1989 Ford Taurus GL review from North America

The clear coat started coming off the car in around 1996. By the year 1999, there was no clear coat left on the top of the car and the color coat was fading away to reveal the primer.

Rust started to appear on the door handle at around 1995. The quarter panel had rust holes in it in the year 2000.

CV joints at 70,000 miles.

The lightbulb in the radio, the lightbulb in the clock, and the Air conditioner failed at 70,000 miles.

The alternator generates too much electrical interference on the AM radio.

Complete brake overhaul (calipers, cylinders, rotors, drums) at 80,000.

Water pump, heater core, transmission gasket and a rear suspension part all failed in rapid succession at 90,000 miles.

The CV joint failed a second time.

The passengers side rear power window seized up and wouldn't roll down.

The power seat, only moved extremely slowly.

The power locks only worked on the driver side.

The rear doors became very difficult to open because the door mechanism was gummy/rusted.

A well known transmission defect started to occur at 110,000 miles. I decided to get rid of the car.

The 3.0L Engine is very reliable and never required any work.

The transmission was always a bit strange in the shift between 1 and 2. The cracked aluminum piston defect in the transmission started to make its presence known when the car would rev into neutral after a sudden stop.

What I couldn't stand about this vehicle was the clear coat delamination. It made the car a horrible eyesore for many years. Most darker colored fords in that era had the exact same problem.

Replacing the light bulb in the radio required that I tear my whole dashboard apart. The light bulb was custom and cost me $20.00 at the dealership.

I think the doors have water penetration issues which causes the failure of the power windows, door locks and door mechanism.

I can't imagine that there are many 1989 Ford Tauruses that are in anything but poor condition today.