For a few months, during the Fall of 2005, I owned and drove a Ford Taurus sedan. I really had a love/hate relationship with the car, which I will explain in more detail later in my review. It was inexpensively priced, had a good safety record, was well taken care of, and was very clean for the age. I could not pass up the chance to purchase it.

First let me describe the car to you. It was a 1991 Ford Taurus GL sedan. It had approximately 103,000 miles at the time I purchased it. The exterior was black with a soft black cloth interior. Normally, I would never want to own a black car because black cars are so difficult to keep clean-looking, but the car was very attractive in black. The previous owner had put aftermarket alloy wheels on the car, which had black paint incorporated into the wheel design. It looked very sharp and eye catching. The interior was incredibly clean for the age. Even having a black interior, which shows every speck of dirt, the interior was pretty much spotless. This is something I really appreciate when buying a used car. There were literally no stains anywhere on the plush, black carpeting. This indicated to me the car was well cared for by the previous owner. With the exception of leather upholstery and the larger, optional 3.8L V6 engine, the car was fully loaded. It had power windows, power locks, power mirrors, a power driver's seat, and even a rare power sunroof. As far as a Taurus is concerned, it was a very desirable sedan.

Everything I just described about the vehicle is part of the reason why I loved the car. What I also loved was that it was very comfortable, spacious, and has a good safety record. The fuel economy seemed very good for a mid-size, V6 powered car. I was averaging about 20-21mpg in a mix of city and highway driving. This isn't too bad considering I was averaging 21-22mpg in a 1985 Volvo 240DL sedan powered by a 2.3L 110hp 4-cylinder engine that I owned at one time. I also loved how smooth and quiet the car drove, mainly on the highway. Driving around town, it was still a smooth and quiet car with the exception that the suspension did not absorb potholes and bumps, but rather seemed to "hammer" over them. Even 15 years later, all of the power options worked properly, the A/C was ice cold, and the heater worked extremely well. The speedometer gave off an odd sound, similar to handful of pebbles rolling around on a baking sheet, if you can imagine what that sounds like. The faster you drove, the louder the speedometer made the noise. It was rather odd.

Reasons I hated the car were plentiful. I am an automobile junkie and know a lot about different makes and models of vehicles. Both the good and the bad. One bad point that the Ford Taurus has always had is that it has a very poorly designed transmission that, more often than not, fails prematurely. Ford Taurus transmissions rarely make it to even 100,000 miles before failing. A few last longer than that, but it is not the norm. So, I was rarely able to drive my Taurus and not notice every time it shifted, wondering to myself, "Is the transmission slipping?", "Has it always made that noise", "What was that 'clunk' I just felt?" It was just paranoia on my part because the car ran and drove wonderfully for a 15 year old Taurus, or for any 15 year old vehicle, for that matter. Needless to say though, it is rather unnerving to worry about your transmission every time you drive your car.

Considering the car had approximately 103,000 miles on it when I bought it, and I do not consider that to be high or excessive mileage on a vehicle, some rather major components were either already replaced or needed replacing while in my possession. The A/C system and the fuel pump were already replaced. Not too long after buying the car the "Check Engine" and airbag warning lights illuminated and stayed on until I had the problem fixed. The airbag control module, which is basically the computer for the entire airbag system, went bad. It's an extremely common problem on all year models of Taurus. It was almost a $300 part, so this was quite dissapointing. When I sold the car to a very nice woman in a different county than the one I live in, she was required in her county to get the car emissions tested. She informed me that although the car was well cared for, ran excellent, and she loved it, it failed the emissions test due to a bad catalytic converter. I had no clue it had gone bad because I was never required to get the car emissions tested because of the county I live in. I felt bad that she got stuck with that problem. Not to mention it made me look bad. It is not a cheap repair on most vehicles.

Now as far as the way the car drove, it had its high and low points. The engine and transmission were very smooth operating. It handles very well for a mid-size car. The interior was spacious, comfortable, and quiet. I loved these aspects of the car. The not-so-desirable aspects of the car were that the steering was a typical early-'90's Ford power steering setup. This means the power-steering had a very noisy power-steering pump that moaned and groaned far too much, and gave a very soft, loose, disconnected feeling from the road. I hated the steering. It made driving on narrow country roads in my area downright nerve-racking for me. The brakes performed rather well. My particular Taurus was not equipped with ABS brakes, but the standard breaking system stopped the car quickly and responsively. I know that the Ford Taurus is notorious for having issues with the brake discs warping. Although I never experienced this myself. It is purely a design flaw, like the vast majority of the Taurus' short comings.

Another aspect I hated about the car was that given the weight, and the size and power output of the engine (a 3.0L 140hp V6), the car had very weak response taking off from a stop. It was dangerously unresponsive at times in traffic. My mother's 1995 Volvo 940 sedan, which is similar in size and weight to the Taurus and has a much smaller 4-cylinder engine, is far more responsive taking off from a stop. I'm not sure what makes her Volvo more responsive with a smaller, weaker engine, but the Taurus is noticeable slower taking off from a stop.

The overall quality of this car, from build quality and fit and finish to durability and reliability, was very dissapointing. The car had numerous squeaks and rattles from the dashboard and driver's door. I am not at all used to experiencing squeaks and rattles while cruising down the road. Thank Volvo for spoiling me in that respect. The dashboard was cracked and splitting badly in 3 different areas. The exterior bumpers were made of a very stiff, brittle plastic that took nothing more than a slight bump into something to crack. The speedometer made it's odd little noises that I mentioned above. All of the exterior door handles seemed to be poorly made. Whenever you pulled on an exterior handle to open the door, the weight of the door would cause the exterior handle to pull out slightly from the door itself, as if about to break and fall off the door. I would experience the same thing whenever removing my key from the door lock. The simple friction of pulling the key out of the lock caused the handle to pull slightly out from the door itself. I was waiting for one of the exterior handles to rip out of the door and fall on the ground, but that never actually happened. Thank goodness.

The temperature knob for the climate control system, I assume from age, had stiffened up and it was rather difficult to turn to change the temperature. I was expecting that the knob would soon snap off. So, I made sure not to use it if at all possible. While I'm on the subject of the climate control system, I really hated how Ford designed the ventilation knob that lets you direct the air out of the vents, floor, or defroster, by integrating the A/C into that knob. The only way to have the A/C on was by turning the vent knob to either "A/C" or "Max" which directed the air through the dashboard vents. I personally thought this was a rather silly design. Most Fords, even newer model Fords, are the same way. It's a stupid design. I much prefer how most vehicles have a seperate push-button to turn on the A/C.

Up to 1995, the Ford Taurus was the number one selling family sedan in its class. I can understand why. It was, and in my opinion, still is, an attractive sedan. It was also very reasonably priced for its time and compared to its competition. Except for the terrible steering, and occasionally harsh ride, it drives wonderfully. The problem with the Ford Taurus though, is that it is terribly unreliable. Look anywhere online and you can read story after story of how incredibly unreliable these cars are. They are so notoriously bad that, in fact there are anti-Taurus websites! Done let the superficial good looks and enjoyable driving experience seduce you. It's a terribly unreliable car. I had far too many big problems go wrong with the car in a matter of only a few months. I do not recommend the Taurus AT ALL. If you look hard enough, you can find other 4-door sedans that are comparably priced, cheaper to repair, and FAR more reliable. Just do your homework before purchasing any vehicle, new or used.


Amount Paid (US$): 1030
Condition: Used
Model Year: 1991
Model and Options: GL sedan