I've had 3 of them, a '91 wagon, a '99 sedan and my '03 wagon and love them all. The trans is the downfall to the taurus line, but there are some out there that have not had any trouble with the trans. My '99 was one of the bad ones. Just like most other cars, you have to take care of them and keep up on the maint. for them to keep going. Most people here get between 27 - 29 mpg as an average on the highway and 18 - 20 in the city. I have found that even with the little problems, the taurus is a simple car to work on and very reliable transportation. I've had both the vulcan and the duratec and I lke the tech much better than the vulcan, but both are great motors.

 

QUOTE (escortAndy @ Oct 8 2009, 07:25 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=758836

I'm thinking about getting a Taurus. Years 2002 to 2007. Are they reliable cars? I heard the vulcan engine is good. Are the transmissions reliable? I'm 30, are they fun cars to drive? Good on fuel?[/b]

If you get a Taurus, you will love it. If you are not real auto savvy,, make sure you get a mechanic or some car buff (Ford) person to look it over first. Take a good look at the rear coil spring condition for those years. If there's a sign of serious rust, negotiate hard on the price over that fact. They are great to drive, not hard to work on, and the parts are less than a lot of other cars. Mileage is good around town, great on the highway for it's size and class. Better car for the money compared to any GM or Chrysler car in it's class, IMHO. It's not a compact car! Good Luck!!!


(soap box,..... anybody?)

 

You'll get so many different answers to that question you won't know what to do.

Reliable? As far as cars like this are concerned, yes, more or less.

Transmissions? They supposedly worked some of the bugs out by then but there's still reports of premature death.

Fun to drive? Uh... not really.

Good on fuel? High 20s on the highway.


The Duratec is the superior engine until you need to get things fixed. Drive both engines and then decide.

 

<span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS">I'm on my third one.
The 88 had to have a new tranny in 98, then it got killed in a car wreck. At least I walked away from it. That sold me on the safety of the Taurus.
The 95 GL went 11 years and 171K Miles. Until the last year or two,it was just regular maintenance items, tires, oil change etc.
Now I have a 2003 and love it. This one is fun to drive and is fast ! This one is not a geezermobile by any means, even though I am ! ROFL </span>

 

They can be, if they came from a good home. I would suggest a Vulcan engine with a ax4n transmission. The '04-up all come with the ax4n trans. I've owned two Taurus', they are/were both reliable. The Vulcan engines are easier to work on, and are less complex than the Duratecs. I already have 85k miles on the '07, only 3 very minor problems since 25k.

 

Fun to drive? Definitely not.

 

Reliability is relative...you'll hear opinions from both sides. The transmissions aren't the best as said, but they've been fixed somewhat from previous years. Gas is ok...

Fun to drive? I enjoy driving my car, but I wouldn't call it "fun to drive" Even with a Duratec engine, you'll still only pull 0-60 in ~8.1 and the suspension isn't sport/racing or anything either

 

Fun to drive is subjective. I find driving a slower car quickly more fun than driving a fast car legally most of the time :lol2: Stock, they are pretty soft, depending on what kind of ride you want and what kind of driving you'll be doing.

But, yeah, if you're looking for an adrenaline pump, the Taurus (or anything else in its class) isn't really it. It's an enjoyable long trip car. They're fairly average on fuel.

I've never heard of broken springs on '04-'07s...they're fairly common on the earlier cars, mostly that live in the rust belt. If you decide on the Duratec, my preference is '01-'05, and if you want a Vulcan, I strongly prefer the '04-'07s - they're a bit quicker than earlier Gen 4s due to the intake modifications. Basically, with the Vulcan, the earlier model it is, the slower it is. Both are perfectly reliable engines, but when I buy another one, it's a 'tec.

In your year range, 2002-early '03 are the only ones before they started slowly stripping away features and models. By '06 it was pretty much fleet-only, but you can add the features from the earlier cars to a later one if you want.

 

QUOTE (ford_ses @ Oct 8 2009, 10:14 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=758897

I've never heard of broken springs on '04-'07s...they're fairly common on the earlier cars, mostly that live in the rust belt. If you decide on the Duratec, my preference is '01-'05, and if you want a Vulcan, I strongly prefer the '04-'07s - they're a bit quicker than earlier Gen 4s due to the intake modifications.

