MotorWeek 1996 Ford Taurus Mercury Sable
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- čas přidán 25. 12. 2015
- MotorWeek's Road test of the then new 1996 Ford Taurus, and Mercury Sable. This is for entertainment purposes. I own no rights to this video, copyrights belong to their respective owners.
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That Pepsi unopened at 2:25 would probably sell for about 40 bucks on eBay right now.
my 97 Taurus has 256,879 miles and still going strong. No transmission problems ever. One thing that amazed me about this car's design was that in the rain, no rain hit the back window at all. amazingly aerodynamic
moo moo I get rain on the back of my 98 Sable, so I guess the Taurus is more aerodynamic
@@JohnJohn-hd3qu no it is probably dirty clean it and then apply rainx
I bought my wife a 96 Taurus…the transmission lasted just 200 miles past the warranty expiration.
D u d e , both of these design outlook stole by european automotive company , here in asia region we never knew sedan design aerodynamic like these. We only knew jaguar & mercedes and the pricetag for each warranty = only for corruptors &them divission (cL0vvn &Pavvns)
I bet you never changed the fluid?@@tedschmitt178
That futuristic pod does look at first intimidating lol
Very nice the version of Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable, wagon is my favorites
If I could I’d go back in time to buy my 96 mercury sable gs brand new. I loved that car man
Not the most conventionally beautiful car, but it’s such a perfect example of 90s futurism that I can’t help but love it.
The flip-fold center console is amazing in execution!
The cars look a bit OTT with all these ovals but they were quite good overall, can't find any serious disadvantage tbh.
I reckon it's beautiful looking car, the Sable has attractive tail lights
Ford Taurus wagon and Mercury Sable wagon is my favorite
A light lip Mercury logo in 1996. Nice.
1996 (leased), 1997 leftover, 2000 lease return in 2002 (1997 was totaled by a Montero) were all the sables of this type I owned until I got my Fusion Hybrid in 2009. I loved them all.
Challenge: Find a sharp or boxy edge on a 1996 taurus. Good luck
Seatbelt buckle device
Had a 1999 sable LS loved it, was a sales rep..ate up the hwy daily 4 years later. 380000miles and was running strong ..bought a new expedition big mistake..I miss my sable..
My Dad had a 1997 Mercury Sable Station Wagon a few years back and when it died, it had 280,000 miles! He now owns a 2010 Dodge Journey with almost 200,000 miles! For him, it's been the most trouble free vehicle he's owned!
Sound like your dad got his money worth out of those cars☺️
I’m actually fond of this design. Compared to the boxy look of cars from the same era it was different. I had two of them actually.
Upgraded to a 2003 centennial Taurus and now own a 2012 fusion.
My Dad had a 96 silver Taurus GL when I was a kid and later got in 2004 as a high school graduation gift was a great car had the marble cloth bucket seats , floor shift and Duratec. He replaced that car with a slightly used 2001 Mercury Sable LS Premium also same color but that car had every option possible was basically a Taurus SHO. Loved both cars. The last car he bought which is mine now is a silver 2010 Ford Fusion Sport with the 3.5 DOHC Cyclone engine and top of the line model. Basically a SHO Jr. Has a cool interior with racing blue inserts on the black leather. With a Sony 6 disk in dash changer and much much more! It's not my daily driver as it never sees winter and is in showroom condition still. Far as my daily driver I have a brand new Kia Sportage EX AWD. And guess what color it is? Lol
@@mattmaverick703 silver kia?!
@@trixie9867 you're correct lol. Hoping to get a 2024 Silver Maverick soon if there's any available the Kia will be turned in soon when lease is done. Was always more a Ford guy only got the Kia because it was cheaper and had 4WD
i have never been more inlove. i’ve owned a 99 SHO, and i now own a 98 Wagon tbat i put an SHO in. gotta say it’s the best car i’ve ever driven. sexiest car i’ve ever seen
My grandma test drove a white version of these Tauruses and called it the incredible edible egg car. That’s what I’ve been calling it ever since
LOL
My wife had 2 Tauruses. Both had the transmission go out. I had one for a few months but sold it as soon as I paid it off. The only Ford I've ever owned. And it'll be the last. Unless I can get something from the 70's or older.
