Still no new Taurus Pics??? wow!!

[chromehorn]

... and for all the things done well on the current Taurus I came away from it feeling the the Taurus was a big disappointment for what's now Ford's top-of-the-line sedan for retail sale. There wasn't any one thing that brought me to feeling disappointed, it was more a general consensus of a lot of things that I thought could be done better. By comparison, I've felt that the Fusion is a better car overall and a lot more car for the money.

 

 

Your are totally right. The current Taurus doesn't feel at all like a premium sedan, it actually feels cheaper than the Fusion inside.

 

 

I don't know if the Taurus in it's current form was ever intended to be a premium sedan. It's worlds better than the previous model (traded a '00 model on the '08) but as nice as it is I wouldn't call it a premium sedan. A good all-around sedan with some nice features, safety and competitive if not class-leading perfomance (i.e. power and fuel economy), definitely! Now I can't say that I've driven a Fusion, but I have sat in a few of them, and have friends who own them, and they all have stated that my 08 Taurus is much nicer inside, rides better, quieter, roomier (duh!), and is all around much more car than their Fusion. The only thing that really limits the current Taurus IMO is the styling. It's not even one of those love-it or leave-it kind of things...it just kind of grows on you the more you look at them. One thing that is for sure, the '08 and '09's will be kind of a rare sight in the future as the big chrome 3-bar grille looks to be a thing of the past on the '10 Taurus. That suits me just fine as I don't like seeing 10 or more cars like mine on my everyday commute.

 

 

 

 

Having said that, I hope the public can make the transition to a Taurus that might be positioned as a premium sedan. The name is certainly recognizable as that of a family car, or to some a sports sedan (my 93 SHO always got comments from those in the know), but it may be a stretch to call it a premium sedan. The Five Hundred name seemed to fit that role much better, but alas there is nothing we can do about that now. The funny thing is that for all the hand wringing and fussing over the name change to Taurus from the Five Hundred, most people who see a my '08 Taurus think it's a Five Hundred anyway. Or I get a reaction like I did today in a Best Buy parking lot. I was busy listening to the latest melt-down of the stock market on Sirius CNBC when I noticed in the rear-view and side mirrors a couple in their mid 40's walk behind / beside my car and stop. If it weren't for the fact I could read their lips as they were saying to each other, "what is that...a Ford...a Taurus?" I would think that they were looking at road kill hanging from under the rear bumper. The best part was watching them look over their shoulders a couple of times as they were walking into the store, just to get another look or two.

 

Anyway I can't wait to see the real deal '10 Taurus and more importantly what is under the hood. Sounds like it's gonna be a killer ride in SHO trim.

:burnout: :burnout: :burnout: :burnout:

[fmccap]

With the info available to this point on the Taurus is it reasonable to expect the eco boost version (ST or SHO Trim) be available at launch of the new car?

From what I have heard they will all be the ECO Boost engines.

[TBodette68]

Your are totally right. The current Taurus doesn't feel at all like a premium sedan, it actually feels cheaper than the Fusion inside. That you believe most Ford dealers have no idea an all new Taurus is coming in just 2 months sounds like a huge problem to me. If Ford dealers are so removed from their own business, is it any wonder they have no idea what the competition is going - and therefore have no idea why their business is in the toilet right now. I would think a good businessman with a multi-million $$ business would keep up on his own product at least, let alone the competition!!

 

I completely disagree with you. The Taurus /Sable has the feel of a much more expensive vehicle than the Fusion/Milan. The reason some dealers don't want to talk about the 2010 Taurus /Sable is because they don't want to completely hamstring the sale of the 2009 Taurus /Sable.

[dwford]

I completely disagree with you. The Taurus /Sable has the feel of a much more expensive vehicle than the Fusion/Milan. The reason some dealers don't want to talk about the 2010 Taurus /Sable is because they don't want to completely hamstring the sale of the 2009 Taurus /Sable.

