Faults:

It has had several recalls. Many of which were for the transmission, which had the potential to pop out of gear.

The keyless entry somehow lost the code needed to lock and unlock the doors.

General Comments:

This car really throws you back in your seat from a dead stop, and handles pretty well.

However, the fuses seem to blow quite easilly.

With the Corolla I had previously, I could drive that through water up to the grille, whereas now, if the water is much past the bottom of the brakes, the engine quits on me.

Faults:

Transmission's reverse gear went at 70,000.

New air vents.

Rear passenger's window didn't work once.

Daytime running lamps have had a new circuit.

General Comments:

I bought this car used, and the previous owner had racked up heavy miles, had already gotten the car into an accident (made worse by a very bad repair job), and had smoked heavily in the car.

Despite the abuse the owner put on it, and the abuse I put on it, it has been a wonderful car.

The original air vents had been kicked out by the first owner (they're not very durable to begin with), so I had that replaced.

I live on a steep hill, and several clumsy mishaps where I accidentally would let it roll back without braking led to the reverse gear going.

The seats could use some more side support, but it's been comfortable on long trips across the country.

Dealers have been a mixed bag. Some have been very helpful, others were not. The original dealership I bought mine at moved too far away for me to get mine serviced there, and usually other dealerships treat you like second-rate people when they notice that you didn't buy from them.

I wish there were more cup holders. There's really only one useful one, since even coffee mugs are now shaped to fit into the "soda can" size holders.

The repair job (which was NOT done by a dealer) was bad. The doors didn't align, and they didn't put on UV protection on the black trim by the windows. The touch-up paint job they did was terrible, too. The rear door also takes a little more effort to close. I think this shoddy repair job was the result of the malfunction of the rear power window (It started working again).

The map lights are useful. They're located right where they should be (behind the driver), and are bright & right where they should be!

The sound system on the car is very nice for not having a CD player. I also like how it can remember 12 radio stations! Most cars can only remember 5! (Thanks to FM 1 and FM 2!)

While the car was under warranty, the dealer replaced the DRL circuits to stop them from flickering whenever it rained.

All things together, this is a dead reliable car, by almost anyone's standard!

Faults:

Bad air compressor/Air conditioner blower.

Power window motors went on both the front and rear passenger side windows.

Power driver's seat motor went.

Heater core bad - twice.

The unit that controls the ABS (anti-lock brake) system went bad.

Front and rear brakes replaced twice.

Serpentine belt went very early.

Car alarm stopped working properly causing the parking lights to "freeze" in the on position when you set the alarm.

The radio died - a strange message "CALL" appears in the radio window. The message stayed on even when the car was off resulting in a drained battery.

Currently, the car is at the dealership with 51500 miles and a bad transmission.

General Comments:

The items listed above are unfortunately just a sampling of all that has gone wrong with this car - I have over 40 pages of repair invoices from all of the times I have had to return it to the dealership.

I have also found the Ford service center folks to be rude, uncooperative and condescending. Once you get through their attitude and they fix your car they act as though they are God for having done such a wonderful job.

5 years ago I thought I made a good choice in purchasing the Ford Taurus - it turns out the only good choice I made on that day was buying the extended warranty. If you plan on getting a Ford, be sure to buy one too!

I will never purchase another Ford and I will do my best to let everyone know the reasons why. When I think of their slogan "Ford, built for the way you live" I can't help but wonder, do they really believe we like to live with our cars in constant need of repair?