Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Options
Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable Sedans Pre-2008
This discussion has been closed.
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
upsetter1: Your car is now 10 years old and by now it paid for it itself. When did you replace the starter?
wep68: That's what I called dependable and well made.
I'll obviously fix my car soon. I'm just waiting for the weather to warm up a bit here in New York and get into the scorching 40's.
Enough whining. Thanks very much guys for the good advice you gave me. Still like my car and believe it's a good value.
Replacing a worn part on a car that has 150K is not as painful as having to fix a spring chicken with 29K. I wonder what else will go wrong.
I do believe, however, that repairs on domestic cars are cheaper than on foreign makes, especially European. Repairing an out of warranty Toyota has to be costlier than an American car. This is exactly part of the hidden value of a Taurus/Sable or other American over a Honda/Toyota. By the way and speaking of Hondas, my mechanic, who works on hondas (and other makes) told me to stay away from them Hondas.
Yeah a trusted mechanic is much better than a dealer. Dealers sometimes do a very sloppy job, especially if they are VW or Audi dealers. Actually I have no trust in VW, Audi dealers at all. It is very frustrating taking into account how much more they ask.
The shop initially checked rack and pinion components and greased some parts which quiet the noise but didn't make it go away. Within a few days the humming sound returned, and now is very loud to the point of embarrassment.
Took the car back to the shop and was told that there is power steering pump failure and needs replacement.
I need to say that initially I thought that the noise was being transmitted through the steering wheel perhaps because it came up every time I turned it (left or right). However, I don't feel a vibration in my hands but a loud sound coming from the engine bay. I believe that my original impression and observation were wrong, and it could change the diagnosis regarding power steering failure. I also checked the serpentine belt and it seems intact. There is no loss of steering whatsoever.
I've used a private shop for the last 12 years for service and repairs. I've been allowed to watch my car being serviced and fixed. My mechanic, who's also the owner, listens to me, answers all my questions and doesn't show impatience. I do ask a lot of questions but in a thoughtful and courteous manner.
As far as German cars, they're for the most part made well but when anything goes wrong it'll cost you not only in labor but parts. Japanese too. Now that Toyota became the 2nd car maker in the world its dealers may try to exploit it by jacking up fees. Only my assessment. But I tell you that those 7 + years that I had the Camry I know I saved $$$$$$$ in scheduled maintenance by not using Toyota dealers' service depts.
I know there are very good dealers around the nation. I just haven't found them.
Having a relationship with a local mechanic may one day real soon become a distant memory of the past replaced by trips to Pep Boys or Firestone Stores or the like. The corner Gas Station will have gone the way of neighborhood hardware stores!
My BIL has close to or over 159k on his 97 SHO. No issues aside from wear/tear high miles stuff.
My friend had a 96 and 97 Taurus with a combined 170k miles. Only a tranny failure ont he 96 fixed under warranty. Otherwise, nada. Now he has a 2003 and I haven't heard of any issues.
The Taurus is a good car. When I mean nickel and diming, I mean small stuff.......not anything catastrophic but still stuff that can cost 2-300 at a time. Hoses, belts, etc. The occasional starter or pump.
Alot of these cars were supposedly very bad reliability cars as stated by Consumer Reports. I have never had any major problems with any of them. Except for normal wear and tear. I am fanatical about doing the preventative maintainence on my vehicles. I have lately been using a log book to record all maintainence performed by me. Started with the 90 Escort GT. The Lebaron and the Escort are riding on the original clutch so when people tell me that the foreign cars are more reliable than the domestics I just don't think thats the case. I really believe each individual drives and takes care of certain cars in their way and the car will act accordingly. Oops, i forgot to mention my 90 Isuzu Amigo which i still use for work...90,000 miles on that guy. :-) Now the Amigo i needed to replace the clutch because i use it to tow stuff for my work...but now drives very nicely...
I think a manual transmission Taurus must be pretty darn cool to drive-- a lot of get-up and go. What's your horsepower/torque? And is '99 the last year SHO was made?
99 last year for SHO. the v8 in the SHO is an 8 cylinder version of the Ford Contour Duratec v6. (3.4 litres on 8 cylinders vs. 2.5 on 6). Yamaha designed the heads and intake system I believe, similar to their workings in the 89-95 SHO.
I like the car, but it is very relaxed compared to the 89 SHO I had with stick. The 89 was a brute, but also purred on the highway. The 99 is saddled with a slow auto tranny and needs more torque yet it has the same mid and high rpm rush, and is silken smooth in operation. The car literally never feels like it will run out of breath, even at 90 plus mph it still feels like its not breaking a sweat.
Car doens't have much sound damping though so it can sound loud at times. It never sounds or feels strained, it only sounds like music.
There is a design defect Ford is not addressing, and the best place to read up on that is v8sho.com
I did test a Contour SVT once and it was SWEET. It was a lively car with a phenomenal engine sound and it was fast and shifted nice. Handle well too. I wish I had one to bop around in.
The regular Contour SE v6 with manual is a pretty entertaining drive also.
I have often thought recently what it would take to buy a low mile 03 or 04 Taurus, And find a way to easily extract about 30-40 more hp, dress it up a bit and put some nice wheels on it, and some mild suspension tuning. End product would not be too spendy, it would be unique and reasonably quick.
I will tell you however, that the Duratech has much better acceleration capabilities from dead stop or at highway passing speeds.
Mileage is just as good with my new Taurus as my old. In fact, I believe it is a bit better with my Duratech, especially on the highway. Again, I am comparing cars ten years apart so all my comments are subject to that limitation.
