The neighbors stopped to gawk at the 1986 Ford Taurus LX sedan as it sat in my driveway the weekend of February 21. Nearly everyone who visited my mechanic’s shop that Saturday asked about it too. And I’ve noticed drivers and onlookers give the car weird looks as it goes by. This West Coast interloper is officially a New York resident and it’s already making an impact in the Hudson Valley.
It will also be putting a dent into my wallet, but fundamentally this car is in extremely good condition. And worth every penny. The road to Philadelphia starts here.
When I last spoke about the Taurus, it was still in California, waiting to be picked up. The first window for pickup was February 8-9. Bill Gardner, the man who made this all possible, had been storing the Taurus at his house since picking it up. We were both in constant communication and fortunately the transport company didn’t mix anything up in terms of contact info. Unfortunately, the truck driver informed Bill that he could not pick up the Taurus on Sunday night because of conflicts with his other customers. Neither of us thought anything of it. Tuesday comes around and the transport company informs me that the driver cancelled the job. Turns out his truck broke down and he wasn’t being entirely honest about the situation to us or to the transport company. I’m sure higher end trucking companies employ their own drivers, but at the lower end they’re all subcontractors.
Fortunately, the transport company found another truck within an hour. Even better was the fact that this truck had two drivers, which meant at worst, the Taurus would get here only one day later than originally planned. It sounded good to me. The above picture is from February 15. The Taurus was finally on its way!
Sure enough, the car arrived on the following Wednesday. The drivers were originally supposed to get here in the morning, but a flat tire delayed them. It was well after dark when the truck pulled in to my development. They actually left the truck at the end of the road because they thought they would get it stuck, which I found a bit odd. That meant just the Taurus pulled up to the house, complete with the classic Ford “whiirrrr!” of the power steering. It was finally here!
As a quick aside, those are two new garage doors. We decided to go for new ones after my little incident back in December. They were actually installed a day before the Taurus got here. Sure enough, they retain heat a lot better than the old ones. I work in the room directly above the Taurus and the thermometer registers about 4 degrees higher on average than it did when the old doors were up.
But I digress. Because of the bitter cold I was far less enthused than I should have been about the car finally making it to New York. The car was also extremely filthy, which didn’t help things either. After looking over the car to make sure everything was fine, I signed off on the paperwork. The Taurus was here and safely in its stable. Huzzah!
The next morning I headed over to my insurance company’s office and got the Taurus insured. State Farm has a classic car policy and does not discriminate as long as the car in question is over 25 years old. That enabled me to get comprehensive and collision on the Taurus for only $220 per year, which was far less than I was anticipating. Next stop: the DMV. I had not prepared for the reality that the DMV would be an absolute nightmare, mostly because I got my REAL ID compliant driver’s license when my old one expired in 2016. But seemingly half the county stood inside the waiting area when I got there, and in that moment I knew I was in for a long wait. It only took about three hours for me to find out that I made an error on some of the paperwork. I was not a happy camper.
To make a long story short, I corrected the issue and headed over Friday morning. Three hours later and the Taurus officially became a New York State resident! This was the first time I became truly excited about owning the Taurus. Naturally, I decided to slap the plates on to get it washed. Unfortunately, while the car cleaned up very well, it became apparent that the Taurus didn’t make it to New York unscathed. At some point during the trip the truck must have encountered a pretty nasty snow storm. And afterwards ice definitely drifted off and smacked right into the car. The hood, roof, and trunk all have a number of scratches on them. The good news is that none of them penetrated the clearcoat, so I think they’ll be easy to eliminate. And I can’t fault the drivers because the car was so dirty it was impossible to tell how bad they were, or that they were scratches at all.
Things were a bit of a mixed bag. But it felt great to drive the car and I could feel everyone’s eyes turn to my car as it cruised through traffic. My mechanic was actually able to fit me in on Saturday too. The good news: there’s absolutely no rust underneath the car and it’s had a lot of parts replaced within the last year or so. It would be unfair for me to say there’s bad news considering the car is essentially a unicorn at this point, so here is stuff that needs to be addressed: The oil level sensor needs to be replaced. And some springs and o-rings around the radiator should be swapped out for newer components. Something is leaking all over the lower part of the engine and the oil and transmission fluid need to be replaced too. When at idle, the car makes a ticking sound about every eight seconds.
