1992 Ford Taurus LX Wagon from North America - Comments

Went through two transmissions (@ 95k and 120k)

Fuel pump (@ 90k)

Numerous motor mounts (seems like every two years)

Tie rods (@ 90k)

Spastic "check engine" light (but nothing is ever wrong) since I bought it.

Power steering pump (@ 110k).

Steering rack (@ 115k)

Before buying this Taurus, I thought whenever cars were broken down on the side of the road, that the owners just didn't take proper care of their car. Not so since buying this Taurus.

I must state that I NEVER abuse my cars and maintain them well ahead of the maintenance schedule. I drive a car as if it has feelings (never needlessly turn the wheel, never go over 3,000 in RPM, gentle over road imperfections, etc.). So much so, my friends and family constantly tease me about it.

I, like many others, thought that, after buying either German or GM cars for 20 years, I'd give it a try. Although it's nice when it's running, it seems to need repair after repair. I just can't trust it.

My first Ford and my last.

My 1992 Taurus has not been very good. At 80,000 miles I already replaced the head gasket, 2 sets of motor mounts. I cannot even believe that front brakes are every year. The front end rattles because it needs a couple of engine mounts again and needs to have the front wheel drive assembly gone through for the second time. The car has always run extremely hot and slow to brake. At 100k miles my ford mechanic says,"Drive it until it won't. This is too bad. My 1980 Ford has 225,000 miles and is running strong.

I consider this person's experience quite valid. I owned numerous odd Fords and I can tell you transmissions are a big problem. 1970's and 1980's are lousy junk. I have yet to see one go 200K and most I've seen destruct around 100K. My experience has been, show me a FORD automatic with 100K and you'll need a transmission any day now.

On the Escort, Tempo, Taurus and their Mercury counterparts, the lower control arm/ball joints and inner tie rods regularly wear out. My experience is also dated and I don't know about the newer ones as I stopped buying Ford. The best Fords are known to be the Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis, and F150 trucks.

I don't understand the other reviews on this model being so positive, but maybe they started making them better? I question this because Ford sold us such sh*t for decades and I suspect they did it on purpose: over and over and over. They were horrible then and I suspect horrible now. ALSO: watch out for FORD cylinder heads cracking and head gasket failure (causing head cracks). ESPECIALLY ON ESCORTS.

I think a lot of this site and stopped to see what others had to say about the Taurus but the more I think about it, the less I would want to buy one.

Thanks, it did me good to get this out of my system.

Whatever you choose to buy I hope you have years of safe trouble free motoring.

DAVE

newadvisor1@juno.com.