Faults:

Some minor electric problems occurred, and some suspension work was needed.

Motor mount was also bad.

General Comments:

I was extremely pleased with the SHO; it was very smooth on expressway speeds, and responsive around town driving.

The clutch was fairly heavy compared to other cars, but I didn't mind it.

The disc brakes were responsive and stopped the car well.

The seats and driving position were spot on.

The ride was stiff.

The HVAC system was excellent.

The room inside was typical Taurus, meaning excellent.

The audio system was good.

The steering was good for a FF car.

The reliability was excellent; it gets from where you want or need to go.

The fuel economy was decent.

Servicing the car yourself can be a challenge, but most stuff you can do on your own. Oil changes, filters etc.; most of everything was within easy reach.

The Yamaha SHO V6 was very responsive and doesn't lack any power; usually can go up to 300k miles with your normal maintenance and fluid changes.

No warning lights occurred; the car didn't run hot at all.

I was very satisfied!

Faults:

Transmission at 170,000, engine at 201,000.

I was given this car by a customer that never took care of it. As I have owned many of these Taurus', I was excited to get it. I installed an engine with 135,000 miles on it, and have driven it with much enjoyment.

General Comments:

Despite what people say or feel about the Taurus, it's a great car!

What people don't understand about used cars are that people get rid of them for a reason. Most of these people don't spend the money on the car in the first place to properly maintain them, then sell them to an unsuspecting buyer.

The transmission problems with the Taurus are primarily due to a lack of service! A filter change was due between 60,000 to 100,000 miles, BUT the fluid was to be inspected and changed as necessary, which should be between 15,000 to 30,000 miles (not just one time)! The oil pan gasket would go bad on the 3.0, and you must repair this when the oil starts to leak, not when the engine no longer has oil.

Time and use will wear on ALL vehicles!

Faults:

The dryer cartridge had to be replaced on the A/C at 53,000 miles.

Other than that, just normal maintenance.

General Comments:

We bought the car off the lot for my mother because she liked the color combination. (My mother was in her late seventies and we traded a chronically broken Cadillac in on it.) The Taurus came with wide Michelin tires, had four wheel disk brakes, aluminum wheels, a smooth shifting automatic transmission, and featured an excellent sound system. Later, I discovered that the non d'script little old lady's car had a large, powerful V6 engine, and could easily accelerate to 130 miles per hour. I mentioned this to no one. But I soon noticed that family members would "borrow" the Taurus for errands into the city, and I overheard a couple mentioning the unusual performance.

It was involved in a fender bender, and the other car received the bulk of the damage, while the strong Taurus had only showed a slight scrape. In the 11 years we owned it, we had no mechanical problems with Taurus. It was an excellent car.

Faults:

Had a leak in the front window, had brake calipers replaced more than once, tranny began to slip.

General Comments:

This car will go over 200,000 I expect. It starts and it runs great, it always has.

The A/C still is cold.

It always gave me over 20mpg; in fact 22-24 was the norm, and on the highway I could get near 30mpg. 32mpg was the best I ever got driving with mpg in mind.

I kept the fluids fresh and I kept the tires inflated to max. It is very comfortable on the highway with overdrive and cruise control. I kept it as a backup car in the end due to reliability. It still doesn't burn any oil. It was very good value after so many years and so many miles.