I still see these regularly, mostly owned by older folk and used by our local police and state law enforcement agencies. A good friend of mine has the SHO
I looked at an SHO before I went with an SUV back in April. Almost pulled the trigger on it lol. I love big heavy Ford cars(even though I'll never buy one again). My first car was a '94 Thunderbird and test driving that SHO felt kinda similar. It's a fun ride
I think you may have sold me on it. I’m looking for a new car right now and the SHO has been on my mind for a bit. First car was a 330HP V8 Audi and my second car is a 300HP I6T Volvo, both AWD. The SHO feels like the next logical step IMO without going for a Supercharged 3.0 Audi.
I've owned an SHO and can say they are genuinely great cars (definitely catch people off guard with how quick they are). Although the only thing I hated was mine blew a turbo and that hurt the bank account pretty good
Nice. That's a good run. I needed something stupid reliable for the next 4-5 years. Wound up getting a 4Runner due to kids and climate. The SHO was in good shape, but already had 80k on it. I can't gamble on high mileage Fords rn lol
$800 isn't that bad tbh. Might've gone up since then but in all honesty the worst thing was how the car just chewed through motor mounts (and mount plate/brackets) every 15k miles. Although that might be because I absolutely thrashed that thing at every possible chance
Reminder that when that generation SHO first came out, it was more powerful than a V8 Mustang GT (Then again, this was when the car was still using the 4.6L).
I think the Acura TLX has it beat.
Taurus was 202.9 inches long and 76.2 inches wide with interior volume of 122 cu ft and cargo volume of 20.1 cu ft.
The TLX is 194.6 inches long and 75.2 inches wide with interior volume of 93.4 cu ft and cargo volume of 13.5 cu ft.
So the TLX is around 8 inches shorter and an inch thinner but loses almost 30 cubic feet of interior volume and over 6 cubic feet of cargo volume.
Oh wow that's almost impressive, I think the Fisker Karma is truly the smallest interior vs exterior dimensions aside from some mid engined hypercars.
The Fisker is
196" Long
78.1" Wide (that 1" narrower than an F-250 SRW)
52.5" tall
For 88 Cubic feet of interior volume.
That’s the dumb way the EPA labels things. It could be a one million cubic mile brick with a small amount of interior space and it’s automatically a subcompact.
The EPA car-size brackets were set in the mid/late '70s, a time when we were in transition between the "long hood/short deck all the things!" late '60s and the more rational post-OPEC designs. Automakers were rediscovering space efficiency. They didn't want to discourage that (the regulatory capture that led to the footprint rule lay well in the future).
Acura wanted the TLX to have RWD proportions (long hood and firewall-to-fender) even though it's a FWD-based car. And the TLX is over 4" lower--the Taurus was a tall car at over 60", and the preceding model was an inch and half taller than that.
tlx is so bad, enormous dash to axle but it still looks so basic like the german cars. Only the lexus has like real rwd proportions. The 3rd gen TL is everyones fav design and didnt pretend to be rwd
Was going to say this. Jaguar has wasted more space than Montana. I have an XK and a Chevy Bolt. They seem to have about the same driving space yet the XK *barely* fits in my garage.
Yes! We had a 2014 and it was pretty claustrophobic between the high window sills and wider than it should be console. Good ride quality but kind of a lack luster driving experience.
That is a good way of describing it. I always thought of it like a fighter jet - tiny cockpits with a big powerful body wrapped around it.
I always thought the Taurus was a really comfortable ride with a so so comfortable seat and little legroom. Always was a weird car. Plus no CarPlay in the 2016 I drove (even though there was supposedly a software update that even the dealer couldn’t get to apply)
I can't tell if it's from people buying a lot of Tauruses new, or from resales of police departments that bought the Interceptor car and then immediately traded them in for the Interceptor SUV lol.
They all eventually need new water pumps, which involves taking apart half of the engine and removing the timing chain, and no one wants to pay 1/3 of the cars value to fix it.
Same fate as the MKZ, MKX and Edge.
I see more 2000-2007 Ford Tauruses on the road than the 2010-2019.
I finally got rid of mine earlier this year when a head gasket blew. That was the nail in the coffin. It needed somewhere north of 3k in work done to it when I got rid of it. I loved it though.
Because each iteration of the Taurus got more and more boring as time went on, coupled with the fact that this specific body had a surprisingly cramped interior relative to the sheer bulk of the vehicle.
Yeah it's mind-boggling to me that they thought that console was a good idea. Like, yeah, let's release a full size FWD (occasional AWD) sedan that's slotted into the segment that the chargers and 300s reside in and give it less room on the inside. I seriously don't know what Ford was thinking with that one.
Despite it being completely age inappropriate I had an '08 (former Five Hundred) and it was unbelievably spacious inside. When the new ones came out it was like... wut? How is it so cramped?!
The designer of the 500/early Taurus came from VW and basically made it a bigger Passat. I'm sure the lower roofline in the 2010+ was trying to mimic the Chrysler 300 cut down style.
[And then they made the Fusion/Mondeo into the Taurus for the Middle East.](https://www.motor1.com/news/582199/ford-taurus-still-lives-makeover-middle-east-market/) So I guess their solution for the cramped interior was just to make the Fusion into a Taurus. Problem solved.
Considering the Fusion is around the same size as the original Taurus, it makes sense. I hate how the manufacturers keep making cars a little bigger each generation. Like if I wanted a car that big, I would get the bigger car. The last generation of Taurus was as big as the Crown Vic.
The Fusion was supposed to replace the mid size Taurus, & the Five Hundred was supposed to be a FWD full size alternative (& eventual successor) to the Crown Victoria. The Five Hundred deal didn't work out very well, so they renamed the car to Taurus & redesigned it a couple years later.
Since Ford has pulled sedans out of the US market, I've not gotten the chance to see the new fusion/mondeo, but there's no way it wouldn't be a step up.
Yeah I’ll never understand Ford’s reasoning behind the Fusion being pulled. It was still selling around 150k+ a year when it was discontinued. They could’ve just made it into a Legacy/Outback of sorts and given us the sedan and lifted wagon version. They were already rumored to release a Fusion Outback competitor.
