1998 Ford Taurus SE from North America - Comments

I bought a used 98 Taurus SE from a guy I thought I could trust but I'm still not sure. I was in a financial bind and this car was in my price range. It looked great and a test drive was very good so I bought it. The next morning before the engine was totally warm it refused to go into second gear until I pushed the rpms way up. It then shifted roughly but it worked just fine the rest of the day until it got cold again. When I ask the seller he said to just have the filter changed and I should have but I thought I had been bite so I just kept driving the car like that for about 2 years (60,000 miles). Then the transmission died and now I have had a used trans installed. Who knows how long that will last. Basically, I learned to test drive a car and keep it over night before paying a penny to buy the car.

I bought a 1998 ford taurus se with 162,000 miles on it the only issues I have had with it is I have had to replace a brake line front end alinement and the fuel line vent that was it so far and it is the DOHC 24 valve duruatec motor I don't know what the issues are with that car but I don't have very many.

You have to flush the 1998 and later Taurus transmission every 30,000 miles, then you will have no trouble. The Taurus V6 engine is a durable good performing workhorse, just change the oil, and the filters on a reasonable schedule. I know 3 people who bought one in '98, did reasonable maintenance, and had trouble free service from the cars for the last 10 years. Nice performance and handling, good convenience and comfort features. Low insurance rates, too, a safe car.

The crybabies and complainers don't maintain, or bought un maintained cars. Foreign cars are over rated and expensive to maintain and repair. People maintain them intensively, drive them with kid gloves, then bray about how foreign is better because they supposedly have less trouble.

I agree with the maintenance portion of the previous post. I took my 99 Taurus to a repair shop because the transmission wouldn't shift out of first gear. They "flushed" the system and the transmission shifted smoothly for about a week. When it started doing it again I took the car to another repair shop that took off the pan, replaced the filter and filled with fresh fluid. Working fine up until now, about 10,000 miles later. I've been told to have another transmission filter, flush, refill done since dirt can be trapped in the transmission. I was going to have that done at 150,000 miles, may have to get it done sooner :- ( (

My Taurus also had a problem with the door ajar light staying on all the time. Every once and a while it would "beep" then go off (like its supposed to do). It wasn't until recently after checking up on this issue that a solution was posted on another site.

Go to your local auto store and get a can of brakleen (aerosol brake cleaner), jar of white lithium grease and a rubber glove. Take the small red nozzle (mounted on the side of the can) and spray into the latch jaws and surrounding mechanisms of each door. The latch jaws are the mechanisms that "lock" the door into place when you close it and "open" the door when you pull the handle. Then take the grease and place it on your finger with the glove and lubricate the latch area. Open and close the doors about 10 times. Start the car. Open each door and see if the light comes on and goes off. You should also hear a "beep". I did this on all the doors and they all worked except the passenger front. The light continued to stay on. I went back and sprayed the heck out of the latch jaw with brakleen and closed the door. The light went out. I then reapplied the grease and opened and closed the door about 10 more times and it worked!

I keep great records on my Taurus and have spent $5,200.00 since I bought it in November of 2000. This amount includes oil changes, tires, brakes, battery, etc... This equates to about $51.00 per month. I do think that this amount is high for maintenance, however it beats a car payment anyday.

I plan on keeping this car until something major goes wrong with it. The value of my Taurus is about $2,500.00, so any type of engine issue would probably result in this car visiting the scrap heap.

Would I buy another Taurus?? Probably not. You would think after this car being the largest mass produced vehicle by Ford and the king for so many years the issues that we are all having would be resolved.

The best thing about the Taurus is the purchase price of a used one. They depreciate tremendously, great for the used car buyer. You have to take the maintenance cost and headaches into play to see if this car is for you..

I have a 98 Taurus and I have had a lot of the same problems that everyone else has had except the Tran problems. Luckily I have a used Tran in the garage if needed. We had to change the engine with 107,000 miles on it. The car lost all top end oil pressure and there was no bottom end noise. In the end we decided it had spun a cam bearing. After changing the engine we found that the gear on cam synchronizer was stripped. This stops the oil pump. We are not sure what caused this but this may save someone a lot of money in the future.

My daughter bought a used 1998 Ford Taurus and it seems to run pretty good. There was some transmission slippage but the tranny fluid was low, topped it up and the slippage went away. She has had the "door ajar/interior light" problem but WD40 worked like a charm (many thanks to everyone who suggested that). Now she has a new issue, the radio and the digital clock won't come on. Battery voltage is up and the fuses are all OK. Next step is to buy the shop manual with schematics. Electrical problems are always the hardest to find.

1998 Ford Taurus, DOHC 24 Valve V6, 201 horsepower, dual exhaust, 120,000 one owner hard, very hard, driving miles.

Problems, engine light and low coolant light after 60,000 miles, never anything wrong, just on, too much to turn off. Brakes suck, door ajar message always on, air intake valve always comes off.

Positives: For 21K, and 120,000 miles this car is a beauty, a bargain. Sure it's no lexus, or even a Camry, but it does it's job, in an old reliable appliance type manner.

I drive this thing like a Mustang, beat it up, rev it out, squak the tires, and accelerate like mad, and this car has done well. I've beaten better cars off the line (stop light). I could buy a new car, but why, this is everything I need, paid for, nice looking, (the round figure is coming back), and 21 mpg. Thanks Ford.

As a mechanic, I'd recommend checking for fluid leaks in the transmission, as low fluid should not occur unless it is going somewhere. I've put 200,000 miles on Fords without ever having to add fluid. Also, I'd replace the filter if it has not been replaced recently. Lots of luck. We've gotten 300,000+ miles out of Fords. They are some of the most reliable cars on Earth.

I bought a 1998 Taurus SE from the government at an auction. I thought I got a great deal cause the car only had 15000 miles. So far, this POS has given me nothing but trouble.

1) An idler pulley on the fan belt was squealing, 435$ at the dealer to have it replaced.

2) The A/C blower motor only had 1 speed, the dealer charged me 500$ for a new blower motor and some resistor.

3) A right rear brake pad disintegrated, and subsequently wiped out the rotor. New pads and rotor 150$

4) I thought I was being proactive by changing and flushing the transmission at Kaufman tires, now I notice the transmission has a leak. I brought it back to them, they say the transmission pump is leaking. (I guess an internal pump)

Now the transmission will not shift out of 1st gear.

This POS has less than 20000 miles on it, and it's sitting at the ATL airport. I'm thinking of driving to the shutdown Ford plant at the end of the runway in Atlanta and burning it below the sign that says "Home of the Ford Taurus"

What a pile of junk, Ford should be ashamed of the engineering in this car. I have no sympathy for the American automotive industry, they are getting what they deserve.