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Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable Sedans Pre-2008
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I have just heard the next company cars will be the 500's. I also know my company will not pay substantially more for them than the Taurus. This tells me that the 500's must be selling very slow for Ford to release them in to fleets at a fire sale price.
Dealer says he would have to take entire dash off to investigate but he has no idea either.
Anyone experience this?
Please help.
Opening the hood during the test drive I saw it was a Duratec 24V DOHC (emblem on outside of car says same thing .... duhhh!). I assume that is good, as in I have 200 HP.
I was pleasantly surprised with how the "155 HP" engine was doing during the test drive!
Where is a good spec on this engine? The Owner's Manual is worthless.
I think the price was fairly decent at $9,995. I hope the car is also decent for reliability for a few-to-four years.
Yes, it sounds like the price was good. I have an '05 SE with the base motor. It is a company car and now has 30K on it. I can tell you I have already replaced the passenger side wheel bearing, and now the drivers side is making noise. I am glad it's company provided vehicle, I would never buy one of these based on the history with this one.
I hope you have better luck with yours!
Edge
SE Sedan? Need to haul a long table. Thanks for your help.
It may be easier to rent a truck or call upon a friend who has a pickup!
link title
The Taurus placed third out of nine cars in the test. The test car has the 200hp Duratec engine. The quoted 0-60 time is 8.3 seconds...not too shabby.
It would be a bit surprising to me that there would be a software issue in Tauri at this time as the car has been in production essentially with few or no changes for many years now.
I don't know which engine you have, but with either the Vulcan or Duratec engines typically you should be able to get 27-30 highway, but your city mileage will vary greatly depending on your driving style and how congested your "city" driving conditions are. I usually can get 20-24, but my city driving is not particularly congested.
A friend of mine is really considering buying an excellent condition black 2002 Mercury Sable LS. It has the following:
- 55,000 miles
- Duratec 24V engine
- Leather
- Power Pedals and Driver's Seat
- Auto-Dim RV Mirror
- Compass
- Auto Temp Control
- AM/FM Cass (No MACH or CD Changer)
- No ABS, Traction, or Side Airbags (Has rear drums)
This car rides very smoothly and that motor moves! The steering, handling, tires, and suspension are all first-rate and there are no rattles in the interior. The brakes are new all the way around! Everything works and she LOVES it! I love it! I told her it would be a great car considering my '01 Taurus SES has 88,700 miles and runs like new and has given me no trouble.
The price at the dealer was $10,900 and she was offered $8,600. I think it is a great deal. What do you guys think?
Thanks!
- Alex
You might also try asking Terry (rroyce10) in our Real-World Trade-In Values discussion. Be sure to include all the necessary information that is listed above the post box.
They are indeed very good cars, especially when equipped with the Duratec V-6. Solid, with good handling and no suspension wallowing, but no harshness to the ride. Most underappreciated car in the market, in my opinion.
You can certainly check the Edmunds used car price calculator, or check want ads, dealer lots, etc for comparison prices to see if it is a good deal.
Remember, new car dealers usually mark their used cars up a lot, so there is a whole lot of room for them to come down in price. You can always get to their bottom line by not being too eager to buy, walking out the door, etc and letting them sit on their "final offer" for a day or two. Leave them your phone number and they might come down more.
I had the option of buying a Lincoln Town Car Signature.
my car will start no problem if it is plugged in but once it get to say -15 or o faraheit it seems to roll over ok but then shakes it will start sometimes at this temperature but appears to almost be flooding i did a tune up new wires cap pluggs buyt it made no difference about a year ago canadian tire told me my head gasket was going so they put an engine gasket sealer in it it seems ok i have plenty of power in the engine and pleny of heat in the car could this be part of my problem.
here are a few things people have told me
1 cold cranking amps in battery battery test in green ok but on the line or 12 seems to roll over quickly enough
2 fuel pump when i turn key i hear fuel pump working and never have problems unless its cold weather
3 cold start sensor could it be this
i hope by the process of elimennation to find out what the problem is
thanks
I find on my 2000 SES, the brakes are my main criticism. there seems to be the 'magic inch' where nothing happens when you first depress the pedal. I've had all the usual checks, such as fluid flush etc.
Any thoughts on this?
