Anybody got experience with these vehicles? I am looking at one with high mileage, approx. 170K. I have done a little internet research and get mixed info, good and bad. I am looking for something to drive as a third vehicle that gets better mileage than the families other two vehicles, F-250 and Explorer. Not looking to drop more than $2K and might be able to pick this one up for about 1/2 that. Is is a ticking time bomb?

Also looking at '94 Sable with 3.8L and 103K miles. Any experience with that one out there?

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

 

Hopefully Rockledge will be along soon. He's got a sweet one and he'll give you good advice. I know you want to stay away from the '96-and-newer ones, the V8s ARE ticking time bombs. That's a lot of miles for any Taurus, but those Yamaha V6s seem to run forever. The 3.8 is known for bad head gaskets- you may want to stay away from the Sable, unless the heads were already done by a reputable shop.

 

I tend to think of the SHO as more of a hobby car than a daily driver, but that’s just me. Similar to say, a Mustang for a lot of people, in that it's something to have some fun in and tinker around with.

1995 is the best year for automatics, they have the strongest version of the AXODE tranny.

I’ve recently posted a few comments regarding my SHO, and the SHO model line in general, so it’s probably easier for me to just provide the links to those threads:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=330601

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=353493

I highly recommend poking around the SHOtimes website, loads of information regarding the Gen I & II SHO:

http://www.shotimes.com/php-bin

Also, this might interest you, it’s a link to a window sticker for a ‘95:

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...2_133_full.jpg

Most SHO’s are similarly-equipped to the one described in the sticker, the only "major" difference being the that the automatic tranny version of the SHO comes with the 3.2L engine which is a slightly bored version of the 3.0L that comes in those having the manual tranny.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the responses so far.

Rockledge - What kind of real world fuel mileaage can I expect when driving the car sensibly, i.e. not racing it? Read some reports of high 20's and even some low 30's. I assume that is from a properly tuned car with probably lower miles. The guy claims 20 mpg average 1/2 City and 1/2 highway. It is not really going to be a daily driver as I have a work vehicle for back and forth to work.

Yours looks great. You could eat off that engine. Unfortunately the one I am looking at is not nearly as nice. A little elbow grease will go a long way with it though.

Any other experiences out there?

Thanks again,
Mike

 

3.8Ls of that vintage and a few years either side had BIG head gasket problems. Ford extended the warranty on the head gaskets, but that won't help this car.

 

My SHO was actually a little run down appearance-wise when I got it, which helped with the negotiations.

I run minumum 91 octane in my SHO, as recommended for its higher performance engine, and I get at least those numbers you see on the window sticker (mine's a stick though). A lot of people run 87 and say they do even better on MPG and I believe it. My SHO engine is better on gas then the 3.8L Essex I had in my old Sable, that's for sure, and it would walk all over it, too. That's one of the things that keeps people hooked on these cars.

 

I had a 92 sho with a 5-spd and gas mileage was in the low 30's on the highway.

I would have to say that the SHO is not a good daily driver. Unless you are very good at doing repairs yourself or have an endless bank account, there are better options. A maxima from the same year is almost as fast and is a lot cheaper to repair.

Maybe I just got a bad one, but mine was a repair nightmare. It was broke more than it was running, it seemed.

 

Thanks once again for the responses. I think I am going to pass on the Sable due to the head gasket issue. Asked the dealer to run an Oasis Report and was told they don't go back that far. Is that corrrect and would that show if the head gaskets had been fixed?

Regarding the SHO, I keep hearing all the maintenance comments. How about some insight on what the experiences have been? I am aware of the timing belt issue and the ATX is a risk at 168K miles. Trying to get the guy to find some paperwork on what has been done. He has done several items in the pass few years. Battery, starter, fuel pump, brakes, new tires, etc. The items that scare me are the timing belt, ATX (remaining life expectancy), and leaks (oil & coolant) as I have no desire to fix these myself. Everything on the car works except the moonroof, which appears to be the open/close toggle switch issue as it is broken. I have not driven the car yet.

I have owned 4x4 trucks for the last 15 years, so I know a little bit about maintenance and I can swing a wrench. But, I want to drive the car more than work on it and it seems it would be fun to drive once I got it cleaned up. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to spend $1,000 on the car and then have to dump $3,000 into it. Much rather spend $4,000 on something that I can just get in and go. Besides, $4K buys a lot of gas for my F-250. That is the reason I am considering this in the first place, save money of fuel expenses!

Any comments on insurance costs? Would put liability only on the car.

 

I replaced the timing belt in mine, twice. But the nice thing is, it's a non-interference engine, so it's not that bad. The heater core went on mine, 2 timing belts, a diff, tranny(twice), coil pack, starter, cam sensor, crank sensor, you have to take the whole intake off to change plugs and wires, I had to clean/replace the IAB (Idle Air Bypass) at least 3 times, water pump, all of the gaskets in the engine wore out and needed to be replaced including the head gasket (boy, that was fun). That was the engine part, the interior wasn't much better. Most of the buttons on the climate control were busted, tons of rattles, no matter what leather treatment I used(and I tried tham all) the leather cracked and looked horrible, etc...

I highly recommend them for the sleeper effect and they are really fun to drive, but if you need a dependable fast car that won't empty your bank account for repairs, I suggest a mid 90's Nissan Maxima

 

I found that I really like commuting on a motorcycle. Outstanding performance, handleing and fuel mileage. Plus they are much cheeper than cars to buy and easier to work on should the need arise. With decent riding gear I am comfortable from 14°F to 100°F on an unfaired bike. A bike with a full faring (and/or heated riding gear) would extend the lower end of this range considerably. I ride year round, except for days when there is a considerably amount of snow on the road. This winter there have been 4 days that I didnt ride a bike to work. I live in NoVA.

cheers

josh