Clutch went out at a stop light.
At the same stop light the shifter cables broke, so it's stuck in neutral.
Main valve cover gaskets blew at 107000 miles.
Replaced the starter.
When replacing the radio, the dash lights went out.
Seats wear after time.
This car is an utter piece of crap. Yamaha did a good job on the engine. But Ford as they always do, put in a transmission that couldn't handle the torque. The tranny job to fix would have cost 1200 dollars, not including labor, you have to drop the whole front end in order to get the tranny out.
Valve gaskets would have cost around 200 dollars.
Every 60,000 miles you have to do a tune-up that costs around 800 dollars not including labor.
Has a very bad oversteer problem.
For one, the radio/dash light thing had to be something done to the car third party, NOT something that just "happened" because you replaced the radio. Second of all, any tune-up done that costs 800 bucks is a hoax, or you just have wrong information there. A tune up can cost 200 bucks AT BEST, and if you do one yourself on one of these fine autos, it'll cost around 50. I don't know where you have received your information, but you might want to double check that before you go posting it on the web. As another side note, most of these cars (Tauruses or any other used car) bought used are BEATEN to death. People abuse cars... I have been a college campus mechanic for two years, and some of the things I have seen shock me! I have to rebuild the whole top end of a Firebird because a guy let it overheat... does that mean that Firebirds are all inherently bad? No. And as a last comment, ALL seats wear after time. I haven't seen a car 10 years old YET that doesn't have some seat wear. Your comments should be viewed by others with a grain of salt. Tauruses are overall wonderful cars, and the positive reviews far outweigh the legitimate negative ones.
Actually, SHOs do have a very extensive tune up every 60k miles. I think someone was charging a bit much for the parts, though, because I think it can be done for less than 1/2 of that. These engines are very "high strung" in that they are putting out the same HP as the Ford 5.0 H. O V8 out of a 3.0 V6! As they are solid lifter, they need the valve lash adjusted (using a large assortment of shims and special tools), plus they have a large, complex, tuned intake (called a "snake nest") that all has to come off, so while you're in there, it is recommended that you replace the water pump, crank position sensor, spark plugs, spark plug wires (originally very expensive, but now multi-sourced, so much cheaper), valve cover gaskets, etc...
One company, for $450 deposit, will rent you a kit with the shims and special tools. Return it within 30 days and pay $50 for the rental.
Oh, also, the engines are winders, and unless you are careful not to lug them, the rod bearings need to be periodically replaced (every 100k or so). They are easy to access, but it can be somewhat tedious to do all the measurements, etc...
I *love* my SHO, but at this point, it is definitely a car for a "hands on" kind of guy, or someone who has a lot of money for a good mechanic. Only one Ford dealer in a dozen or so has anyone who knows *anything* about these cars.
The leather is thin on all high end Ford products. You either need to use Lexol frequently, or order an aftermarket interior kit with better leather.
Clutches are wear parts and are not supposed to last forever. I am guessing it was slipping, but you kept driving it anyway, clutches don't normally just "fail" instantly.
The shift cable did not break. I know that because the shift cable NEVER breaks. What breaks is the clip on the ends of the cable. This is an easy fix and should not cost more than $20 and less than an hour for the total non-mechanic. This is a common problem, but at least it is easily fixed.
The transmissions in the SHO come from Mazda and are more than capable of handling the SHO engine. I have had two SHOs with manuals, one had over 200,000 miles when I sold it and the tranny still shifted like new. Check the SHO forums, very few people have trouble with the manual tranny.
I think you need to look into things a little deeper. The SHO is a wonderful car and are ground pounders. The repairs are much cheaper if you know what you are doing or know someone. Personally I think you got bent over. Just because you had problems with your car, normally it is because you've been out pouring the fuel to it and not maintaining it correctly. So the recommendation that I speak is, look at what you're doing a little closer find out info. Then make the decision. (Very Simple)
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