I work with a really nice woman who just came here from Mexico a couple of months ago. She speaks some English and is a very quick learner. She has been a huge help to me in the field where I do agricultural research (mostly on vegetables). She is at the point where she wants to buy a car but doesn't have a lot of money. The good thing is that she is very practical, and really doesn't care what it looks like as long as its mechanically sound. Gas mileage is not a huge deal to her either, since she won't be driving long distances. I was glad to hear that she would prefer an American 4 dr sedan. It seems she had a Buick LeSabre in Mexico and she loved it. I came across this Taurus wagon locally. I'm sure she would go for it if I told her its in good shape, and reliable. I haven't seen it yet, so i cant vouch for the condition. i was hoping somebody here can speak to the general reliability of the taurus wagons. I'd love to see another wagon in the parking lot at work http://treasure.craigslist.org/cto/4695826401.html This is just about the amount of money she can afford right now.
Those cars are very durable if maintained, my son had a '94 that had over 300,000 miles on it and currently has a 1995 that is running strong. The thing about the Taurus/Sable is that they sold millions of them and parts are plentiful.
I would say the Taurus would be a good pick. A lot of them around. Parts easy to source, fairly reliable. This particular one more than likely has the 'base' SOHC 3 liter V6. The other engine was a DOHC 3 liter V6. Something to find out on this (or any) prospective vehicle purchase is what kind of extended maintenance items have been attended to in the recent past. Things like brakes, shocks, A/C service, trans service, coolant flush, etc. And take an extended test drive. You might also want to consider these: http://treasure.craigslist.org/cto/4658235708.html http://treasure.craigslist.org/cto/4695199156.html http://treasure.craigslist.org/cto/4698701361.html Good luck! Nice of you to help.......
Thanks for the advice. I had seen the gutless you posted above and called on it. Unfortunately, somebody had already placed a deposit. I'm calling back after 930 this morning to see if the buyer actually returns with the rest of the money. If not, this seems like a steal. I talked to the owner and it sounds like its what he says it is.
Nice of you to help her. For what it's worth my Dad purchased new 99 Sable sedan, DOHC 32 valve V6 and it's a very good car, very nice on the highway and I'm sure it's a very high millage car by now. Although he is not driving anymore his woman is and this past summer when my daughter went to Europe to visit it's still going strong. While he was still living in Canada and visiting Europe for extended periods of time the car was all ways left with us and I'll have to admit that if it was a wagon I mite have begged, borrowed, or stolen it from him ( But...German Shepherds don't fit in sedans) And as mentioned parts are very available even in Europe but I will ad that they are a car that needs to be maintained. Price seems fair for the one you are looking at but it mentions nothing about maintenance and if your not on top of it with these it can bite you. Yet if that stated millage is correct at a 56k miles that's a screaming deal IMO and I could live with the pealing clear. One 4-sale on my island rite now for $1500 with high miles(KM's), I'm only putting it up for a bit of comparison. http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified-ad/1996-Ford-Taurus-GL-Wagon_22533865
That '96 can also have the Vulcan OHV V6: good power, light weight, fairly easy and inexpensive to fix and maintain. The problem areas: the OAT (orange) coolant in these causes big rust buildup, eventually. The s#!t looks like orange-grapefruit juice when it drains out, but it can be heavily flushed out. The way you can tell if it needs the flush is the amount of heat from the heater core...they plug up but good. The other one is the CMP synchronizer (replaces the dizzy). When it begins to have a shaky idle, poor mileage and a squeaking noise from the engine, it's usually the synchronizer.
We ended up getting a nice little 2002 Chevy cavalier with just over 100k miles from a private sale. He was asking 1800, and we talked him down a little to 1600. I think it helped tha his son had married a Mexican girl, so I think was empathetic to Norma. I got the carfax online and everything checked out. It had three owners, but had never left this general area. It was bought new here and has been here it's whole life. It even had a fairly new paint job (metallic green) due to the problems with clear coat down here. There was absolutely no rust. That was last Saturday and I helped her to get insurance online and got the plates on Monday. So far, so good. She's really happy. It's nice to see her get some freedom back. Having a nice little car like this is perfect. It's supposed to get up to 40 mpg on the highway. Should be a cheap operation overall.
