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97 Ford Taurus any good?
- Thread starter Sniper82
- Start date
FilmCamera
Senior member
fords suck
CrackRabbit
Lifer
Tauruses have lots of transmission and front suspension issues. Motor wise the 3.0s are fairly solid. Other than that I think the 96-99 body style is ugly as sin.
JasonCoder
Golden Member
I've owned a 97 LXi wagon for four years now. All I've had to do was keep tires on her and change the oil. I've got about 90k on the odometer. I love Fords - and isn't this the best selling car ever or something?
thedarkwolf
Diamond Member
Hadn't the trans issues been pretty well fixed by 97. I know my parents old 93 still had problems yet it made it 200k miles before the trans crapped out. Which 3.0l? Is it the 12valve or the 24 valve one? The old 12 valve vulcan engine only puts out around 145hp but its unkillable. I think the 24v one had some problems during that time frame but I can't remember for sure.
KillerCharlie
Diamond Member
Two of my family members have a 99 Taurus and the transmissions are both going bad at about 100k.
CrackRabbit
Lifer
No the 3.8 had headgasket problems. The 3.0, and the 4.6 and 5.0 v8s are some of the more reliable easy to fix/work on motors out there.
See, thought it was the 3.0 that had HG problems... Not a Ford guy just thought I remember hearing that. 🙂
As much as I'm not a Ford fan, this is really admittedly a decent vehicle overall. Most people I know that have had a Taurus really do not have many issues aside from trans.
QueBert
Lifer
I have 2000 Taurus, it's silver. Since Ford didn't touch the body from 2000-2006, every 10th car I see is mine, same color and everything. Probably once a month I almost try to open somebody else's car by accident at the mall or grocery store parking lot 🙂
I see far more Taurus then most other cars. I had a '95 before this. Sad Ford stopped making them in '06 🙁 Might look into getting a Fusion next year...
Scarpozzi
Lifer
Alright.....the Taurus is actually a decent ride. However, the overall quality of the car is questionable. Interior may be prone to little problems here and there. As for the engine quality, just take good care of it and it may make it to 175k with no trouble. For the money, it's probably a good deal.....however, plan an exit strategy when it's time to get rid of it. You may have trouble unloading it if something major breaks.
funboy6942
Lifer
HG problems were on the 95 windstars and 94 t-birds with the 3.8's btw. Those years ALL the 95 windstars were recalled, some t-birds only though.
Problems with ford trannys is if you dont service them on a regular bassis and then one day after having 70K on the od decide to do it (dodge is the same way) they go to sh!t not long after the service is done. And then if you dont do the service at all you get around 100K or so and then they go. Key is to always service it regularly and there wont be any problems at all.
But the 97 Taurus had tranny problems due to neglect and squeaks from the front struts. Other then that with the 3.0 and regular oil changes 200K= wouldnt be out of line. Just make sure to pop off the oil cap while the engine is running. If you see no junk under the cap and no smoke pouring out of the hole you should be good to go. OH and check the fluid and be prepaired for a tranny.
Problems with ford trannys is if you dont service them on a regular bassis and then one day after having 70K on the od decide to do it (dodge is the same way) they go to sh!t not long after the service is done. And then if you dont do the service at all you get around 100K or so and then they go. Key is to always service it regularly and there wont be any problems at all.
But the 97 Taurus had tranny problems due to neglect and squeaks from the front struts. Other then that with the 3.0 and regular oil changes 200K= wouldnt be out of line. Just make sure to pop off the oil cap while the engine is running. If you see no junk under the cap and no smoke pouring out of the hole you should be good to go. OH and check the fluid and be prepaired for a tranny.
JasonCoder
Golden Member
Yeah, 400 bucks... ouch. Sounds like someone ripped him off on the labor or something :frown:
thomsbrain
Lifer
look at it this way:
i know you're thinking "it's not that old, it's not that many miles, and just LOOK at that price!"
but for the same amount of money, you can get an early-90's honda that will actually be more reliable (despite having double the miles), get better gas mileage, be more fun to drive, and not make people laugh at you.
feel free to replace "honda" with "toyota, nissan, mazda."
i know you're thinking "it's not that old, it's not that many miles, and just LOOK at that price!"
but for the same amount of money, you can get an early-90's honda that will actually be more reliable (despite having double the miles), get better gas mileage, be more fun to drive, and not make people laugh at you.
feel free to replace "honda" with "toyota, nissan, mazda."
Turns out the Taurus was leaking anti-freeze from somewhere(heatcore area I think). So I pass on it. I might be getting a 92 Nissan Sentra in good condition with 163000 miles. I drove it and it sounds/drives good and the CV Joints(boot),Fluids and all looked fine. The oil looked a little dark but he said it was due for a oil change. Transmission Fluid did look brownish red but not black and didn't smell burnt. He had it priced for $1250 but said he could do $1100. If I get it I am gonna get the oil changed and probably transmission fluid changed first thing.
Are about any older honda, toyota, nissan, mazdas reliable?
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