Ford Taurus

[crashz]

My neighbor is selling her Taurus. I think she said it was an 05, loaded. Not sure of the engine, but I think it's a six. It has 68k miles and she only wants $2000. It needs a speedometer cable as far as I can tell.

I've been barking about how many miles I'm racking up on my new truck as well as the poor mileage. Can anyone tell me if it would make a good commuter car, mostly hwy miles? Is it reliable? Decent fuel mileage?

 

[Peacock]

Ehhh. Fairly reliable. Terrible NVH. The earlier models had terrible reliability from a mechanical standpoint. The later ones aren't bad, just not nice.

 

[Peacock]

It has no speedo cable. Either a VSS or speedo head problem.

 

[milkman636]

I had an '04 with the 3.0L v6. It's was an all cast iron engine. It was a very reliable car with mileage in the 26-27 mpg range. Only tires and brakes in the first 100,000. Unfortunately it was totaled when we were rear ended on the freeway a couple years ago or I bet I would still be driving it every day. My niece has an '06 with the 3.0L also. The most common issue I have heard of with these cars is ball joint trouble when they get higher mileage. I would be surprised if the speedometer used a cable in an '05 though. I never had a lick of trouble with mine so I couldn't say for sure.

 

[George2615]

My wife had one a few years ago. Think is was an 03 or 04.
Mileage was poor only about 19-20. It was terrible in snow. Couldn't get out of its own way. She's now driving a 4x4 Escape that gets 22 mpg.
Never had any trouble with it. Just regular oil and filter changes and a brake job.

 

[skipmarcy]

As peacock stated, does not have a speedo cable. We've seen alot of cooling system problems with the 3.0L Ford engines - severe deterioration of metal components in the system - water pump impellers being a very important one. We have a 1999 Sable at the shop now that has had 2 water pumps in the past 3 years with impellers completely gone, heater hose assemblies replaced twice, heater cores completely stopped-up and now the freeze plugs rotting out from inside. Have seen several even newer cars like this over the past few years as well as a couple of Ranger pickups with the 3.0L with exactly the same problems in the cooling system. The '05 Taurus you describe might be just fine with only 68K miles - especially for only $2K, that's a great price for most any used car that will get you back n' forth to work and the grocery store !!

 

[Peacock]

As peacock stated, does not have a speedo cable. We've seen alot of cooling system problems with the 3.0L Ford engines - severe deterioration of metal components in the system - water pump impellers being a very important one. We have a 1999 Sable at the shop now that has had 2 water pumps in the past 3 years with impellers completely gone, heater hose assemblies replaced twice, heater cores completely stopped-up and now the freeze plugs rotting out from inside. Have seen several even newer cars like this over the past few years as well as a couple of Ranger pickups with the 3.0L with exactly the same problems in the cooling system. The '05 Taurus you describe might be just fine with only 68K miles - especially for only $2K, that's a great price for most any used car that will get you back n' forth to work and the grocery store !!

It's the crap Ford coolant. I remember doing litmus tests that were bad on cars 2-3 yrs old.

 

[Travelover]

DW has a 2004. 96,000 miles with just tires, brakes and battery replaced. I change the trans fluid every 30,000 miles. I think that it is a fine car for the money.

 

[Code54]

For 2K that sounds pretty decent. Heck if you can get a year or two out of it and scrap it you would be way ahead....

 

[dgl24087]

I had an 05, purchased new. It was totaled in an accident at about 77k miles. It had the original brakes, I had replaced the original Continental Contitracs at about 64k. Mileage- about 25-26 highway and 19-20 city. That car would go for about $5-6000 around my area.