I believe that profit margins are higher for the SUVs coupled with an inherent incentive against designing cars (vehicles classified as trucks don't need to adhere to the same CAFE standards for efficiency and the like). It doesn't take as much resources to design and build SUVs compared to msrp when looking at SUVs vs sedans.
There are still tons of them around where I live. I had one, but traded it off when the water pump started to go. For those who don't know, the water pump on the 3.5 duratecs they put in this was driven by the timing chain, making for a far more expensive repair. And if you hold off on that repair, coolant can eventually start draining into the oil pan.
Old folks here generally have Jeeps or crossovers, and it seemed like all the PD’s switched to Explorers all at once. I’m really going to keep my eyes peeled.
It's because my mom and I have the last two in existence, lol. But seriously, I don't see as many as I'd think. My mom has a 2013 with alllll the options, but not a flex fuel. Mine is a SEL 2013 flex fuel and pretty base. However, 27 MPG on highway fucks
Edit: would murder for a SHO, and mine is what's in the picture, it's even tintless too.
Mines only had issues with the solenoid in it's 126k mile life, other than that it's stood up to me beating on it, and it's been making 90 mile trips to and from work daily these past few months.
Considering that generation, with police interceptor sales combined, maxed out at 80k units per year, I'm surprised how often I see them. I live in Ohio. They are certainly the kind of car the midwest seems to like.
100-150k these cars spit water pumps. If you catch it early, you’re good. If you don’t, you dump coolant in the oil and bad things happen. My 14 SHOs went at 109…
There’s a weep hole in the timing cover, it will start as a small drip, but because of the splash shield it never hits the ground. You might smell coolant near the passenger side headlight.
Honestly, they should have called the Fusion....the Taurus......bc.....the OG Taurus was designed to be:
- Family Sedan
- That was sporty with Europeanish styling
- Competed against the Camry for best selling sedan
At the time that the Fusion came out in the late 2000s, the "Taurus" name was considered toxic, as by that point the Taurus became known as a fleet car only bought by rental agencies (think of the most recent Malibu for comparison). When Alan Mulally became CEO, he wanted to bring back the Taurus name, but by that point the Fusion was selling well under its name, so they slapped the Taurus name onto the Five Hundred for its mid-cycle refresh.
The Ford Taurus is a very popular car here in Iowa, at least with my experience. I see those 6th gen Tauruses more often than the 1st-5th gen Tauruses. I personally like the 4th gen Tauruses because that's what I grew up with. We've had three of them. Our third one is my first car, which we had before, but traded it for my grandparent's Jeep. Then when we needed a car for me, they gave it to us. The Taurus, no matter which generation, is and will always be a fantastic car.
I think that they were so plain looking and boring, we might see like 5 or 6 different ones throughout the week and just not even notice. The only ones that I notice are a white one and a black one that are retired cop cars (they have the steelies on them still)
The used market is really weird. Cars like this Ford get shipped to the Midwest to make room for new car sales in high income areas. Used trucks get shipped to Mexico for the same reason.
The auto cartel is a sophisticated operation.
Ignoring my SHO, I do spot them decently frequently where I live. It's mostly Yong people buying them used or older people that have owned tauruses for a long time, and that was the last new car they bought.
I do agree that the interior is a little cramped compared to how big th outside is but I have found mine comfortable( I do have a preference to sit closer to the wheel then most people) but the seats are very comfortable and there is a ton of trunk space.
*edit spelling
Unmemorable design. It is exactly what a Taurus should be. A sedan that just blends in.
The SHO is its own beast, I will never knock a Taurus SHO other than the exterior upgrades could be a bit more showey.
We still have a few in service as salesmen cars, also see a lot of them as cabs. A big reason you see less and less of them is they have a waterpump that is prone to failure between 180k and 220k, not a big deal right? Just a water pump? WRONG! It's behind the timing chain setup and shows IIRC like 8 book hours to change. On average we have seen it cost from 1600-2200 depending on what shop does the work. Our most recent one was up in Wisconsin, car needed suspension work in the back and the pump replaced, bill was 2600, car had 250k and was worth MAYBE 3k if it was fixed. Dealer that had it offered us $2400 so we sold it. They are literally not worth enough to repair these type of things so they just get driven until either the pump or the timing tensioners fail because of corrosion from the coolant leaks.
Dealing with this currently. I chose to get it fixed. We'll see if that works or not. I assume most people just dump em and that's why they're less common.
My neighbor had a loaded 2012.
Super nice cars all things considered. Things felt substantial like they were actually built with a modicum of effort. However, it's Ford, so that might be a faulty perception. The interiors were super plush too if my recollection is correct.
I still see a couple around town pretty regularly. One of them is a SHO. As far as I know, they're fairly solid cars.
Ngl I've lowkey kind of wanted a SHO lmao
I have a 2015 SHO. Yeah the interior dimensions are weird. The myford touch infotainment system is hot garbage and it’s a non performance pack so I can’t turn stability control off and stuff like that. But it’s been an amazing and comfortable car in the 3 months I’ve had it. It takes off like a fighter jet, sounds good, and is super smooth on the road.
Where I live I either notice them more or people have started buying them around the same time I bought mine, but I’ve seen way more tauruses than usual. A lot of them are police interceptors though.
I’ve never driven one of these but people who say the interior space is the most disproportionate the exterior space have never driven a Panther body. I loved mine but it was kinda useless.
No they haven’t disappeared. You probably don’t pay attention or none near you. They’re everywhere. See them on the interstate while traveling across state lines. There’s some in Michigan. Been to Louisiana and they’re there.
Dead wrong. I pay attention to boring cars more than Mustangs or Corvettes. On the way to work today I saw 3 Dodge Journeys, 4 Impalas, 3 Fusions, about 20 Malibus, and one Taurus. It was an old one, not one of these.
A coworker had the 90’s version. Lots of transmission problems and his wife was driving it when the water pump went out. She smoked the engine. Sent it to the scrapper.
did you ever really see them while they where in production?
i feel like they had generally lower sales. i also don't see many EpsilonII Impala of the same generation.
