For what was once the best selling car in the land, the first generation Taurus has become mighty scarce. Apparently, these are not turning out to be long-lived even here in Curbsidelandia, unlike all of the Mercedes W123 and 124s around, never mind all the old Volvos and Toyotas. This one brings back vivid memories, as it’s exactly like the one my dad bought, the only car he ever bought based on my recommendation. Which means it was by far the nicest car he ever had.
I’m not even going to try to explain to folks who weren’t around in 1985 what an extremely important and influential car the Taurus was. It showed up GM and Chrysler by proving that Detroit was capable of building a world class sedan, without being pretentious or slapping “Euro” badges all over it. It was the first sedan from the Big Three that understood that the key to success was being all-round capable without any weaknesses, not just flexing a random muscle here or there, which had been GM’s game plan for way too long.
And then of course the was its design, which proved that Americans were quite willing to embrace something new, as long as it wasn’t too new. The Audi 5000 had paved the way to acceptance of the new clean aero look.
Does this bring back the memories: those big, comfortable mouse-velour upholstered seats in that gray. This one, a 1990, is a couple of years later than my dad’s, and has a different steering wheel, with buttons and an air bag. The roarty sound of the Vulcan 3.0 V6, which gave quite decent performance for the times with its 140 hp. The new AXOD four-speed transaxle was smooth-shifting, and its overdrive was most welcome on the freeway. My dad never had any issues with his, but he did only keep it for some 7-8 years, and he was a fanatic about fluid changes, which was an essential component of helping to keep them from self destructing. He traded it on a ’93 Skylark, which was not as refined, comfortable and pleasant to drive as the Taurus. And no, he didn’t ask me input on that car, which would be his last.
We borrowed his Taurus for several longer trips in both the Appalachians and out on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It was a very pleasant companion; not really athletic or inspiring, but a very comfortable and capable sedan, setting a standard for all FWD sedans to come. A Camry today owes a lot to the Taurus; same basic format, just more reliable.
My brother bought a wagon version, but he kept it too long, and it eventually needed more and more work. He eventually bought a Camry in 2003 or so, and needless to say, its utter reliability was a real contrast and revelation.
It’s too bad Ford didn’t have the reliability, quality and steady development and refinement of the Camry, as it could have become a real game-changer for Detroit. Instead Ford squandered a golden opportunity to reclaim a lot of import buyers, and retain them. Oh well…
We’ve given the gen1 Taurus some serious attention here before. I called the 1986 Taurus “The Most Important American Car Since the Model T”. I wonder how well that claim holds up.
Our resident Taurus expert, Ed Snitkoff, has done the gen1 justice in here too: CC 1986 Ford Taurus: At This Moment You Mean Everything; and this one: “Good Role Models and Clear Objectives Create a Breakthrough Car“. There’s others too; just use the CC Search bar.
Note: A rerun of an older post.
I was always very impressed by my father in laws 88 Sable wagon, even though it had substantial issues. When the entire transaxle had to be replaced under warranty, Ford gave him the chance to get rid of it and they’d get him a newer one. He declined so they made him sign a waiver that he would not pursue the Lemon Law.
By sharp contrast, my dad was driving his 85 Camry, bought new, 124 miles five days a week without any issue. In fact, there was some type of recall where Toyota rebuild the front suspension free.
Cindy and I learned our lesson much too late, last year as a matter of fact, and bought a Nissan Rogue.
It hasn’t broken in 18,000 miles and we’ve owned new Ford and GM vehicles that would have already needed help
Count me as one who thought Ford did an amazing job with the Taurus/Sable. Too bad they couldn’t get the quality right
The first generation Ford Taurus had everything going for it except repairability. You had to cut the inner fender with a skill saw to do a wheel alignment, and the owner manual said the transmission fluid never needed changing. People who believed that changed out the whole transmission after a few years. My parents ordered a new 1986 Taurus and took delivery of the car they had built for them in February 1986. When I first saw it I exclaimed that they had bought a jellybean. Never having heard that automotive term, they misinterpreted my reference to be naming their car. So that Taurus became Jellybean. Knowing how much I loved their car, they gave it to me in 1990. I kept it for 30 years. The problems it had over the years were often bizarre. It never overheated, but I constantly had to add water to the cooling system. Took 3 years to figure that one out. The radiator was plastic and nested in the car’s frame. The plastic had cracked below where anyone could see it, and filled the frame (which was close to water tight) with fluid. The tiny drips below the rear license plate were where the water was escaping. A new radiator ended me having to lug around water jugs in its trunk.
After about 300,000 miles my mechanic made a deal with me. It would cost $6000 to make the car fully reliable again. But if I wanted, he would fix the problem it had right then for only $1000, with no guarantee that it wouldn’t need another 1K repair soon after, and another after that. Then he told me to turn around. There was a 1999 Taurus with a seized engine. Next to it was its new engine in a crate. He’d fix up and sell me that nearly new car for only $5000. I opted for the 1K repair on Jellybean plus the 5K replacement.