Ford "Taurus" '96 had one of most original & effective design. Weary good.
I had a beige 96 wagon with 220K miles and LOVED IT! Never failed to starts, original transmission too. Now we have a Volvo wagon also a great vehicle. only issue was rust.
I didn't realize In the past when it was brand new the Mercury sable had lighted M Logo.
Still driving my `99 with 118,000 miles. Had all of the calamities these were known for. Had to replace the heads, and the whole cooling system. Transmission valve body too. If I wasn`t a mechanic, this car would have been in the junk yard years ago. Glad I saved it, has been trouble free for over 4 years now!
my dad had a 97 he bought used, it had transmission problems and he wanted to go on little road trip. So he asked a mechanic if he'll be alright if he get it fixed later. The mechanic tells him that he'd can drive it across the country without losing sleep. Not the best looking car, but built very well.
They sold these as RHD in New Zealand to be a successor to the Ford Falcon 4.0 litre. Needless to say they never caught on and the Falcon stayed around till 2018.
I had a '97 Taurus bought used and I never had any major problems with this car. Ran like a top for years and even got a good resale price when I sold it. Had the v6 3.0 liter and 4 speed auto, again no problems for years. Did have to change speed sensor($65.00) and a power module for headlights that would go on all by themselves, but that was it. Solid highway cruiser and good mileage.
96 sable gs, my first car out of high school, bought in 98. Loved it so much, even with the weaker Vulcan and a a lil wonky transmission lol. Sold it in 2004
I feel like im the only person who like this generation of Taurus. It looks good in colors that are not Green, Brown or Yellow.
Dragon Butt yep...you must be the only one, I still prefer the "Robo Cop" Taurus. Call me retro, sometimes boxes on wheels are still better 😉😉
Ithinkiwill66 I like them all, but even bull guys hate it.
Trust me, i'll take a robocop SHO over any other year in a heartbeat. That thing can be stripped to under 2900lbs of weight :o
Dragon Butt I'm not a fan of the willow green on the 96/97 but I love the dark green on the 98/99 ones! I love these Tauruses aswell!
Dragon Butt
This is the best generation, I agree!
IA Vagabond
1996 had a nice purple color though, and the 1998-1999 Did not.
just bought a 98 sable ls from friend, only has 115000 miles, his dad bought new in 98, nice old sled, drives really good
I've never seen a mercury with a lighted logo
For the time, this was very classy. I stll like them today. I rented one in burgundy. Very nice beautuful road car. So previous commenter. You got class!!!
This car is surprisingly safe for its age it takes a moderate overlap pretty well I know from experience
by far my favorite taurus generation
I think the Sable looked better. Actually, I've always preferred the styling of the Sable over the Taurus. Especially the 2000-2007 generation.
Allen Portz Disagreeable. Thats ok. 🤷🏾♂️
Sable wagon 2004-2005 is the best since it’s a mix of the cool sable front and Taurus rear. But they’re rare. Especially with the front split bench seating.
I miss those couch front seats lol
That pod looks so futuristic.
They tried to sell this Taurus model in Australia at a premium price of around $40,000.00 to $45,000.00 when the local Ford Falcon was selling for less than $30,000.00. Someone was optimistic.
Had a 97 sable wagon, slow but was a Good family car.
My mom's was great but boring. My uncle's though, wooooo! It had something wrong with the transmission..If you punched it off the line it would do what felt like a "neutral drop" and lite up the tires! crazy car to drive.
the bubble car
+De Launcy Barr EVERY car in the late 90s was a bubble!
As one motoring writer put it "a blob on wheels".
Honestly if the Duratec were 3.5 liters and made standard, these would’ve been a success. But you can’t have challenging styling on a car whose powertrains are outclassed by others. The quality and attention to detail was these. I like the 96/97.
My dad had a beige 1996 Taurus S/W sold it quickly to get a green 1997 Taurus S/W it was a great family modern round designed car I like back in the 90s. Also it had a remote start.