I recently went to my local tire shop for two new tires and an alignment. Fortunately, the owner recommended the exact tires I wanted, the General Altimax RT43 all-seasons, and they only charged about $10 more for both than the price offered by Tire Rack. Plus, their price for new struts all-around was good and they won’t charge me for an additional alignment when I have them installed week. The car already drives much better and I can’t wait to experience what it’s like with four brand new struts because the front ones are on their last legs and the rears probably aren’t too far behind.
There’s some other issues as well. I can’t open the driver’s door from inside. The controls for the electronic instrument cluster are dead. The number eight fuse gets shorted out by operation of the power mirrors for some reason. The gas gauge doesn’t work either, but I put some Chevron Techron in the tank so we’ll see how that goes. I also think the washer motor for the wipers are dead. All things considered, none of these issues are insurmountable. And obviously there’s a lot to love about the car. I found the keyless entry code and have been using it quite a bit. The seats are super comfortable and Ford’s Premium Audio System is surprisingly great.
In any event, that’s the state of the Taurus right now. It’s going to cost me a bit of money to get this thing ready for car show season. But based on how people have already reacted to it, it seems like it’s gonna be a hit. I can’t wait for next month!
I remember driving a couple of these back-in-the-day and was always impressed with how tight and solid they felt.
Looks good Edward, and congratulations!
I love the wheels on that car, but they aren’t going to be fun to clean.
And that whirring power steering unit… I remember it well. I suppose Ford must have finally designed a new one, as my 2007 Mustang is my first Ford ever that is not making that noise at its later stages in life.
Good luck with the repairs! May they continue to remain minor!
Congratulations on getting your dream car! (Though I wish we could have had the Bay Area CC meetup). Somewhat related CC Effect: the recent posts about Colts reminded me that my sister had an AWD Colt Vista, which met an unfortunate demise. She replaced it with a used Taurus wagon that lasted her many years, including a cross-country trip towing a U-Haul trailer. Though she’s since had an Element and now a Hybrid Highlander, she still remembers her Taurus fondly.
Good to see 80s cars being appreciated, In hopefully several senses of the word. My 87 Buick LeSabre T-Type is drawing more attention than just 5 years ago when I bought her form the son of the original owner.. Good luck with the Taurus I look forward to reading more about her.
Sweet! Glad you finally got the car and are getting to enjoy it. None of the issues you described are uncommon for a car this old, and they can all be remedied with time and $.
The dead controls for the instrument cluster and the non-functioning gas gauge are quite possibly related. If they’re not, most likely the sensor in the gas tank itself is kaput. Both of those problems are probably in the DIY realm if you are willing to watch YouTube videos and visit a Taurus forum.
If you have the ability to wrench in that small garage, you will save a lot of $$$. The reality of an old car is that it is not practical to keep paying mechanics to fix all of its maladies.
Good luck and enjoy your new ride!
It’s a great-looking car, before the jellybean years…
Great to hear the Taurus made its journey (mostly) OK. I was worried since I hadn’t heard anything in a while, and the whole project seemed to have so many stops and starts. Congratulations!
Aren’t bench seats great? A problem like this goes from being a huge annoyance to a minor hassle with the ability to slide across the seat!
And I’m curious how you like the General Altimax RT43 tires… I’m planning to buy new tires for our ’95 Thunderbird this month, and those are high on my list.
I’ve run RT43s for 50k miles on my wife’s 2012 Camry, I had also installed a set on my 2012 Civic before I sold it. My brother has put dozens of sets on customer cars (as well as his own 260k mile Mystique), he swears by them for the performance/price quotient. Biggest plus is the wet traction as well as some of the better snow performance that you will see in an all season (but obviously short of an actual snow tire). As they wear in I will say they’re not the quietest tire. Not loud by any means, but somewhere midpack. On a car with poor noise insulation (my 2012 Civic) this is much more noticeable. They also tend to transmit a bit more vibration and just feel a bit busier on the road transmitting minor pavement irregularities than some other higher end tires. Not annoyingly so by any means, but I noticed it. With 50k on them, the RT43s on my wife’s Camry will need replacement in about 7-10k miles. Overall very satisfied for a year-round tire, especially for the price. If I had dedicated snow tires though and was willing to spend a bit more, I’d pony up for some slightly pricier, plusher/quieter grand touring tires.