Jellybean’s demise in 2020 was not a result of mechanical failure. It got massively vandalized in a parking lot. I’d still have it if it had not. I loved that car.
Ford had cheapened everything by the time they made the 1999. There was nothing I loved about the generation 3 Taurus. It was transportation only. I passed it on to a friend of mine when it needed an expensive repair.
My mechanic warned me that all tauruses were built to a price. Everything on our 95 wagon gradually self destructed after 100k miles. Plastic bits broke off, switches failed, the HVAC was in constant need of repair. Back to Honda for 250k of dependable service
Wonder what was wrong with this site earlier today? Very long time to access it. It’s still long, but better.
We had a tech problem that almost brought the site to a stop, but it was fixed later.
We had a 1987 Taurus. My relatives bought a used 1986 one and I was completely smitten with it, so I’m sure I wanted my parents to buy a used one. It was by far the nicest family car we had, but not particularly reliable. By the time I inherited it as a hand me down, it needed significant repairs or to be junked.
I bought a 1994 (2nd gen)Taurus from my department manager as I needed a decent car to (a) drive to work and (b) something that could reliably be driven on the interstates. The second gen Taurii had the 90° 3.8L V6 as the largest engine option which it had. Department manger called it a baby Lincoln as it had power everything and a automatic climate control. Car started life as a “program car” ie, rental fleet. Only real issue I had was one day as I left home, and started up the street I heard a “pop” and it shut off, EEC is over top of the HVAC case and installs from the inside. It had a failed electrolytic capacitor and it had burned part of the circuit board. A quick trip to a salvage yard and all was well again. I drove it to work until Dec 2011 when I retired, then moved to Virginia’s Eastern Shore and drove it until 2014 or 15 and traded it in on a 2009 Ford Flex.
My mother bought a Taurus new in 1991. It was her first new car since her 1976 Volare. The Taurus was a GL in dark charcoal metallic (I don’t remember what ford called that color) with the light gray interior and the snowflake cast aluminum wheels. A very rich looking car at the time. It had the first gen refresh which included the trim under the headlights (I never liked the floating look of the original headlights) and the full red taillights. The car drove and rode well but did need its first transmission under warranty at 31k miles. The car made it to just over 75k miles before that transmission gave up in about 1998. The front end suspension and clearcoat weren’t doing much better by that time either
I have noticed that these are nonexistent for the volume they sold. Maybe it was the old owners but the A-Bodies seemed to outlast everything really only becoming rare post 2020. The Camry and Accords also seemed to outlast the Taurus’ as well. Even more surprising the 2nd gen ’92-95 is barely more seen and seen far less than the Camry/As of those years. And now the ovoid ’96-99s also are getting rare, with the contemporary Camry and Century prob the two most common survivors.
I never understood this “built to a price” comment that come up here often. Every product is built to a price target.
Chris ;
This means they took engineering short cuts in an otherwise good vehicle .
My 24 year old stripper base model Ford Ranger is a perfect example : the body is made on tin foil so it dents when being looked at hard plus zero rust proofing anywhere, my Los Angeles from new truck’s frame was painted sans primer so the black paint is peeing off .
Here and there are lots of similar short cuts : pop rivets holding the window lifts to the doors, so on and so forth .
This trucklet was very well and cleverly designed to run for 400,000 + miles in five years then Ford expected you to pony up for a new whip .
As if .
-Nate
Had the Mercury version and it sucked, but it was free so I can’t really complain. Most annoying was the throttle lag but I guess that was common then.
never a fan of the squashed grape look. had one in the family. tranny clunks, it used to eject the power steering dipstick when the hood was open. the extended family sable wagon, well everything failed attached to the motor, but the engine was ok. and those oval windows in the rear, ugh!
Built to a price means built badly by design. My 1999 Taurus had flimsy plastic knobs that broke. Had to use a needle nose pliers on the AC knob stalk because the replacement broke the same way.
Lots of plastic parts broke and when you looked at them you could see it was things like using thin plastic at a stress point.
Built to a price accurately describes the difference between my 1986 and 1999 cars. I never heard that term before, but that WAS why I did not like that 1999.
The reason there are so few Tauri around now is the fact the cars weren’t at all durable. In my family’s shop Gen 1 Tauri showed up right after the warranty was up. Repairs ran the gamut but the real weak areas were fuel pumps, transmissions and general electrical gremlins. The cars didn’t drive particularly well in my experience.
By 1986, a GM A body was a reliable and economical buy. I’d much rather have a Cutlass Ciera 3.8 litre than a Taurus.
I bought a leftover 1990 Taurus L new, as our family car, and it served us very well. It had a few recalls when new (seatbelt, brake rotors, subframe bolts), it had a water leak in the trunk that took forever to solve, but I maintained it diligently (including tranny fluid and filter changes), and it went for 320k miles, with no major repair. It had to be towed once, for an ignition/distributor module failure, but the Vulcan V6 was bulletproof. My current Taurus, a 2004 with the Vulcan engine, just made a 500 mile trip in this scorching heat with no issues at 219k miles. It has had a starter, a water pump, a belt and idler pulley, a fuel pump, 1 sway bar link, 2 sets of front brakes, and that’s it. I don’t think a Camry would have served me any better than these two have. Thanks for the memories!