In your year range, 2002-early '03 are the only ones before they started slowly stripping away features and models. By '06 it was pretty much fleet-only, but you can add the features from the earlier cars to a later one if you want.[/b]

If it were me picking out another Taurus, I'd recommend (assuming you find one like this) a 2004 SEL with the Duratec. An '04 SEL that's as loaded as you can find it- EATC, premium sound, leather, moonroof, spoiler, power everything, etc. is going to be a fantastic value for the money. Even a well equipped '04-05 SE or '04 SES will make an excellent buy. That's probably the best compromise between earlier, better-equipped Gen 4's that may come with design- or age-related issues, and the newer Gen 4 cars that were much more stripped-down, but more likely to have lower mileage and last longer (pretty much all of the Gen 4's design flaws had already been worked out by '04).

 

I really like mine. I haven't driven a whole lot of other cars, especially so that are in the same class as the Taurus (mostly vans), but they do ride very nice. It's not a "fast" car by any means, but I still get a kick out of stepping on the gas pedal a little harder every once in awhile. They're very comfortable and there's plenty of room all around.

So far, mine has been very reliable. It has yet to leave me stranded, and only on one occasion has it refused to start, briefly.

 

The Taurus IS fun to drive! I love driving mine. I think mine brings the road alive.


I would recommend the Taurus to anyone.

 

I like my Taurus a lot more than I expected. Prior to the Taurus, I had a lot of different smaller cars. After driving the Taurus, I don't think I will ever drive a small car again. If you are taking a long trip, the Taurus is a MUST HAVE.

My gf plays pro football and if there is an away game that the team doesn't provide transportation, she is taking the Taurus. She has an 04 Frontier, much newer than my 97 Taurus, and prefers to take the Taurus because her teammates and their gear ride comfortably in the Taurus. (It has a huge trunk.) It has never let her down and she has made many long trips in it.

Granted that I have put a lot of work in it. It was sitting for a year when I bought it. Mine has a lot of new parts and new suspension.

Reliability? Depends on how well you take care of it, and how well it was taken care of prior to your purchase. Go through it thoroughly. If you are mechanically inclined, the parts are relatively cheap, and many fixes are affordable.

 

I've owned two. I've loved them both. Buying used it really depends on who owned it before you as to how reliable it will be.

My Sable is a blast to drive and I've surprised the Hell out of many a Nissan Maxima and Altima owner with the 3.5 engine. I invested n an sct tune, an under drive pulley, lots of little performance enhancing maintenance items and suspension modifications...

 

These cars are good if bought cheap, from someone who has taken good care of it.

They are not the most reliable cars, and have there fair share of problems:
1. Transmission - really notorious for failing
2. Suspension - Front n Rear springs break's very commonly in 2000 - 2003 years, in rust belt.
3. Coolant tank - faulty part, fails for almost everyone
4. Cam synchro - fails, very common.
5. Engine - MPG is average for both the engines. Vulcan(2 valve, out dated technology, under-powered)
6. Fun to drive - Definitely not. Handling is average. Steering wheel and gas pedal is much harder than any newer car. Suspension is not the best either.

Conclusion: Taurus is a fairly average, but comfortable car with lots of space.

I am happy with mine, because I am having good luck with it till now, and I bought it fairly cheap.

 

How are we defining reliability?

I do not believe that a car that needs work is an unreliable car. I believe a car that leaves you on the side of the road is an unreliable car....

And for the most part, I am willing to do the work on a car so it doesn't leave me on the side of the road, therefore I would say that overall the Taurus is a fairly reliable car.

 

I've had two sables and I can say they are great cars. I had a '98 with the vulcan and AXODE transmission. The vulcan was great. Even though it felt under powered sometimes it always returned decent milage. No matter how hard i would drive it it seemed to always get 22-23 mpg mostly city and on long highway trips i usually got better than 30 mpg. I was never too confident in the tranny in that car though. It seemed to slip a lot on down shifts. My current one is an '02 sable with the duratec and AX4N tranny. Power wise it beats the pants off of the vulcan but the fuel economy suffers for it. I usually get 19-20mpg city and about 25mpg on a good day on the highway. The AX4N feels a lot more solid than the AXODE.

