1998 Ford Taurus review from North America

Radiator rusted through without warning.

Cracked Block at 105885 Miles!

I went to test drive this car because it was going to be my first car. It was my grandmothers car in which she has owned since it came from the factory. My grandfather made sure my grandmother changed the oil and radiator fluid on time, and therefore this car never was driven hard or missed a tune up. Seems like the perfect buy! Well, not really. As I was driving this car home I noticed that the temp gauge began to rise, luckily I was close to an AutoZone and parked it to see what was wrong. As soon as I opened the hood, plooms of smoke began to rise from what I had believed to be the crank case. I looked in the radiator fluid resevoir thinking extra fluid would be in there since the engine was so hot. There was absolutely no fluid in there or the radiator, just high pressure gases escaped when I opened the cap. I bought some pre-mixed anti-freeze radiator fluid and added it to the radiator, problem solved! Yeah Right! As soon as I backed out I saw a huge rusty liquid spot on the ground. I knew that the radiatore had rusted through so I attempted to get home on the gallon or so of radiator fluid leaking from the car. I left a trail all the way home with this piece of junk. As I got home the car began to overheat again so again, I popped the hood to find more smoke. GREAT! So I put a hose into the radiator fluid resevoir and ran water through to see where the leak was coming from. I turned the car on and found a huge stream of water shooting from the engine block. I didn't even drive the car over 25 miles and the engine was now gone and dead. To all of those who may want to buy a Ford Taurus: DO NOT BUY A FORD TAURUS!!! I was lucky and my grandmother did not make me pay her, but she is now stuck with a car that is useless. Due to this experience, I will never buy a Ford.