Ford's contribution: Falcon, Pinto, Maverick, Galaxie 500, Fairmont, Fairlane, LTD, Aerostar, Windstar and soon Taurus.
Chevy's contribution: Corvair, Monza, Vega, Citation, Celebrity, Nova, Lumina and Lumina APV, Caprice, and now Cavalier.
How many models have Honda or Toyota dropped?
Interesting that most former Taurus, Sable, and Lumina owners that I know are now driving a Toyota Camry. Latest casualty in favor of Camry was a Buick Century. One exception is a former Sable owner got a Chevy Malibu in 2000 and is still driving it with 72,000 miles on it now.
Ford's contribution: Falcon, Pinto, Maverick, Galaxie 500, Fairmont, Fairlane, LTD, Aerostar, Windstar and soon Taurus."
Are you kidding?? What you posted there is a list of Ford All Stars. Do you know how many Falcons they sold??? Do you have any idea the impact the Maverick and Fairmont had on the company???
If you are saying that American companies change names a lot, I'd say that's more of a marketing tool. How about Honda...not one Acura model is called what it originally was. Are they all duds???
Had Ford not made any of those models you mentioned (and some were in production for a decade or more) there would not be a Ford Motor Company today!
Go back to the Camry board and discuss your engine sludge and leave us Ford Dopes alone!
Yup. The Acura division of Honda is guilty as charged.
Now where's my Honda CVCC? Or Toyota Corona...Datsun anyone?
If anyone is seriously interested in comparing the Taurus/Sable to any of these vehicles, feel free to hop over to the Sedans Comparisons board and fire one up.
But meanwhile, let's let this conversation get back on track. Thanks.
Agree, lets exchange Taurus/Sable info and take the "my car is better than your car" talk elsewhere!
Mechanic calls me in the afternoon to tell me that they were partially rebuilding the pump and not replacing it as some components were still in good condition. Seals, pressure valve and high pressure valve were replaced. System was bled and will be tested tomorrow morning. If the humming sound is gone after the test, great. If not, they'll have to replace the rack and pinion at a cost of at least $500. I wont agree to do it. Later in the afternoon I stopped by the shop and everything was shown to me in a diagram.
Noise is gone, for now anyway. $200 was the cost.
BTW when I was shopping for a used Sable I tested one among many others. I didn't like it because steering fluid level was higher than recommended and sales person asked me after the test drive (I did it alone) was steering okay or not. So I assumed that power steering was rebuilt or replaced.
Did anybody notice that new Buick LaCrosse resembles Ford Taurus not only in exterior but also in dashboard design ?
Ford's contribution: Falcon, Pinto, Maverick, Galaxie 500, Fairmont, Fairlane, LTD, Aerostar, Windstar and soon Taurus."
Falcon, Maverick, LTD, Galaxie 500, Fairmont, Taurus, and Fairlane were not dropped because they were "duds". It was that the names were outdated after a long successful run.
Example: The last Galaxie was in 1974 (after selling well for 15 years) and it was the exact same car as the 1975-78 LTD, how is that a 'dud'?
Also: Falcon and Maverick were dropped when the next genration cars were very different. But if one is smart enough to know car history better, they would see that the Falcon's basic platform lasted through many name changes, from 1960-80! Yes, the Maverick and Granada were the same underneath as the Falcon.
I would say that the Pinto was a dud.
At this moment, my Lacrosse, oops Taurus, comes complete with a two tone paint job, road salt white over green.
Did you see that post in the LaCrosse discussion showing the photo toggling back between Taurus and LaCrosse? Pretty good one.
The only thing that could prevent that is a 2005 Mustang SVT Cobra!!!!!!
Wow, what a car. Now I just have to figure out how to get this buy the wife.
The LaCrosse does reminisce the Taurus but that name LaCrosse I couldn't live with. I find it even more distasteful than Sonata.
I also want to comment that The Merc. Sable is more on par with the Toyota Avalon than Camry. Sable is somewhat more upscale than Taurus. The latter competes with Camry.
I know what you guys are going to say, that you can dress a Taurus just like the best equipped Sable.
Power steering is easy to repair, it is not as complicated and tricky as transmission, so don't worry. All my old cars had noisy power steerings in some degree. It is recomended to change steering fluid, I am going to do it at 30,000 miles. Some dirt may be collected over time (from internal operation) and it is very damaging for power steering. It is recommended to keep it clean. Actually it is easy do damage power steering when removing the dirty cap. Sand or other contaminants will certainly damage power steering in short time. It quite possible that it happened in your case, esp. if you bought your car used and don't know how it was maintained. In Duratec there is no need to remove cap to check level and it is very nice feature.
But it seems to me that over the years Ford's has sold more Sables than Toyota's sales of Avalons. On the other hand, Ford's answer to the Av. was perhaps one of the Lincoln models and not the Sable. Although, Lincoln competes with Lexus. This is getting complicated.
My friend used to own a 94 Taurus for 8 years and got 180000 miles out of it without major breakdowns. Motor and tranny never failed. It required only wear and tear item replacements and regular maintenance. Finally he donated the car and leased an Accura. The
guy wanted a sporty car.
Moral of this story is: Taurus/Sable are reliable and dependable cars. FoMoCo didn't want to spend the money to aggressevely market these cars, and so it allowed the Japanese counterparts to gain market share in the NorthAmerican market. Shame on you Ford!
Toyota became the 2nd car manufacturer and relegated Ford to 3rd place. Ford will have to sweat it out to regain market share. In the meantime, dollars become yen and pump up the Japanese economy while we become poorer and unemployed in the U.S.