Reliability wise it's been pretty good. I never had a problem on the '98 that kept it from running. The vulcan is nearly bullet proof. The duratec can be a little finicky. Just a few of months ago I had the coil pack go bad on the '02 and at the same time a couple of vacuum line fittings failed. It still ran but it was rough. Bottom line: There might be little problems here and they but usually nothing that will keep it off the road.

Lastly, I think they are a blast to drive. Sure, it may not have a very sporty suspension set up but it can take the turns. I think they handle very well, especially in the snow. It is easily the best car in the snow I have ever driven. Better than my Dad and sister's CR-V's with all wheel drive. They also have awesome sound systems. Even though the '98 had a stock system, it was better than any of my friends cars. The '02 has the mach system which is really awesome but even better with little modifications.

Bottom line: if you want a daily highway driver, go with a vulcan. If you want a fun ride, get a durtec. Make sure they have the AX4N though.

[/wall of text]

 

If you want a fun-to-drive car, I would not recommend a Taurus/Sable. I'd go for a "performance oriented" sedan like a Grand Prix GTP/GT/GXP or a G8 GT/GXP

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<span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS">Fun to drive - it's all in the mind of the beholder.
Compared to the old 95 that was dying this past year, yes, the 2003 is a fun car for me. Granted, it's not the red Mustang convertible I had planned on having as my retirement car, but that's life.
As far as speed, well my speeding days are over. I can't afford it anymore. Someday I might get it on a track to see what it can do, but for now... it's just a good roadtrip car for me. </span>

 

Driving any car is technically fun... I think the problem here is most people have never driven a "fun" car....

 

Driven a ton of cars. I still think my Taurus SE is fun to drive. In fact, drove it home from work today, after driving a GMC all day, and tears of happiness came out when I went onto the expressway, put my foot down, and watched it fly. But, as many have told me, I am a strange one, and I am a man who loves his Taurus

 

QUOTE (mmmfloorpie @ Oct 9 2009, 06:09 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=759062

Driving any car is technically fun... I think the problem here is most people have never driven a "fun" car....[/b]

Either that, or they lack the skill and confidence to push the Taurus to no more than 40% of dismal limits and have no idea how fast a car can really go around corners.

I'd say 99% of the students I teach at racing school have absolutely no idea of the true limits of their car. I'll often hear a student say that they thought they knew how to drive before taking the course but after 30 minutes on the track they realized they really didn't know how to drive at all.

 

I would not call a Grand Prix "Sporty" by any means.

I am biased though, as a kid in my high school claimed he had a "5 second" Grand Prix. To this day we still don't understand what he meant by that. That and all the people that seem to drive them are women and guys that think that they and their car are the most badddd assss thing since whatever.

Edit, on topic

As far as reliability, I would NOT hesitate to take my Taurus cross country, flogging it on a race track and driving back non stop.

 

QUOTE (dark_fire @ Oct 9 2009, 10:43 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=759112

I would not call a Grand Prix "Sporty" by any means.

I am biased though, as a kid in my high school claimed he had a "5 second" Grand Prix. To this day we still don't understand what he meant by that. That and all the people that seem to drive them are women and guys that think that they and their car are the most badddd assss thing since whatever.

Edit, on topic

As far as reliability, I would NOT hesitate to take my Taurus cross country, flogging it on a race track and driving back non stop.[/b]

But only after you replaced the brake pads and brake fluid at the end of the track session, right?

 

QUOTE (dark_fire @ Oct 9 2009, 10:43 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=759112

I would not call a Grand Prix "Sporty" by any means.[/b]

True that. "Driving Excitement", it ain't.

QUOTE

As far as reliability, I would NOT hesitate to take my Taurus cross country, flogging it on a race track and driving back non stop.[/b]

:coolgleam: Been there, done that. Until you've taken a bone-stock Gen 4 Vulcan out onto a racetrack, talking about the Bull not being sporty is a little premature. It's almost always dependent on the driver; personally, I drive my Taurus hard- Kevin can testify to that. If you can handle most mainstream sporty sedans, you can certainly enjoy a Gen 4 Taurus. Very few owners have the skill to consistently out-drive these cars, but the more comfortable you are with "spirited driving", the more fun you can have with them.

 

I suppose a person's definition of "fun" has a great deal to do with it...