When Taurus Week was proposed, I had a sudden and less than pleasant realization – I have driven more Taurii than any other single make or model of vehicle. Further, I’ve put about 170,000 to 200,000 miles on these Taurii.
Most of these Taurii had not been graced with an easy life. Perhaps that requires some degree of consideration in this analysis as the bulk of these were fleet cars and certainly a reflection of how the Taurus name would later be perceived. The cars I’m covering will be from the first four generations.
First Generation (1986 to 1991):
Gads, these cars have permeated my life more than I initially thought. Thinking I had no experience with the first generation, upon nearly completing this article I finally remembered the originators popping into my life.
The first Taurus I ever drove was a brand new 1988 model that was provided by the Ford-Buick dealer for a driver’s education car. How that combination of makes came together is one of the great mysteries of the world, but they provided Egyptian Community Unit #5 with a new car for this purpose every 3,000 miles.
In a reflection of either the times or some of the goobers I grew up with, there was a long running debate about the shift quadrant on that Taurus. A vocal majority thought the “OD” selection would not allow use of any gear other than overdrive, so it should be put in “D” and manually placed in “OD” at speed. However, I always just laughed at the silliness of that philosophy.
A long time later, in 2004, I would become the recipient of a 1991 Taurus wagon. Equipped with a 3.8 liter V6, the transmission had consumed itself at 135,000 miles. How I came about owning this wicked chariot can be found here. With the original window sticker in the glove compartment having a price of $25,000 this is the only car I’ve ever owned and never driven.
Second Generation (1992 to 1995):
The second Taurus I drove was a green 1994 or 1995 model. Starting my career in January 1996, one of the new employee trainings I received was defensive driving. My employer had contracted with the Missouri State Highway Patrol to use their training track a few miles east of Jefferson City. Upon climbing into this Taurus, my assignment was to drive 55 mph and stay in one lane on the hilly and very curvy upper portion while navigating an obstacle course on the flat, straight portion of the lower track.
With my instructor sitting in the passenger seat chewing on a toothpick, I did as instructed. With tires howling from lateral forces, I quickly learned this generation of Taurus was a deceptively good handler, feeling much better planted to the road than any Taurus built in subsequent generations. For this reason, I have always been quite fond of this generation.
However, they were not butterflies and merriment. During this time of 1996 to early 1998 I would obtain different cars from the motor pool almost weekly, and it was inevitably a second generation Taurus from model year 1994 or 1995.
I had two memorable problems with these cars in the motor pool, one being a really loud and faulty rear wheel bearing on a 55,000 mile Taurus while another had a speedometer needle that jumped around in a 10 mph range. The folks in the garage appreciated my notifying them of the wheel bearing, as I got a nearly new car the next week.
One day I asked one of the service attendants about how problematic these Taurii were. He said over the years the pool had been filled with Dodge Dynastys, first generation Taurii, Fox-body Ford LTDs, Plymouth Volares, AMC Concords, and 1978 Plymouth Furys when he started working there. The second generation Taurus had given them nearly no drama.
Upon my being transferred to St. Joseph in 2001, I was assigned a white 1995 Taurus. Having 90,000 miles when I received it, it shifted so hard from first to second gear the front wheels would bark on dry pavement. The transaxle was replaced soon thereafter.
This same Taurus also took fits of drinking fuel, the first time I had seen such in a Taurus. One day I made a 60 mile round trip that burned nearly a half-tank of fuel. There was no black smoke, no rough running, and no fuel leaks. When the replacement transaxle lasted only 2,000 miles, the Taurus was sold before the typical end of its service life.
All were powered by the 3.0 liter V6.
Again, most of these Taurii were fleet cars having less than cushy lives….one day in early 2002 a new employee who had relocated from a much warmer climate was exposed to freezing rain for the first time. Instead of scraping the ice off, he concluded that a few good thumps on the windshield from a ball-peen hammer would quickly and easily remove the ice. The results were spectacular.
