A news article the other day said Ford was halting production of the Taurus after 21 years (Wow!) and closing the 59 year old Atlanta plant. My first thought was that a 59 year old plant would have been a 'modern, up-to-date facility' to Studebaker. Next I thought of a quote that Avanti owner Steve Blake was fond of repeating. "We are putting a 20-year-old body on a 30-year-old chassis. It's being done by 70-year-old workers in a 100-year-old plant."
The Tauruses were junk anyway and who cares if they are gone. Ford (and a few other companies) wonder why they are in such dire straits...look what they are building. If you are going to build a car with absolutely NO character at all, at least build one that is decent. Look at the Toyota Camry; a no character POS, but at least the thing goes the distance. Studebaker George
Speaking of going the distance; on the way back from Reedsville my Toyota Sienna van (Camry platform) turned up 172,000 miles. I've never changed a strut or shock, it has the original exhaust, never done the rear brakes (did the fronts at 106,000 and again at 166,000), have only changed one light bulb, never changed or added transmission fluid. The only major problem in the past 7 years was on the way to South Bend in 2002 when the fuel injectors needed to be replaced (bad gas?)....and I live in the lousiest climate for vehicles, northern Vermont, which is cold (-25) in the winter, humid in the summer, hilly and uses copious amounts of salt on the roads in the winter.
My Cherokee has well over 300,000 miles on it, water pump and alternator had to be replaced at about 170,000, clutch was replaced at about
280,000 when the throwout bearing started squalling.
At around 300,000 a rod bearing started raising a ruckus and I had the engine replaced along with the hoses, belt, water pump, radiator (original), and starter (original). Still has the factory exhaust.
Only real annoyance was the gages started acting up (which is why some of those mileages are approximate), and the check engine light started coming on at around 210,000. The instruments were fixed with the new engine (bad ground!), and the check engine light went out after I put a new 02 sensor on.
Best car I've ever had, took it on a 2800 mile trip earlier this year and a 2,000 mile one last week.
Jeff DeWitt
Dan Peters> Speaking of going the distance; on the way back from Reedsville my Toyota
Sienna van (Camry platform) turned up 172,000 miles. I've never changed a strut or shock, it has the original exhaust, never done the rear brakes (did the fronts at 106,000 and again at 166,000), have only changed one light bulb, never changed or added transmission fluid. The only major problem in the past 7 years was on the way to South Bend in 2002 when the fuel injectors needed to be replaced (bad gas?)....and I live in the lousiest climate for vehicles, northern Vermont, which is cold (-25) in the winter, humid in the summer, hilly and uses copious amounts of salt on the roads in the winter.
My mother-in-law has a Tarus that has well over 100,000 miles and has had no major problems. She drives it continually. They often drive it on trips rather than the Crown Vic my father-in-law drives.
As for me my 2002 F-150 4x4 is the best vehicle I have ever owned. It has almost 90,000 miles. I have > My Cherokee has well over 300,000 miles on it, water pump and alternator
Sienna van (Camry platform) turned up 172,000 miles. I've never changed a strut or shock, it has the original exhaust, never done the rear brakes (did the fronts at 106,000 and again at 166,000), have only changed one light bulb, never changed or added transmission fluid. The only major problem in the past 7 years was on the way to South Bend in 2002 when the fuel injectors needed to be replaced (bad gas?)....and I live in the lousiest climate for vehicles, northern Vermont, which is cold (-25) in the winter, humid in the summer, hilly and uses copious amounts of salt on the roads in the winter.
By the time 180k miles came around on my 1977 Corolla, my hot-shot driving had worn the clutch to the point that it was nearing need for replacement, so I up-graded to a 3TC engine and some suspension stuff. Repairs to that point had been a starter, alternator, plate bulb, water pump, lower clutch cylinder (easier to do the plate bulb)! Those Toyotas just can't take heavy driving. (Never had a new Studebaker, so can't compare.)
Karl
snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote:
Sienna van (Camry platform) turned up 172,000 miles. I've never changed a strut or shock, it has the original exhaust, never done the rear brakes (did the fronts at 106,000 and again at 166,000), have only changed one light bulb, never changed or added transmission fluid. The only major problem in the past 7 years was on the way to South Bend in 2002 when the fuel injectors needed to be replaced (bad gas?)....and I live in the lousiest climate for vehicles, northern Vermont, which is cold (-25) in the winter, humid in the summer, hilly and uses copious amounts of salt on the roads in the winter.
Damn! I figured I had the only one! I thought I was going to have to rebuild it from the pavement up so many things went wrong. Luckily, I was able to trade it in for a 97 Sebring but that's another nightmare for another day...