I'll admit. My 98 Ford Taurus SE Sport handles very well in somewhat tight corners. Not so much in ultra tights like in AutoCross. it was under steer nation for me on the course, I was wrestling with my Taurus to regain grip and traction. if you wanna see my runs, they're on my CZcams.
the sable front looks like a girl when you see her before her makeup is all done
I agree
Wait. The Sable had an illuminated grille logo?
As many of these Sables as I've seen, I've never seen one "illuminated".
For 1996 only. 1997-1999 models removed it for cost reduction purposes.
Yes they did.
Yep. Sable GS models and Taurus GL models also had a rear armrest for 1996 only. It was deleted for 1997. There were a lot of deletions of content on this generation.
@@randomfunstuff7123 yup true true. I had a 96 sable gs and my dad had a 99 Taurus se. The amount of stuff they deleted by 99 was astonishing. Things like VSS Steering, rear arm rest, rear disc brakes were all gone. They even deleted the screw covers from the inside panels!! Jacque Nasser was in control of Ford by 99, and he wasn't called Jacque the knife for nothing, he damaged Ford so badly
Who read Mary Walton's book before watching this?
this model caused the decline of the taurus in the 90's
+LEX Maximaguy87 wrong
Not really, even in 2003 they sold 300,000, it was after then that it went into terminal decline
Those sales were mostly rentals and fleet.
actually the 1996-1999 taurus sold pretty well in the USA
Ford became greedy. After the success of the 1986-91 Sable/Taurus, the redesign for 1992-1995, not only should the initial redesign been on the market another year but they should've come out with a less radical change for 1997. Sales of the 1995 models were not in decline. This model did begin the decline of Taurus/Sable, and ultimately helped lead into Mercury's demise.
I remember my cousin bought one and brought it to Thanksgiving
All the old people thought it looked like an egg
For some reason I thought they stopped doing the "Hits and Misses" sometime after the 1993 season.
Listen to the noise at 3:00. Tick tick
I had, at one point, a 99 Taurus. I loved that car, mostly. The oval theme went too far though with the center stack. Otherwise, it was a great car
This version actually doesn't look that bad in colors other than red....the red color absolutely makes it look like a jellybean.
Absolutely. In my opinion that Ford Taurus looked sharp in blue and the Mercury Sable looked rather classy in silver.
And this was the one that totally undid everything for the Taurus/Sable. Why did they think that the oval theme was a good idea?
Lol
Ugh, I agree. I really thought it was revolutionary when I saw the first TV commercial for it, but when I saw it in person I didn't like it so much. Little by little, bit by bit, I've come to believe it is the ugliest Ford ever.
@@iFixJunk It helped the Camry and Accord LOL
i've always thought that these cars look like Grimace the purple Mcdonald's dude in car form.
I still drive one of these.
They should've skipped this generation entirely and had the 2000 model come out for 96. That car would've been a big hit back then.
This model SHO was slower than the 1989-1995 SHO and didn't have a manual. However, there is a sleeper in this 1996-1999 lineup and that is the 200HP 3.0L V6. That thing has some decent power and is a sort of SHO-lite.
these are good cars
I like the sound of the Taurus
The generation after this should havr been what they put out for 1996 and this generation should have NEVER existed
That is a great design. The oval shape still looks good. It's too bad sales declined right after this car was released.
+gedaman Sales declined because virtually nobody held your opinion... it was fugly then and hasn't gotten any better with age.
+kz1000ps LOL right!
gedaman I love the look of it as well!
It was too radical for the American public in the mid 90s, who favoured very conservative designs. I wonder if such a design would have went down better in Europe or Japan at the time.
I think it has aged very well though. As cars are much more rounded than they were in 1996, they don't stand out as much as they did back in 1996.
That's because it was ugly and it sucked.
Wow no wonder mazda had rx7 break lamp like that and jaguar have derivtive of Taurus//Sable body influence. These design end on 1999 , ford didnt continues
The taurus styling has aged more poorly than anything else from this era, but the folding extra seat is genius
Shows what automotive "journalists" know. The Taurus immediately lost the sales crown with the introduction of these cars. The styling killed the Taurus brand. Ford tried to save it with a more conventional redesign in 2000, but the Taurus never regained the lead on the sales chart.
