1989 Ford Taurus

Summary:

Best car ever made

Faults:

Transmission needed repair at approximately 282,000 miles.

Serpentine belt bearing failed around 240,000. This resulted in no air conditioning for a short time, until it could be repaired.

Paint did come off a little, as I think the paint process used during this time frame had a lot a cars flaking paint.

Not so much leg room in back.

General Comments:

This car has got to be the greatest car ever built. Got rid of it when forced to by my spouse.

Gas mileage was 25MPG. Yes, I kept a record of every gallon put in the car, as well as the cost, in several notepads over the years.

Spacious car, with lots of head room and leg room in front.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 22nd April, 2012

1989 Ford Taurus GL 3.0 V6

Summary:

A true lemon

Faults:

Transmission went 6 months after I bought it.

Replaced power steering pump 2 months after purchase.

Air conditioning stopped working after the third week of summer.

After the transmission was replaced, it lasted only 2 years and it went again.

The cruise control stopped working after about a year.

The windshield wiper motor had to be replaced, about 8 months after purchase.

General Comments:

I bought this car used in 1995, it was only 6 years old when I purchased it. There were problems almost after the first week I had it.

When the transmission went the second time, that was when I got rid of it.

If there was only one good thing I could say about the car, is that it did have a strong V6 engine; when it was running, and not giving me problems.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 25th January, 2008

22nd Apr 2012, 20:12

Sounds like you bought used junk. Perhaps with a 6 year old car, you should have been suspicious that it had more than 70,000 miles on it when you bought it. You drove it 83000 in just two/three years... (153000-70000). If your transmission goes bad, it's hard to blame the Ford Taurus. Perhaps it was the people who replaced it.

In reply to 22nd Apr 2012, 20:12

6th Jun 2012, 21:57

Are you the mileage police? A six year old car with 70,000 miles is roughly 11,667 miles per year. Looks like that's close to average. Your comment on another review states that 8,000 miles a year is close to impossible. Ever hear of someone driving a car to the train station to commute? Elderly retired drivers? Stay at home moms? I drive my car 50 miles a day to and from work. My semi retired mother drives her car about 35 miles a week. How do you like that?

You must work for Ford.

1989 Ford Taurus L 3.0 V6

Summary:

Worst car ever built

Faults:

Seven alternators in three years.

Transmission at 74,000 miles.

Water pump at 68,000 miles.

Both rear brake cylinders.

Blower fan.

Thermostat froze closed, had to be replaced.

Parking brake release handle.

Both front axles at 96,000 miles.

Water leaked into trunk.

Car rattled like crazy if you ran over so much as a piece of gravel, and I'm not joking.

Paint completely disappeared from hood, roof and trunk.

HVAC system recirculating feature never worked.

PCV valve melted for no apparent reason.

Car got 13 miles per gallon, nobody could figure out why.

Speedometer did not read correctly, and the needle stopped at 40 mph. The dealer lied to me for six months about the availability of the part needed to repair it. The part in question mysteriously appeared the day after I brought my attorney father into the service department.

General Comments:

This 1989 Ford Taurus was my first car, and my last Ford. I bought it for $3250, and spent over $6000 in repairs during the three years I owned it.

I am not the only one who experienced the transmission problem, where Ford used a weak aluminum piston prone to cracking. This issue put me in danger at least 3 times that I can recall.

You can see from above that almost everything that could have broke did, and I don't need to repeat that here.

I will NEVER buy another Taurus, or any front drive Ford.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 15th October, 2007

22nd Apr 2012, 20:18

So, you bought an 8 year old car with "66,000" miles on it? Isn't that a bit unbelievable? 8,000 a year? You pay $3250 and expect a brand new car. Probably had 166,000... even 266,000 when you bought it.

In reply to 22nd Apr 2012, 20:18

6th Jun 2012, 21:51

To the commentor who asked if I expected to have a new car for $3250:

Please point out where in my review I stated that I expected this car to be "new".

Also, I am interested in knowing how you would like me to report the odometer reading if you don't want me to post what the clock actually said when I acquired the car. I long suspected that the odometer was tampered with, so please forgive me for failing to mention that in my review. The mechanical failures listed on my review occurred at the miles which the car's odometer stated. Should I include a footnote at the bottom of the page stating that these miles MAY not be the actual miles because a previous owner MAY have set the odometer back? Perhaps you can give me a make up assignment. Will I still pass your class, or do I get detention anyway?

I purchased this car when I was 17 years old, and the car was eight years old when I bought it. I had many problems with the car, and what I spent in repairs was far more than the car initially cost me. I have seen and owned cars well over eight years old that were more reliable. I wrote my review based in fact. Based on MY experience with MY car. And since you weren't in my passenger seat for the three years I owned it, I'm willing to bet I know more about my experience with the car than you do.

This website invites car owners to write reviews based on their own experiences with their own vehicles. My particular Taurus had a plethora of mechanical failures within a three year period of time. Did I expect the reliability of a new car? No, that would be plain stupid. What I did expect was better reliability than I got, and since the other four cars I've owned (three of which I have driven past 200,000 miles) proved far more dependable than the Taurus, I gave it worse than average marks in my review. I listed the specific issues I had with it so other readers would know why I gave it those marks. Oh, and just so you know, I bought each and every car USED. Read some other reviews on any car listed on this site and you'll find varying opinions on each one. Is every person who had a problem with their car full of it? I highly doubt it.

The next time you comment on someone's review, perhaps you should actually read it before putting words into another person's mouth. Putting $6,000 worth of repairs into an eight year old car over a period of three years is not acceptable to me, and the next time I have a car that requires that kind of maintenance, I'll give that one bad marks too.

Get your facts straight before posting a comment like that.