I am considering purchasing a 97 Ford Taurus GL, are these cars dependable and good on gas? Single mom need a

Question

dependable car. Any suggestions

Answer 1

NO! The Ford Taurus is notorious for little things breaking. The engine itself runs good, but all of the little things, door latches, air conditioning, funny glitches everywhere, I would avoid the Taurus. Plus the gas mileage tends to be low - 16-20 MPG is not so good.
I would suggest looking at a Toyota or Honda. With regular maintenance, Toyotas are known to keep running after 200,000 miles or more (my Totota Pickup has 300,000 miles on it and is still going strong. So far we only replaced a ten-year-old clutch and ten year old brakes, and the thermostat. That's it.) Hondas are also known to get awesome mileage with regular maintenance.
Look into a Toyota Corolla or Honda Prelude. Don't let a used-car salesman talk you into a Ford or a Chevy unless you are prepared for stupid things to break on you. You want to look for things like door latches that are solid all the way through (Ford and Chevy door latches have hollow cores!) You want to look at the wear on the tires when you go, unless the tires are new. If they are not new, bring a penny and check the treads - put the penny Abe's head upside down in the tread - if you can see Abe's hairline, the treads are worn down. Bring a magnet and run it around the car's body. If the magnet stops sticking, it's been in an accident and repaired with Bondo (A common filler for dents).
Ask to look under the hood. The engine may be washed clean, but what you want to look for is worn rubber belts, oil drips, or spray patterns from leaking fluids any where on the engine. Do this after you've done the test drive, and while the engine is running. Look under the car while the engine is running. If you notice any oil or coolant drips, don't buy the car.
But don't buy the Taurus. Unless you have your own Ford Mechanic in the family to fix the transmission, the drive train, the buttons that operate the air and radio...

Answer 2

Sounds like an okay deal to me. I'd have another mechanic check it out and get the Carfax report just to be sure. Have the mechanic double the check the transmission since that is what typically fails on a Taurus. You might consider talking him down in price even further. These economic times are really hurting the auto industry. People just aren't buying cars so it's easy to pit dealerships against each other. It looks like the Kelley Blue Book value of that car is about $1900. Find similar cars in your area and see how they're priced. Arm yourself with as much information as is possible before you make your decision. Additionally, I would request that his offer to fix anything that goes wrong to be made in writing. I had a 1995 Ford Taurus and it rarely had mechanical problems. It only got about 18 mpg though.

Answer 3

In my opinion, the Ford Taurus of that era was one of the worst cars on the road! I know as a single mom, you've got to do what you've got to do, but my friend had one with problem after problem. The darn thing finally caught FIRE and burned the engine up! (And she had regular maintenance and everything!)

I prefer the Saturns of the early to mid 90s (93 - 95 if you can get one) or the Pontiac GrandAm (1990 - 1995). Don't buy GrandAms from the late 90s or early 2000s (2000-2004). The maintenance on them is h*ll. I have a 2002.

Good luck! :)

Answer 4

If you need a dependable gas with good gas mileage, I would stick to a Honda or Toyota. I know everyone says to buy American cars, but Toyotas and Hondas are way more dependable and live alot longer. An older Accord with more miles will last longer than an older Taurus with less.

Answer 5

This car will get you around for awhile, but like alot of automatic Fords, they have transmission problems. I had a Taurus like the one you want to get and had to fix the tranny twice, that is why I finally had to quit fixing it and buy something else. I agree that Toyota or Nissan are better choices. I had a Nissan for 12 years and only had to do minimal repairs to it. I now own a Chevy Tahoe and would love to get rid of it, as it is a gas hog.
I suggest that you shop around some more.

Answer 6

That's what I have. Just broke 100,000 a couple days ago. The motor runs strong, the transmission could be a little smoother but other then that no problems. The A/C still works and is very cold, the tape deck has had better days. Plays but won't rewind or fast forward.

Answer 7

Older ford car's suck sorry. But it also depends on how many miles a car has sometimes. If it has more than 90 it won't last long maybe a year or two

Answer 8

mine is in the driveway and wont run because it ran out of oil. I never liked it that much from the day I got it. I would look for something else.