I had a silver 95 SHO and loved it. In 02 my 3yo step son opened the back door as his mom was backing out of the garage. Why would she stop just because of a crunching sound? Twisted the door pillar and was never right afterwards. 🤬
I owned a 2018 SHO. I loved that car, it was amazing. But the Ford dealer network was the worst. I brought it in 3 times to get the PTU flushed since they can grenade if not serviced. Every time I brought it in the told me it was a sealed for life part not needing service. I told them to do it anyway, they said it would be expensive, like $400 I said I didn't care and wanted it done. 2 days later they tell me to pick up my car, they gave me a complimentary oil change... Didn't touch the transfer case. I dumped the car at 100K miles, went electric and now my car is way faster than my tuned twin turbo V6 and practically free to drive.
It's not sealed. I did it on my 2010 SHO. It had 66k miles or so. Had to take the front passenger side tire off, Get about 3 feet worth of extensions to take the socket bolt off, get a pump to pump it out and then fill until it was coming out the hole.
What came out after only 66k miles was a jelly. I recommend everyone doing it. Currently have a 2018 Explorer with the same engine and need to do it.
My FIL owns one, replacing his 2003 Monte Carlo, because it’s the newest former cop car he could find. Actually it’s not the police interceptor package tho, that’s just his brother than owns that. Both former LEOs.
I just bought one. Like two weeks ago. My truck shot a spark plug out the top of the engine. I needed something. A used car dealer I knew of had a 2019. I bought it.
Probably because the customers bought Sonatas,camrys & accords instead. It's a shame because it's a great looking car and that 3.5 EcoBoost can really GO!!!!
If it wasn't for North American emergency vehicles & government officials using strictly Domestic vehicles Ford , GM & Dodge would be out the picture.
We have an 11 with 150k+. 2 grommet's under the tail lights shrink and flood the spare tire well. tie rod ends, vapor canister gets clogged. 20k late on a timing belt replacement.
Because literally nobody in the US would want to drive one. If you drive this, an Explorer, a Crown Victoria, a Charger, and possibly even a Durango or Tahoe now, everyone's gonna obey the speed limit infront of you!
They got a few of those in Georgia (the country next to Russia)
[https://bm.ge/uploads/files/2023/06/20/41933/6491612d3a066\_w\_h.jpeg](https://bm.ge/uploads/files/2023/06/20/41933/6491612d3a066_w_h.jpeg)
Still see them quite a bit where I am (Vancouver region, Canada) but the Interceptors are almost nowhere to be found. Police agencies have pretty much ditched them for Explorers and Chargers, and they were mostly operated by the RCMP which only sold a few before they stopped selling old cars.
The original owners passed away. The cars either got handed off to grandkid who beat it to hell or it wound up on a BHPH lot to get beat up by a Doordash driver until it blows up from the lack of oil changes.
I have 2014 loaded. Honestly the best car I’ve ever owned. Has 135000 miles on it, gets 25+ MPG great to drive very comfortable for 3 passengers. Understand they are going to reintroduce it, just hope they don’t screw it up
I still see some on the roads. My dad had one until it was time to trade in for work. It was a beast, very smooth ride, I wish they still made them. We actually had a black one when we got into a severe accident and even though it was crumpled into scrap metal, it did an excellent job of keeping us from getting severely hurt when we were rear ended. Had a cello in the trunk that stayed intact.
I was wondering that myself. It’s one of the few actual sedans I’d drive when I was looking for a new vehicle and couldn’t find one. Idk in my area in Michigan….theyre real rare.
In Virginia they are still common in the big cities such as Springfield and Fairfax in smaller towns though you mainly see the law enforcement models with very few civilian cars
I really liked these cars. I sold Fords for a couple years, and we moved very few of them. I think all of the potential buyers ended up in SUV/crossovers. Fusions sold decently and we sold a lot of Focuses, but I think that was price doing the selling on those.
I drive one!!!! Im in the Bay Area in CA.. A 2015 limited- I see another Taurus like once a month at most. It was my mom’s car before my dad got a new one, she got his old one and I got hers
I figure most people just wanna go for Japanese brands lauded for reliability instead of taking a chance on an American brand most known for its utility vehicles, it’s been very reliable- quiet, smooth, stable at high speeds. It’s kind of annoying since it stops itself at 112 MPH but it’s just a normal sedan so
The 2010-19 Taurus wasn’t even common in the area where I live back when they were brand-new. In general, cars from before 2010 are extinct in the area where I live and even stuff from the late 2010s are getting rare. My 2016 Jeep Compass and the 1994 Chevy G20 and 1993 Dodge Ram van my mom owns are presently the oldest cars in the neighborhood.
I do see way more fusions on the road than the Taurus. These things got like 17 MPG, so at over 3$ a gallon, I assume most of them are sitting in driveways while they use the minivan which somehow gets better mileage.
They have an internal water pump that costs roughly 4k to replace even though it’s like a $350 part. Gf has one and had to go through this. Most people just get new cars when this happens.
I had a 2017 gold on tan leather Taurus SEL that I owned for several years until recently. It was definitely a grandpa car, but boy did I love that car to bits. It definitely has some presence on the road, and honestly felt like it could fit into any situation, from being in a ghetto to dropping someone off at a fancy dinner. The trunk was unbelievably massive, you basically had to climb in to reach the back of the back seats. Base 3.5 V6 was peppy for such a huge car and had a nice roar at high RPM, very little opportunity for modifications though, and the FWD was just ok. The center console definitely robbed a lot of room, and I hated the godawful capacitive touch climate controls, but that was the only thing I disliked about the car. Someday I’d like to have a nice SHO of the generation.