4:14 "We find the styling smart and forward thinking", too early John, too early :)
A better car than the Chrysler cirrus
The Ford designers wanted to capture an elephant taking a 💩.. and succeeded. By doing so, the number one selling vehicle became the Camry. The oval Ford Taurus really does have timeless styling.. it’s as embarrassing today as it was when it first came out!
The desing was clearly way too ahead of it's time, but now, 20+ years later, it looks quite ok, definetely better than the previous boxy model.
Andre Coutinho
Too bad people have to really diss this car for being so sinuous.
It certainly looks refreshing compared to the overly aggressive designs we have today.
Definitely looks way better looking than the Chevy Lumina... And the Honda/Toyota during this era looked very similar to one another.
Not at all. Still ugly as sin.
The 1996 Ford Taurus was if nothing else a very distinctive looking car. I like the way these cars drove , but the quality was so very bad! Ford must have carried over the awful 4-speed overdrive transmission from the previous generation because it was of equally unreliable quality and short lifespan. It was not uncommon for people to start having transmission problems at only 60,000 miles. The 1st to 2nd gear transition would start slipping. This continued to be the case for the generation that followed this generation. Shame on Ford! This late 90s generation also had a lot of other problems as well. Dashboards delaminated and electrical problems abound. Amazingly, it was a significant improvement in overall quality compared to the 1992 through 1995 generation. However, it was still below average and overall reliability. The Vulcan V6 was a pretty reliable motor, but seriously underpowered and unrefined for a V6 in 1996. It was very rough sounding and only put out 145 hp. For comparison, the Camry V6 put out 188 hp and the Nissan Maxima V6 put out 190 hp. the new Duratek motor should have been the standard motor with the Vulcan V6 dropped.
Well, people went for the Accords and Camrys because they were more reliable. I never had a Taurus or Sable, although I have driven them, but I've heard of some nightmare stories about the Ford Taurus - mostly electrical and transmission issues.
I had 97 sable wagon, Good car, no power, the 3.0 v6 was the weakest link.
Its the transmission
Forward thinking, subtleties of quality. Wtf were they thinking?
They tried to sell these in Australia, needless to say we weren't coerced from our ford Falcons
The Truman Show car!
That infotainment system is the only cool thing about those cars.
my first car at age 16 ...i used to hook up the cassette player to the CD and bump it up
and it was a 1996 . how old does it make e.m ? its a great car .a better lookin' one was the Chrysler Concorde, 2000
@2.45 I wish automakers go back to those rear seat cut outs to the trunk so the headrests stay in place. Because you can’t lean your front seats back when you put the whole rear seat & headrests down
I had a 97 and loved it. My car was different though. It was painted matte black with orange racing strips down the middle of the car. Also the back door handles were removed and you had to open the doors from inside. It was cool looking. The dealership I bought it from I think screwed me out of that car. I was told the brain went out on the car and it wasn't fixable. And they put me in a piece of crap 97 luminia I couldn't prove any of this and I also was young. Oh well! I drive a 07 Taurus now. Love my car. Only has 119 thousand miles on her. Bought with just a little over 100 thousand miles. Great car and very clean.
Seems that Mazda engines in fords worked out well.
The duratec v6 engines used in the Taurus and contour were not Mazda engines. Ford used some of the design of the Mazda 2.5 v6, similar intake manifold,Etc.But if I recall correctly the engine block,At least in the 2.5 contour was produced by Cosworth and you can definitely tell by driving any of the 3.0 duratec tauruses that the engine is definitely not a Mazda engine.
sou de araras tenho um ford taurus 97 preto tenho que fazer o seu motor.
Personally the sable was the better design
I like the sable rear wind shield better but hate the tail lights on the sable but i hate how much the trunk slopes down it doesn't look natural
I agree, I have typically always preferred the Sable styling for all the generations of these cars. I have 2001 Sable as a beater car and love it.
Owned a ‘98 bought it for $300
When I saw this design I was like what the hell is this it don't even look like it's taurus
Second biggest mistake in Ford history. Went from 550k+ a year to 350k and 1/2 of those were rental/fleet cars. And 20 years later they sell less than 40k a year. The Neon front end they tried to copy just wasn't cute.
