2002 Ford Taurus SE review from North America

Cam synchronizer went bad at 45K. It was covered under warranty, but I still had to pay the $250 deductible.

The blower motor went bad around 70K. It just happened, so the jury is still out on that one!

There is also a squeaking sound coming from the steering column, which I will have checked out as well. I hope it's minor. These $250-300 repairs every 6 months or so are really starting to add up!

The car is very roomy and comfortable. It has a huge trunk, and lots of space in the rear seat if you needed to take passengers with you.

The engine seems to work pretty well. It is quick when I need it, although the gas mileage could be better. Right now I get about 20 mpg since I drive in mostly bad traffic.

Air conditioning worked great up until the blower motor went out. Obviously this is a very common occurrence amongst Taurus owners.

The CD player however skips a lot when going over bumps, and many times the CD's get stuck inside. I have to press the eject button like 50 times, and it will eventually come out. To fix the CD player, they would have to remove the whole front panel, which includes the climate control settings. Obviously that isn't very safe in case I need the defogger, so I have just left it like it is. I would like to add my own in-dash radio/CD player, but that doesn't seem possible in this model.

I know someone mentioned here that Toyotas and Hondas are bad. My experience and many others I know is just the opposite. My previous car was a Honda Accord, and just for comparison, I had it until it was at 140,000+ miles, and would have had it longer had a lady in a BMW not totaled it. Those cars are unbelievably reliable and I can't imagine why anyone would say such a thing.

Toyota's are great too. Had a Camry until 130,000 miles, although it had more problems than the Honda did. If only American cars would be like that, I would always buy American, but unfortunately that is not the case. I thought Fords were better than this, but I was mistaken.

I have also owned Chrysler and GM cars too. I have to say GM is probably the best, then Ford, then walking, then Chrysler, which is worst of the worse in my opinion.