 

I don't see how you can honestly say that the current Taurus interior is better than the current Fusion interior. The Taurus sells for $$thousands more, yet has plastics that are barely equal to the Fusion, and stylistically is as boring as dirt. I truly hope the new Taurus is a home run.

 

When I sold Fords and the new Taurus arrived, it was very hard to get people to look at the car once I said the word "Taurus." Car shoppers are dumb, and keep preconceived notions from 20 years ago about the car. Ford is going to have to work overtime on the marketing. It wouldn't hurt to win a comparison test or two.

 

As for the dealer principles, I understand why Ford is keeping the details under wraps, but as business owners, I would expect that they would keep abreast - even if only reading forums like this - of upcoming models. And don't tell me they are too busy, sales suck, remember?

[TBodette68]

I don't see how you can honestly say that the current Taurus interior is better than the current Fusion interior. The Taurus sells for $$thousands more, yet has plastics that are barely equal to the Fusion, and stylistically is as boring as dirt. I truly hope the new Taurus is a home run.

 

When I sold Fords and the new Taurus arrived, it was very hard to get people to look at the car once I said the word "Taurus." Car shoppers are dumb, and keep preconceived notions from 20 years ago about the car. Ford is going to have to work overtime on the marketing. It wouldn't hurt to win a comparison test or two.

 

As for the dealer principles, I understand why Ford is keeping the details under wraps, but as business owners, I would expect that they would keep abreast - even if only reading forums like this - of upcoming models. And don't tell me they are too busy, sales suck, remember?

all you had to do was have your buyers test drive a Fusion and then test drive a Taurus..There is absolutely no comparison the Taurus is twice the car that the fusion is..

[89-Pony]

all you had to do was have your buyers test drive a Fusion and then test drive a Taurus..There is absolutely no comparison the Taurus is twice the car that the fusion is..

I think it depends on what you're looking for. I've driven both, back-to-back because I wanted to make that very comparison. To me the Fusion SEL felt very taut and sophisticated (hey, I drive an 89 LX 5.0 hatchback. To me, almost everything else is taut and sophisticated!) It was roomy enough for me, but sometimes I have to shuttle a few soccer kids, and it's not quite as big as I like.

Then I drove the Taurus Limited. It was certainly big compared to what I'm used to, and I think it would take a couple of days to get used to the size. And it's very boring to me in it's design. But it was SOLID and SMOOTH. I drive 80 highway miles a day, and safety is a huge concern, so the Taurus really caught my interest. The 3.5 pulled like a silent freight train, very smooth & powerful. Much more impressive than the 3.0 in the Fusion. Can't wait to drive the Fusion Sport! As far as which one is the most "car" -- The Taurus Limited, hands-down. Which one is sportier -- The Fusion, hands-down. One RED FLAG for the Taurus -- On the SEL, what the hell is that strange fabric pattern on the seats? It carries over to the doors, but in a much harder, almost plasticy format. If I was an uninformed customer and that was my only exposure to the Taurus, I would walk away without a second glance. Who designs this crap? Worse, who approves it for production? But go with the Limited and the car is SWEET. Just put a bag over her face.

[V8 Ford]

all you had to do was have your buyers test drive a Fusion and then test drive a Taurus..There is absolutely no comparison the Taurus is twice the car that the fusion is..

Having lived with a 07 Fusion SE V6 and an 08 Taurus Limited for a year each. I entirely agree. The powertrain of the Taurus is far superior; much more power from the 3.5, smoother, quicker shifts from the transmission and the fuel economy was about the same. I thought the Taurus drove better too; the steering was more precise and the ride much smoother. The Taurus is sprung much more softly and rolled noticeably in corners (unlike the fusion) but, in my opinion, it drove with more confident through them. The Taurus had much better attention to detail too, seen by small things like the soft inserts in the door handles, better quality door panels and the way they integrated the passenger airbag sensor into the dashboard. To top it off, the Taurus has way more room in every dimension. Headroom, legroom, the massive trunk. The Fusion was a great car too, but there's no comparison to the Taurus. It's a pity that no one knows about it.

Edited December 9, 2008 by V8 Ford