[Shotimes] Hold it a minute.....was: Re: SHO replacement

[James F. Ryan III]

> While the Taurus or SHO isn't the beacon of all that is built to
perfection,
> it's a decently well screwed together car.

Nicely put, but consider the following:

I've never owned a car before where,
the brake rotors warp from normal driving and braking (no racing).

I've never owned a car before where,
the rear brake lines rusted SHUT and pretty much incapacitated the rear
brakes.

I've never owned a car before where,
the rear springs sagged so badly after so few miles of normal driving (no
towing or unecessary heavy loads in the trunk).

I've never owned a car before where,
the alignment is so difficult to have performed properly.

I've never owned a car before where,
in order to achieve proper front alignment the FACTORY recommneded fix is to
drill out spot welds in the body.

I've never owned a car before where,
in order to acheive proper rear alignment you swap in superior parts from
another major auto manufacturer.

I've never owned a car before where,
the entire HVAC system was so problematic.

I've never owned a car before where,
the A/C lines were destroyed by battery acid because they were routed
underneath the battery tray.

I've never owned a car before where,
the A/C compressor clutch gap went out of a adjustment.

I've never owned a car before where,
the HVAC blend door motor........need I say more.

I've never owned a car before where,
the HVAC blower control relay........need I say more.

I've never owned a car before where,
the HVAC control unit buttons crack from normal use (gee, that's on par with
the brakes).

I've never owned a car before where,
the headlight circuit is so poorly designed and one wire (the brown wire)
overheats, melts, and almost causes a fire.

I've never owned a car before where,
the factory stereo head unit is so poorly designed that its capacitors leak
and render the unit inoperable after a few years of service.

I've never owned a car before where,
the antenna breaks so frequently from normal up/down operation.

I've never owned a car before where,
the sunshade of the moonroof uses a water soluble adhesive that loses its
ability to hold the material if it gets wet, ONCE.

I've never owned a car before where,
the front subframe can disconnect from the unibody because of a poorly
designed mounting system/bolts.

I've never owned a car before where,
the ATX is SO poorly designed and SO problematic.

I've never owned a car before where,
the thermostat is problematic and gets stuck in a full open position, which
causes the motor to run cool, which causes the computer to run a rich
mixture to 'help' the engine warm up quicker, which in turn causes a host of
other problems

I've never owned a car before where,
the failure of the head gasket (3.8L) is a known problem.

I've never owned a car before where,
the speedometer cable becomes very noisy and needs to be replaced.

I've never owned a car before where,
the "power steering" provides steering but NO power (Gen1 only).

I've never owned a car before where,
the accuracy of various gauges and indicating/warning lights is questionable
due to poorly designed and very problematic sensors.

I'm sure there's a few more that we could add to this 'impressive list'.
The point is, these are not exceptions to the rule, they are an epidemic of
the Taurus.  Add all of these togehter, then compare to the Honda Accord and
Toyota Camry, and POS is really only a stone's throw away.

What makes the car great?

-The SHO engine is great.  (The MTX and shifter are fun, but they are far
from great).

-The Gen1 factory ground effects are great (I'm very biased.  I guess you
guys don't see many WHITE Gen1s because on a bright white Gen1 the ground
effects stick out like a sore thumb).

-Yes George, the doors still sound brand new when they're slammed shut (BUT,
it only took them 50 years to get that right).

-Lastly, the factory exhaust systems, both SHO and SLO, are great.  I've
never heard or seen a Taurus that had a loud rotted away exhaust - even here
in the northeast.




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Nunnally" <marknunnally@JoiMail.com>
To: <shotimes@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, July 26, 2004 12:04 AM
Subject: Re: [Shotimes] Hold it a minute.....was: Re: SHO replacement


> >I see plenty of Tauri (and SHOs) that are falling apart at the
> > seams.
>
> I lived in NY for 6+ years, spent a lot of time up and down the east side,
> it quickly came to my attention all cars in the NE fall apart at the seams
> :)
>
> >Finally,
> > when your famous 5-minute strut removal job now becomes a 5-hour ordeal,
> the
> > letters POS will finally enter your lexicon.
>
> While the Taurus or SHO isn't the beacon of all that is built to
perfection,
> it's a decently well screwed together car.  My 92 @ 206,000+ miles (lots
of
> beating on it at track days, pre-89 track car days) has no more rattles
and
> squeaks than the 2 maxima's (95&97) that I maintain in my family (2
sisters)
> with 150k and 180k respectively.  Suprisingly, the 95 which spends a good
> portion of it's life outside (like my 92) interior has fallen apart a good
> bit, more than my 92 for sure.  I do think the gen2 interior materials
hold
> up better than the gen1 though, for whatever reason.
>
> The SHO/Taurus isn't a POS, it's not a great car, but a good solid one.
I'm
> no dave kegel when it comes to maintaining my 92, for interior and paint
> anyway, but it still cleans up as good as any car built in 92 that stays
> outside a lot (never drove it in winter in NY though).
>
> Oxford white (no cc) has gotta be about the most durable paint Ford ever
> made though, neglect for years and hit with some mild rubbing compound,
> polish, and wax, and it's like a new paint job.
>
> mark
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