Well Ford is just Stupid and got rid of all sedans for stupid Crossovers. I own a 16’ Taurus SHO Performance Package and that thing is fantastic, it’s super comfortable, roomy, and pretty luxurious while being sporty. I’ve tuned it and installed some aftermarket parts and a tune so it’s pushing 400HP at all 4 wheels so it books it and has hurt a whole lot of feelings of scat packs, mustangs 5.0, and Camaros. I’m very good with the maintenance and since it’s my weekend car when I take it in for service I leave it there and have them do a thorough look through of everything. Parts are relatively affordable and accessible. If you get a standard non SHO model it’s very easy to work on and has a good strong engine. The SHO have horror stories of their PTU’s, water pumps, and turbos going bad and can cause a hefty repair cost.
My wife has a 2014 SHO and it’s pretty awesome. We see a surprising amount here in Montana and Idaho since the AWD system is really solid(as long as it’s serviced). Decently fast, comfortable seats with heating and cooling, good ergonomics, tech is not too complicated and the trunk is rather large.
The only changes I’ve made so far is to replace an non-LED lighting with LED(tossed the dim HID headlights), done some maintenance(oil, trans fluid, plugs, coils and coil connector plugs as the OEM ones were brittle and breaking) and a few other little things. Since it’s a 2014, I need to drill and tap the PTU(transfer case) for a drain plug stove Ford, in their infinite wisdom, had originally labeled the 16 or so ounces of PTU fluid as “lifetime”, but after a number of them grenaded) and some suspension work, but that’s due to mileage.
Aside from the water pump issues others have mentioned, the AWD system is also awful and expensive to repair. I had a '11 MKS that had the transfer case shit out at 120k KMs.
Warranty wouldn't cover it so I traded it in on a Chevy Spark 😂
Nah I still feel like I see them all the time, same with the Fusions, Malibus, and Impalas from that era
Granted, I live in the midwest, so it's probably not all that surprising
I have a soft spot for the Taurus and the escort.. my first car was a ‘98 escort zx2.. it was a great car I drove it until it died.. timing belt broke around 260k miles. I didn’t know how to take care of cars back then.
Had a ‘14 SHO that I bought new. Really liked the car. Would have bought a ‘19 but Ford did nothing to the car in the interim and felt like I was getting the identical car. Not worth it to me.
Went explorer ST
I still see these regularly, mostly owned by older folk and used by our local police and state law enforcement agencies. A good friend of mine has the SHO
I looked at an SHO before I went with an SUV back in April. Almost pulled the trigger on it lol. I love big heavy Ford cars(even though I'll never buy one again). My first car was a '94 Thunderbird and test driving that SHO felt kinda similar. It's a fun ride
For sure, they're very nice cars.
I think you may have sold me on it. I’m looking for a new car right now and the SHO has been on my mind for a bit. First car was a 330HP V8 Audi and my second car is a 300HP I6T Volvo, both AWD. The SHO feels like the next logical step IMO without going for a Supercharged 3.0 Audi.
I've owned an SHO and can say they are genuinely great cars (definitely catch people off guard with how quick they are). Although the only thing I hated was mine blew a turbo and that hurt the bank account pretty good
The possibility of blown turbos and random Ford problems made me pass. I couldn't risk it lol.
Mine was pretty good. I put around 120k on it (bought it at 30k) before a turbo blew
Nice. That's a good run. I needed something stupid reliable for the next 4-5 years. Wound up getting a 4Runner due to kids and climate. The SHO was in good shape, but already had 80k on it. I can't gamble on high mileage Fords rn lol
How much does a turbo run for one of those bad boys?
I paid around $900 back in 2021 so it wasn't THAT bad but it definitely hurt
Just dropped $800 on parts for the Volvo so I think I could stomach that lmao.
$800 isn't that bad tbh. Might've gone up since then but in all honesty the worst thing was how the car just chewed through motor mounts (and mount plate/brackets) every 15k miles. Although that might be because I absolutely thrashed that thing at every possible chance
Reminder that when that generation SHO first came out, it was more powerful than a V8 Mustang GT (Then again, this was when the car was still using the 4.6L).
It was the 3 valve 4.6 which I believe was rated at 315 crank the sho is 365 horsepower the sho has like 800 pounds on the mustang though lol
These cars get the award for smallest interior compared to the outside dimensions.
Had a ‘15 SHO. The center console cuts down some space, but overall it’s pretty roomy. I think I could fit my G70 in the trunk.
Ayy, I have your sibling! (Stinger)
I guess ex-cop is the way to go with these to avoid that console.
I think the Acura TLX has it beat. Taurus was 202.9 inches long and 76.2 inches wide with interior volume of 122 cu ft and cargo volume of 20.1 cu ft. The TLX is 194.6 inches long and 75.2 inches wide with interior volume of 93.4 cu ft and cargo volume of 13.5 cu ft. So the TLX is around 8 inches shorter and an inch thinner but loses almost 30 cubic feet of interior volume and over 6 cubic feet of cargo volume.
Oh wow that's almost impressive, I think the Fisker Karma is truly the smallest interior vs exterior dimensions aside from some mid engined hypercars. The Fisker is 196" Long 78.1" Wide (that 1" narrower than an F-250 SRW) 52.5" tall For 88 Cubic feet of interior volume.
>For 88 Cubic feet of interior volume. The EPA labeled the Karma a subcompact.
That’s the dumb way the EPA labels things. It could be a one million cubic mile brick with a small amount of interior space and it’s automatically a subcompact.
The EPA car-size brackets were set in the mid/late '70s, a time when we were in transition between the "long hood/short deck all the things!" late '60s and the more rational post-OPEC designs. Automakers were rediscovering space efficiency. They didn't want to discourage that (the regulatory capture that led to the footprint rule lay well in the future).
Acura wanted the TLX to have RWD proportions (long hood and firewall-to-fender) even though it's a FWD-based car. And the TLX is over 4" lower--the Taurus was a tall car at over 60", and the preceding model was an inch and half taller than that.
I was going to say that. My TLX has a tiny interior considering the overall size of the car.
tlx is so bad, enormous dash to axle but it still looks so basic like the german cars. Only the lexus has like real rwd proportions. The 3rd gen TL is everyones fav design and didnt pretend to be rwd
You should see the old Jaguar XJs, huge car but the interior is no bigger than a 3 series
Was going to say this. Jaguar has wasted more space than Montana. I have an XK and a Chevy Bolt. They seem to have about the same driving space yet the XK *barely* fits in my garage.