I still feel this is an underrated car. Many people have travelled in mine and been surprised how good it is. There is space and comfort galore and excellent handling and steering, although the ride is a little choppy I feel. Still great value though.
While there are certainly the exceptions (but how would you know which ones), I personally don't think people that trade their cars in at 40-50,000 miles do much in the way of maint (why would you spend more than you have to if you're not planning on keeping the car?). I would much rather see you buy a 1 or 2 yr old car w/ under 15 or 16,000 miles. It won't cost you any more to own, and you may have fewer problems with it by not buying somebody else's 55,000 miles of neglect/bad driving habits.
If you've already bought it, here's my experience thus far: I bought mine w/ every intention of going 250,000 miles, and at this point, I have no doubt that it will. The only problem of any significance I've had is a starter I replaced last year. Everything else has been routine maint, including in Sept, all new struts & springs (it was my choice to have them done) and lower ball joints. (Ball joints were just starting to show signs of wear. Went ahead and replaced them as long as it was all apart for the struts & sprgs.) Had to switch from 89 oct to 90+ to control the pinging, but I do get better gas mileage, as well as better performance when I want it. Eliminating the pinging will also help me get the 250,000 miles I'm shooting for out of the engine. All fluids have been changed religiously: Oil every 4,000 (hi-way miles), Trans & cooling every year or about 30,000 miles. Got 70,000 miles on my first set of tires. Replaced them w/ the same Continentals and am going to get 100,000 easily this time (only been rotated twice). I keep the car waxed and get the engine cleaned 1x per yr. Once the warranty was up, I have not let the dealer touch my car. I have an excellent mechanic that I have complete faith in. With all that I have done, the car rides, drives, and looks like the day I bought it (despite midwest winters & no garage). There are no leaks or rattles. Engine runs smooth and uses no oil. While my maint cost per thousand miles has gone up slightly each year, depreciation has slowed down considerably now. So, I am expecting my total cost of ownership per thousand miles to be cheaper on this 2nd 100,000 than it was on the 1st. We'll see. Hope this was helpful and good luck w/ what I think is one of the most underated cars on the market.
We noticed a puddle of water on the passenger side floor very soon after we bought the car. It turns out that due to a design defect, water can get into the heater system and ends up on the floor. We took the car to the dealer twice (under warranty) to have this addressed. What the dealer didn’t tell us- is that the blower motor and resistor wind up sitting in a puddle of water.
You don’t need to be an electrical engineer to figure out what happens next. This week the weather turned cold and the blower motor burned out. Back to dealer, 3rd time, charged nearly $300 to replace the blower motor. They told us sorry, not a warranty issue!
Ford has issued at least 2 TSBs on this, and they know it is a design issue. There hasn’t been a recall so they tell you to get lost.
If you have a 2003 Taurus, this will probably happen to you. If it already has do us all a favor and file a complaint with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. Link below:
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/
You will need your VIN # to complete the process, but aside from that it is easy.
If enough people complain, they may make Ford issue a recall and correct this under warranty.
Yes, but they made that drastic "jelly bean" design and the Taurus lost the number one spot and never regained it. The Fusion is a great car, the 500 was designed to be very bland, and consequently is not a run away success. Ford needs to fire it's designers and get some young blood in there!
I have a 2005 Taurus with 33K, 3.0L. I have noticed that only on the first start of the day, for 1-2 minutes, there is a clunking noise each time I press the brake pedal about 1”. The RPM’s go down with the brake pedal and the car will move forward (very slightly). It does this everyday on only the first start of the day. The Ford dealer had an engineer from Ford look at it. They ended up saying that they tried other Taurus on the lot and saw the same problem. They say that no one had ever complained about this problem, and were not sure what was causing it.
Any of you out there have a 2005 Taurus that you can test to see if you have this problem?
Thanks, David
Ford Taurus owner manuals 1996-2006
JH, I agree with everything you have said. My only comment is that the 500 will probably appeal to the 45 year age group if it were designed properly. It needs a little more excitement. I think the Fusion is a step in the right direction!
I just suspect the problem is with the power window fuse.
Thank you for your attention.
Ruben E.
Good luck.
