Future Classic? One Owner 1995 Ford Taurus

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The Taurus was produced by Ford in the U.S. from 1985 to 2019. During its first seven years, Mercury sold a rebadged version called the Sable. In total, six generations of automobiles were built and in the 1990s it became the best-selling car in America for a time. The seller offers a one-owner 1995 Taurus GL with 81,000 miles. It may be a decent survivor, but the seller’s description is light on words with a limited number of photos (two). Located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, this Ford is available here on Facebook Marketplace at the cheap wheels price of $4,000. This tip comes courtesy of “Lothar… of the Hill People”.

Ford designed the Taurus using the quality control processes of statistical guru W. Edwards Deming, leading to a “Quality is Job 1” mentality within the company. It was a huge improvement on how cars were built during the “Malaise Era” of the 1970s and 1980s. In 1995, the Taurus was powered by a V6 engine using an automatic transmission. In that model year, more than 395,000 copies of the car left the assembly line. Since the seller’s automobile is said to have been kept in the garage all its life, it’s probably in decent shape inside and out (more pics would help!). The Ford sports a newer set of tires and has only seen 1,000 to 2,000 miles per year of late. Someone local to where the Taurus is located may scoop it at this price.

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Comments

  1. Rex Kahrs Rex KahrsMember

    That’s one hell of a deal on one hell of a car. These cars were (are) great, we had several in our family, and my son still drives his 2005 Taurus, refusing to take on a car payment.

    Funny how a 30-year-old car can look basically like today’s cars; the design really doesn’t look outdated.

    Like 17
    • TorinoSCJ69

      Agreed. We were a Ford family, Dad was an engineer for 38 yrs there and we had several – never a problem with any of them.
      All types including wagons and a ’91 SHO. Only had a ride in the 3.8l police Taurus Dad brought home – I liked that, too.

      This is a great price on a real nice one. For the price of a few car pmts on a new F150.

      Like 8
    • Bob_in_TN Bob_in_TNMember

      Rex, I hadn’t really thought of that, but yes these still look relatively fresh. If four-door sedans were a bigger part of today’s market, an updated version might fit right in.

      Like 7
    • RICK W

      With all due respect, Rex, as an old school (as well as OLD man) lover of the GREAT AMERICAN LAND YACHT, I never went for the aero styling. I never could understand why a friend (long time Cadillac buyer) bought a first year Taurus. Yes, the styling still looks contemporary, but for me that is a major problem. While I love my current 2007 Town Car with somewhat similar styling, I wish we could return to the days of OTT excessive chromed luxury like my 70s and 80s RWD LAND YACHTS. Please note Rex, no emojis, just for you! Fortunately in the USA we can STILL have our own opinions. Not sure how much longer . Anyway, as usual with so many Peasant cars, I’m on to VERSAILLES!

      Like 4
  2. Steve Wyman

    My father bought one of these new, pretty much an identical twin to the one in the ad. It was a terrific car, very reliable, and no significant issues through his ownership. What sent it to the Junkyard as well as nine out of 10 of these: Transmission failure. They go bad on every single car 100 – 150k miles. There are zero wrecking yard transmissions available and this was a $3000 job 20 years ago. Negotiate the price of this car to $3000 and drive and enjoy until The transmission says sayonara……..

    Like 9
  3. JDC

    Of course it’s a future classic. These cars were game changers.

    Like 7
    • Steve R

      You can make a convincing case for the 1st generation Taurus (86-91), this is the second generation. This is a 95 model, there is nothing groundbreaking or special about it. Due to their disposable nature they are now an oddity, thus will garner some attention as time goes by, but not on their own merit, like an SHO would.

      Steve R

      Like 5
      • Terrry

        A transmission change on this generation is a 17-hour job and a heater core replacement takes 16 hours, so to me that doesn’t make this “future classic” anything but recycle material when it needs major work.

        Like 7
      • Steve R

        Terrry, that goes a long way towards explaining why the disappeared so quickly. I’d always heard that they wound up in the junkyard because when the transmission failed it was too expensive, but never heard it was due to the amount of labor involved.

        Steve R

        Like 5
    • TCOPPS TCOPPSMember

      maybe about as collectable as a Ford LTD.

      Like 1
  4. rob

    Am I going crazy, or is there rust by the gas door and rear driver side door?

    Like 3
  5. Jeff

    Well being a Taurus ♉️ astrology helps but to me I am not sure a collector.

