In 1993 we bought a new Camry. It was a couple of thousand more than the Taurus I was also considering. Neighbor across the street bought a Taurus at the same time. A few years later he bought another Taurus. Now he and his wife both drive Hondas. We still have that Camry. Just broke $100 in non-maintenance repair parts last year. None is so blind as he who will not see.
How often did you change the ATF in your '41 Taurus, Mike?
nate
Mike Hunter wrote:
No wonder what you post is so screwed up so often, if you believe Ford made the Taurus back in 41 LOL
mike
This points up the importance of the question, "How long do you expect to keep the car?" For fleets and for anybody who expects to keep a vehicle only three years, Fords and GMs are very good choices. They are still mainstays of most fleets in the US, and with that much money at stake I daresay more savvy people than you and I are still choosing those brands.
Mike
I wonder how fleet (buying hundreds or thousands of cars ) discount pricing compares with the average Joe going into his dealer for only 1 car.
I doubt that even then Tauruses are a good buy. If I were GIVEN one I'd dump it as soon as the warranty was up. I've heard a lot of stories about transmission falures at 50K miles or less. Also I believe CR stated that owners were reporting transmission failures at about 4x the average rate on certain MY Tauri.
I personally only know one person that ever bought one, and she bought two (father was a Ford employee) and after a few years of ownership of the second one I think she was pretty well soured on Ford products in general. She then bought a Honda.
nate
DUH I never said we did not have problems with trannys on some of the Taurus. What I said was the failure rate for Taurus Trannys was no worse on average than for any other brand. The Taurus is Fords number ONE selling car brand in 2006 as fleets placed early orders before production ends. If they were eating trannys fleets would not still be buying them No manufacturer makes a fail proof vehicle, ALL manufactures make some that are not up to snuff on occasion. The manufacturer with the most recalls in
2006 was Toyota, and they make great stuff. Your assertion that Ford can not offer a decent tranny defies logic, you stubborn f****it ;)mike
Again the is only your opinion. You believe what you do because you know nothing about the fleet business. Because of federal corporate tax depreciation laws corporations keep their vehicles for five years of 300K, WOF.. Vehicles are just one more tool used in their business and like a tool many keep them to the wheels fall off. That is far longer and greater mileage than the average US new vehicle buyer.. The average new car vehicle buyer in the US replaces their vehicle with another new vehicle in three to four years with 30K to 45K on the clock. Only a small percentage of buyers keep a vehicles longer than ten years in any event. ;)
mike
Maybe I run with a strange crowd. My partner is the only person I know who doesn't own any cars more than ten years old. In my household of five adults we have two 2002 Toyotas, a 1994 Acura, a 1993 Honda and a 1985 Volvo. We traded in the 1984 Nissan for the first Toyota four years ago. My retired former partner still drives the GTO that was his first car back in 1965, but he has an early 70s Ford pickup, too. I figure if a car is good at 100K miles it will probably go another 200K. Automatic transmissions are the main exception to that expectation, and that applies only to certain ATs.
IMO, of course. And in my experience. You're free to ignore both.
Mike
(top posting fixed - GODDAMNIT ASSHOLE LEARN TO POST CORRECTLY)
Then you're either lying or very exceptional. Consumer reports said that for one model year, I forget which one, drivers reported transmission failure at a rate 4x that of the average of all vehicles made that model year.
That just proves that people buy shitty cars.
But it is a proven FACT that they eat transmissions.
How does it defy logic when it took them NINE YEARS to address an oiling system problem? That sounds like a company that I don't ever want to buy anything from. No Japanese or German manufacturer would let a problem go that long without addressing it. Look at how quickly the sludging issues were addressed by the Japanese (hell, they replaced whole engines for free, even those without complete service records) compare and contrast with F**d letting a faulty design remain in production for NINE YEARS.
And Mike, if you're going to call me a f****it, you don't need to put a smiley in. Your opinion of me means jack shit so I really don't give a f*ck.
nate
My old rep at the contracting company has his wife's Camry dealer serviced and their engine died due to sludge and he has been fighting them for a couele years now as they are refusing to honor the warranty.
That goes against what I've heard; perhaps he needs to either find a better dealer or escalate. At one point Toyota was being very generous with the new engines.
nate
Yes, it goes against what I have heard too, Nate. Toyota was very generous about replacing or repairing those V6 engines that were the most susceptible...They made a statement, iirc, that most of these engines had in general not been serviced properly, but they made good anyhow. There is some conflict about the oil change schedule because it seems the Toyota printed schedule was 7500 miles, which they later altered to 3,500 or somesuch...A moving goalpost, if true.
Obviously you, like I, do not fall into the category of the average new car buyer in the US. I seldom keep a vehicle longer than two years. I generally run at least two cars. I sell the one that is two years old, to friend or relative, and buy another new car every year. My current vehicles are a 2007 and 2006 Some I have kept longer. I own also 1941,
1965, 1971, 1972 and a 1983 all of which are in mint condition, with mileage between 100K and 300K on the clock.mike
I was simply returning the "favor" Your opinion of me means jack shit, so I really don't give a f*ck. ;)
mike
.When Toyota owners first began experiencing problems with "gelling," as Toyota refer to their sludge problem. Toyota blamed owners for not performing the proper maintance. When the problem appeared in Toyotas serviced, under the proper procedures at deanships, things changed. The problem was attributed to a new head design that was intended to improve emissions. The problem it seems was oil was "coking" around the valves.
Toyota basically went back to the old head design on all of the effected engines built after August of 2003. Toyota initiated a long term warranty on the engines for up to eight years, unlimited mileage. Dealers were authorized to "clean, repair, and replace any engine exhibiting "gelling." I reality what happed was (is) dealers are cleaning engines, while serving the vehicles and adding synthetic oil without notifying owners. Work orders simply say serviced oil and filter $xx.xx, completed outstanding recall, NC. For owners that keep their cars for longer than the average, as do many Toyota type buyers, that is simply putting off the inevitable to after eight year of the start date for all warranties.
Contact an attorney if your car has a start dated of less than eight years, WBMA
mike
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