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Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable Sedans Pre-2008
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Comments
When Penneys had an automotive department around 20 years ago, they sold a lifetime battery (full replacement, not pro-rata) for $120. Got three new batteries for my BMW before Penneys closed down that department.
Bottom-line: I don't see any reason for you to pay for a "guarantee." This is not an "extended warranty" item.
I think I would fight that one.(shank6)
For the nearly $30.00 I can get rotors turned really decent for under $10.00 a piece.
Also, my gas mileage is awful (20 mpg at best) and the fuel indicator is whacky! It jumps around and I can't tell how much gas I really have. I thought they mastered the fuel gauge when they mastered the first automobile? What's up with that?
To 911dan, I haven’t had my Taurus in the Southern Cali area, but my Mazda has been a couple times to Orange County and no noticeable mileage difference.
One other thing to add. I did improve my mileage in my Mazda with a K&N "Fuel Injection Performance Kit". I can not find one for my Taurus, if any one has any ideas let me know.
The car runs fine. It is a bit underpowered comparing with newer cars, even with 3.0l v-6, but this is not too bad for 13-year old technology. And both my wife and I like very much the rigid suspension: when cornering, it goes as on rails! No leaning or what.
But what kills it is bad maintainability. With so old car, a lot of gaskets and other rubber need to be replaced. Nothing so important. But, every second time, the labor cost are absolutely out of proportion.
The last straw was the heater. Recently it started to blow into the car some vapors, fogging the windshield. Additionally, the vapors turned to be not a clean water, but the engine coolant - not a nice thing to inhale.
As turned to be, this is just a leak to the heater core. The part itself is not expensive, only $46 + sale tax. But, to replace it, it is necessary to dismantle all the dash (instrumentation panel) and more. At least a $600 job (estimation). Unfortunately, it is too much for so old car.
For the same reason we did not repair the air condition, when it died two years ago. Just a leak of the freon, an old gasket. But to replace the unit by a remanufactured one would cost $1100 or so (estimation) - because half of the car had to be disassembled.
Our mechanic told us that this is the common problem with Taurus, both the older and newer models, and that the newer ones are even worse concerning the maintainability. For example, recently he estimated for one customer how much it would cost to replace the radiator. As it turned, cool $800, mostly labor...
New cars are nice and I think its cheaper in the long run to just make car payments all your life and keep trading cars instead of making repairs,too expensive. (just a comment) Wait until you have an electronic problem turn into a nightmare. Now some cars have as many as 7 to 9 computers on them. I used to be a machanic but thank heavens I have retired.
I still believe, though, this is a wrong design philosophy. Even if currently it is in vogue with all car corporations.
It is right to replace whole large blocks, not repair tiny details, and then to send the blocks to factory for re-manufacturing. But in this case the replacement must accounted for when the car is designed. E.g., if the dash must be removed for changing heater, the dash must be made to be easy pulled away. What about two bolts and a long cable (or bunch of wires) going to a single connector?
I know that our "regular" here in Utah is 85 octane and I'm disappointed that I've had to bump up to mid-grade to obtain the minimum 87 octane level. Does your engine run ok on 85 octane? Will I experience pinging if I use "regular 85 octane" in my engine? Thanks in advance for your response.
I have a 93 Taurus. Last week after we drove for a while and stoped running, for example, waiting for the traffic light, the car body began to shake and gradually strongly, then the "check engine" light was on. We took the car to an auto shop but couldn't figure out the reason. Did anybody have such a problem before? What could cause this? I find the cranking of the engine is not easy, almost everytime, I need to start it two times.
Thanks a lot!
Jane
I recently bought a 99 Taurus SE with 24,000 miles. The brakes squeal loudly when I stop and I was told by the dealer that this is due to the break pads being semi-metallic. Also my gas gauge isn't very accurate, when tank is full shows between 3/4th tank and full. Shows empty with 4.9 gallons left. I saw similar complaint in previous posts. Has anybody else experienced these problems and/or had them fixed??
Thanks,
Neil
Prestone, how do you like your Sable? What mileage are you experiencing in this area? What engine does your Sable have?
Tomorrow will be day 3 in the shop this week for the transmission problem. The mechanics can feel the problem, but since it only lasts for a few minutes they are having a really hard time diagnosing the problem.
First, thanks for the reply concerning the octane level. Second, I'm enjoying the car (LS Premium Sable) quite a bit, especially the adjustable pedals and Mach sound system.
My car has the 24 valve Duratec engine and I feel it has very descent acceleration.
Taurus 99, as per your question concerning gas milage, I'm getting about 18 miles a gallon so far. I'm driving around town mostly. I've only taken it up to the Metro Salt Lake area(Sandy, Murray, etc) a couple of times in the 6 weeks I've had the car.
I'm hopeful that as the engine breaks in, my fuel economy will improve. So far, I have a little over 600 miles on it.
Overall, I'm very happy with the way it drives in town and on the freeway. It feels a lot more solid than my 98 Lumina LTZ ( a fairly descent car)and the price was about the same in spite of the many additional features the Merc has. Not bad at all.
Thanks again for the reply and I'll talk to you later. Have a great weekend.
