1994 Ford Taurus GL from North America - Comments

First thing I did was replace the serpentine belt 1 month after purchase.

Front brakes were replaced.

Radiator leaked and was replaced.

Starter failed and was replaced.

Alternator burned up and was replaced.

Put in a new battery although it may not have been totally needed.

Many front end parts replaced, including both ball joints and right side tie rod end.

Transmission rough shift between 1st and 2nd gear, had tranny fluid changed which helped some.

Most recently I had to replace the water pump.

This is my first car and it has not been a good experience at all. I know the car has high miles, but I think it should be holding up better than it has. I will say despite the many costly repairs the car has never left me stranded (yet!)

I take some of the blame for not researching more before I bought the car, however my parents had a similar vintage Mercury Sable and didn't have this many problems. My guess is the previous owner of this car did not do much preventative maintenance.

Despite the mileage the car does not burn or leak any oil and the engine seems strong. Has never failed to start except when starter needed replacing.

The shocks could use replacing, but other than that it does ride nice and is fairly easy on gas when its running right and not in the shop for a repair.

Next purchase will be a Jeep 4.0L engine, a strong a proven engine I don't want another Ford. My dad who has a 1997 Wind-star is having a lot of problems right now.

I also own a '93 Taurus GL. It is a piece of crap. I bought it with about 170k miles on it and it seemed to work fine once I bought it. As the less than 10k miles progressed, I have had:

1. Change water pump

2. Leaky oil filter (which required added oil every 2 weeks)

3. New transmission filter and fluid (8.3 quarts worth!),

4. The headlight burned out every 2 weeks and the headlight melted through the assembly so now I will need a new assembly

5. No air conditioning

6. Emergency break locked causing massive amounts of heat and smoke to roll out of my back tires

7. Broken motor mount (Why make them fluid filled?!)

8. Windshield wiper fluid doesn't work

9. Revs up whenever it wants to nearly causing me to fly into the person in front of me.

This car has done nothing, but eat away my paychecks and cause me strife. At this point I would take almost any car over it. Don't buy a Taurus!

I know this car is getting almost universally bad reviews, but you both bought a Taurus with 170,000+ miles already! You surely can't expect zero repairs. It's already a crappy car, after reading many of these reviews I'm surprised there's Tauruses running with that many miles.

When reading reviews, I always check mileage when bought and how many miles the reviewer has put on the car.

Let me make a statement. Our household has TWO Fords, and with the combined mileage of the two, we've got 529,000 miles and the heads have never been off of either vehicle and the transmissions are factory original. Yes, they are Tauruses, (Tauri). Maintenance people, MAINTENANCE!! It's so simple, yet so hard for some people. I've NEVER IN MY ENTIRE LIFE, seen a Ford crap out when it was maintained properly. Even the famous Ford Exploder of a girlfriend I once had, had 189,000 miles on the original everything. Not to mention the Crown Victoria Taxi I rode in with 700,000 miles. Does Ford really make that bad of a car?

I have a 1993 Ford Taurus I found out that if your battery runs low it causes your' alternator to burn um so you have to replace the alternator raging from 180 to 130 if you turn in the core some places won't take the core tho and you have to get a new battery.

I'm always amazed how much people hate this car. I owned a '93 3.0L Taurus GL for over 10 years with very few problems. It was my first car in high school, which I later bought from my dad (who got it used) to take to college and beyond. I finally sold it to a friend about 6 months ago, with 250,000 miles on it, and it's still running great for its age.

I did have to get some of the typical repairs done: the transmission, starter, and water pump all went out on me. Though these all happened well after 200k when the car was almost 15 years old, so I can't be too surprised the original equipment wore out. Considering the transmission was the only MAJOR repair (~$2000), and the longevity of the car, I can't complain too much.

I'm sorry but, I have owned 3 Tauri and they all have been great reliable cars.

They do seem to have problems with the ignition module, which can be replaced in 15 minutes with a little tool you can get at the auto parts store. Symptoms are engine hesitation.

Also, I had one on which I had to replace the body control computer. Symptom, the car wouldn't start when it was hot.

Other than that, they were great cars.

I bought them with over 90k on the clock and kept them until they had over 200k. I don't have any of them now, but they are still running and running well. One has nearly 300k on it and I wasn't a stickler about maintenance.

Let me add though, I had the 3.0 engine in mine. The 3.8 appears to have more problems, especially blowing head gaskets.

ONE MORE THING. Be sure to flush your transmission fluid. I never had a failed transmission in any of the these cars, but I understand that not doing this diminishes the life of the transmission significantly, not only in the Taurus but other Fords as well.

Also, forget about the post 95 Taurus. It has a weak Mazda transmission. I wish I could find a low mileage 1995 Taurus SW now.