NO, the Taurus was not junk, but neither was it a Toyota or Honda. It was credited, rightfully, with the recovery of Ford in the 80s. The story in the financial and automotive press is how Ford p****ed away its advantage, not "refreshing" the design like its Oriental competitors, but spent the $$$$ chasing overpriced foreign makers, and the (temporarily) high return Trucks and SUVs. With petro prices uncertain, though temporarily down, a little, Ford did not have the cash on hand to refresh the more than 10 year old design. very sad. the same pox can be laid on GM, Chrysler. Spending cash flow on the new and flashy and not on the cash cows, like certain oriental companies.
we will all be driving non american cars at this rate....
Dwa> A news article the other day said Ford was halting production of the Taurus
Tauruses pushed US carmakers further on down the road to mediocrity, shitty quality control, poor engineering, and who cares attitude. If you happened to get a good one, then you were one in a million. Thankfully, I could stand back and laugh at my fellow techs while they struggled with those clunkers and listened to the owners crying. I didn't HAVE to work on them. All my years on the line have made it real easy to spot the absolute bad apples from ANY company. There were many; the Taurus was one. I could go on and on about the worst of the worst. EVERY company had it's mistakes; some more than others. Toyota by far had the least IMHO. Rust in peace, Taurus; pull your head out, Ford.... Still can't figure that company; they make some really neat stuff but also some total shit. Studebaker George (200 thou on an ex-police GMC Jimmy that has taken a beating that would kill a hundred Tauruses)
289,000 on my '89 Suburban and 237,000 on my '92 Suburban.Never done anything but oil changes and tune ups.Not too bad for 350 cu.in soft blocks.....lol.
I hate to say it, but the wife's last car, a '93 Lumina, was just incredible. We got it when 2 years old with 56K mi, & sold it with 200K. Never even had to charge the A/C, just brakes, tires, 3 alternators, oil, & a couple of tune ups. The V6 gave reasonable performance & great mileage. It replacement , a Chrysler LHS, has been pretty good, but we had to replace the trans at 120K , and has developed a overheating issue recently:-(
-- Barry'd in Studes
58 Packard Hawk
40 President
39 Coupe Exp.
59 DeLuxe 1/2 tn.
56 Packard "400"
Amen to that, Barry. If people really knew how good the competing Lumina was, Ford wouldn't have sold a single Taurus. The stupid rear disc brake design on the
1990-1994 Lum> I hate to say it, but the wife's last car, a '93 Lumina, was just
Taurus's were the Lark of the auto building world. Make a cookie cutter model and discount the crap out of it to fleets, leasing companies, rental car companies, and government agencies. It was a popular 'company car' choice because it had all the doo-dad goodies that people like. It would be interesting to see what the percentage of actual 'end user' customer sales there actually were. There is/was a virtual guaranteed used car market for these things, from off lease, or ex-rental cars companies...and even Fomoco itself. I had one for a stretch as a company car. It did everything OK, but the seats really messed up my back. If you lived in one, you'd understand how seats are more important than radios, or power stuff. I was so glad to turn that thing in and get a lowly Dodge Caravan (same thing, different shape)... I wouldn't paint Ford with the nastybrush so quickly though... GM did the same cookie cutter routine with the Suburban and G series van. Dodge has stuck with the Caravan, too... Every manufacturer has it's cash cow model... Jeff ( Ford's cash cow was a bull, so they named it appropriately...) Rice
Ironic... I had a Lumina (very early production) and it was a gutless POS. Undersprung, underpowered... Hated the seat belt in the door ( like Stude did in the mid fifties).. Thing shut down on me twice for no reason (crank sensor defects).. Went from that to a Dodge Dynasty... Jeff
All of the big three are guilty and I have no sympathy for any of 'em.
Succumbing to ridiculous wage agreements, lack of innovation, almost a total lack of industrial engineering, non existent quality control and focus on that ninety day bottom line all contributed to the current state of affairs.
You covered Ford pretty well. GM is guilty of the above plus lack of forecasting future trends... Example: PT Cruiser was a big success and then GM comes out with sedan deliver thang that just costs too much despite its good looks. Engineering snafus that literally screwed up the consuming public (not to mention mechanics) such as side post batteries etc. I can say that I hate GM mostly for its continued arrogance in failing to recognize the cause & effect of its dilemma.
Chrysler put out some real crap in the past such as K cars. They also had serious QC problems and still do. I have a friend that has a 2005 p/u which already is making strange (and I believe serious) noises. His wife's PT Cruiser suffered a rack and pinion failure 2K after the warranty ran out.
Nope, you're better off (if you live in a favorable climate) keeping a vintage Stude going. They only have a few wires under the hood simplifying maintenance and will keep on tickin' no matter how rough the going gets......
JT
(Who's '64 T-Cab has never failed and left me stranded in the last ten years)
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