26th Oct 2007, 06:34

Our 2004 Taurus works great after 80,000 km. We get comments on how roomy and quiet this car is. This car is excellent value for my dollar.

Stay with your owners manual schedual and find a good garage.

15th Nov 2007, 17:09

I just purchased a 99 Taurus for my son's first car. I have found it to be a decent car so far.

As far as all the complaints go, I don't question them. I will say that when you consider how many were sold over and over again. Taurus has done very well.

Only people with car problems really post and I think that shows here. People who are happy with their car don't go on message boards to say so.

15th Nov 2007, 20:50

I had the same experience. I used to rag on Fords of the '70's and '80's, and then my parents bought a '97 Mercury Sable that has turned out to be a really good car. They bought it with about 40,000 miles and it now has over 170,000 miles, with no work done except to change oil, change transmission fluid/filter, and changing spark plugs. In that respect, I'd disagree about nothing being as reliable as Honda or Toyota, because I don't see how you could beat the reliability of that Sable. And then I bought an '02 Explorer because it was such a good deal, and it turns out that I like it so much that it has turned me into a Ford person. My next sedan will be a Ford. They have earned a customer.

16th Nov 2007, 09:42

Steve & Barry's sell T-shirts and sweat shirts with Ford logos. I bought a long sleeve T. It was at least as good a deal as the 2 Fords we own. ;-)

3rd Dec 2007, 16:17

I bought a '94 Ford Taurus from an older couple at Church 2 years ago, it only had 45,000 miles on it. They took excellent care of the car, had all maintenance records etc.

It did sit for 4-6 months at one point, but again was serviced for that and no problems.

Six months ago the transmission started acting odd, hitting hard etc. A great friend is my mechanic, I have to add money for labor to my check or he won't take anything. He called a friend who does all transmissions for input, and found out they are notorious for a chip going bad, actually a simple fix. All was great.

A bit after that - I'm at the library for 15 minutes and come out to a huge thing of green fluid on the ground - a hose rusted through - again a cheap fix - so then not long after, a small leak of green. My husband looks and there is a hole in the radiator, it had rusted through. Before I could even take it to get fixed, I notice oil spots. So the oil drops were an easy fix, it was a seal around a regulator or something. Radiator of course is a pain to fix because of that type of car, but no biggy.

So what next - the transmission is hitting like a Barry Bonds homerun. You'll be at a stop sign or light and push the gas, nothing, then it slams. Take it back, mechanic calls the buddy again - he says I've got that 94 Taurus again, it's been fine since the last thing, until suddenly it starts. The guy stops him and says let me tell you what it's doing and describes it exactly. Says Ford had a huge problem with the things inside the transmission in the 94's and redesigned the tranny in 95 because of it. That it is likely a cracked tranny piston leaking through, as now you can smell it. No rhyme or reason to it, doesn't matter the miles, some don't do it at all. He'll rebuild it for $1500, my friend laughed. Of course we can get a used one cheaper and get it all done for $600-$700, however in the course of this, from someone else we heard they also had a problem with the head going out in the engine.

I went to this car, have driven a top of the line, Eddie Bauer edition of the Explorer, it was loaded - but had stuff falling off it left and right, radio broke, the lighter broke; FYI I don't smoke so it was hardly used. At 35,000 miles it had to have a new thermostat put in, however, other than that, the engine didn't do bad. It was the little stuff and the COST of the payment. I like to say I traded it for granite counter tops.

I need an honest 4=5th opinion here, non biased, whether you've had a problem with your older Taurus or not. What have you heard on the engines? I hate car payments, but hate not having something I can depend on as much or more. Thanks for the advice.

5th Dec 2007, 08:01

OK, so I agree that the Taurus is not the best car on the road. There are probably plenty other vehicles that are far superior. However I bought a 2004 Taurus 6 months ago with 110,000 kms, and have put over 15,000 kms since with no problems at all.

My family has always owned Fords and generally has had good luck with them. The car gets me to and from school (about 100 km round trip) four days a week. The stock sound system is pretty good, but I am considering some after market speakers.

The car has plenty of power for a small V6. She's not exactly quick of the line, but as soon as you get her rolling she takes off pretty good. The overdrive is geared rather low, which is harder on gas, but the benefit to this is that you can drive the car at high speeds with not a lot of problems. I have had this car at 160 km/h for about 20 minutes straight with the cruise control on, and the engine hummed along like nothing.

The car could be better on gas, but it's not bad considering it's a V6. I get almost 575 km to a tank. The engine used to scream like crazy when I would try and start it in extreme cold, but I started using the block heater in the mornings and it works great, I leave it plugged in for about an hour before I leave, and it fires right up with no problems. The heater/air conditioning are fantastic.

The car handles good in the snow, but trying to move it from a stand still on snow is hard, because it has a lot of torque in the low end, and spins the tires like nothing.

The car has a nice look and a comfortable interior. Mine has a silver exterior and a black interior. The only 2004 SE I've seen with this color combination. It also has a console shifter and 5 spoked alloys (nice touches for a full size car).

The headlights are great; I can see forever at night.

I try to keep up with routine maintenance such as oil changes every 5000 kms, and tire rotations every 10,000 kms. If you take care of any car, it will take care of you. I am hoping to have this car until the end of college (3 more years).