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Taurus Durablilty

Gave my mother-in-law a new 92 Taurus Wagon.

Drove it home last week because it had some problems. He is what I found.

  1. The rotors had separated from their own hubs (even though there was little wear on the rotors). Now I know why it did not stop to well.

  1. The gas tank was leaking fumes from a rust hole.

  2. All the hydraulic lines and gas lines were fully rusted, even the transmission lines I had the Ford dealer replace 4 years ago.

  1. The transmission and motor pans were fully rusted and leaking.

  2. One could not get the steel wheel's plastic wheel covers off to change the tires because all the screws holding the covers to the wheels had rusted tight. (We had to hammer the screw holders out of the wheels to get them off).

Perhaps the CEO of Ford should drive and maintain his own cars for a few years to see what Ford has put out into the wild. I hope more recent production has addressed these durability issues.

By the way, once I fixed the breaks and replaced the tires it stopped and drove just like the fine vehicle it is.

Richard.

Reply to
Richard
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It sounds like noone ever bothered to flush out the road salts from under the car. This is something that should be done regularly where corrosives are used on the roads. There has never been a metal that would remain unaffected by these road salts.

Reply to
lugnut

It sounds like noone ever bothered to flush out the road salts from under the car. This is something that should be done regularly where corrosives are used on the roads. There has never been a metal that would remain unaffected by these road salts.

Wrong. Yes she lives in show country where salt is used. But do you choose steel screws to mount wheel covers to a steel wheel or do you chose galvanized or stainless steel screws? Ford chose cheap uncoated steel screws. They knew better but chose to save at the buyer's expense.

Do you chose steel pans or aluminum pans? Ford had so many of these rot out all the Ford parts, including replacements for this car are now aluminum. They knew better but chose to save at the buyer's expense.

Fiat and Honda had to do recalls because their brake lines rotted out. The industry has known how to coat these lines and gas tanks to prevent rot for over 20 years. Ford just must have decided not to spend the money for coated brake lines. They knew better but chose to save at the buyer's expense.

The CEO and board of directors all get new Ford products for free every few months. These are not off-the-shelf products either but special items for Ford management. They don't have a clue what it its like to live with their products over time. End of rant.

Richard.

Reply to
Richard

A new 12 year old car???

I have never seen a rotor separate on any of the 4 taurus i have owned. Does not mean its not possible. I would smell yours has seen some unusual conditions. Now, they did have recall on some models for rusted sub frame mounts. And rusted coil springs breaking.

None of my taurus have had a gas tank leak. My old 86 mazda truck did though

I looked under my wagon today. The rear lines were a little rusted, but not leaking.

I have never seen a trannie pan rusted. The bottom of my 3.0's oil pan did have a smaller rust spot which i did sand and spray some paint on.

Yea, i have seen the screws rusted.

Like any vintage taurus, your going to have to do some maintenance periodically. My guess is ANY car that lived the same life as the wagon you have might have similar problems. Are you sure this car was not sitting in the water somewhere in storage?

Bob

Reply to
BOB URZ

My guess is ANY car that lived the same life as the wagon you have might have similar problems. Are you sure this car was not sitting in the water somewhere in storage?

No it did not sit in water; just a normal life in snow country. We have seen lots of vintage vehicles and nothing like this; never.

Richard.

Reply to
Richard

I agree. The only cars I have seen with this much undercarriage rust were flood survivors.

Jon

Reply to
Zeppo

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