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Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable Sedans Pre-2008
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does anyone know if the Vulcan & the Duratec use a timing belt or chain?
Both engines use a timing chain.
Also, none of the local dealers have a new Taurus with a Duratec... (as of a week ago, anyway)
well, I have the bug to get something new. If I could afford one, I'd probably get an F-150 Supercrew. But I figure a Taurus is a good compromise.
I wanted to make sure they had a chain; I don't trust belts...
I'll probably work up the nerve to buy one sooner or later! lol
Inserting text; you mean the subject line next to our user names? I think one of the hosts said they're having "Technical Difficulties"; Friday the 13th was a rough one for them...
Enjoy.
Still unsure whether to go with the Impala or Taurus. I go back and forth. I haven't test driven them yet so that may make a difference right there. And the price, of course.
My dad is down on GM because of the '90 van he bought. It was brand new and after 100 miles it quit cold on the interstate. I can't remember what the problem was but he's had nothing but problems with that van ever since. He will never buy another GM! I've been pretty happy with my Grand Am though.
That's too bad about your father's van. I don't know anyone who's had bad luck with anything they've bought. Except for maybe my truck, which has been expensive to maintain & repair, but it's never left me stranded, or feeling like its not safe to drive; anyway, I'm guessing you'd get a good vehicle out of either the Impala or the Taurus.
I wanted to check mileage so shortly after we got home I filled the tank and was pleased to see we got just over 25 MPG.
Its also a great car on the road... lots of power and great comfort features!
You are correct! A darn site better than what we got with the '97 Ford E-150 hi top van with the 5.4 V/8 we traded on this car!!
For once we seemed to make the right decision at the right time!!
Gas going here on Long Island for around $1.60 a gallon. Paid $1.55 last night at a discount Exxon near us. Paid the same on Sunday at another Exxon in Ithaca, NY (upstate).
There are stations in our area charging as high as $1.67 for a gallon on unleaded regular. The price has been going up on a daily basis (last Thursday I paid $1.48 a gallon) so I don't expect those prices to hold.
$2.00 by Memorial Day??? could be....
I've about eliminated the Impala as a car to buy. I test drove one today and didn't really like it. It had a bounce to it like loose springs. I'll test drive a Taurus sometimes later this week.
is there a lot to the 30k mile service? is it expensive? as a comparison, the 60k service for my 4x4 was over $500...
stnel - gotta love those test drives! I've eliminated a lot of cars after driving them that I thought I'd love...
Talk about cheap gas in Starvin' Marvins--the lines are always pretty long on Saturdays since that's the cheapest place in town to buy and a fight almost broke out between 2 men in there because one was holding up the line. Considering I was standing between those two in line, I was afraid when the first punch was thrown, I'd be the one to get hit. Needless to say, I may start buying gas somewhere else. A fight didn't break out that day, but who knows what kind of hotheads may be in there the next time.
The fur could really fly if someone tried to "cut" the line as it went around a corner! They were wonderful days when getting a tank of gas could take you an hour! Lots of reading done in cars in those days!
And what had I just done?? Switched from a 4 cyl Capri to a big V8 Mercury Montego! Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time! This time we may have made the right decision going to the Taurus from the van.
That's one of those teenage memories but I always wondered just how much gas we were getting. Could gas have been 25 cents a gallon back then?
I think that when I started driving in 1967 regular gas was around 15 cents a gallon.
I think that before the Arab Embargo we were paying something like 29 cents??
I'll have to look it up and see if I can find the prices.
ger2138 - I think you've got the cheapest gas prices yet.
It was not unusual to spend $30-40 to fill our '97 E-150 hitop van and we haven't had it for 2-3 months already!
If you need to put 30-35 gallons of $2 gas into an SUV and that $60-70 only lasts 3 days, how many people are going to still spend 30-40 thousand for one of them??
Seems to me that if the gov doesn't drive the huge SUVs (Suburbans, Expeditions, Hummers, etc) out of the market some day the gas prices may.
the Ford dealer in Duluth has a beautiful black SEL with everything. I was tempted to go for a test drive, but I prefer the column shifter... At least I know they get some Duratecs from time to time!
iusecad - In pricing Tauruses, I saw a new SES priced at the same price as a new LX (no options added on either car). I thought that was really odd. I believe an SES is about $2,000 more. That dealership has a funny way of pricing its cars. I'll be going there later this week to test drive a Taurus. You may wind up buying a Taurus before I do.
I went back to Starvin' Marvin and it looks like Marvin left. They've been bought out.
I often drive my dad's 1998 Taurus SE with 24 valves etc... I am wondering if anyone can help me with a question. The whole overdrive issue is very confusing. What is it exactly?
When the car is started, by default, overdrive is on. Should it be used for highway or city driving? Should it be used for 60km/h and more? Also, I read somewhere that o/d consumes more gas. Since the Taurus is a gas guzzler, will this help save gas?
I am wondering when overdrive should be used, if it should be left on all the time. I have reviewed the owner's manual but it doesnt shed much light. Frankly, this is very confusing. I really appreciate any time taken to help me out!
What do you mean by gas guzzler?
I have a 97 with a Vulcan. Get between 22 to 23 daily use and 28 to 31 fully loaded with 4 passengers and A/C on for trips over 175 miles.
What are other Taurus owners getting for mileage. Probably be more interest in this topic because gas is only going to increase in price for the next couple of months!