Third Generation (1996 to 1999):
With the wild redesign of the Taurus for 1996, these started showing up en masse at work during 1997. All Taurii purchased from then until 2005 would be powered by the 3.0 Flex Fuel engine.
I transferred to the office in Sikeston, in the southeast part of Missouri, in April 1998. After briefly being assigned a gray 1994 Taurus, I was assigned a white 1997 Taurus that had 20,500 miles on the odometer. By the time I departed this job in early 2001, I had added another 50,000 miles to this Taurus.
One day it took a fit of running really rough. After taking it to the garage, it ran like a champ from then on but the fuel gauge was never accurate again.
My job required me to pull off the road in unusual areas and it was in this scenario I discovered a latent talent of these Taurii – they were great at jumping 6″ curbs. They could climb these like a billy-goat, totally unlike the other cars and pickups I drove during this time.
These Taurii also had surprisingly stout suspensions. One afternoon I was driving on I-55 north of Sikeston, passing a series of eighteen-wheelers. With a large RV riding my rear bumper, one of these eighteen-wheelers decided he liked my lane better. With nowhere to go, I hit the grass median of I-55 at about 70 miles per hour. The noise was phenomenal and I nearly hit the discarded head from a tractor engine that was lying on the ground. Regaining my composure, the only damage to the Taurus was a slightly bent wheel. It still tracked straight and true.
A few years later in 2003, I was assigned a very early 2004 Dodge Stratus. A terrible car, nine months later I did some horse-trading to receive my supervisor’s white 1999 Taurus.
This Taurus was rolling evidence of Ford decontenting the crap out of their cars. While this car was the embodiment of a fleet model, the interior was full of black vinyl and cheap looking black cloth – totally different than the 1997 and 1998 models. Every black interior I have since experienced has reminded me of this cheaped out Taurus and is a distinct factor in why I do not care for black inside a car.
Twice while this car was assigned to me, the transmission acted goofy. Each time, it would need to downshift, hesitate about it, then with a loud KABOOM! it would stay in the same gear while continuing to lug up the hill. After I left this position, I learned the transmission in this car soon consumed itself. I put about 40,000 to 50,000 miles on this particular Taurus.
Fourth Generation (2000 to 2005):
When the white 1995 had committed transaxle suicide again, I was told to go pick a car from one of the six in the district motor pool. After taking each of them for a spin, I chose a silver 2000 Taurus that amazingly had the aluminum five spoke wheels.
Another quirk of these Taurii with the FFV engines was if a person actually ran 85% ethanol in them, the fuel quality killed their ability to start at ambient temperatures below about 30 degrees Fahrenheit – except for mine. Sometime after I received the silver Taurus, a cold day prompted me to loan it to two employees whose Taurus would not start. That afternoon they tangled with a half-ton Dodge pickup, mangling the front end. Nobody was hurt.
While the car should have been called a loss, it was repaired. Within two months after being repaired, I again loaned it to one of the two employees who tangoed with the Dodge. He hit a deer that day, sending it back to the body shop. The car never did drive right after the first mishap.
It was soon reassigned.
My good (pre-collision) interactions with the 2000 at work is part of what led us to buy this 2001 Taurus SES in September of 2002 as our two-door cars weren’t cutting it carrying baby related stuff. Bad decision. Whereas all the Taurii at work had been pretty decent cars, this car went from driving great upon purchasing it to being the biggest disappointment I’ve ever owned.
To clarify, the car was highly reliable and handled great, but like a rabid chihuahua, you just didn’t know how it would behave. Sometimes its 3.0 liter regular fuel V6 ran as smooth and silky as a baby’s bottom covered in mineral oil. Other times it would run okay and make barely enough power to reach highway speeds.
Fuel mileage sucked, with the best I ever obtained being 24 miles per gallon – and that happened once. The worst? 12 miles per gallon. On those occasions it surpassed 20 mpg I was ready to kiss the ground. It also had a nasty spark knock that might (or might not) go away with higher octane gasoline.