Thanks so much for the review — extremely helpful to hear real-world experiences.
Eric703
I have had General Altimax RT43 tires on my 1993 Toyota Camry stick shift for the past 34,000 Miles and nearly 3 years and they work great in the Portland, OR. Good traction on a variety of surfaces, they don’t sound noisy to me, but they are down to 6 or 7/32nds which I was hoping would not happen yet. Also, when I turn the wheel when going over railroad tracks they slip a bit which used to not happen. I am getting another quartet for my other vehicle.
I only drove the Taurus for about 10 miles on the new tires but they seemed great!
General has my attention. RT43s were the top candidate for replacing the worn OEM hockey pucks on my wife’s Camry a year or so ago. Then I saw the promotion at Discount Tire on the General Gmax AS-05s. They were dirt cheap and highly rated. So I put high performance rubber on a FWD family sedan with 180hp. That may have been dumb, they’re probably going to wear out at least a year sooner, but per mile cost will probably be the same.
They stick quite well in the canyon. An aggro 5.7L Tundra driver was impatient behind me and tried to pass on an uphill 4-lane sweeper at 10 over the recommended corner speed. He was several car lengths ahead when his sidewalls mushroomed as he entered the turn. He backed right off the gas, while I downshifted midturn and flew past him . No squealing from the tires, they just clung on without drama. It was a series of turns after that and Mr. Horsepower was nowhere to be found until he roared past several miles later on the straights, attempting to regain Alpha status. That juvenile antic was probably worth having to visit the tire shop earlier.
Beware the Camry on performance all-seasons.
Have always used Altimax for the Sable, Le Sabre and the two 626s. My Focus uses Yokohama Avid Envigor because I need something better for a great handling car. Not a knock against the Altimax it is just they are not the same kind of tire.
It’s a honey, for sure! It’s amazing how the styling of these very first Tauruses still looks genuinely great after all these years.
(Also, I am not looking forward to the REAL ID license renewal process. I’m thinking I may have to take half a PTO day at work to get that done. Sigh.)
The Real ID process shouldn’t be all that bad since you have a passport. Make sure to take it with you to the DMV as that should provide the necessary documentation.
I had an ’86 Tempo GL sport with the Ford Premium tunes, was good. Nice car, and well optioned original CA car. Nice find!
Very nice! And it is true, even the nicest old cars come with problems. That inside door handle should not be too hard. It is time to learn about the magic that goes on behind a door panel. Who knows, you might even be able to eyeball a problem with your power mirror circuit, like a bare wire rubbing on something.
Perhaps I am showing my age, but this is why my sweet spot is with older stuff – no power mirrors or electronic dashes = no problems with power mirrors or electronic dashes. But then I managed to keep my kid’s 89 Grand Marquis on the road. Which reminds me, I wonder if the Ford autolamp switch is the same part. If so, get ready to replace it because one day it will melt itself to death.
One day I opened the door of my late TransSport and noticed the very strong and unique smell of burnt wire insulation. Oh sh*t I thought. I couldn’t find anything wrong. Later I noticed that the slider (one of many controls at the ends of the instrument binnacle) for dimming the instrument lights was stuck and not sliding. Fortunately, it was at about 2/3rds, a nice compromise for any situation. It stayed that way for the next ten years.
And that’s how you fix a broken thing on an old car.
The rear window wiper on the Trans also didn’t work. The motor whirred, so it was simply the typical dark days of GM linkage. Also the light warning that the tail gate was open (when it wasn’t) stayed on. There were two switches for it inside the tail gate.
Taking the tail gate off was a two person job, and obviously left the thing undriveable until fixed, so it was a job for a shop. Probably about $500.
