Faults:

Since buying the car at about 102,000 miles, I've taken it on to almost 120,000. The car was badly out of alignment when I got it, which quickly wrote off a pair of front tyres.

There was also a problem with the windscreen wiper motor which caused the wipers to occasionally stop working (turning the windscreen wiper selector would make a relay "clicking" noise, but the wipers did nothing, and I'd have to get out of the car and push them to start them off). New wiper motor cured this.

Had a leaking CV boot on the right front wheel, had this replaced as a precaution.

The tensioning spring for the fanbelt failed when pulling out of a carpark onto a busy main road. This was scary, as the power steering went, and the car started overheating immediately... The fanbelt would occasionally catch, and the power steering would come back for a few seconds, then stop again. Limped to the nearest garage and replaced the tensioner, not too expensive but very difficult for the mechanics to reach this part down on the right hand side of the engine to replace it.

Only other failure is that the electrics to the rear right passenger door seem funny, probably just a loose cable. This door sometimes fails to lock/unlock, and can no longer have its window controlled by the driver's controls.

General Comments:

Overall, a very comfortable car, reasonably reliable, and somewhat of a gas-guzzler... Plenty of power, although I've noticed the car seems to have a lot more "pull" at the low end, so I can almost always pull away from a light quicker than anybody else, but don't have as much power when I'm overtaking somebody...

Faults:

As with just about all Taurus' the brakes had to be relaced. We recently (about 25-27K miles) replaced the radiator and still had problems with overheating, so we had to replace the *ELECTRIC* fan. We also had hoses that eventually went bad more particularly the A/C and engine cooling systems. We have had to give it 1 or 2 balancing and alignments. She is due for another one.

Update to entry that I made on

Sept. 18, 1999 (9/18/99)

The Taurus is about 130K (130,000) miles instead of the 30,000 that I thought it was. This changes my opinion of it's reliability. Certain things went wrong 100,000 miles after they were supposed to!

General Comments:

The performance about makes all of the pain worthwhile. The stock V6 out-accelerates most modern cars and sedans. (even the newer Mustangs at times) The simple truth to it is that Ford makes their cars with crappy, cheap components now-a-days. They are made for people who trade them in every 2-3 years. The better care you take of your car from the start, the longer it will last with fewer problems.

***** One great bit of advice ********

Check out your mechanic's knowlege with newer cars before you have him/her work on your car. Our mechanic worked wonders with our '76 LTD. But his lack of keeping up with designs is why we had to replace the fan after he installed the new radiator. Now we have a different guy working on the Taurus. I recommend MIDAS for anything that they cover. Other BIGGER work: check out some of the gas stations/garages. Especially some of the older ones.

Faults:

Transmission (5spd) failed, requiring replacement.

Engine knocking above 3000 rpms.

Oil consumption.

Blown RR brake caliper required replacement.

General Comments:

Even with all the repairs made and future ones inevitable - the engine, I have found the SHO to be fun and an excellent alternative for foul weather driving or spirited Sunday drives. I've added Bosch +4 plugs, K+N filtercharger, Powerstop crossdrilled rotors and accel wires. The car responded well to all the performance upgrades. I look forward to upgrading the engine.

I think this is a good four door sports car to coin a Nissan term. My first love is still my twin turbo 300ZX, though.

Faults:

I am at 127,000 miles now, and drive from Fayetteville North Carolina to Greenville South Carolina (260 miles) every weekend.

My CV joints have just now blown out ($170). Not bad at all.

Nice car. I like it!

Faults:

A. Rear and front brakes replaced twice.

B. Rotors and drums replaced, cost $900 for A + B.

C. Headlights are difficult to adjust.

General Comments:

Good design, poor and cheap materials used for brakes.