The brakes took fits of being hard to press later on during my ownership and both rear drums were out of round as the shoes wore down to the steel at the 7:00 position on the right rear and at 4:00 on the left rear with the rest of the shoe looking untouched. Its chestnut colored paint would show etch marks from bird droppings if not removed within ten minutes.
Yet my favorite happened at 57,000 miles. Still living in St. Joseph, one night we were returning from a trip to Kansas City. Being stopped by a red light, the oil light was flashing at idle speed. Upon taking off, the light ceased. Being leery, I was able to determine this would happen at idle speed if the engine had been running for an hour or longer. After dealing with two jackass infested Ford dealers, a larger dealer in Kansas City was able to diagnose excessive crankshaft bearing clearance. It seems Ford was having a rash of such problems with the 3.0 Vulcan engine. Had my health at the time not compromised my finances, this Taurus would have gone away. To their credit, the problem was effectively fixed.
Upon Mrs. Jason experiencing undiagnosable brake issues in 2009, we sold the car to someone who seemed unconcerned about that problem. We had put 75,000 miles on it.
I have driven many more Taurii than those listed here, with my estimation being somewhere around seventy-five in total. For me, the most comfortable to drive were the 1996 to 1999 models, with the 1992 to 1995 models being the best handling, and the 2000 to 2005 being the best long distance cruisers.
Without doubt there is a broad spectrum of opinions and experiences with the Ford Taurus. These were mine, good and bad.
Fleets, especially government ones have always been required to buy domestic. I wonder how Camrys and Accords would have fared in this type of use. The poverty spec would have had 4 cylinders, so economy would have improved.
With no such thing as an all-American(or all anywhere else) car anymore, these requirements are falling away. My city now buys Nissan Versa hatches.
Many a Ford Crown Victoria from 1992 and later would likely cast a shadow of doubt about government fleets always being required to buy domestic.
Other than the white ’95 and the one I owned, any Taurus in this application got mid-20’s on fuel mileage. My employer did buy a number of Toyota Prius hybrids upon their introduction. Their longevity and durability was comparable to a Taurus.
What line of work were you in during those years? I remember seeing lot of government surveyors in Taurus throughout the years. Most all other government agencies here in Ga has Crown Vics. I do remember seeing a rash of Dodge Stratus for a while in the early 2000’s.
It’s OK to say Tauruses or Priuses. That’s how the wall Street Journal pluralizes names ending with an s, and they are among the best writers working these days.
Mercedeses-Benzes S-Classes.
Ss-Classes
As an aside, the letters SS are still not done. For obvious reasons. An example: you will never find a Dutch license plate with the letter combinations SS or SA.
So no Abarth SS:
at the dealer they were Tortoises.
How hard can it be to design and manufacture a transaxle that lasts the life of a car? It seems like every Big Three manufacturer has had a hard time with this (I’m not sure about import transaxle reliability). Are they skimping on materials, or is it a lack of engineering knowhow, or are they using lighter materials for fuel economy purposes? It would be interesting research for someone who was concerned enough to do it…
Nice retrospective, Jason…
I wonder if the early 2.5 with the simpler 3 speed auto would have fared better in this type of use. In the nineties, I am not sure economy of use was much of a consideration. It should have been. Knowing that the 2.5 was going to be retained, might have led Ford to find a little more horsepower for it, and to think twice about letting the Taurus gain so much weight, it gained 500 pounds over it’s life on the same chassis.
Given the reputations of automatics like the Turbo-Hydramatic and Torqueflite, why such ruggedness didn’t translate is indeed a good question. I suspect it was likely a combination of the three factors you discuss, combined with the maintenance schedule being skipped. For instance, on the Taurus I owned, the transaxle needed a fluid change every 30,000 miles. When I changed it at 50,000, the fluid was nearly black.
When GM, Ford, and Chrysler built an automatic for their “standard” car, it was easy to translate it to the smaller cars they built later (i.e., Fury to Valiant). However, the front-drivers started small and puffed up from there, leading me to wonder if the transaxle was under built for its application (i.e., Taurus to Windstar).
