Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see May lease deals!
Options
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
My late production 98 has the indicator in the dash, but of course, no light.
The door locks are interesting. I know you can program the auto-lock (engine start, trans in or out of Park), but can you change the lock button activation? I didn't see anything in the manual. Since I have an alarm that locks the doors and arms the system, I never used this feature. Since reading about it here, I've tried it and it's neat. Too bad many of these features are never covered in the manual or shown by the salesman!
28,200 miles so far......
Deke
I think it's good they're killing the Taurus name - while it was a neat car in the 80s, like oldsman said it has become boring rental bait. The only people I know who drive new ones work for Ford suppliers or Ford itself.
The replacement, the "Ford Five Hundred", looks to be a *much* nicer car. I think Ford's quality is still highly suspect (though the wife's Escape has been a great vehicle, knock on wood) so I would never buy one, but GM and Ford have to make competitive cars again. Unless the Japanese really slip up, though, that opportunity might have already passed.
You can either turn it on or turn it off so that the doors lock when you hit the button once.
I had thought that GM developed this technology in response to the fairly recent government requirement for an automatic tire inflation monitoring system in response to the Firestone/Explorer roll over problems.
I wonder what the full story is as to why this light was put in and never used.
December of 99. Beginning at 12K miles the power
windows began to fail. The car now has 55K and
six windows have failed. Two of the six have of
course failed for the second time. As the car is
no longer on warranty, GM has only paid for 3 of
the 6 failures. This is without a doubt the
worst built car that I've ever owned. After 30+
years of loyalty to GM, they have lost me forever. We also have had the usual steering
and head lamp woes, but at approximately $500 a pop
and an average frequency of failure rate of 4.5
months, it's the windows that have done me in.
GM's service has been even worse than the car.
I'd like to hear from anyone that has had similar window woes
with this or any other recent GM sedan.
Back to the Intrigue. All 4 of my power windows failed at around 55K. I did not have the extended warranty. Paid $250 to get motors/regulators replaced. Not at a dealer, a guy on the side. At 80K miles, now have the passenger rear window dead again. Regulator/motor again. Seems the wires in there get tangled up pretty good and kill the motor. Poor design for sure.
Other than that and the ISS, this car has been great. Just replaced the front pads at 79K (only the second time) and the rear pads (first time). Rotors replaced around 50K. Have a build date of 5/98 with the 3.8L motor. Minor issue with the headlights recently. Driver side was going on/off. Loose connection, problem fixed. Love the car and will have it for another three years until the van is paid off.
Since the Tornado cost me about $80 including shipping, at $1.53/gal it should pay for itself after 52 fillups (26 using the 2 mpg increase). There are few things on the market that provide a noticable performance improvement and fuel savings for less than $100. In my opinion and from my personal experince, I say it's worth the money.
Since I was so impressed with the Tornado I got one for the wife's Bonnie. Surprisingly, it didn't have the effect I thought it would have while at the same time it did. Here's what I mean:
Off-the-line power didn't appear any different than before. However, hitting the gas while rolling (say 20 mph) the response felt more immediate. Not stronger like in the Intrigue, but more immediate. It's a strange feeling to describe. Since her car is used primarily for shuttling from the house to the train station, we don't put it on the road much (it's '95 and only has 62,000 miles!) This weekend I plan on taking it on the highway to get a feel for it.
I probably didn't feel a tremendous difference in the Bonnie as I did in the Intrigue because the Bonnivlle (SLE - non supercharged) has so much dog-gone power down low most anyone would be satisfied. The real test is how it performs in the 55 - 75 mph zone. I suspect if there is a performance benefit using it with the 3800 engine, this is where it will be seen. My 3800 Intrigue ran out of breath above 60-70.
However, when I notice some small drifting like that, it's usually because of a small difference in tire pressure between both sides. Sometimes, in my experience, less than about 1PSI is enough to cause that. And it's only noticeable at high speeds because then any small difference is amplified over 30 or 100yds, or 1 to 3s.
My Intrigue was at least 3" taller than my dad's '88 Caprice(a much larger car).
And 8" taller than my Camaro.
They are therefore much more susceptible to crosswinds.
I know the Intrigue was built to counteract that, but there's always a little bit left. : )
If I had a business reason, I'd probably lease an SUV to take advantage of the gaping tax loophole. But since I don't, I'm going to keep on making purchases instead of leases. Who know, maybe I'll hit 80K by the end of the year! :-)
The ride is still comfortable but it is getting a bit coarse and handling isn't as confidence inspiring as in the past. That is attributed to the worn Badyears--I mean Goodyears--that I plan to replace this month to take advantage of the Sears Michelin sale and to pass inspection.
I have had my '99 to the 108 limit several times,
and it had a lot of room left. Even with the lowly 3.8 pushrod motor. It pulls to 5500 rpm and cruises in excess of 80 daily. BTW, mine is very steady at high speed with 72k miles and original struts.
120 mph would be maddness, but fun.
;-)
As for drifting, I've found the Intrigue to be pretty stable in cross winds. My boxy Volvo-like 89 Touring Sedan was affected by strong crosswinds much more than the Intrigue is.
Next time you all buy a car, consider the turning radius. Driving around in my 40ft turning radius Maxima is like driving around in an SUV. I've done more 3 (and sometimes more) point turns in this vehicle than I have in my whole life driving. Ugh!
I prioritize noise, comfort, wet traction and hydroplaning resistance over cornering and dry traction.
TIA
The Eagle LS are also on the hard side, so I want a tire with good comfort levels.
I don't know about their cornering and wet pavement abilities, as their rubber is fairly deteriorated and so far have been performing poorly (I'm giving them the benefit of doubt).
Both Aquatred 3 and Harmony fare well in these aspects in that survey. Goodyear tires usually have a bad rap, although I'm happy with the Eagle RS-A that my Bonneville wears (then again, it's got excellent noise isolation). On the other hand, Michelin tires have a good rap, but the OEM MX4 on my late Stratus were the worst tires I've seen and they are among the most expensive ones.
If anybody has an opinion about these or other tires with these characteristics, I'd like to know it.
Thanks.
I looked at the test data on tirerack and determined they were the ones for me.
They are quieter and they are a little better over the small bumps and about the same on big bumps.
They are excellent in the rain with no hydroplaning. Also seem to corner as well or better than the GA's.
The only negative is because they have a higher treadwear rating and have a harder compound they sometimes will squeal a little on hard deceleration.
overall they are an excellent tire.
The other lesson I learned was check to see what *tires* are available before you buy any new car. We get to choose between Michelin Pilot Sport A/S ($200 ea), the OEM Bridgestone Potenzas (horrible in rain/snow), Goodyear Eagle RSAs (probably the most reasonable replacement) or basically slicks. You can get winter tires (Blizzaks), but on a FWD car that is just stupid, unless you live in the Arctic.
I'm happy to get another set of Eagles. No complaints at all.
BJL
So far, I am very satisfied. They are quiet, ride well and reasonably priced. They replaced the Goodyear RSA's that came with my '98 Intrigue.
One of the biggest reasons the Maxima has a higher turning radius is the 17 inch wheels. I checked other cars with 17 inch wheels and they all had a similar turning radius (only one I could find that didn't was a Lexus IS 300). In fact, I bet the GXE (it has 16 inch wheels) has a smaller turning radius.
Also, to what percentage has the road noise subsided with a different tire than the good years.
My rsa has 33000kms and they howl like winters with studs, quieter in the rain go figure, and the ride is like a tractor over cracks and expansion joints.
Any opinions would be appreciated. Thanks