Faults:

Coolant tank overflow formed a leak at 72,000-miles. The bottom cracked. The Ford place said lots of them are doing this. $66 (tank) +55 for labor.

Check Engine light came on at 30,000-miles. It was a sensor. Fixed at no cost.

Driver's express down function on power window does not work. No big deal, I can still roll the window up and down.

Sometimes the only lights that light up on the doors are the driver's PW and PDL switches along with the PDL switch on the passenger door. In other words sometimes the passenger front and rear doors will not light up. Hit a bump and they will light up.

Car sounds like it has a slight exhaust leak. Has done this since new. I hear Mustangs and other Taurus' make this same sound. In parking lots.

Dealer said this is a normal sound for this engine.

Hard to get out of Park sometimes. But always comes out of park.

Once put in park and at idle, sometimes the engine transmits a slight grinding or rubbing feel through the car. Had all the mounts checked out and ford said they are all good, but the rubber is aging and getting hard.

Sometimes if the car is kind of cold, up on starting it, it will make a slight squeaking sound for the first few minutes. I think it is in the alternator.

At 60,000-miles the Taurus started to get a slight oil leak on the far passanger side of the bottom of the engine. it will leak about 1/4 of a quart every 3,000-miles. Other than this leak the engine and transmission still look brand new under the car.

General Comments:

The car is very fast and has great pick up for the regular engine.

Tons of room. The car has 9-more inches of room from the rear tip of the dash to the top of the back seat." That is compared to our 1995 Crown Victoria.

The Taurus has very little front leg room for the driver's left foot and the front passenger's right foot, but most FWD cars have even less than the Taurus.

The trunk is huge.

I can't see the hood as I drive the car. I feel a lot safer in a car with a long hood that I can see as I drive the car. "Crown Victoria"

The Taurus has perfect foul weather traction. The Crown Does not.

Going out our ruff driveway, lots of bumps and rocks-1/4 mile long- the taurus' body pops and flexes a bit and the rubber seals between the doors emit a rubbing sound as the body bends a bit. The Crown Victoria does not make one sound. It is 1000X more solid than the Taurus. But the Taurus does not have a frame. I guess that all other non-frame cars would make the same sound.

The Taurus gets 31mpg on road trips at 70mph+. The crown gets 28mpg.

The Taurus has great seats and only a small blind spot. So does the Crown.

The Taurus always starts and has never broken down. 74K. The Crown has 205,000- and has never broken down.

The Taurus might actually be able to keep up with the crown as far as racing on the road from like 0-80mph. Then the crown would leave the Taurus in the dust-even with 205,000-miles with no repairs, but lost compression.

Sometimes the Taurus will jerk as the transmission down shifts as low speeds in parking lots.

The Taurus is an excellent value. You can't go wrong with a Taurus.

We got this car for $15,000 new (SE with all options including folding rear seat and 6-passanger seating)

You can't beat the Value on the Taurus.

The Taurus is a lower value car and looses value faster than other cars such as the Accord, so the Insurance cost are about $2000 less over the course of 4-years.

I don't know how well the Taurus would hold up for the long run-200,000-miles++, but I suspect that it would have many problems. The Crown has 205K and still runs much the same as it did at new with no repairs at all other than two power windows. The crown does burn about 4-quarts of oil.

We plan to buy another New Taurus as soon as this one is 5-years old. You know taxes. Home health business.

The Taurus is a far better value than most other cars.

Remember the Time Value of Money.

Taurus Mid level

$15000.

Accord Mid Level

$19500.

Invest the difference and over 5-years that difference would grow to over $6713 at only 8%.

Not to mention the $2000 that you would save in insurance.

So in the end the Taurus would only cost.

15000

-2213-interest income

-2000 insurance savings

_________________

$10787

- 5500 SV Sell car for $5,500 cash after 5-years with 100,000-miles.

Actual cost only $5287 or $1057 per year.

Accord

New

$19500

-no savings

_____________

$19500 is total cost

-8500 cash sell Accord after 5-years with 100,000-miles on it

______________

Total cost $11,000 over 5-years of paying high insurance and high personal property taxes due to higher residual value.$2200 a year and expect to pay an average of $60 more a year in property taxes than the Taurus.

The Taurus offers very good value as long as repair cost stay low.

Taurus has super low theft rate. Camry and Accord have super high along with super high risk and death rates=super high insurance premiums.

Faults:

Brake pads began to rub and make squealing noises.

Belt minder system is disabled.

Very rare, but sometimes the dashboard light has to be tapped to illuminate.

Air condition only works on the highest speed setting.

Car shakes at speeds over 65 MPH.

General Comments:

The car, for the most part, is reliable. It is spacious and the folding back seat is great. If this were a early model car (before 1996) it would have way more problems that one ones described above.