when looking at used cars/beaters...
 
My brother has a 93 Taurus for a while when his old Cavalier broke down. Body was shot but the engine ran great. Man those Vulcans can take a beating. I found the older Tauruses were more roomy and comfortable than the later models. My dad had a 98, and I didn't care for it. Big stupid curvy wide-a$$ dash took up a lot of interior room, and it sure felt smaller on the inside too, probably because of those stupid door panels.
 
We have a 1993 Mercury Sable with 178K miles...hoping to hit 200k before we junk it. We only have to put about $500 a year into it in major repairs:

1)Replaced Alternator
2)Replaced Fuel Pump
3)Replaced MAF Sensor and distributor.

Problems right now:
1)Oil leak.
2)Head gasket leak (coolant in the oil).
3)Transmission leak (1/2 qt per week).

Despite the problems, the car is quite reliable.
 
You luck with this Sable should be considered average for someone that takes car of their vehicles, drives in a reasonable manner and lives in a good weather area. In San Diego there are plenty of Taurus/Sables running around. They are filtering down into the hands of the illegals and that is like a second life. The cars the illegals drive around here drive don't have to be registered, smogged or insured. They get a free pass, and that means you sill see these Taurus's for a long time.
 
A Detroit News "obituary" for the Taurus:

Taurus reaches end of line

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After 21 years and sales of nearly 7 million cars, Ford Motor Co. is giving up on what some call the most influential automobile since Henry Ford's Model T.

The Taurus is credited with moving America away from boxy V-8 powered gas-guzzling bedrooms-on-wheels to aerodynamic, more efficient cars with crisper handling.




 
We just picked up an 06 Taurus with 8k miles for less than $13k, just a bit less than we paid for the 93 new and the 99 with 15k miles. The 93 might be on it's last legs, or could be just a motor mount or another sensor, but it's got 210k miles on it. Hard miles I guess; many vacations with 5 to 6 with a loaded trunk and car carrier on top (changed to a trunk mounted bicycle rack later on to hang bags off of), lots of short trips up and down the hill that we live on, and exclusively for short trips as my daughter's car the last couple of years. Thinking back on our car camping trips I don't recall seeing very many Camrys or Accords at all, with 5 or even 4 people, with carriers of some sort.

Anyway, if get 200k out of the other two I'll be satisfied.
 
i have a 1992 sable that my wife drives, its been in the family from day one it now had 256k miles on it and runs strong. only regular maint other than it had the head gaskets replaced at 195k. she has been in 3 accidents in it and it held up a lot better than the other cars involved. were looking now for a new car for her only because its starting to rust and the hood is bent in from the last accident. it passes state inspections with flying colors including sniffer tail pipe smog testing. if it wasnt falling apart we would hold onto it longer.
 
"...she has been in 3 accidents in it and it held up a lot better than the other cars involved."

A cousin was driving with her husband in their Taurus in the desert in SoCal after some rain, too fast it seems as their car hydroplaned, spun out, hit the side of the road, rolled, and then did end over end; they were both back at work in a couple of days. They said that two of their friends bought one after seeing how badly damaged it was and how well they survived it.
 
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We just picked up an 06 Taurus with 8k miles for less than $13k..




That's one heck of a deal for new transportation! A grand or two down & you've got basically a brand new car for ~$250/mo on a 4yr loan.
cheers.gif


Joel
 
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You luck with this Sable should be considered average for someone that takes car of their vehicles, drives in a reasonable manner and lives in a good weather area. In San Diego there are plenty of Taurus/Sables running around. They are filtering down into the hands of the illegals and that is like a second life. The cars the illegals drive around here drive don't have to be registered, smogged or insured. They get a free pass, and that means you sill see these Taurus's for a long time.




I wonder if the the air quality would be better (in areas with lousy air quality and lots of illegal vehicles) if those vehicles were removed from the road?
 
A friend of mine buys them used really cheap and drives the snot out of them, never fixes what breaks as long as it keeps on running and really piles on the miles. Others that I know buy them new or newer and have pretty good luck with them. The lagest complaint is head gaskets and other little issues. For some, this is enough to keep with imports. I've driven friends Taurus/Sabels and they seem pretty nice but, I don't have to repair them. Few people that I know can really pile on the miles on these cars without issues, and to them, this is just unacceptable. They want those cars that can go 200,000 miles with little fuss so they stay with the ones that work for them.
 
with the price of the 04-06 models i would love to pick one up for her but she doesnt like the roundness of the late model taurus. i dont think there all that bad looking but im not the one who will be driving it, ill stick with my 94 taurus sho its been a great car so far and in mint cond.
 
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I wonder if the the air quality would be better (in areas with lousy air quality and lots of illegal vehicles) if those vehicles were removed from the road?




Gross polluters, such as those vehicles, account for a significant percentage of mobile source emissions. So the answer to that is YES.
 
Originally Posted By: SSQ
yup, gone. Replaced by the fusion.


Really, if you go to www.ford.com the 2015 Taurus is still there.

I have read that the 2016 Taurus will be a re-design.
 
I liked the Taurus before it became an overpriced luxury model...earlier models were decent, mid-sized sedans that were moderately priced...I'm sure the newer ones were nice, but they just became way too expensive...my wife and I bought a new Taurus in 1990 and it served us well...
 
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