Practically, "overdrive" allows the engine to spin at a lower speed at highway speeds; it's a 4th gear. This translates into better mileage.
Opinions differ on when you should "lock out" overdrive. I think that most would agree that unless you notice the transmission "hunting", or frequently shifting back and forth between 3rd and 4th, you can just leave it on all the time. Most of the time, this frequent shifting is caused by a full load of passengers and luggage or mountainous terrain.
Thanks,
L8_Apex
Host
Sedans Message Board
GAS IS 1.84 A GALLON IN CHICGO ILL.
For those of you who have a 3.0FFV engine that pings. The problem will not go away by chaning octane levels or running cleaners through the injectors. Our car has been into the service department no less that 11 times for this problem. The dealership and Ford have exhausted all means to come up with a fix. THERE IS NO FIX! (The Ford factory engineering group know about the problem but can not come up with a fix!)
Just last week for example they finally installed a new processor (computer). My wife picked up the car at dealership last Friday and drove home, no ping (yet). Saturday she did shopping and normal errands, no ping (yet). Sunday car was in garage all day. Monday off to work, no ping (yet). On way home (18 miles), she stopped she for groceries, then continued home whereby the check engine light was on and the car was pinging more than ever!
After she arrived home and was now in "orbit", I immediately called the customer service representitive at the dealer (caught him just before he left for home), whom took our case from the their service writter several months ago. To say the least he was shocked and very disappointed that the processor had not corrected the problem. He arranged for another loaner car to be ready upon my arrival that evening (our eighth or ninth), my wife and I have been there so often we can find it in our sleep!
While the car was in last week for the "ping" they also made their eighth or ninth try at resolving an on-going problem with wet moisture forming on the passenger side windshield. This has only occurred when the car is parked outside, at night, after being driven for more than 20 minutes.
Once we came out to the car in our daughter's driveway to find every window covered in wet dew. We had to dry the windows with towels because there was no way the defroster could could handle it! The car has been soaked in water looking for leaks, interior torn apart several times, the carpet is dry, the truck is dry, doors are dry.
Through a close friend in California whom works for Ford he found TSB from 1999 that address the smell/order coming from the heater in vehicles in California and Arizona. The problem stated in TSB was that condensation was forming in the heater box and forming mildew. Solution found was Ford installed small electric fans in the heater box that seem to disipate the condensation.
On the cars they installed the fan on they have had no further complaints about odor. Thus this is what the dealership installed on the car last week. However we don't know if fixed our problem with moisture on the windows as the car is still at the dealership.
In closing the dealership and Ford have some to us with an offer to purchase back the vehicle and place us into a new 2001 SES. We are still working out the trade off and details today, but it looks like they are standing behind their product and are willing to find a equitable solution.
I will stop back and give you an up-date.....
I know having a lemon is a pain (I've had 2 - a '79 Capri and an '84 Toyota Van)but the treatment you are getting sounds great! We were out on our own with our two and spent lots of money and time in the process.
We have a 2001 Taurus SEL and love the car. Hope you have better luck with your new 2001!
I don't know about the lemon laws in Louisiana, where I live, but I imagine Louisiana would protect the dealerships over the consumer.
Yes the FFV is the Flexible Fuel. Unless you can use this feature a lot, I would recomend to not get it. I have not heard very good things.
These vehicles are designed to operate very lean on fuel, by adding the special FFV fuel system Ford created a whole new problem to deal with. You will note that the FFV system is no longer available, I wonder why?
Still waiting for the dealer to call with final details/delivery of the 2001 SES. Sale price seems fair at $19,300 for 3.0 Vulcan, side airbags, ABS, Traction, CD, 60/40 rear seat, floor mats,
adjustable pedals. Ford is buying/taking back the old car, plus giving me $$$ for my hazzles towards the new car. I am dealing with the "Internet Sales Person" (via Edmunds) whom I bought the 2000 SE from. He is great, and I found that I got a better deal than walking through the doors and spending 5 hours haggling a deal out. Do your home work first.
My wife loves driving the Taurus. She likes the way it handles, comfort level, and safety. We looked very closely at the 2000 Honda Accord, however when she test drove the car she didin't like the ride/feel.
Cheers,
Woodge in Oregon
woodge - I've seen ads in paper for $3000 off sticker price. A salesman at one of the dealerships told me I should get more than $3000 off the sticker price. (He could afford to give me the advice since they didn't have any LX's.) I don't know if I would be pushing it to try for $4000 off. It sounds like you got more than $3000 off the sticker price. Once you start adding all the goodies on to the car, the price goes up in a hurry!
I am a fairly new, young driver and I really enjoy this message board, it's very helpful. By the way, by gas guzzler, I meant that it consumes alot of gas. I dont know the precise miles/kilometers it gets on a full tank but I will be sure to monitor it and post it. With gas prices so high, (here in Montreal it's reached $0.879 per liter, almost $2/gallon!) it is difficult to keep up.
Actually, I have another concern if anyone has any info. When my dad bought this car from a Ford dealer in 99, it was used. It is the SE trim and in the manual, it says that it should have a cd changer or somekind of cd player. On the radio console itself there is a "CD" key. I am just wondering if this model is supposed to come with the cd player because we did not get one.
Thanks again for your time and patience!
And, no, you did not get ripped off. The CD changer was an option. Be happy that you can just plug a unit in, rather than have to use an FM modulated one.