As far as import brands, there has been frequent mention here of the less than stellar durability of Honda transaxles at different points in time.
Transmissions don’t last anymore because manufacturers actually care about the excessive weight of a heavy durable transmission hurting economy. And they’re too cheap to include transmission coolers as standard equipment.
A TH350/TH400 would last forever but was also so damn heavy that after the first gas crises GM had to redesign their automatics not just for an extra gear but to make it lighter weight. IMHO everything was downhill from there.
I’ve also noticed that in very general terms the further you live out in the sticks the longer a transmission lasts. Basically the constant shifting of stop and go traffic kills the transmission faster.
I’ve often wondered how many trans failures were due to lack of owner maintenance. I know for a long time even shops that offered transmission fluid changes straight-up refused to touch it if the car had over 75,000 miles. Of course, by then the thing was hosed anyway, so the shops knew that touching it pretty much put them on the hook for a new transmission.
Take, for instance, my parents. Mom has a 2005 TrailBlazer, dad a 2005 Silverado HD. Dad, who used to be a small engine mechanic, knows his way around tools quite well, and is generally good about maintenance, will readily admit he’s never touched the transmissions on either vehicle. So, his truck has around 160,000 miles on the original transmission fluid, and mom’s TB has over 120k on its original fluid. I actually saved the transmission on a 1992 Safari Van with a trans fluid flush. I bought it in winter, and it lost Reverse when it got warm. Turned out that at 143,000 miles, the fluid had never been changed. It took a flush and rocking the shifter back and forth between Drive and Reverse a few times, but after that I had all the gears again, even if they engaged a little rough.
How many people actually followed the 30,000 mile change intervals? Ford spec’d 30k for years, and it’s really easy to tell when someone neglects it. Fluid that smells like Gary, Indiana and looks like barbecue sauce means lack of maintenance. I’d wager good money a lot of those Windstar transmission failures were people that got to 70k and had never touched the fluid.
And then those same people will bitch about what garbage [company] makes. Perhaps it genuinely was garbage, but I’d bet the bulk of all transmission failures across all makes stems from lack of maintenance. What really scares me are the long intervals OEMs are spec’ing for fluid intervals these days. 150,000 miles for trans fluid on 2014 Fiestas, apparently regardless of installed transmission? Ridiculous!
A fluid change can do wonders. The 4R70W on my Crown Vic developed the “rumbling” problem a couple summers ago, where acceleration at part throttle would cause a sensation much like that of driving over rumble strips at the side of the road. Research advised me that often means the fluid is breaking down, so I took it for new fluid, and the problem went away.
As a sidenote, I took the advice of many knowledgeable folks on transmission fluid and made sure they did a drain/refill and *NOT* a flush. On an older vehicle, a flush often stirs up any crud/debris/metal shavings sitting in the trans and redistributes them, leading to trans failure after a short time. If you simply drain the fluid and refill, not worrying about the bit of fluid that remains as opposed to a high-pressure flush, settled debris stays settled and the grenade effect doesn’t happen.
Early Taurus had a known (after owner beta-testing especially with the 3.8’engine) weak transmission spot: the inadequately lubricated front gearset. From late 1991 on, the transmission became electronically controlled, and the copious quantity of transmission fluid used to operate the governor was no longer needed for that purpose. It took until late 1992 production to reroute the plumbing so the fluid no longer going to the governor was redirected to the front gearset. It was a job that a transmission shop, or a home mechanic (me) could do easily, with about $27 in parts. After that the Ford AX4S was an average transaxle for durability.
Chrysler made the mistake of saying that regular Dexron fluid could be used in their Ultradrive transmission. What they really meant was that a little bit could be used to top them off. Too much would upset the friction characteristics of the clutches, and the transmission’s brain would detect this and put it into limp-in mode. Cheapskates wanting to save a dollar or so on fluid would use Dexron with predictable results. The dealers and transmission shops would see dollar signs and instead of flushing the transmission, would proclaim gleefully, “OVERHAUL!”
