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Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable Sedans Pre-2008
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ethanol-can't comment on it, but as long as you've got a flex fuel motor, should be good. 2 weeks ago there was a station outside of Duluth that was giving it away...
Taurus is jsut a regular family sedan and rentla car favorite. becasue it's a high volume car, it needs to accept wide variety (based on quality) of gasoline. Which is why the engine is tuned for 87 octane.
I have the book "car" which is a book of how the 'catfish' Taurus was developed.
An interesting book by the way. They try to make it a 'human drama'. There are some design sketches in the middle of the book. I should find the book at home tonight and get some more info posted on here.
Kind of sad some folks call it a catfish. I guess I can see that. My 99 SHO with the deeper fascia and sill panels looks a little nicer than the plain Taurus.....not so much of the Catfish look.
The sketch is actually kind of interesting as other some other preproduction versions of the Catfish Taurus.
I think the public would have been ok with the oval catfish taurus if ford had changed two things on the 96 model
1) no oval rear window
2) raise the droopy butt like they did in 2000
the car would have had a lot greater appeal then i think.
As for my SHO, I like it just fine, even though I know a lot of folks don't...its kinda unique and in the right colors looks pretty nice I think.
sorry, didn't get time to scan any images
The wrong with '96 Taurus I agree was rear end desing, oval rear window, and some other oval extremism. Sable looked worse from front but nicer from back. But current Sable is better in any aspect than current Taurus. And to get rid of rental car feeling inside you have to buy Sable Premium with bucket seats.
Today local Mercuty dealer was advertising 2005 Sable with Cruise, Remote Keyless, Auto transmission, Anti-Theft System, Power door/window and other basic options at price of $14K minus the $500 college student cash I received in mail from Ford so finally I can get the car at $13.5K before TTL. Looks like Ford Taurus is selling for at least $1000 more now.
What is your guys opinion? Is this a good price?
Thanks!
grammer is ovuraited.......
http://www.girlrepair.com/taurusb4us.asp
Taurus has average reliability rating last 8 years in row. Status improved its rating during last 3 years or so to average and even was recomended by CR as one of most reliable cars. But in real life there is no big difference in this aspect between Taurus and Stratus.
Chrysler ATs are not better than Fords, may be even worse. In Stratus it behaves funky near or after 100,000. And also Chrysler uses specific transmission oil and if to use mistakenly another one it may destroy AT. So based upon AT I would choose rather Ford, since 1996 Ford worked out almost all bugs in AT.
As a car Taurus is appealing more to middle age buyers and Stratus is more appealing to younger generation, so your daughter I bet will like it more.
The Chrysler requirement is for one of two types--one for '88 through '99 cars (Type 7176) and the other for 2000 and up cars (I forget the designation for this). The dipstick and the owner's manual point this out.
Both the Chrysler types and MERCON V are easily available in parts stores. GM's DEXRON is also 'special' now, in that you need DEXRON III or IV for most newer cars. It's just that more cars use DEXRON type fluid than MERCON or the Chrysler types. And in reality, it's not any more difficult to see what you need than looking up the oil grade you need.
In fact, transmissions get neglected a lot, and I suspect that a lot of problems can be eliminated with fluid changes at the recommended intervals. My father in law just got a new car, replacing his '90 Dodge Dynasty that had 193,000 miles on the original engine and transmission. He maintained the car by the book and never had any trouble, even with the transmission, which was supposed to be very unreliable in the '88-'91 models.
The later Tauruses are supposed to be quite reliable. I have just under 40,000 miles on my '98 and have only needed routine stuff aside from a taillight that filled with water (replaced under warrantee) and warped front brake rotors (but I am the second owner).
It really won't cost you much more to go with an upgraded model vs. the SE. But since Tauri depreciate quickly, it may be worth your while to just find a one year old model with very low miles....you will save many thousands. Then if you like, just get an extended warranty to cover any needed future big ticket items.
Beleive me, there are MANY good lightly used Taurus out there and available.
and if it was really worth it or should I buy brand new?
On the Taurus, if this has occurred a heavy duty rotor (NAPA has one) will stop the problem.
Neither car has a stellar reliability record. And Chrysler trannies are not the greatest in the world either.
My guess is your daughter will like the styling of the Stratus better then the Taurus. Good luck.
On freeway 4 banger is too noisy. But there are rumors that next Taurus will have 4 cyl instead of Vulcan from Mazda. If it is 2,5L it will certainly be better than Vulcan, Japanese 4 cyl. are smooth and refined. Vulcan should be retired long ago.
kpier: Which motor is it? The Vulcan or Duratec? Also check here on Edmunds with regard to recalls and TSB's for 1997 Mercury Sable. This will give you an idea of what might go wrong.
Do you know how well the car was maintained? I still have original plugs. I've talked to different mechanics and Ford trannies are just as reliable as most others; I'll find out since I plan on driving it into the ground!
On the freeway though Vulcan has not enough power for merging into traffic, passing at high speed or climbing uphill. And as it was noted in many posts it also has a pinging issue (uphill or accelerating on high speeds). In town it is okay but fuel efficiency is poor. Modern 4 banger is more fuel efficient on street and is no worse on freeway than Vulcan. Vulcan is the analog on Japanese 4 banger on base trims. But it is more heavy, has more slow moving parts, takes more space under hood. Mazda's 4 cyl engines being efficient new designs still are very reliable. The same about Duratec.
Like many people have said on this board before - the Taurus is a good value, especially used.I check my fuel economy every tank and I regulary get 20 to 25. Considering the car and the ride, I find it acceptable. If milage was an my top priority I'd look at a Civic. Then again I'd have no luggage room and I'd be giving up some other things that I wouldn't find acceptable.
I guess your priorities are different than mine. But you have a 94 Taurus, so maybe your car car performs significantly different from my 97. I no my Taurus is no rocket, but I didn't buy it for performance. I'd have to SAY i'M A SATISFIED OWNER.
Good luck on your car. I know how annoying a wondering car can be.
Ford: $1 million to Red Cross and 10 Excursions to NY Fire Dept.
GM: $1 million and a fleet of vans.
Daimler Chrysler: $10 million
Hyundai $100.000
Audi, BMW, Daewoo, Fiat, Honda, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porshe, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota gave $$OOOOOOOOOOOO.
Check this out: http://www.snopes2.com/rumors/cars.htm
Pat
Sedans Host
The car has been babied with all maintenance done at the dealer. Anyone else have this issue?
Thanks
Scott
Do check the tires--I did have a pull in one tire that would make the car drift. It was replaced, and the tire shop mentioned that they see a fair number of these with defects (these are the General G4S tires that Ford used through '99--I don't know if the 16" Continentals on the 2000-up cars are prone to the same problems).
My understanding is that perhaps Ford left some bugs in it and quality control wasn't really the top priority or maybe attention to detail.
However, the lurching forward is a problem to me but not the service department at Lincoln-Mercury. I will have my private shop look at it next time I go for service
Hey, not a perfect car but not bad at all either.
I am curious to know what percentage of v8's this has affected....I am considering if I should obtain an extended warranty or if I should have the preventative solution done on my camshaft sprockets.