In 1989 I bought a new Ford Taurus SHO. The car was unreliable and poorly made. Over one year it needed two transmissions and three clutches, all replaced under warranty. The Yamaha engine was reliable. Since then I’ve bought eight cars, none of which were made by Ford Motor Company.
My ’89 SHO was virtually trouble free. Now it did get the clutch replaced under warranty, but the original clutch had not yet gone bad before it was replaced. Then in 1998 it needed the heater core replaced, but other than routine maintenance (full synthetic oil every 5,000 miles) and a few performance/power upgrades, it never saw a mechanic, and this despite it being driven for all it was worth for thousands and thousands of miles (I mean as fast as it could go). My brother, who had an ’88 M5 was so impressed with it that he too bought an ’89 SHO for use when his M5 would have been the wrong car to drive, and by the way, he kept the SHO longer than he did the M5
I also had an 89 SHO. Was reliable used transportation in 2001(ish).
Mostly just silly things broke, trim, outside rear door handle, misc inside things/pieces, and of course, paint peeling. Overall, a decent peppy number.
The only time she was “down” was when it needed a “rear” motor mount. (Thanks to that sweet “Yammy” motor’s POWA). The engine would “torque up” and lift enough to Push on the hood trying to get outa there.
I had Bought it from a dealer (barely a dealer, selling old.. repo’s/Theft recoveries etc.) For the tidy Sum of $900. Fine deal in 2001. 95K “ON THE CLOCK”. This is important, as I was sitting in DMV getting registered. (yes, I was registering it myself, tells ya about this “Dealer”). So, sitting at DMV, bored, reviewing the paperwork on My ‘New’ 1989 Ford Taurus SHO, 5 Speed, Goldish color, with 95K on the ODO…then I see the title.. mileage: 195,000!!
Damn 5 digit Odometers.
Son of a ..
So, that likely explained the $900 price tag.
I was Pi$$ed, But as I said, It was a mostly reliable car for the 2 yrs I had it.
Sold it for cheap when I bought my next car.. 1989 Ford Crown Victoria Wagon for $700. a story for another time..
When it comes to Toyota each succeeding generation, whether Camry, Corolla, or Celica, the cars were refined. When it comes to a Ford Taurus, Thunderbird. or Crown Vic, each succeeding generation is de-contented. Once it becomes de-contented many times no one buys them any longer and they get discontinued. GM and Chrysler are just as guilty. The story of American manufacturers. Whether it is stupidity or chutzpah I don’t know.
As for my wife’s 98 Sable wagon I have to say it was a comfortable riding car with decent power and gas mileage. Interior all intact. The Vulcan V6 is bread and butter like GM’s 3800 V6. Decent performers and fairly long lived. Both do have a few shortcomings that could end their life if you are not proactive in correcting them earlier than later. I am assembling a new 3.0L V6, story when done, that will go into the 98 wagon.
Will say that despite selling tons of the 1st Gen it is extremely rare to even see one in California. Here, rust is not a major issue unless right near the coast. Checking Pick n Pull there is one 90 Taurus sedan and one 87 Taurus wagon out of six yards.
Taurus does generate lots of comments that’s for sure.
I drove a Taurus as a weekend rental. The thing drove and felt like a brick. Unresponsive (slow), heavy steering, the dash wobbled all over the place, and the heater barely worked. Considering it was freezing temperatures outside, we did want a modicum of warmth. It could hardly clear the inner windows of frost.
OTOH, my brother in law had a Taurus wagon, which he loved, and drove it across Canada. I guess it all depends.
My sister has owned just seven cars in over 50 years: two Fords, two Hondas, a Colt Vista, a Toyota (her least favorite), and now a Subaru. I think the Taurus wagon was her favorite. Very reliable and suitable for her needs at the time.
When these were new and late models, they had the deserved reputation of the transmissions going out. Along with the Mercury Sable. It’s a wonder any survived.
I don’t even see the ovoid 1996-1999 anymore and haven’t for years. The 2000-2005 We-Give-Up-Just-Sell-to-Fleets generation is getting rare here as well. I still see 1997+ Camries all the time, often hammered, living their golden years doing heavy labor. The infamous decontenting of that generation seems not to have affected their lifespans.
IIRC one of your readers hipped me to a good book about the fascinating back story to this car .
Even is rust free Los Angeles I no longer see the Road Roach (TM) Tauri .
This one looks in terrific shape .
I didn’t like Mouse Fun upholstery when it came out but it heralded a sea change in cloth upholstery .
-Nate
I used to see lots of first-gen Tauruses and Sables in salvage yards. Last time I was in one, I didn’t get to peruse the regular section (apparently Mustangs are considered ‘Prestige’ at that pick-n-pull yard… LOL) so I didn’t get to see the Taurus inventory). When I was at a different yard, there were many unwrecked Tauruses in stock.