A glaring example of a poor transmission, worse than properly-fed Chrysler Ultradrives and Taurus AX4S, was the disaster foisted upon 1999-2005 Honda Odyssey minivan owners. It was probably the worst seen in many years and the subject of a major, though largely ineffective, recall: the rebuilds broke, almost the same as the originals.
All in all, GM seemed to have the most trouble-free automatics in the 1990s. Today we have nine-speed automatics which are not to be overhauled or rebuilt in the field, according to their makers. “Install a factory rebuild, send back the core,” they say.
There has not been anything “all American” since at least the early ’80s. The main wiring harness in my ’83 Ranger has a ‘Made in Taiwan’ label on it.
The biggest problem with automatic transmissions is they are ‘tuned’ from the factory for smooth shifts. The resulting effect is clutch plate wear, which contaminates the fluid. You are better off with a trans that jerks your neck when it shifts. I have always been a fan of Gil Younger’s TransGo shift kits.
I’ve always owned sticks and tried to get going with a minimum of clutch slipping.
I wonder how the computer- rather than driver-controlled dry plate clutches in DCTs will hold up.
Great read, Jason!
I’ve had a 2001 Taurus SE for just over 5 years, before replacing it in July of this year. Picked it up with 129,000 km and put only 58,000 km more in that time. I’ve experienced exactly the same problem with flickering oil pressure light! A/C still ice cold when I sold the car, however, heater never worked right from the beginning. I tried coolant flush, thermostat, heater core and radiator replacement and still no heat! It was a great highway cruiser, but I called that engine 3.slow. And, as per forum recommendation, I also replaced as a preventative maintenance camshaft synchronizer, since car developed a chirping sound. I also had to replace a leaking steering rack, one ball joint and front pads during my ownership. I can attest to cars ability to jump curbs. Once I had to take an evasive maneuver, since it was decontented from Generation 3 and no longer had rear disc brakes. Jumped the curb at around 60 km/h, come to a stop. Got out, checked for leaks and drove off. Car tracked straight.
Although this winter is fairly mild in Southern Ontario, it’s nice to finally have a car with heat and heated seats.
Enjoyed the articles about the Taurus. Brought back memories of my first new car: a dark blue 1988 Ford Taurus LX with 3.8L V-6 with just about all the options.
In 1988 I was looking at the Buick Century and Olds Cutlass Ciera which I could have bought at a significant discount as a GM-subsidiary employee. Then I saw the Ford Taurus and liked the modern streamline aerodynamic styling. I liked the tactile feel of the controls and the quasi-European feel of the car compared to the GM cars.
So I bought it. Enjoyed driving the car and the responsiveness of the 3.8L V-6. The car had a solid stable ride and cornered flat. Felt very much like a European car. Once got the car up to 105 mph on a long lonely highway stretch between Palmdale, CA and Los Angeles and was pleasantly surprised at the stability and quietness of the car at that speed.
Although I enjoyed driving it, maintenance and repairs was another story. Not long after owning the car, a creaking noise developed whenever the steering wheel was turned, noticeable during parking or low speeds. After numerous trips to the dealer under warranty, the noise was finally eliminated after replacement of the steering rack assembly and both front strut assembly.
The 3.8L V-6 with its 90 degree layout made for a cramped engine compartment, especially accessibility to the rear spark plugs.
Experienced a major power steering hose blowout due to the proximity of the exhaust manifold burning a hole in the hose. A TSB detailed a heat shield kit to be installed between the exhaust manifold and the firewall and rerouting the power steering hoses. A very difficult labor intensive and expensive job.
As the car approached 100,000 miles, lots of little problems cropped up. Rear power window regulator quit, had to replace the fuel pump and overheating problems indicating blown head gasket. Transmission didn’t give me any trouble though.
