The 1995 Galant I have driven for the last three years died on me this past January, Due to its oil burning and slow decline in compression over time not to mention its 211K on the clock, I sent her to her final resting place and I was back to looking for a car.  Given where we are at in this economy, I decided not to opt for another import car. The costs and insurance are always higher, and I was tired of the markups on parts and labor. I could never find any Mitsubishi parts used, and on the rare occasion I could, cost was about the same and I might as well buy them new. I did like the space of the Galant however, and wanted a similar amount of space in the next car. I pretty much passed on GM and Chrysler's offerings and went straight to the old back-up Ford Taurus.

By now we know the Taurus as a great triumph and tragedy in Ford's 106-Year history. Introduced in 1986 The Ford Taurus revolutionized car design forever. Its clean lines and flush features made it an instant favorite in the North American marketplace. By 1992, Taurus and its twin the Mercury Sable was the bestselling car in America. The year 1996 brought big changes for the Taurus and Sable, and they were controversially redesigned in a tribute to the Oval that Ford uses in its badges. The redesign was hit or miss with many customers and Taurus only retained its bestselling status through 1996 due to heavy fleet sales to rental car agencies. After stagnant sales and Ford's hidden cutbacks in 1999, the 2000 Taurus was freshened to make the 1996 design more conservative in the car market, however, by 2005, Ford had quit making the Sable and the Taurus was replaced by the Fusion and the Five Hundred in 2007. Shortly after this, the Five Hundred was tweaked in a few areas and renamed the Taurus, and Mercury also got a new Sable, basically a rebadged Mercury Montego (ironically, another nameplate that Mercury brought back from the dead after the original was killed off in the 1970's.)

I purchased a 1997 Ford Taurus GL with 92,000 Miles on the clock. The car is light metallic blue, comes with the base 3.0 Vulcan engine and other appreciated amenities such as four wheel disc brakes. The car has had one owner and I paid $2,000 for it.  It is the fifth Taurus overall in my family and my personal third. Many people give up on Taurus’s and Sables after their first one, but I have found them to be remarkably simple to work on (most of the time), parts are cheap and abundant in your parts store as well as your junkyard, and they aren’t stolen as much as import cars or trucks, so you will find insurance is significantly lower when you are paying those monthly premiums. I always enjoy driving and maintaining them and for me they have always been an overall better value (for me) than the imports that I have owned.


Exterior Looks


Almost fourteen years after this design was released, it has become very common on today's roads among the some of the newer ugly cars, but back when it was introduced, the third generation Taurus was hard for me to like. The front fascia looks just like a smiley face if you stretched it out at both sides. Two ovoid headlamps flank the circle turn signals and grille. The Ford oval resides over the Grille in the center. After a 2nd (or third or fourth) glance the car has clean lines and big features. Door handles are nice and hefty, I like the aluminum five-spoke wheels and it has a large amount of glass area. Overall as time has passed I like this design much more today than I did in 1996. I appreciate the hefty build of the car. I feel as if ford did a quality job with these cars. The paint is still thick and glossy and a good wax brings it out beautifully. I also find that oven cleaner works on those cloudy headlamps after they age.

While it may not blow you away, the Taurus still fits in well with the newer radical designs of this decade out there on the road.

Driving


The Taurus has a reputation for being sluggish and my car is no exception. The 3.0 Vulcan lacks power during acceleration, and it’s probably best to keep the RPM'S around 2,000 during the shift into 2nd gear. However, once you get to the desired speed, the Taurus is a comfortable highway cruiser. With minimal road noise, the car absorbs bumps pretty well. The Four speed automatic transmission is known for its lackluster performance, and slow shifting. A helpful note about this generation is that there were two transmissions available, the AX4S AND AX4N. The Ax4s also known as the AXOD-E is used in the base Taurus’s and its known for it’s higher than average failures. The Ax4n was designed for use in the more powerful Taurus LX and SHO, as well as Sable LS. However, during this time, and for reasons unknown, Ford randomly outfitted some Taurus Gl's and base G's with the AX4N. Based on my manufacturing tag, mine has the AX4N. I would not have bought it otherwise. They seem to last longer and work better than the AXOD-E. 

Aside from that, however, The Ax4N provides a little bit better shifting, although it is still sluggish. A daily reminder that you are driving a family car, and not some hot little sports car. Be kind to your Taurus transmission, and 9 times out of 10 it will be kind back. I would also recommend flushing these trannys every 15 to 20k. I have never had any problems with transmissions on my cars. Maybe a water pump, but not a transmission. And while the Vulcan does lack power, over the years, I feel it has proven itself as a reliable engine, as opposed to the 3.8L Essex V6, known for its head gasket problems. This engine did not make a return to the Taurus line-up after 1995. It was replaced by the Duratec engine used in 1996-97 LX models, and '98-'99 SE models.


