After I got back to New York I mentioned this car to a friend, and his immediate response was "Those are bad cars. Ford Taurus? Bad cars." I didn't bother to quiz him on this verdict, but the car seemed fine to me. I have owned only 2 cars in my life: a Dodge Dart that I used during high school, and a Lincoln Town Car, which I sold in early 2009 after having it for about 3 years. Both those cars had previously belonged to my dad.