1993 Ford Taurus LX 3.8L

Summary:

For sale, cheap!

Faults:

Where do I begin...

We were on vacation in Colorado. We pulled off of the freeway and BOOM no power to the drive shaft. The transmission had gone out with absolutely no warning. Very expensive to fix even in a small town where the hourly charge is a little lower than in the city.

Then...

One afternoon as I was running errands on my lunch hour, the water pump seized. Again, we had absolutely no warning (no noise, no leaks, nothing). That caused the serpentine belt to snap and melt, rupturing a hose. Not as expensive to repair, but still not cheap.

General Comments:

I've owned this car for about 10 months. So far, it's cost me (excluding the purchase price) $400/month in repairs on average. I should be driving a BMW -- not a Fix Or Repair Daily (FORD)

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 29th May, 2002

8th Jun 2002, 23:59

My wife has a 93 Taurus and the transmission in that thing jerks so bad its unreal. I can't think it would last that much longer I heard that Taurus transmissions are pretty bad about giving out-

7th Sep 2007, 23:30

Not true about the transmission on the pre 95 at least in my experience with 3 Tauruses. However, I had the 3.0 engine and that might be the difference. I would try flushing the transmission. Sometimes that makes a world of difference. In fact, my wife has a 99 Mercury Marquis. It was changing roughly and we got the transmission flushed. Viola, problem solved. I have had three 93 Tauruses, all with well over 200,000 miles. One has over 265,000 miles. No transmission failures. All I did was have the transmissions flushed at about 92,000 miles. My cars were Great! No problems except the normal except for the ignition module.

1993 Ford Taurus SHO 3.2L V6

Summary:

An electrical system nightmare.

Faults:

I have replaced the alternator 2 times.

I have replaced the starter 3 times.

I replaced the radiator at 60K miles.

The passenger side front power window frame broke and had to be replaced- it is still very slow to raise/lower.

I have replaced the oxygen sensors 2 times since owning the car.

I have replaced the AC compressor 2 times, the 2nd time with a total lock up of the compressor which also broke my drive belt and idler pulley.

The Mass Air Flow sensor was replaced at 70K miles

The brake calipers tend to stick and no one can diagnose the problem, resulting in rapid brake wear.

General Comments:

This car is very comfortable on long trips- 800 miles in one day without discomfort. There is some road and wind noise issues, but the stereo can drown those out.

Service from Ford dealers has been atrocious and parts very hard to find. One dealer actually did not recognize the Yamaha V6 as a factory option. I found a small independent shop in town that has more knowledge of the car and more readily available parts than either major Ford dealership.

Performance is still great at 104K miles- I am reluctant to go all-out at stoplights in order to spare the transaxle, but highway performance is excellent.

I have had no problems with my transaxle, which is a departure from many SHO owners with automatics.

Fuel economy is poor even with all components working properly-not what it should be according to all Ford specs and other SHO owners.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 26th May, 2002

13th Sep 2002, 07:51

I have had similar problems with a 94 Taurus 3.8L, 6 cylinders with about 70k miles. Especially the brake calipers and break wear. Mine also had a squeak for about two years that the mechanics never quite figured out until recently. I have also replaced the starter. Recently the car overheats as you go uphill despite replacing the thermostat and the A/C stops working after about 15 minutes...and the transmission is grabbing severely during shift down.

Moral: Don't hang onto these cars past 50k miles.

Great website.

-Rob-

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