Owned the Taurus for 9 years and 117,000 miles. Never really regretted buying the car but wished the car was less troublefree. In 1997 was looking at replacing my old Taurus with possibly another Taurus but didn’t like the over-ovalized 1997 styling and instead bought a 1997 Toyota Camry LE. Although not as comfortable or spacious as the Taurus, the Camry was more reliable.
the 1996-1999 Taurus was kind of ugly and the build quality felt cheap compared to G1 and G2 Taurus’s
My 96 Windstar cooked 3 transmissions in 36,000 miles…including one from the local Ford dealer that was allegedly “right off the line at Ford, with 1998 improvements” that lasted exactly 2 weeks.
My almost-broke nephew is looking for a cheap used car, and I have pushed him toward Taurus/Sable…told him to look for a 3.0L and make sure it shifts OK. I’ll be curious to see what he winds up with.
What a fantastic set of articles this has been!
My personal Taurii experiences are with the 6th-gen my partner currently runs as a daily driver and a 2003 I had last winter for about three weeks.
I’ve mentioned before I don’t get all the hate for the current Taurus. Over the course of Wednesday and Thursday this holiday week we did about 800 miles in Mr. X’s Taurus across the wide open straight-as-a-line expanses of the Midwest from which we both come. Never once did I feel cramped or lacking room. Never once did the car feel short on power. Never once did the car feel anything less than absolutely confident. It’s a smooth, roomy, powerful car that handles shockingly well, especially given its size.
My 2003 was meant to be a winter car. I bought a 2014 Ford Fiesta ST last year, and I had the idea of, rather than buying winter tires and driving the new car through the terrible roads and mountains of road salt that are Southeast Michigan, buying a winter car as a beater. That led me to what seemed to be a decent $1,500 4th-Gen Taurus. The fact that it was a former rental car didn’t surprise me, nor did the 164,000 miles. In short, I got curbstoned (mechanic/small shop owner/licensed as a dealer misrepresented himself as the owner, pretended to sign the title, and I didn’t catch the discrepancy or realize he was licensed as a dealer until after I left) and seriously screwed on that car.
In the short time I had it, though, I was surprised by a few things. I think even after 164,000 miles those were the best chairs I’ve ever sat in in a car. They had a pleasant amount of contour, but they were still supportive, had good cushion, and were all around nice to sit in. Even with the Vulcan it didn’t feel underpowered for ordinary driving around. It wasn’t fast by any means, but as a run around car it was just fine. It handled ok, although that’s hard for me to judge since I got out of a Fiesta ST into an 11-year-old Taurus. The thing felt just fine at 80 mph. I loved the trick third seat/center console.
Honestly, had I come across a good example instead of that POS basket case, I probably would be reasonably happy with the 4th Gen Taurus.
I bought our 1996 GL new. Because the Taurus nameplate had been around awhile, I assumed any bugs would surely have been worked out by then. In our case, not hardly. Oh, it rode and handled nicely. Despite that, everything that could go wrong — and even things that couldn’t go wrong — did. Automatic transmission failure was just the tip of the mechanical iceberg. Even so, we managed to squeeze 200,000 miles out of that lemon — how, I don’t know. Most weren’t happy miles, and I’ve not considered buying a Ford product since. For us, “ovoid” meant “avoid.”
Interesting to hear your reflections on all 4 generations–while it seems everyone has a Taurus story or two, it’s not extremely common to find one with so much seat time in all 4.
Whenever the Crown Vic departs (whether from a mechanical issue or whether I decide to sell it) I’ll be looking for a wagon, and a 4th-gen Taurus/Sable wagon will probably be on the radar as the “cheap option”. Hoping to find something a little more desirable and/or exciting, but depending on budget, it might be the best value for money. By the end of the run they seemed to have fixed almost all the issues, even if they also decontented it into a less pleasant place to be.
I love G1 Ford Taurus’s. SO ahead of its time it looked like a 90s car. Great cars if you took good car of them and avoided the 3.8 engine. Wish the transmission didn’t require so much maintenance to keep going.