Just wanted to throw my two cents in tonight. To occupant 1, I traded my 91 Acura Integra last year with 252,000 on it for our 99 Taurus SE and believe me it was a bone. I think your asking for trouble with that many miles. 99Taurus, I'm getting about 22 on the highway up here in NH using 87 octane, but only about 19 in the city. I sell gas for a living and we dont even have 85 octane in this part of the country. That seems awful low. To Prestone, we bought a 2000 Sable LS and dollar for dollar, you can't beat it. The car rides alot smoother compared to our Taurus, and with all the other benefits ( leather,moonroof, alloy wheels, ect. ) it came way in under Camry and Maxima similarlily equipped.
Concerning 85 octane, I'm not sure why the octane level is low here in Utah. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the altitude (approx 4500ft) which we're at.
Glad to hear that you too are enjoying your 2000 Sable LS.
I assume the 2000 body styles will probably go for a grand or so more even with the same mileage, but hopefully not. A 2000 Taurus with 30K miles for well under $13K should be a good buy. Otherwise I'll be satisfied with a 99 under $12K.
I know all about stories of people who abuse rental cars, but there are so many of these to choose from that I'm sure they all can't be bad. I doubt a Sable is the the type of car that atttracts the crazy drivers. They would mostly either be people renting sporty cars and SUVs or very young people who end up renting the cheapest economy rentals to save $8 a day.
There are literally dozens of 99 Tauruses to choose from in my area and I'm sure I can pick one out that had minimal abuse.
The new house will be within 10 miles of work, so I would hope a 99 Taurus ex-rental can handle a 20 mile round trip commute for 2-3 years.
I plan to sell it and move on to another car before it reaches 60K miles. I just need to get 30K miles of trouble free service out of it before getting rid of it and getting another later model used car in 2003.
Thoughts and opinions on 1999 and 2000 model rentals?
This leads me to my question. I go to the dealer tomorrow and he has already estimated at least 24 hrs for the repair. I don't have the extended warranty, but if I did, that would include a loaner car. I think this is B.S. I wouldn't need to take the car in at all if it were right to start with. I'm there for warranty work, and I need a loaner car, I can't believe they are even hesitant. I've been told by the service writer he 'may be able to help with a loaner if it's a major deal'. What do you think?
This leads me to my question. I go to the dealer tomorrow and he has already estimated at least 24 hrs for the repair. I don't have the extended warranty, but if I did, that would include a loaner car. I think this is B.S. I wouldn't need to take the car in at all if it were right to start with. I'm there for warranty work, and I need a loaner car, I can't believe they are even hesitant. I've been told by the service writer he 'may be able to help with a loaner if it's a major deal'. What do you think?
The Aspire I bought will continue to do until the insurance guy tells me he can't insure it. Seems the company I am with will not insure any car that ever had a salvage title. This Aspire was a flood car (looks/drives/smells fine to me) so it may be uninsurable and I may have to sell it back to the dealer. I'm sure I'll get my money back (hiccup).
If none of these are available when I go back, I may simply buy one of the 96-97 Astro vans for sale for $2500 each. Those have 220-280K on them, too, but have rear drive and more reliable powertrains.
I would think a 2000 model with under 30K should be $13K. That sounds like a good price. I won't be able to afford them for years now, but I do like the new model. When 2000 Tauruses are five years old they'll be for sale as taxis because the D/FW Airport doesn't allow cars older than 5 years or over 400K. That's why you see so many small cars (Kias, Elantras, Focuses)...because cabbies can't afford new $22K Crown Vics or $18K Tauruses (or Impalas, which I rode in in Chicago and make nice cabs).
is Program # 00B55 and is to reprogram the PCM.
In effect Ford didn't get it right on the previous reprogram, 00B38, and is attempting to correct it's mistake. The previous reprograming decreased MPG and acceleration. With the recall notice they also sent me a complementary Mag Lite for my inconvenience.
In regards to seldriver's rear door wind noise, I had a similar problem with both rear door windows.
After FORD replaced the window channel / gasket which go around the top and the sides of the windows, the noise decreased dramatically.
Prestone: Thanks for the reply, were you able to get a hold of a dealer to answer your question about running 85 octane?
My 2000 SES pulled to the right for several months. No matter what the alignment tech did, the pull didn't go away. I checked tire pressure and they were exactly the same. Just for the heck of it, I swapped the front wheels from side to side. The car has tracked straight as an arrow ever since. Go figure.
some 5 months ago, and did not receive recall
notices.
The car handles and shifts adequately. No problems
so far. This is, however, a Ford, so knock on wood.
The first recall dropped the acceleration performance and made it harder to start (hard cranking - sometimes multiple tries). After the second recall is now MUCH easier to start and has much better acceleration characteristics.
I was getting 22 mpg average after the first recall - not like some who were getting 15-17 mpg. Too soon to tell how much of an improvement I will see, but looks like I will se a little bit anyway by how the mileage is going up and the fuel gauge isn't dropping so fast.
If you get the recall, don't hesitate to get it scheduled and get it done!
I just picked up my car and noticed an immediate difference in acceleration! MUCH BETTER. When I got home from the dealer, I had a "Ford Motor Company" Maglite flashlight waiting for me too!
I look forward to any responses.
http://www.geocities.com/bigbang9999/backfire.jpg