    It was a great running Ford car …

    Modern Ford Mustangs (Shelby’s) , reproduction Thunderbird verts ,couriers light trucks , Ford GT40 race cars.and Lightning Trucks come to mind

    Like 6
  6. CCFisher

    Future classic? Hard to say, but you can draw some interesting parallels to the Falcon. Both the Falcon and this generation Taurus had 10 year runs, with a heavy facelift in the middle. Both were innovative when new, but stale by the time the generation was over. This Taurus being at the end of the first generation, I can perhaps best answer your question with a question: Is a 1969 Falcon sedan a classic?

    Like 3
    • Terrry

      How about a 1970 Falcon, which was a very bare-bones Torino? Extremely rare..but classic?

      Like 2
      • Steve R

        If it came with a 429CJ or SCJ

        Steve R

        Like 3
  7. Rex Kahrs Rex KahrsMember

    CCFisher,

    I personally would argue that no car built after 1980 would have a prayer of being a future classic. Automotive manufacture went from designing interesting cars in the 50s-60s, to just producing a profitable disposable mode of transportation.

    Sure, there are 50-year-old guys out there that remember certain cars from their childhoods, but nobody preserved them, and those 50-somethings are too glued to their I-phones and playing video games to wrench on cars.

    So, in my estimation, “classic” cars ended before 1980. The Big 3 can’t come up with a new classic, so they just revived the Mustang, Challenger, and the Camaro. Next, they came up with the Bronco (not too bad), and the goofy new Maverick. Maybe the Cybertruck will be the classic car 50 years from now, but I doubt that.

    The Taurus was, for the US auto industry, revolutionary when it came out in ’86, and it was an excellent automobile throughout it’s lifespan.

    Like 4
    • Stan StanMember

      What about 85–93 Fox Body 5L models as classic Rex ?

      Like 3
      • Rex Kahrs Rex KahrsMember

        Well, Fox bodies are not my cup of tea, Stan. I’m Mustanged out.

        My younger brother (55) likes the Bland National, which is a boring design from the malaise era, and I don’t care how fast it goes.

        Like 0
    • Big C

      The Mustang never went away. It just evolved.

      Like 3
    • Michelle RandStaff

      I usually agree with you Rex but you and I differ on this one. I think a host of Ferraris, from the 328 on up the price scale – including the formerly hated Mondial – have caught the eyes of collectors and been accorded a price premium.

      Like 3
  8. Uncle Leo

    Bought a 1994 Taurus for my daughter in her second year of college. Bought off a lady who worked for a Ford dealership for 30 years, always dealer maintained. One day my daughter was on her way to her internship at a local elementary school when she stopped at a light. While stopped,a guy having a seizure blasted her from behind estimated to be going between 50-60 mph. She plowed into the car in front of her,and the guy behind her still had his foot on accelerator,and pushed both cars into the intersection and then she was broadsided on the passenger side by a 25′ straight truck. She had whiplash,cuts and bruises,but managed to walk away. When I saw the car it was an unrecognizable cube. Best car we’ve ever owned.

    Like 6
    • Timothy Rudzinski, Sr.

      My jaw dropped while reading your post. No airbags I assume. If not, that’s sure a testament to the crash worthiness of a Taurus in my opinion!
      I hope your daughter isn’t suffering any ill effects from the awful experience.

      Like 3
  9. Terrry

    I believe this was the last year of this style, as in 1996 the unpopular “turtle back” units came out. Regardless, these cars have a very deserved reputation of being especially difficult to repair, especially if the heater core or transmission have to be replaced. Those who are interested should go over this car very carefully before handing over the green.

    Like 2
  10. Jay E.Member

    If this car has even a hint of a transmission oil leak, run away. Based on personal experience.

    Like 2
  11. John EderMember

    There is a residential campus for high school students near where I used to work. The school would go to Copart auctions and buy bunches of these. Every student was given a free (wrecked/immobile) Taurus, but they had to repair them (yes, even the girls) after class. There were so many cars and parts laying around that the faculty advisor to the program joked that after awhile, they started putting together free ones out of all of the “leftovers”.

    Like 4
  12. Nelson C

    Collectable, possibly. Daily, maybe.

    Like 1
  13. Jason Feldman

    I think any car is worth a chance at surviving to see what a future collector may think of it, and this car looks clean even though it has some miles. We had a refreshed version of the first generation Taurus. A 1990 GL that was bought new. It received its first new transmission under warranty at 31k miles and was needing another at 70k. I would think this car even at its asking price is a risk. I wouldn’t be surprised if once it starts getting used, it needs a new transmission within 10,000 miles.

    Like 2
  14. Bill Hall

    A few months ago I bought a 2002 Sable for transportation. Much better than a similar vintage Park Avenue that was rearended and totaled. The Sable is fine, runs and drives great including transmission. A very good car with new rubber for $2400. I know these well as my parents had a Tarus & Sable a few years older that where newer with less miles when bought and both had trans issues!

    Like 0

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