Well, I never thought I’d see the day when I would write an article about a ’90s Ford Taurus. An SHO maybe, or perhaps a forgotten, new in the wrapper example, with only 416 miles but neither of those circumstances is the case here. It’s actually the price that caught my attention. It’s worth a closer investigation, so let’s look at this 1995 Ford Taurus GL. It is located in Wolf Creek, Oregon, and is available here on craigslist for $695. Thanks to Pat L. for this tip!
The Ford Taurus, introduced in 1986, was one of Ford’s greatest hits, at least volume-wise. With approximately 3 MM produced up through 2019, the Taurus was a go-to commodity car. Generally found in four-door sedan form, there was a station wagon variant too. While I don’t have much familiarity with this generation of Taurus, I did have a 2003 model assigned to me when I worked for a railroad. It was a pretty much indestructible car as it spent a lot of time, off-road, in remote places where the railroad operated. It would even go over railroad tracks if the rail wasn’t too heavy (tall). A bit of a dog on power, it was a perfect corporate fleet kind of car, tough, reliable, inconspicuous, and cheap.
This example has only 66K miles, and again, is only $695! So what’s up? Well, the seller, in full disclosure, states that his Taurus needs a head gasket replacement. He’s even specific to the point that it is the front left side of the engine where the problem lies. But it’s a benefit as it is the outside head gasket that needs to be replaced and not the one up against the firewall. Why a head gasket? The seller mentions that he pulled the sparkplugs but he doesn’t reveal what he found (or didn’t find). He further adds, “(I believe the leak is in the passenger side cylinder of the front head.) I changed the oil and ran it just for a minute or so to make sure the engine sounded ok. When I did this I drove it for a very short distance, and although I didn’t go far enough to go through all of the gears it seems to run and drive fine and has plenty of power” That still doesn’t answer the question. Usually, a blown head gasket means an oil and water mixture and it’s evident. Additionally, cooling problems arise and power could end up being down a bit. No elaboration so maybe it’s a head gasket problem and maybe it is something else. The engine in question is a rather uninspired 139 HP, 3.8 liter V6 connected to a four-speed automatic transaxle.
The seller states that this Taurus was owned by a government agency and it apparently was well maintained – it really looks good for a 25-year-old car that probably hasn’t been treated to ideal conditions. The seller sums it up as “the body is straight and absolutely RUST FREE and the paint is in pretty good shape, except for some spots on the hood and the trim along the side of the body where the clear coat is coming off”. While the clearcoat problem is visible, it’s minor in the scheme of things and the exterior is completely presentable with a sound, over-all finish. This Ford could be driven, as is, with nothing required appearance-wise.
The interior belies this Taurus’ government use tag, it is quite clean and unworn in appearance, perhaps it was assigned to a specific individual and not to a general fleet. It has the standard equipment of A/C, a power seat, electric windows, and what looks like a cassette deck. The light-colored carpet, in particular, is in what seems like lightly treaded condition.
The seller suggests, “Once you fix the head gasket problem this would be an awesome car for a college student, for work, a great commuter car, etc.” I would agree, all of this for $695? It would be nice to know a bit more about the supposed head gasket malady but even if that is truly the problem, this Taurus seems like a great deal, don’t you think?
My son ruined a few cars early in his driving career, so I got fed up and steered him toward a Taurus. My wife and I had both a sedan and a wagon, and those cars were really good.
He totally banged up the perfect used 64K Granny ’95 Taurus I searched for; it was a creampuff , but when he was done with it , it looked like $h*! yet still ran great. He then bought a 2005 Taurus (92-year old WWII Vet original owner car) I found on CL with low miles for a paltry $2500. The old guy was really cool, my son got a kick out of him. The car runs great, and my son has matured, so the car still has both front and rear bumpers intact. Now I’m done with cars for my kids! Well,probably not…
Rex,
We had a ’93 Taurus this one. When our son like was 18 (some time ago) we were on vacation in northern Michigan. He got a ticket for going 88 in a 55. Tongue in cheek I said to him “well I can understand why you couldn’t tell how fast you were going, the speedometer needle was buried”!
Rex Kahrs Jr. I get it!
Joe, beer almost came out of my nose. Touche’
For $695, especially if you can fix the head gasket yourself, it seems like a great deal. Could be a nice second family car or even an inexpensive primary car for a younger person.
Head gasket leaks aren’t necessarily fatal. I bought a 1998 Olds Cutlass that had one and a tablespoon of Alumaseal fixed it.
The only ‘good’ Taurus was one with a 3.0 liter, the 3.8 liter units ALWAYS had head gasket issues… Avoid… Unless Fel Pro has an updated gasket since I used to work on them.
