Wednesday morning, when I drove my old Taurus from Bridgewater to Flemington for its 90,000 mile service (I always cringe at the cost of this necessary maintenance!), I went through the same old routine that all of us do when visiting a dealership: Inevitably, the standard service listed in the owner's manual is augmented by more repairs – got to keep that car running well.
After signing off on the paperwork, I asked, “What’s the follow-on version to the discontinued Taurus?” followed by, “I never understood which model replaced it, or why Ford stopped producing the Taurus,” thereupon evoking nods of acknowledgement by at least three service advisors and one sales rep, all conceding that Ford had made a marketing mistake.
But a few more questions revealed not only that Ford is re-introducing the Taurus, but that two new 2008 cars were already on the lot – so new, that no one yet had promotional material, and one of them had not even been invoiced.
My wife and I couldn’t resist the offer to test drive one of them, a shiny titanium-green sedan. Although no one will mistake the jazzed-up look of the exterior design for anything other than a Taurus, this newly-introduced model has a much smoother look. Nothing else about the car is the same: It has a more powerful engine, a new six-speed transmission, a cavernous trunk, very good gas mileage, a snug interior with many new appointments, and a comfortable ride with spunky acceleration.
Ah… Dream on. It’s back to my midnight-blue Taurus – still gives a first-rate ride though.
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