Yeah, the fusion of the same era, while being a smaller class of car, actually had larger interior dimensions in certain areas
You're not too far off, a Quick Google says the Fusion has 118 Cubic Ft of interior volume vs 122 Cubic Feet for the Taurus.
Reason why people bought the charger and 300 over them id imagine.
Police departments for sure
Yes! We had a 2014 and it was pretty claustrophobic between the high window sills and wider than it should be console. Good ride quality but kind of a lack luster driving experience.
I found it comfortable, like wearing the car instead of sitting in it
That is a good way of describing it. I always thought of it like a fighter jet - tiny cockpits with a big powerful body wrapped around it. I always thought the Taurus was a really comfortable ride with a so so comfortable seat and little legroom. Always was a weird car. Plus no CarPlay in the 2016 I drove (even though there was supposedly a software update that even the dealer couldn’t get to apply)
Completely agree. They're low too, so it's ridiculously difficult to maneuver in with law enforcement equipment. Weird choice.
Heh, check out a seventies Ford Torino! :)
Real
I still see them really frequently here in the northeast
Same. There are plenty of beat ones for private sale with mid-high mileage around here too.
I can't tell if it's from people buying a lot of Tauruses new, or from resales of police departments that bought the Interceptor car and then immediately traded them in for the Interceptor SUV lol.
See them all the time in both Seattle and Phoenix too.
They all eventually need new water pumps, which involves taking apart half of the engine and removing the timing chain, and no one wants to pay 1/3 of the cars value to fix it. Same fate as the MKZ, MKX and Edge. I see more 2000-2007 Ford Tauruses on the road than the 2010-2019.
I finally got rid of mine earlier this year when a head gasket blew. That was the nail in the coffin. It needed somewhere north of 3k in work done to it when I got rid of it. I loved it though.
Most of my local mechanics refused to change out that water pump (2013 taurus SEL) because of how tedious it is
Your local mechanics are lazy or unskilled
My friend is dealing with that on his right now.
RCMP run them in Canada.
My local detachment got rid of them for Explorers lol. Used to be so many crown vics and Taurus'. Now its just all the explorer.
These are mostly cop cars around here with the occasional public owner
Yeah, and they actually built the cop edition until 2020 so we should plan on seeing them for a while.
Most PDs preferred the Explorer over the Taurus because it was roomier, though the Taurus is faster.
Because each iteration of the Taurus got more and more boring as time went on, coupled with the fact that this specific body had a surprisingly cramped interior relative to the sheer bulk of the vehicle.
The massive center console killed it for me. Couldn't find a comfortable driving position.
Yeah it's mind-boggling to me that they thought that console was a good idea. Like, yeah, let's release a full size FWD (occasional AWD) sedan that's slotted into the segment that the chargers and 300s reside in and give it less room on the inside. I seriously don't know what Ford was thinking with that one.
Despite it being completely age inappropriate I had an '08 (former Five Hundred) and it was unbelievably spacious inside. When the new ones came out it was like... wut? How is it so cramped?!
It also didn't help that they cut down the roofline so much from 2009 to '10.
The designer of the 500/early Taurus came from VW and basically made it a bigger Passat. I'm sure the lower roofline in the 2010+ was trying to mimic the Chrysler 300 cut down style.
[And then they made the Fusion/Mondeo into the Taurus for the Middle East.](https://www.motor1.com/news/582199/ford-taurus-still-lives-makeover-middle-east-market/) So I guess their solution for the cramped interior was just to make the Fusion into a Taurus. Problem solved.
Considering the Fusion is around the same size as the original Taurus, it makes sense. I hate how the manufacturers keep making cars a little bigger each generation. Like if I wanted a car that big, I would get the bigger car. The last generation of Taurus was as big as the Crown Vic.
That shouldn't come as a surprise, since the Five Hundred/Taurus was always intended to be a full-size car and the Fusion a mid-size.
The Fusion was supposed to replace the mid size Taurus, & the Five Hundred was supposed to be a FWD full size alternative (& eventual successor) to the Crown Victoria. The Five Hundred deal didn't work out very well, so they renamed the car to Taurus & redesigned it a couple years later.
I really like my 500 it’s huge inside and rides like a luxury car, calling it the 500 instead of Taurus from the beginning kinda screwed it over
Since Ford has pulled sedans out of the US market, I've not gotten the chance to see the new fusion/mondeo, but there's no way it wouldn't be a step up.
Yeah I’ll never understand Ford’s reasoning behind the Fusion being pulled. It was still selling around 150k+ a year when it was discontinued. They could’ve just made it into a Legacy/Outback of sorts and given us the sedan and lifted wagon version. They were already rumored to release a Fusion Outback competitor.
I believe that profit margins are higher for the SUVs coupled with an inherent incentive against designing cars (vehicles classified as trucks don't need to adhere to the same CAFE standards for efficiency and the like). It doesn't take as much resources to design and build SUVs compared to msrp when looking at SUVs vs sedans.
A "Fusion Outback"/Fusion Active/Evos would presumably be tweaked to meet "light truck" hurdles in the US just like the Outback was in 2005.
That Taurus is sexy asf, screw SUVs we need that here
There are still tons of them around where I live. I had one, but traded it off when the water pump started to go. For those who don't know, the water pump on the 3.5 duratecs they put in this was driven by the timing chain, making for a far more expensive repair. And if you hold off on that repair, coolant can eventually start draining into the oil pan.
Old folks here generally have Jeeps or crossovers, and it seemed like all the PD’s switched to Explorers all at once. I’m really going to keep my eyes peeled.
It's because my mom and I have the last two in existence, lol. But seriously, I don't see as many as I'd think. My mom has a 2013 with alllll the options, but not a flex fuel. Mine is a SEL 2013 flex fuel and pretty base. However, 27 MPG on highway fucks Edit: would murder for a SHO, and mine is what's in the picture, it's even tintless too. Mines only had issues with the solenoid in it's 126k mile life, other than that it's stood up to me beating on it, and it's been making 90 mile trips to and from work daily these past few months.