Solution: do without the wiper. Put a bit of Click and Clack black electrical tape over the warning light on the instrument panel.
And that’s how you fix broken things on an old car.
(OK, I did fix, or have repaired, a lot of stuff over the years – the stuff that really needed fixing.)
You approached this the correct way.
Two years ago I had a battery drain on my 2000 Econoline. Took a while to figure out a light bulb illuminating the side entry step was staying on.
The solution? Remove the bulb. No problems since.
You can thank Mr Cuomo for the long lines at the DMV.
Great that you got it home and registered. Here is Ontario we have to be strategic about the DMV offices. There’s a couple close to where I work but they are always packed and have unhappy clerks. The small one near my house is much more pleasant.
Those rims look weird to me because I was used to seeing them with lots of corrosion around here. Enjoy the car!
Great looking car Ed, and sorry about those scratches. I hope they smooth out for you in the spring. I can remember the very first Taurus I ever saw, parked at a Tim Hortons, it sure looked different. I think it was the same colour as yours. Congratulations on a great find, and some great cooperation from some CC friends to get it to you.
That lead picture is excellent. And I’m so glad to hear how all this is going! Some day I hope to have a classic in my stable, too.
Congrats! It’s a significant car, and I hope it will bring you years of joy—a rolling museum exhibit.
The only car transport company that I trust is Intercity Lines. Quite expensive, but a completely different experience than the others—they act like they actually care about your car! The rest have been incompetent, careless, and/or thieves.
Congratulations on getting the Taurus, Edward. I hope it will provide you w/many happy miles.
I’m hijacking this thread a bit to give the news that Auto Restorer Magazine went suddenly out of business. My brother was a long-term subscriber & he received a letter w/his last issue informing him that the company went out of business as of February. It’s too bad since it was a pretty good magazine.
As a former 1986 Taurus owner (a Taurus L station wagon), I remember how well those cars drove and handled…and how NICE they were; and as you’ve noticed, still are! Congratulations!
Yes, those wheels will use up a lot of your weekend time. My Taurus may have been a low-line L but it was optioned-up substantially. Why the original buyer didn’t simply get a Taurus GL, I’ll never know; maybe it was what the dealer had. My 1987 Sable had those wheels, too.
But they look great when you’re done.
Car Show? A Taurus of this vintage?
Would a 1955 Chevrolet have been “car show” material in 1989? I say “yes,” and it was the same age then as this 1986 Ford Taurus is, now…I’d say both are important in the evolution of the American automobile.
Maybe even more so, in the case of the Taurus.
Very interesting choice of car for a show but fair enough.
…..Maybe even more so, in the case of the Taurus. People saved 55 Chevy’s. Practically nobody saved an 86 Taurus.
The dashboard photo is really striking to me—the difference in overall form between it and any current car’s dash is vast.
Looks really well kept for its age, seems nothing wrong a little forum and u tube searching can’t help fix for a reasonable cost. The scratches are unfortunate, but can probably be touched up fairly easily. Have fun.
Congratulations on getting the Taurus home. The car looks great. The scratches can probably be fixed if they aren’t too deep. If you don’t have a lot of knowledge about polishing them out, you could always hire a detail or body shop. The other problems don’t sound too bad, considering the cars age. Good luck and I hope you enjoy the car.
A great looking Taurus! Glad you got it home.
The problems don’t sound too bad, just a little time consumptive to fix. But that’s the beauty of old cars; they provide so many opportunities for learning and being creative.
I love this. I love everything about this. The car, the story, the enthusiasm. This is why I love this site, and only on CC can you find a first year Taurus that;s someone’s dream car (and I mean that in a genuine car lover way)
Best of luck with the car and keep us updated
That’s true! I’m one of those people. An 86 LX wagon would be my dream to find and restore.
Your Taurus posts bring back fond memories of my ’89 Mercury Sable (which was a very similar color). It gave us several years of good service, and was a great road trip car!
Now you better take care of this car and thank your lucky stars for two reasons.