Braking is improved with four-wheel discs. Rear drums are common on older Taurus/Sable models and give the car a dated feel, but not here. They will cost more come replacement time, but definitely stop this two and a half ton auto adequately and precisely. No sponginess or lackluster feeling. However, I find that the car gains tremendous amounts of speed when going down even the slightest hills. The engine does not seem to work against itself to help slow the car. It’s pretty much all braking. I don’t care for this aspect of the engineering or lack-there-of. The driver will find steering to be crisp and light. Fuel economy is not for the Prius-minded, I usually get 23 MPG in ideal conditions on the freeway, 20 MPG overall. 

 
Interior and Comfort 
 

One of the best attributes of the Taurus and Sable of any generation. The interior of the car is fairly conventional, yet retaining a modern look. I’m still on the fence about the ICP. Not the “Insane Clown Posse” for the lame out there (I Never was a fan) But rather, the integrated control panel that houses the radio/clock/HVAC controls. In an oval panel the bottom is the HVAC, which is good, since those are the controls that might get used less, the middle of the row is the tape/cassette player, and it is capped by a digital illuminated clock. I guess I’ve seen stranger designs in cars, but it’s still pretty strange to me. I like it better than the radio Ford put in the 1992-95 Models, with the too-small buttons and cup holders that block its way, allowing for drinks to overflow into your radio. (True story)


The dashboard overall, though I find to be user friendly, very well laid out. There is an abundance of vent ducts to heat or cool the whole car, the instrument cluster is prominent yet flows overall with the design, and I like the look of the wraparound dash. The steering wheel is thick and firm, and everything has a satisfying click or signal. I like the flip fold console that begins as a seat and folds out to reveal the cup holders and a generous bin for your odds and ends. However the top most cup holder is very wide and not very deep but the middle one is useful and even holds those oh-so common 20 ounce bottles of water, Pepsi, etc. There is a small bin for cassettes and small things, but the door over it commonly breaks off. Mine was broken, but I replaced it with a nice intact unit I pulled at a scrap yard. There is a lot of room in the console area overall, I can even put a full sized box of tissue in it and it’s not in the way of anything else. There are also assorted other touches I like, such as height adjustable seatbelts, cruise control, and the folding rear seat in the sedan. Also rear leg room has grown substantially for this generation, and legroom is ample up front, but I find that the dash intrudes a tad bit on the front passenger compartment. where knee room is concerned. However rear headroom is lacking, especially for anyone over 6 feet tall, but again the rear legroom helps to remedy this.


The seats are comfortable, but as always, could use a little more bolstering. I use a small pillow on long drives, or my lower back begins to hurt, but overall they are comfortable. The driver’s seat is a power unit and the passenger seat is manual. The upholstery is gray velour. The velour is easy to clean when you shampoo it, and holds up very well over the years. The door panels and plastics used are of good quality and have also held up very well. My car feels much newer to me than it really is.  Safety is another of the Taurus's strong points. All seatbelts are three point shoulder belts, there are dual airbags and of course the strong and sturdy body itself. Some may find the rear middle seatbelt to be awkward. The shoulder portion attaches to a peg on the lap belt, similar to the way you have to attach the belt portions on car with those old crappy automatic seat belts.
 
Last Thoughts
 
The Ford Taurus has gotten better overall as time has gone on, and I think that if Ford had stuck with it and not devoted so much of its resources to Trucks and SUVs, the Taurus would still be a top contender in the marketplace. Ford was building a quality product, and they began to sabotage themselves into the many illusions of the truck market, despite the fact, that we aren’t really discovering energy reserves left and right nowadays. This Taurus of mine however does reflect that Ford does build a quality product and I would happily drive one any day.

The overall construction and feel of this generation are much improved over 1986-95 models, although I still consider those the best of the Taurus’s designs. The materials used are much better, things don’t seem to just fall apart, and little gripes I used to have such as exposed screws, crappy cupholders, and mediocre materials, seem to have been remedied. Reliability ratings and customer satisfaction have imporved substantially for the Taurus and not long after it came into its own as a benchmark in the family sedan segment, which ironcally, restored Ford's reputation for quality, it was unjustly relegated to bargain bin rental car status and slipped by the wayside in the shadow of Excursions and Expeditions. Forever stripped of its once overwhelming fanfare; one could easily argue that Taurus was just as influential as the Ford Model-T.

Though the revolution is over for Taurus, a new one might begin. Between 1986-2009, Ford has manufactured over Eight Million Taurus/Sables. A lasting reminder of the cars popularity, and impact on the modern car as we know it. I hope Ford can pull something off again with the 2010 Taurus, and lets take a minute to remember Sable which went out of production for good in April, 2009, as well as the good men and women who served the Atlanta Ford Taurus plant for 21 years, Which was torn down earlier this year. The Dream will never end!
 
Basically all I can say is love your Taurus as much as I have loved all of mine!
 
Drive happy
Amount Paid (US$): 2000
Condition: Used
Model Year: 1997
Model and Options: GL V6 3.0 Vulcan