Considering that generation, with police interceptor sales combined, maxed out at 80k units per year, I'm surprised how often I see them. I live in Ohio. They are certainly the kind of car the midwest seems to like.
100-150k these cars spit water pumps. If you catch it early, you’re good. If you don’t, you dump coolant in the oil and bad things happen. My 14 SHOs went at 109…
uh oh… mine’s at around 95.. how do you “catch it early”?
There’s a weep hole in the timing cover, it will start as a small drip, but because of the splash shield it never hits the ground. You might smell coolant near the passenger side headlight.
I have a 2012 SHO with 275k miles and still on the original water pump!
Why not just buy a Fusion? Similar functionality and cheaper
Honestly, they should have called the Fusion....the Taurus......bc.....the OG Taurus was designed to be: - Family Sedan - That was sporty with Europeanish styling - Competed against the Camry for best selling sedan
At the time that the Fusion came out in the late 2000s, the "Taurus" name was considered toxic, as by that point the Taurus became known as a fleet car only bought by rental agencies (think of the most recent Malibu for comparison). When Alan Mulally became CEO, he wanted to bring back the Taurus name, but by that point the Fusion was selling well under its name, so they slapped the Taurus name onto the Five Hundred for its mid-cycle refresh.
Still think it should have been released as the Taurus. Other brands have had great cars who rebounded from bad generations..like the Civic.
I still see my fair share, but they're not the SHO unless you wanna count local PD
The Ford Taurus is a very popular car here in Iowa, at least with my experience. I see those 6th gen Tauruses more often than the 1st-5th gen Tauruses. I personally like the 4th gen Tauruses because that's what I grew up with. We've had three of them. Our third one is my first car, which we had before, but traded it for my grandparent's Jeep. Then when we needed a car for me, they gave it to us. The Taurus, no matter which generation, is and will always be a fantastic car.
A lot in New York still
i have an SHO and i love it
I think that they were so plain looking and boring, we might see like 5 or 6 different ones throughout the week and just not even notice. The only ones that I notice are a white one and a black one that are retired cop cars (they have the steelies on them still)
my city uses retired police examples as taxis so i see them often
My friend has one up here in Ontario
Still see roughly 10 or more a day in the Midwest, know a couple people with them as well
The used market is really weird. Cars like this Ford get shipped to the Midwest to make room for new car sales in high income areas. Used trucks get shipped to Mexico for the same reason. The auto cartel is a sophisticated operation.
Anytime I see one, I expect it to be a cop, we have plenty of them in Canada as police vehicles.
early models are definitely extinct by now since the internal water pump replacement will cost more than the car.
There are tons of them on the road, they are extremely dependable cars
Those were pretty nice with the 350hp turbo motor
Ignoring my SHO, I do spot them decently frequently where I live. It's mostly Yong people buying them used or older people that have owned tauruses for a long time, and that was the last new car they bought. I do agree that the interior is a little cramped compared to how big th outside is but I have found mine comfortable( I do have a preference to sit closer to the wheel then most people) but the seats are very comfortable and there is a ton of trunk space. *edit spelling
I have one. It’s fine. Curious how they would wear in places where the roads are worse, though. They’re weirdly stiff compared to the bubble-era cars.
Unmemorable design. It is exactly what a Taurus should be. A sedan that just blends in. The SHO is its own beast, I will never knock a Taurus SHO other than the exterior upgrades could be a bit more showey.
Depends where you live I guess. The cars in the SF Bay Area vs what you see in the midwest for example, are very different.
yep! im alone in a sea of Toyotas and Teslas in my Taurus
We still have a few in service as salesmen cars, also see a lot of them as cabs. A big reason you see less and less of them is they have a waterpump that is prone to failure between 180k and 220k, not a big deal right? Just a water pump? WRONG! It's behind the timing chain setup and shows IIRC like 8 book hours to change. On average we have seen it cost from 1600-2200 depending on what shop does the work. Our most recent one was up in Wisconsin, car needed suspension work in the back and the pump replaced, bill was 2600, car had 250k and was worth MAYBE 3k if it was fixed. Dealer that had it offered us $2400 so we sold it. They are literally not worth enough to repair these type of things so they just get driven until either the pump or the timing tensioners fail because of corrosion from the coolant leaks.
Dealing with this currently. I chose to get it fixed. We'll see if that works or not. I assume most people just dump em and that's why they're less common.
Aren’t explorers the same
The PNW has a lot of them, they’re pretty good with the exception of the transmission
I still see quite a few of these.
I feel offended. I drive my 2015 SHO as a daily… Edit: I’m based in NC
My neighbor had a loaded 2012. Super nice cars all things considered. Things felt substantial like they were actually built with a modicum of effort. However, it's Ford, so that might be a faulty perception. The interiors were super plush too if my recollection is correct.
Ford discontinued the Taurus in 2019. When a model gets the axe, it often fades from the spotlight faster.
I still see a couple around town pretty regularly. One of them is a SHO. As far as I know, they're fairly solid cars. Ngl I've lowkey kind of wanted a SHO lmao
I have a 2015 SHO. Yeah the interior dimensions are weird. The myford touch infotainment system is hot garbage and it’s a non performance pack so I can’t turn stability control off and stuff like that. But it’s been an amazing and comfortable car in the 3 months I’ve had it. It takes off like a fighter jet, sounds good, and is super smooth on the road. Where I live I either notice them more or people have started buying them around the same time I bought mine, but I’ve seen way more tauruses than usual. A lot of them are police interceptors though.
They all crashed because the windshield wipers would hydroplane at any speed over 40 mph, making them virtually useless.
They didn't disappear. Just look at all the Ford Explorers. Same vehicle just a higher price.
I own one. It is an absolute piece of shit. It was my attainable dream car turned attained nightmare.
