Faults:

The coolant recover tank had a hole in it and the coolant ran out I changed the tank to a new one, but when I crank the car up sometimes it won't start and if it does start when you turn on the ac the car shuts off.

Faults:

Some Body Rust.

Engine Mounts will need replacing soon.

Transmission may be on the way out.

A/C is LONG gone.

General Comments:

Having driven/worked on/and restored a few cars, I have to commend Ford for the most part. Reading a lot of reviews on these pages, I'd say that most problems people experience are from VERY poor maintenance. Machines fail, that is a given. As such, I have found Ford's to be more mechanically reliable then most cars. While I find they do have cheaper interiors, and the minor parts tend to fail, the core components tend to last for a long time.

My other car is a 1989 Mustang LX that I abuse regularly, and work on often, and it runs like a champ. My daily driver is the car I'm reviewing, which is a 1993 Taurus wagon with 214,000 miles on it.

I only recently aquired this car, as it was owned prior by my sister (from age 16-20), and before that my uncle, who bought it new.

Neither are good with maintenance, and my sister ended up breaking quite a bit through her own driving habits, and it did cost her. Her rear drums not only seized, but on one side, completely broke into peices, and the motor mounts broke.

Since I have had the car, when I first got it, I had some knocking, and the tranny was running a bit harsh. A quick fluid change fixed the tranny issue (smooth shifting for 214,000 miles), and a tweak on the brakes (front pad was sticking a bit) and she runs like a champ. The a/c is long gone, but I don't really need it. I have had to patch some body rust, especially over the rear fender wells. The front bumper mounts under the car are starting to rust as well. There is also some minor surface rust on the unibody under the front seats, but nothing of concern.

The biggest complaint I have is that this car LOVES to get out of alignment. I would contribute this to an archaic suspension design, and a car that wasn't designed for driving 75+ mph. Right now after 65 there is noticeable vehicle shake, although an alignment and balancing is needed. Personal preferance would be better hubs and beefier tie rods, but it's just a mid level sedan, even when new.

It is VERY comfortable, the ride is smooth, and the 3.0L motor is a workhorse and a half. Plenty of go, runs smooth as silk, idles quiet, and will push the heavy car. It will still smoke the tires from a dead stop.

I wouldn't recommend the car for anyone that can't do a tune up/oil change, or has SOME technical abilities. But for a beater/daily driver, if you are able to do minor maintenance, I have no complaints at all.

Faults:

Blown head gasket at 112,000 miles (this is the second head gasket, the first time around it was replaced by the dealer during Ford's recall action in '94. the car head 55,000 miles on it at the time).

• Warped font brake disc's (had the disks rotated and new brake pads installed, 2 weeks later it sounded and stopped worse than before)

• Leaking driver side front strut.

• Speedometer cable noise.

• Interior air fan motor noise due to worn motor brushes.

General Comments:

Well, I owned a few Ford's before this Taurus and was going against all odds. Every one I knew advised me not to by a Taurus.. I gave it a chance and learned the hard way.

At first impression, I liked the car for its roominess and versatility. The look was alright and the handling a bit like grandmas old couch. The 3.8 V6 had plenty of power; however the transmission seemed to have its own agenda.

Knowing about the reputation of these transmissions, I went to the transmission shop for a fluid and filter change right after I got the car. At the same time I had the front rotors rotated and new brake pads installed. The rear breaks got new drums and new pads.

Two weeks later that car was the biggest embarrassment to drive since it sounded like a train making an emergency stop at every time I tipped on the break pedal.

I looked into changing the spark plugs, but came to find out that in order to do that I would have to remove my intake manifold just to get to the 3 rear cylinders.

So and the main event in the short relationship with this car was when the head gasket blew. That was the end, I proved my valuable friends right. This time I listened and bought a Japanese car. Very sad for American cars!