My dad's Taurus

[Silver71]

So, my dad was planning on giving me some money for graduation but he also threw out the option of letting me buy his car cheap. The only problem is, I'm not a fan of the Ford Taurus, aka the "Borous" and I know nothing about them. I was just wanting to get some general information about it and if it's good or not. I took a picture of the door jamb sticker and was hoping you guys could decipher some information from it, or the VIN or whatever.

What I know:

It's a 2000 Ford Taurus SE (the trunk of the car says SE, but carfax says SES? which is it?)
It has the Duratec 24 valve PFI DOHC 3.0L V6 with 200hp/200tq

Can someone give me more information about the engine? Is it good?

Also, here's a pic of the sticker:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/PontiacGT/TaurusSticker.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/PontiacGT/TaurusSticker.jpg

Thanks.

[RazorDX]

In my personal experience, I would avoid buying a Taurus. My fiancee had one of the previous generation (a '95) that was an utter piece of shit. It had the 3.8l v6, so I can't speak much for the engine itself, but the steering and suspension was a mess. In order to change the tie rod end, the entire steering rack had to be removed.

It's not as wacky as trying to work on the 200x Dodge Intrepids or PT Cruisers, but it's still a pain in the ass.

According to Wikipedia, the engine appears to be a bored out Duratec SVT (which made Ward's Best 10 Engines list for its time).

[Matt95GT]

It's a Ford... avoid.

Seriously though... while the engine itself might last, all the other small things will nickel and dime you. My coworker has one... constantly needs AC system service, etc. My parents owned late-90's Fords too... that went badly enough that they own imports now.

It would be a boring car anyway.

[cjperotti]

It's an SES often refered to as SE.

As far as engine goes the 2000 Duretec is unique to that year model with Taurus/Sable. It has a 10.0:1 compression ratio and it utilizes coil on plug ignition. No other Duretec before or after utilized that ignition setup.

[Silver71]

Well, we've had the car since 50,000 miles, it now has ~130,000 or so. It's never had a problem, the miles are mostly highway. My dad put on a lot of miles in only a few short years because his job took him all over the state. Honestly, the car still smells new. It's actually amazing. Everything still works on it, power everything, sunroof, cd changer in trunk, it's got a lot of nice stuff being an SES.

But yes, it's tan and boring.

But it runs like it's new.

[Silversmok3]

Well, we've had the car since 50,000 miles, it now has ~130,000 or so. It's never had a problem, the miles are mostly highway. My dad put on a lot of miles in only a few short years because his job took him all over the state. Honestly, the car still smells new. It's actually amazing. Everything still works on it, power everything, sunroof, cd changer in trunk, it's got a lot of nice stuff being an SES.

But yes, it's tan and boring.

But it runs like it's new.

Youd be the best person to answer your own question , as you know the cars history.
All that I know about Tauruses, is from a 1997 that my Ma gave to my aunt/uncle.Which was a piece of junk.The little stuff failing (right rear window,brakes, AC) was nothing compared to a tranny rebuild right after 100K. Its still running, but only after a lot of $$ was pumped into it by my aunt/uncle.

Setting aside reliability for a moment, a Taurus is not a fun car to drive.Going from a GA to a non-SHO Taurus is , IMO, a step backward in the fun-to-drive category.

[Nighthawk243]

Unless its an SHO, you'll fall asleep.

[GregFarz78]

Damn your dad won't even just give you a 8 year old taurus? Its worth about $2 I would take the money and buy something else

[Riley1123d]

Damn your dad won't even just give you a 8 year old taurus? Its worth about $2 I would take the money and buy something else

...Like a latte :lol:

[RocketFast321]

www.taurusclub.com
The durtec is a nie little motor. The Taurus is not any better than the grand am IMO. Both have their own problems

[GMFWDFAN]

From my experience, Tauruses are usually very very boring but fairly reliable. All the people I know that own them like them very well. My neighbor has a white 01-ish base model SE, and besides being a rental-car in disguise it's a nice vehicle. I drove a '97 SE to school when my GA was having a major tune-up done, and the Taurus was one of the most ugly vehicles I've ever laid eyes on in my life. But it was very easy and comfortable to drive and it got pretty good gas mileage as long as I kept my foot out of it (I wanted to accelerate like my GAGT does, and the Taurus didn't :lol:).

[fireball 440]

In order to change the tie rod end, the entire steering rack had to be removed.


Not sure where you get your info, but the steering rack does not need to be removed to change a tie rod end. There is a tool to remove the inner.

[Blackhawk]

My friend has an 02 Taurus SE and it's not too bad, it has decent pick up and his only problem other than dings was a coil spring snapping. That and the mechanic leaving his rear seatbelts under the seat when he fixed the spring (have to pull the rear seat the get to the strut). It is a somewhat bland car appearance wise but he gets 32 mpg and he's not into cars much -yet-, so it works fine.
How much does he want to sell it to you for?

[g4mbl3]

i had a 96 gl and loved it. sure it had problems but mine was a beater, and i beat the crap out of it. mine had the 3.0 but only 100 hp. had some fun times. but yea id say if he doesnt give it to you, buy something else

[car audio dave]

that generation taurus is a joke in the car world. its the more boring, bland car made that year.

if you got it for free then it would be a cool daily driver, but if you have to anything for it, its a bad deal. 130k miles is 30k miles past its expected lifespan. if you trade it in at a dealer they probably wouldnt even take it, and if they did, theyd offer about $200 for it.

[Silversmok3]

that generation taurus is a joke in the car world. its the more boring, bland car made that year.

if you got it for free then it would be a cool daily driver, but if you have to anything for it, its a bad deal. 130k miles is 30k miles past its expected lifespan. if you trade it in at a dealer they probably wouldnt even take it, and if they did, theyd offer about $200 for it.

Indeed.
As it is getting it for free may not be such a good deal once the parts like radiators, water pumps,and suspension parts start failing all at once.
At 180K , which is my mileage on the GA , there wont be an OEM part left on that Taurus that works.:lol:

[g4mbl3]

lol i took mine in to trade it for my GA at my cousins car lot with like 130k on it, and forgot something back home, 30 miles away, and when it rained it didnt like starting / running, so went home, got papers, and when i pulled in, it died, so i shut it off, signed the papers, got $2300 for tradein, and then haha i was pulling out of the lot, and the service dude was trying to start the taurus and was like, does it always start on the first try? and im like yup, and got outta there, lol. but last time i went to see them they said they fixed w/e that was, and a service lady has been driving it, and only thing wrong is the transmission is slipping. but like i and others said, dont buy it, get it free, and when problems arise, ditch it.

[Nighthawk243]

that generation taurus is a joke in the car world. its the more boring, bland car made that year.

if you got it for free then it would be a cool daily driver, but if you have to anything for it, its a bad deal. 130k miles is 30k miles past its expected lifespan. if you trade it in at a dealer they probably wouldnt even take it, and if they did, theyd offer about $200 for it.


Most dealers will give enough to cover tags, title, and registration on a new car when trading in a low quality car... they just sell them to the auto auction anyways.