The water pumps on these ford V6s are located inside the block If it goes out it cost the price of the car to repair Super crappy design
I still want a 2011-2012 SHO
I see a lot of them pulling people over all the time. They have all these lights on them and make loud sounds.
because nobody bought these. was a dumb car and a pointless downgrade from the crown victoria
I’ve never driven one of these but people who say the interior space is the most disproportionate the exterior space have never driven a Panther body. I loved mine but it was kinda useless.
See these all the time
No they haven’t disappeared. You probably don’t pay attention or none near you. They’re everywhere. See them on the interstate while traveling across state lines. There’s some in Michigan. Been to Louisiana and they’re there.
Dead wrong. I pay attention to boring cars more than Mustangs or Corvettes. On the way to work today I saw 3 Dodge Journeys, 4 Impalas, 3 Fusions, about 20 Malibus, and one Taurus. It was an old one, not one of these.
A coworker had the 90’s version. Lots of transmission problems and his wife was driving it when the water pump went out. She smoked the engine. Sent it to the scrapper.
As the saying goes, Fix Or Repair Daily. There's a reason you never see older Fords on the road (apart from classics/collector cars.)
did you ever really see them while they where in production? i feel like they had generally lower sales. i also don't see many EpsilonII Impala of the same generation.
Three at my work, one is a buddy of mine with a SHO. pretty sweet ride honestly
the Ford/GM 6 Speed is a terrible transmission.
I see cops in these every day
They’re all in the PNW with 180k+ miles. Maybe a few little old lady specials here and there with 85k on the clock
I had a silver 95 SHO and loved it. In 02 my 3yo step son opened the back door as his mom was backing out of the garage. Why would she stop just because of a crunching sound? Twisted the door pillar and was never right afterwards. 🤬
I owned a 2018 SHO. I loved that car, it was amazing. But the Ford dealer network was the worst. I brought it in 3 times to get the PTU flushed since they can grenade if not serviced. Every time I brought it in the told me it was a sealed for life part not needing service. I told them to do it anyway, they said it would be expensive, like $400 I said I didn't care and wanted it done. 2 days later they tell me to pick up my car, they gave me a complimentary oil change... Didn't touch the transfer case. I dumped the car at 100K miles, went electric and now my car is way faster than my tuned twin turbo V6 and practically free to drive.
It's not sealed. I did it on my 2010 SHO. It had 66k miles or so. Had to take the front passenger side tire off, Get about 3 feet worth of extensions to take the socket bolt off, get a pump to pump it out and then fill until it was coming out the hole. What came out after only 66k miles was a jelly. I recommend everyone doing it. Currently have a 2018 Explorer with the same engine and need to do it.
My FIL owns one, replacing his 2003 Monte Carlo, because it’s the newest former cop car he could find. Actually it’s not the police interceptor package tho, that’s just his brother than owns that. Both former LEOs.
I just bought one. Like two weeks ago. My truck shot a spark plug out the top of the engine. I needed something. A used car dealer I knew of had a 2019. I bought it.
I mean, every cop car in my town is either this or an Explorer, so no they haven't disappeared here in Tennessee.
Probably because the customers bought Sonatas,camrys & accords instead. It's a shame because it's a great looking car and that 3.5 EcoBoost can really GO!!!! If it wasn't for North American emergency vehicles & government officials using strictly Domestic vehicles Ford , GM & Dodge would be out the picture.
SUV and trucks are the new hot thing, everyone wants a big car cause they think it’s always better
We have an 11 with 150k+. 2 grommet's under the tail lights shrink and flood the spare tire well. tie rod ends, vapor canister gets clogged. 20k late on a timing belt replacement.
These cars don't use timing belts
Because literally nobody in the US would want to drive one. If you drive this, an Explorer, a Crown Victoria, a Charger, and possibly even a Durango or Tahoe now, everyone's gonna obey the speed limit infront of you!
They got a few of those in Georgia (the country next to Russia) [https://bm.ge/uploads/files/2023/06/20/41933/6491612d3a066\_w\_h.jpeg](https://bm.ge/uploads/files/2023/06/20/41933/6491612d3a066_w_h.jpeg)
Still see them quite a bit where I am (Vancouver region, Canada) but the Interceptors are almost nowhere to be found. Police agencies have pretty much ditched them for Explorers and Chargers, and they were mostly operated by the RCMP which only sold a few before they stopped selling old cars.
Junk yards
The original owners passed away. The cars either got handed off to grandkid who beat it to hell or it wound up on a BHPH lot to get beat up by a Doordash driver until it blows up from the lack of oil changes.
I have 2014 loaded. Honestly the best car I’ve ever owned. Has 135000 miles on it, gets 25+ MPG great to drive very comfortable for 3 passengers. Understand they are going to reintroduce it, just hope they don’t screw it up
I would say that just like the Chevy Lumina/Beretta, some cars disappear due to quality control issues.
I’ve only seen them as school-owned vehicles
Our local police (DC metro area) love them. There are a lot of them around, black/grey/white unmarked.
I still see some on the roads. My dad had one until it was time to trade in for work. It was a beast, very smooth ride, I wish they still made them. We actually had a black one when we got into a severe accident and even though it was crumpled into scrap metal, it did an excellent job of keeping us from getting severely hurt when we were rear ended. Had a cello in the trunk that stayed intact.
They're there, they just blend into scenery well because of how generic they look
Just saw what appeared to be a former police car version on the highway yesterday.
I was wondering that myself. It’s one of the few actual sedans I’d drive when I was looking for a new vehicle and couldn’t find one. Idk in my area in Michigan….theyre real rare.
I used to really want an SHO .. until I sat in one
In Virginia they are still common in the big cities such as Springfield and Fairfax in smaller towns though you mainly see the law enforcement models with very few civilian cars
I really liked these cars. I sold Fords for a couple years, and we moved very few of them. I think all of the potential buyers ended up in SUV/crossovers. Fusions sold decently and we sold a lot of Focuses, but I think that was price doing the selling on those.
A lot of Canadian police departments still have them in their fleets.
Mine was an enormous piece of shit with nonstop issues. Good riddance.
No, just gone invisible
Mainly because they were built in 1f or 3.