True, but the 3.0s had transmission issues
Transmission issue on mine was fixed by replacing the backup light switch. The switch tells the computer what gear you have it in and when the switch fails the trans goes into limp home mode. People spent millions replacing transmissions without solving the problem. I never had to replace the trans in 175000 miles.
We had a ’95 very similar to this one. Ours had the 3.8 and we never had any issues, though they were known for the head gasket going. Ours was a very solid car, comfortable to ride in, and served its purpose as the family sedan very well. We had around 90k on ours when we let it go because we needed a minivan (soccer parents, lol!). At this price, and the low miles overall, hard to pass up if someone needs an inexpensive ride that will give solid service once the gasket is replaced.
My parents bought a ‘91 a few months old with about 10,000 miles- did someone say rental? They kept it 16 years, changing the transmission twice and the brakes probably five times over. It logged over a hundred thousand miles, seeing two kids through driver education and several not insubstantial crashes. The Taurus wasn’t a great car by any means, but my mother still cried the day they sold it.
I had essentially the same car, a ’92 GL I bought new with the 3.8. Never had the head gasket problem but had some issues I’ve never had in any other car. Had to have the heater blower replaced three times. They all eventually got noisy. The switch for the brake lights stuck closed and had to be replaced. Cable to the speedometer got noisy and had to be replaced. What I thought was the strangest thing was that all the sway bar links, except the passenger side rear broke one at a time.
I still thought it was a good car and it never stranded me though I could pretty much figure on a couple of trips to the dealer for something gone wrong every year and those trips would average out to about $500 each.
In 2002, at 113,000 miles I traded it in on a new Focus ZX5. I kept it until 2016 and then gave it to a friend who is still driving it. At 168,000 miles it was still going strong and so far has been the most trouble free car I’ve owned.
Drove a number of these all over western Montana for work. Although Im almost always driving a truck, I really liked this model of Ford. Just a nice, capable, comfortable car.
I had a ‘91 Taurus GL w/ the 3.8 and the heavy duty suspension and duel outlet exhaust. I drove it rather hard (not abusive, just a lot) and in 40 weeks (weekly call reports) I had put over 48,000 miles on it. It was a great car. Brakes were a little weak. And since this was the heavy duty (police package?) version the engine/trans/cooling were all HD. The car was painted “light titanium” solid color that resembles the puddy color of old ‘90’s computers, it blended into the color of highway cement so well, I would constantly double the 55 MPH speed limit and never get pulled over.
If he did not run it long with coolant in the oil before he figured out it needed a head gasket then you will be fine after replacing it and not have any bearing wear. The back head was the one usually with the problem as that head got hotter being less air flow around it.
I’m about to list my Daughter’s ’96 Taurus with about 50k on it. Everything works. Figure I should get about $2500.
Hello
Are you still going to sell your daughter Ford Taurus I am interested please let me know thank you.
695.00??? you could invest in it and get your money back, but i would check further into that head gasket problem ,,JUSTTTTTTT a litle bit more .
Would be a money loosing opportunity. My guess is the seller thought the same thing. I am sure he already had it estimated and to have a shop fix it my guess with parts and labor you will be over $2000. So you are at $2700. Once you get it in and tore apart there is a point of no return. It may need an entire overhaul. Be prepared. Just think it was a government vehicle. There are many in the government that are not smart. Just saying.
Do you plan on picking it up? If not $1200-$1500 picking up a non op car and shipping it to your state.
It’s an old car. An old Ford that you can buy nothing for at the dealership. Hopefully that is all that’s wrong.
With my math. My history with these (everyone owned them at one time) $795. is too high. Sorry.
You would need to do all the headgaskets, to be safe, not just the outer one.
This was the Taurus I rented out a Hertz back in 1990. Smooth riding and It glided along the rode like a dream. With the same engine. Nothing spectacular but it got the job done.
Head Gasket ??? Block seal or any Aluminum Sealant would probably fix it , for the price It,s worth a try.
The problem with the Ford 3.8 head gasket issue is that when you fix the head gasket, you blow the bottom end. Something having to do with renewed compression putting more pressure on bottom end parts.
Look, I am not a top notch mechanic, nor am I scientist who specializes in physics, so I can’t explain exactly why. I just know my stepmother had this issue with her Cougar with a 3.8, then a short time later my Dad had the same exact thing happen with his Thunderbird with a 3.8. Both had the same engine as this car, both had head gasket issues. Both had the head gaskets done, both threw rods shortly after.
I wouldn’t touch this with a 10 foot pole!
The reason the bottom end went was because to many people ran the engine to long with the head gasket leaking and coolant got into the oil and the bearings worn due to lack of lubrication. So when they fixed the head gasket they still had a engine ready to seize up.