Congrats on the new acquisition. While I’m not a Ford man I still can appreciate great style and the desire for older cars. Though to be honest the 80’s were not my favorite decade probably due to my negative experiences with the quality of that era.
That aside I do hope you get to enjoy the Taurus. As an old car enthusiast myself I highly recommend you look into this product to help with your wheels. I recently found it myself and can’t say enough good things about it. It will definitely help prolong the amount of time between cleanings especially on such intricate designs as yours.
Best of luck with your restoration!
Magic Guard – Best Wheel Wax – Sealant & Protection for All Wheels – Easy Removal of Brake Dust & Road Grime – Hydrophobic – Acid, Corrosion & Moisture Resistant – Made in USA
Great to see a For dof that era (late 1980s) on the Ford. over here, many Sierras, Escorts, Orions etc from that period have disappeared, possibly wear and tear (some did have hard lives as taxis and fleet cars) and others in the scrapage schemes of 10 years ago.
Enjoy!
The last of these Taurus disapeared from Tompkins County around 2005 though I had a coworker with one in 2009. Not surprised to read that folks are gawking at this car and I hope it brings you a lot of joy. Are there mileage and/or usage restrictions when it comes to cars with Historical Plates?
In conversations with my insurance agent and the DMV, is seems like there aren’t any mileage restrictions. They basically just want the vehicle to be used as a demonstration car but they don’t seem too strict about it.
I’m so happy you got the car! I’m really greatful there are more people other than me who want to save these cars. Man I just wish the 86 Taurus LX wagon I want would show up for sale. I just wish my dad had not done what he did to me and prevented me from getting that one 86 LX wagon I found in Oregon a year ago. I found a red LTD Fox wagon in Texas I’m really tempted to buy too but only if the owner would lower the price.
Keep up the Taurus search, at least a little while longer! I honestly never thought something like my Taurus would ever surface but then it appeared on craigslist one day.
My advice would be to use as many search engines as possible. Cargurus seems to find some first gens that others can’t. But also use Autotrader, AutoTempest, SearchTempest, Facebook Marketplace, and others. You could also ask around on Reddit. There’s a sub Reddit for Ford and for the Taurus specifically. You may even want to check out Copart, although the ones that show up there are generally inoperable or not worth saving.
You may also want to broaden your search. There were just under 58,000 wagons produced for the 1986 model year. Why not an LX from 1987 or 1988? Visually they’d be the same and there were no major changes in the lineup until 1989. Additionally, Ford allowed Taurus owners the ability to option up their cars quite a bit. There were definitely a lot of GL models that looked like LX trims.
I use some of those actually. Especially Autotempest. Didn’t know about Facebook Marketplace or the others. I’ve used Copart and I can see what you mean. A lot have shown up on there in rough condition. I even put up wanted ads that have been in newspapers all throughout my state last month. I could go for other years but I think I have my heart set on an 86 wagon. Trust me, I’m not giving up the search anytime soon.
How much did it cost to ship your Taurus to New York?
$1300. I used Sherpa Auto Transport, which locks in the price when you set up a shipment. Definitely recommend using them when you find your Taurus!
Must be the CC effect at work again. Yesterday I saw a Taurus wagon of this vintage, in a parking lot. As the owner was just getting out, I asked what year it was – they didn’t even know. It had been inherited from their Mom who had passed, the car has never been highway driven, so I am sure it is low mileage. They claimed only one small spot of rust was visible. Amazing. I was not able to get photos.
I love it. Where else are you going to find a group of car nutcases who are willing to go to this effort to bring home a FWD family car from over 30 years ago, industry icon or not?
Nice work, Ed. Enjoy your hard-won car, take care of it as it deserves, and be sure to keep updating us.
I commend all your effort to keeping a crucial part of the automotive past alive. That Taurus is in stellar shape for being 34 years old, and a 1st-year model at that! Of course SOME things are expected to need working on after so many years and/or miles–my 2005 Chevrolet Astro has 266k miles and had a great deal of small & big issues that needed fixing when I bought it–but being able to drive it out on the road without worrying about its mechanical condition is well worth the time & labor. Bonus points if you gain some admirers in the process! 🙂