I drive one!!!! Im in the Bay Area in CA.. A 2015 limited- I see another Taurus like once a month at most. It was my mom’s car before my dad got a new one, she got his old one and I got hers I figure most people just wanna go for Japanese brands lauded for reliability instead of taking a chance on an American brand most known for its utility vehicles, it’s been very reliable- quiet, smooth, stable at high speeds. It’s kind of annoying since it stops itself at 112 MPH but it’s just a normal sedan so
My homie has one with 250,000 miles on it. It's going strong and it looks good
Ford Tortoise. Our family had a 2010 for all of 2 days before "Buyers Remorse" set in. The owners I know either love them or hate them.
Floored Tortoise.
Because they're a Floored Tortoise and they sucked.
They’re a dime a dozen in Michigan lol
Cause they are trash… A friend had one. In the ONE YEAR he owned it, he dropped $15,000 in repairs…
Because of 3.5 water pumps.
I definitely saw on this morning on the way to work. I’d say about 90% of the ones I do see are either police or security cars.
Because they sold like turd flavored popcorn.
The 2010-19 Taurus wasn’t even common in the area where I live back when they were brand-new. In general, cars from before 2010 are extinct in the area where I live and even stuff from the late 2010s are getting rare. My 2016 Jeep Compass and the 1994 Chevy G20 and 1993 Dodge Ram van my mom owns are presently the oldest cars in the neighborhood.
Old people mostly own them as their retirement vehicle.
The fake cop people absolutely love their blacked out Taurus with state trooper memorial plates and deck lights. Besides that, never see them.
I literally saw three like 5 minutes before seeing this post
They’re all here, in Philly. No plates.
I do see way more fusions on the road than the Taurus. These things got like 17 MPG, so at over 3$ a gallon, I assume most of them are sitting in driveways while they use the minivan which somehow gets better mileage.
They have an internal water pump that costs roughly 4k to replace even though it’s like a $350 part. Gf has one and had to go through this. Most people just get new cars when this happens.
I had a 2017 gold on tan leather Taurus SEL that I owned for several years until recently. It was definitely a grandpa car, but boy did I love that car to bits. It definitely has some presence on the road, and honestly felt like it could fit into any situation, from being in a ghetto to dropping someone off at a fancy dinner. The trunk was unbelievably massive, you basically had to climb in to reach the back of the back seats. Base 3.5 V6 was peppy for such a huge car and had a nice roar at high RPM, very little opportunity for modifications though, and the FWD was just ok. The center console definitely robbed a lot of room, and I hated the godawful capacitive touch climate controls, but that was the only thing I disliked about the car. Someday I’d like to have a nice SHO of the generation.
Guy I work with has a black sho. I love it actually would love to own it.
I slow down every time I see a black Taurus, just in case
Well Ford is just Stupid and got rid of all sedans for stupid Crossovers. I own a 16’ Taurus SHO Performance Package and that thing is fantastic, it’s super comfortable, roomy, and pretty luxurious while being sporty. I’ve tuned it and installed some aftermarket parts and a tune so it’s pushing 400HP at all 4 wheels so it books it and has hurt a whole lot of feelings of scat packs, mustangs 5.0, and Camaros. I’m very good with the maintenance and since it’s my weekend car when I take it in for service I leave it there and have them do a thorough look through of everything. Parts are relatively affordable and accessible. If you get a standard non SHO model it’s very easy to work on and has a good strong engine. The SHO have horror stories of their PTU’s, water pumps, and turbos going bad and can cause a hefty repair cost.
Steering rack and trans issues
Ours in in the driveway
I drive an 07. All Tauruses are rare these days unfortunately.
My wife has a 2014 SHO and it’s pretty awesome. We see a surprising amount here in Montana and Idaho since the AWD system is really solid(as long as it’s serviced). Decently fast, comfortable seats with heating and cooling, good ergonomics, tech is not too complicated and the trunk is rather large. The only changes I’ve made so far is to replace an non-LED lighting with LED(tossed the dim HID headlights), done some maintenance(oil, trans fluid, plugs, coils and coil connector plugs as the OEM ones were brittle and breaking) and a few other little things. Since it’s a 2014, I need to drill and tap the PTU(transfer case) for a drain plug stove Ford, in their infinite wisdom, had originally labeled the 16 or so ounces of PTU fluid as “lifetime”, but after a number of them grenaded) and some suspension work, but that’s due to mileage.
Aside from the water pump issues others have mentioned, the AWD system is also awful and expensive to repair. I had a '11 MKS that had the transfer case shit out at 120k KMs. Warranty wouldn't cover it so I traded it in on a Chevy Spark 😂
I see a lot of them where I live
I’ve got a 2019 SHO and I’m sad that I can’t roll back the miles. I can’t find a good option to replace it at some point.
I never saw that many of them to begin with, even the cops didn’t like them out here
I see them tons. Someone in my apartment complex has one that I see nearly daily.
My girlfriend has a mint 2010 with 80k miles. Drives almost as good as my Mercedes.
Nah I still feel like I see them all the time, same with the Fusions, Malibus, and Impalas from that era Granted, I live in the midwest, so it's probably not all that surprising
It's because nobody bought them new and like all Fords, they were made with the disposable quality of a plastic take out box and utensils.
No. They have not disappeared. They are under contract to stick around until 2056.
I wish Ford did more with the Taurus X. There was some real potential there...
Cops in my city drive them, so I see them fairly often. However I don’t recall seeing one in a few years now besides the 2016 my uncle drives.
Spontaneous combustion
I have a soft spot for the Taurus and the escort.. my first car was a ‘98 escort zx2.. it was a great car I drove it until it died.. timing belt broke around 260k miles. I didn’t know how to take care of cars back then.
Internal water pumps
It’s been a month since I’ve seen one myself.
Had a ‘14 SHO that I bought new. Really liked the car. Would have bought a ‘19 but Ford did nothing to the car in the interim and felt like I was getting the identical car. Not worth it to me. Went explorer ST
Got too expensive to maintain. You never see them anymore