Ford quality was terrible back then. It was a terrible car all around.
Check consumer reviews. Many of the current Ford models aren't any better. Still terrible quality cars.
Then in 2019; Ford retired the Taurus, long after the Mercury Sable ended production and the Mercury division of Ford shut down.
That "Symphony of Ovals" looks like the work of a committee of Marketing MBAs who were taught by professors who never worked a day in their life in the real world.
I feel like this car is like if Ford designed a concept car but they didn't tone down the styling. I've heard concept cars have all the wild styling so car companies can survey how people like it and they'll keep parts of the design in the final model. But this car has ALL the styling
Man the cheapness of the interior was unbelievable. I still ask myself how anyone bought this over a camry. The interior is all hard hollow plastic that breaks after just s few years. Proof of just how gullible, naive and uninformed the average American car buyer was back then. Now days the quality gap is much closer between foreign and domestics, but back then the quality gap was astounding.
My fist car in the US. Big POS. I got a Camry after thst
I prefer my 99 sable
Just got a 99 sable for $200
I didnt know the RX7 had a sedan and a wagon. lol
Found the 1998 update video! czcams.com/video/Z5dV-7PFUjU/video.html
To prove how awful these cars looked, Taurus sales dropped 30% overnight from the previous design. Within two years, Ford eliminated the worst of the awkward ovals on the dash and rear window. Taurus sales slipped from #1 to #3 in 1997.
O V A L S
Car suffered from fugliosis.
I had a 98 Taurus . Everything was ok except the trash transmission.
I really like the styling of these cars but dang are they unreliable
And their ball joints are complete nightmares to change
Ah, the jellybean oval Taurus.
Baek Woon Ki 🇺🇸
What was with the "oval " shaped veihcles?....Even the Dodge Caravan was soo rounded, lol...soo much sheet metal.
What does he mean with 100.000 mile tune up intervals? I sure hope it is not necessary to rebuild the engine every 100.000 miles?
Ronald de Rooij he was referring to plugs and wires. a tune up, not a complete rebuild lol
3:08
This all seems a bit overrated. I drove one of these regularly a long time ago. Granted, it wasn't a new car anymore, but trying to get around in this thing was a chore. That stupid flippy-seat / cupholder thing...what was that?
And it did NOT handle like a sport sedan. I've driven much larger cars that felt less clumsy.
So ugly, they sold so little in Australia I have yet to see one on the road to this date.
Super_Slav ugly is a opinion I love the looks. and where I live there is still a lot of them around
IA Vagabond I have only seen one, ever.
Super_Slav besides seeing the same exact one leaving my house Wich is my 99 I probably see at least somewhere between 7-15 are more a day of the 96-99 Taurus/sable but the ones we have a literal shit ton of besides the newest gen is the 00-07 Taurus/Sable I also have a 07 but besides that I see at least 30 are more per day.also should add my town isn't that big so that's alot to see of both of them. not even joking there's at least 1 or more Taurus/sable of any year on almost every block in town they are everywhere but in Australia wasn't the 96-99 Taurus called a Taurus Ghia?
I guess there would be more in the USA, we got another ugly Ford as part of that new age styling mess that was going on with ford at the time, the Ford AU Falcon, the Australian equivalent to the Taurus, Ford decided to continue with the Falcon in australia as there was no room for two large sedans, although the falcon was a little larger. It shares allot of styling cues from the Taurus, especially the interior, people also didn't like it and it made GMH Overtake Ford in Sales for the first time since the early 80's as their VT Commodore looked much better, although the falcon was far ahead in mechanicals, especially the engine, the 4l inline 6 is a gem.
www.mynrma.com.au/media/ford_falcon_au_forte_1998.jpg
res.cloudinary.com/carsguide/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto,t_cg_hero_large/v1/editorial/dp/albums/album-1271/lg/Ford-AU-Falcon-Forte-Series-II-2000-33.jpg
Those poor cars got hit with the ugly AND stupid stick. Worst redesign ever?