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Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable Sedans Pre-2008

3389 messages,  Last post on Jan 21, 2011 at 11:46 AM

You are in the Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable Forum.

What is this discussion about? Ford Taurus, Mercury Sable, Sedan

Messages Page 301 of 340

#2994 of 3389 Driving Impressions 2005 "SE" by chuck1

Oct 14, 2004 (7:35 pm)

Picked up my company car. It had 8 miles on the odometer. I have had it two weeks and it's got 1,600 miles on it. I am in sales and do lots of driving. It's the base "Vulcan" motor. First of all, the Taurus has gone through the decontenting process like the Focus. The two things I noticed right away is now it has a "plastic mesh" grill with a smaller Ford logo on it instead of the plastic chrome Ford logo that was much larger. Also, on the trunk it now has a very small Ford logo on a painted surface instead of the chrome plastic strip back there as well. Maybe Ford is "dumbing down" the Taurus to make sure it doesn't compete with the "500". While the Vulcan motor is OK for around town, the acceleration is not that great for merging on the Southern California freeways, nordoes it have any "top end" power for highway passing. The seats are very uncomfortable, not good for long trips at all. This used to be a high point in the previous generation Taurus, I don't know if Ford changed the seats or what. I am getting 20mpg on the highway, not too bad. It has good cornering capabilities (a pleasant surprise!) and the contenental tires become nosiy as they age with miles. Would I buy one? I wouldn't buy one new with one year old ones going in the 11K bracket. But if you picked up a one to two year old Taurus, you could do worse with your money on some of the small Korean offerings at that price!

#2995 of 3389 by snowman

Oct 14, 2004 (7:46 pm)

Replying to: chuck1 (Oct 14, 2004 7:35 pm)
Interesting! I got my 2000 SES for four years, I can tell you it is the most comfortable car I've ever driven even on long trips. But I don't drive more than 8 hours continuously.
 
Your mileage is awful, I get 21.4 in 100% city traffic, 27-28 on highway (70 mph average). But I think your car is too new to measure the gas milage yet.

#2996 of 3389 Re: 2004 Mercury Sable GS [masonmi] by badgerfan

Oct 15, 2004 (5:28 am)

Replying to: masonmi (Oct 14, 2004 3:35 pm)
Sable and Taurus are essentially the same vehicle, just sheet metal and trim differences, and maybe different combinations of options, but otherwise they are equals. You will probably find more choices on the lots with Taurus as there are more Ford dealers and Taurus sales volume is greater.

#2997 of 3389 Re: 2004 Mercury Sable GS [badgerfan] by masonmi

Oct 15, 2004 (4:01 pm)

Replying to: badgerfan (Oct 15, 2004 5:28 am)
Thanks for the response, i'll have to check out the Taurus and see how it drives in comparison to the Sable, Is the SES Taurus the top of the line in comparison to the Sable LS model? and how are the Vulcan engine reliability?

#2998 of 3389 Re: 2004 Mercury Sable GS [masonmi] by chuck1

Oct 15, 2004 (11:44 pm)

Replying to: masonmi (Oct 15, 2004 4:01 pm)
The Vulcan motor is one of the most reliable around. It's not a "cutting edge" motor, but very relaible. When most people complain about their Taurus, it's hardly ever motor related!
Good luck!

#2999 of 3389 Re: 1991 taurus wagon boots7 by boots7

Oct 16, 2004 (11:51 pm)

Replying to: chuck1 (Oct 15, 2004 11:44 pm)
I drove my wagon and parked it at the store with no problems. About 30 min later i started it and put it into drive and it didn't even try to move the shifting cable is moving the lever on the top of the trans. The thing is it will not even try to do anything forward or in reverse. any Ideas for a easy fix. help the new guy

#3000 of 3389 Mach Stereo System? My Kingdom for Information by dae3

Oct 17, 2004 (3:26 pm)

I just bought a 2004 Taurus SES with the Mach Stereo system. I am frustrated that I cannot find any information about the system. I would like to upgrade the stock speakers which even though they are supposed to be an upgrade have cheap paper cones. (At least the ones I can see from the trunk) Does anyone have information on the power of the amp this thing has. I have found the amp in the trunk but there are no markings on it. I would like to know how much power this amp has so I know what speakers it can drive. Also, does anyone know if the speakers in the front doors and the tweeters up on the piller are paper?
 
The stereo is very loud but I would like to get a more quality sound. My listening has found that there is very boomy bass, no mids, and shrill trebles. Good speakers would hopefully smooth all this out. I have tried several stereo stores and they all seem clueless. One even said that the only way to upgrade the speakers was to buy a new head unit, amp, speaker wires, and probably a new jacuzzi tub for the installer.
 
I have looked at Crutchfield and they tell me the info on speaker sizes but that is all.

#3001 of 3389 Re: 2004 Mercury Sable GS [masonmi] by badgerfan

Oct 18, 2004 (5:52 am)

Replying to: masonmi (Oct 15, 2004 4:01 pm)
Top of line Taurus is the SEL.
 
Note for 2005 model year they are dropping down to two versions of Taurus, the SE and SEL. Just simplifying the model offering, as Taurus/Sable is tapering off production levels (down to one plant vs two as the Chicago plant is now building Five Hundreds and Freestyles) and will probably disappear altogether when the Fusion comes out in a couple of years.

#3002 of 3389 Re: Time for a tuneup ??? [nomoreford2] by badgerfan

Oct 18, 2004 (5:55 am)

Replying to: nomoreford2 (Aug 30, 2004 10:05 pm)
Note Ford extended the warranty on the DPFE sensor on my 2000 Taurus Duratec, so you might be able to get a freebie replacement for that if it has failed and yours qualifies.

#3003 of 3389 01 model year good by wkohler

Oct 18, 2004 (10:35 am)

Taurus has really been decontenting the last few years. I bought a new 2001 new, recently gave it to my daughter and bought a new 2003. The 03 has black plastic interior door handles vs satin chrome, the 03 has no glove box light, no rear a/c vents at the rear of the center console, no enclosures around the rear speakers, a cheapened version of the trunk mat over the spare tire, no shade bar on the windshield and most likely more decontenting that one can't see. I suppose most of this is to obviously save some money and the fact that the Taurus will die out the next couple of years.

Messages Page 301 of 340

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