Faults:

Well overall it is fantastic; it just has little things here and there that need fixing, but because of how old it is, it has most of its problems in extreme cold and heat. It tends to be fine, but since my rack and power steering pump were replaced last year, it seemed a little heavier to turn and the RPM dropped slightly when turning the wheel when idle. It drives fine though with no turning issues until I'm near to a stop. It idles rough at times, but nothing bad has come out of it yet.

General Comments:

I have had it for a few years and it has done its job of getting me where I need to go. I'm planning on getting it to 200K miles, but I don't know how these problems will affect that.

I would recommend this car to first time car buyers just because it is reliable and easy to work on for the most part.

Faults:

42,000 Miles - Rack and pinion steering gone. Car out of warranty at 36k. $700.

51,000 Miles - Coolant reservoir cracked - dealer repair $193.

62,000 Miles - Front hubs/bearings gave out, third party service center repair $417.

74,000 Miles - Coolant reservoir cracks again. Dealer repair $178.

80,000 Miles - This garage kept car begins to show signs of faded paint at roughly four years old. Just gets worse as the years go on.

100,000 Miles - Radiator and heater core blow at the same time. $700 to fix both total.

110,000 Miles - Water pump goes. $312.

128,000 Miles - Front Hubs gone again. $300.

Wow - first long period of no problems between 128k and 158k.

158,000 Miles. Ax4n tranny blows. Former Ohio car, sub frame was so rusted that they had to saw it off to access the transmission. Had to be welded back on. If the tranny goes again, car has to be junked. After the tranny repair, the car now makes horrible rattling noises when it's in motion, and the floor vibrates loudly. I cannot even really hear the radio anymore because of it. It's driving me crazy.

The car eats gas and brakes, even with gentle use and an impeccable service record. No missed oil changes, no missed services. My mother owned the car for the 1st 12k, and cared for it the same way. The car was always treated with care and never abused, but still looks like crap and drives like crap too. The car has spent its life in a garage, and yet looks like it sat in someone's back yard for a decade under the sun. This is just not the quality car I wanted to believe it was.

General Comments:

Pretty decent interior. Reliability has been so-so. Nothing mind-blowing by any means. I had a 1994 Galant that I drove with pretty much no issue until 211k. This is pathetic. Hasn't even hit 160k, and is falling apart rapidly. I hope it can last long enough for me to save for another car.

I have had it with Ford. My third Taurus, and it will be the last. Not built for longevity, not built for quality. Built, however, to boost sales to rental fleets and to boost lease numbers. With Ford, when it came to this car it was always quantity over quality. Maybe it's gotten better since the Fords of the late 1990's-early 2000's era, but I'm not gonna be spending anymore money to find out. I'm just gonna go back to Toyota Camry or Mitsubishi Galant. I can't deny the stark contrast anymore between the Japanese cars and the American. I have tried with both, and have just had better luck with the Japanese cars for some reason. I wanted to love my Ford, but I can't keep up anymore.

I'm just plain sick of it. And yes, I know that the Vulcan is one of Ford's best engines, but seriously-UNDERPOWERED for this large and heavy car. This car is painful to drive, even when it is running. It's just so slow, I can't take it anymore!!!

I tried, I wanted to believe in this car, but it lets me down every time. It's just falling apart and there's nothing I can do. Back to Toyota :(