Local Ford dealer mailed me a notice of a wiring harness recall. When I picked it up service advisor really pushed to have me let them repair it for a mild rough cold start. I declined and on the less than three mile drive home, the car died at a red light and ran incredibly rough. It also ran rough for the next couple of days, obviously, this desperate dealer had sprayed something somewhere to hopefully make me come running back for repair. About a week later the dealer called me asking if I wanted my cold start problem repaire. Desperate......this dealer was charging $55 for oil changes...15 years ago.
My Keyless entry for a 2001 Mercury Sable Wagon LS is not working. I have replaced the battery and the unit is not responding. Does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks.
-Geoff
Consider getting a slightly older Taurus, a 2000 or 2001, if purchased for $4500 or less will have 80-90% of the dreaded Taurus depreciation wrung out of it, much like someone would wring the water out of a wet cloth by twisting it. The lower horsepower Vulcan engine actually has a better reliability rating (155 HP). 2000 first year of last Taurus redesign. Then look up Autobarn's internet site and get some Brembo front brake rotors (off-the-shelf brake pads your local mechanic can get are fine). Brembos drastically improve braking performance.
Seldom meet or hear of anyone keeping those large Chryslers/Dodges for very long.
Quite honestly I should have left the tweeters alone. The system just doesn't sound right.
I took it to a shop and was told that I would have to install a new amp and crossovers in the front because the stock Mach System speakers are designed to be
1) The door speakers - woofers and midtones
2) The window tweeters are for highs.
However the climate control is attached to the radio somehow, so changing the amp and radio are out of the question
I need a little help, one I think the mechanic put the upstream sensor I Had in the downstream hole, I was able to get a good look at all 4 sensors while i was there.
My first question is, are the upstream towards the front of the car and the downstream towards the back of the car? If so, I will take the sensor he just installed out and place it in the right place.
Secondly, what tool will be the easiest to take the old sensors out with. I have 3 new sensors in hand but I want to do it myself. Not willing to pay another 300 bucks for nothing, especially after spending an unexpected $500 Christmas eve after my driver side lower ball joint and axle broke of the car.
Thanks in advanced.
Times up and I have to either buyout my leased 2003 Sable LS with only 17000 miles for $10500 or get another car. While I've read that the Montego is the Sable replacement, looking at just specs, the Milan seems a better car. It has slightly more front legroom than the Sable, while the Montego has almost an inch less. The Milan is not much less on headroom, hiproom and other specs than the Sable and the Montego not much more. The Montego gives almost 3 more inches for rear legroom though. The newer Milan engine has higher HP and RPM while the Montego is about the same as the Sable. The Milan has 6 speed auto transmission while the Sable only has 4.
Generally, looking thru the Mercury site, the Montego seems "old" while the Milan seems "new" and "hip".
I really like my Sable, especially the Mach audio, and the new Audiophile option from what I read is lacking, but it doesn't pay financially to buy the 2003 Sable at $10500 plus a $1350 Extended warranty from Ford for 6yr/60000 when I can get the Milan Premier for $295/month lease.
Also, my Sable is column shift tranmission with fold down bench seat. Are any models still made this way or is everything now center console?
Any ideas and experience from Sable owners?? Thanks!
Anyway, I wanted to put in a CD player of some sort, and I was wondering on the center dash, under the radio, there are two slots. The first is open with what looks SORT of like a cigarette lighter to its right. Underneath that is the ashtray and cigarette lighter. The open slot has 3 holes in the rear and there's some removable rubber pad just sitting in there.
Could anyone tell me what the open slot is used for? I was thinking it may be the common size for head units.
The factory radio is designed and wiring already exists to operate a trunk mounted CD player which, I believe holds 6 CD's. You might be able to locate a used OEM deck, and there is (or at least was a few years ago) an aftermarket unit available at Crutchfield. These are kind of pricey, but likely your best bet and it will work with your OEM radio.
You could also go the super inexpensive route and buy a tape adapter unit and just use it with a portable CD player. Crude, but it works and it is super cheap.
I'm willing to go to a mechanic or Best Buy...Pep Boys, whatever for assistance, though.
Any other suggestions before somethin' goes down?
An iPod adapter would be better though and would give you access to much more music than 6 CDs in a changer.
This even gives you some control of the iPod using the car stereo buttons.
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-SkiH5MT6B4b/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?I=581PA11F1
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