I know a few of you guys have them. I found one for sale today, an '89 (first year of the SHO?) Gold, the clearcoat peeling a little but otherwise pretty clean. Kelly bluebook lists it at $1055 which I think is low, the sellers are asking $1600.
I'm thinking about it, it was even parked in front of a church and has a license plate frame that says, "Happiness is Being a Grandparent", which leads me to believe it may not have been beat on too much. What do you think? -TD

 

i had a '91 and loved it, however i would never recommend anyone buy one. i had more problems with that one car then all the other vehicles i have owned combined. in 80,000 miles:
4 clutches
ac compressor
water pump
digital HVAC control center
ABS module
bothe front CV joints

 

Let me get this straight. A grandparent drove a SHO?? Why, when they could've bought a regular Taurus? If it has a stick, grandma didn't drive it.

Man, those are fun cars to drive.

 

89 was the BAD year. There was a class action lawsuit about the clutches and bell housing failing.

If you buy any SHO DON'T buy the 89.

I had one. The clutch started to slip at 30K, took it in to a shop to have the clutch replaced. "A little early but no big deal" I thought. The shop called later that day and said I needed to come down and take a look. The clutch had plenty of material left, the surface was glazed and the pressureplate and flywheel were glazed too. The biggest problem was the shaft the throwout bearing rides on. So the clutch was replaced and the guy greased the sleeve but I was told it would fail even sooner. Finally after about a year of back and forth Ford replaced my bellhousing and clutch. I replaced the clutch 3 times total I believe in 120K miles and it was due when sold.

The shaft on at least the 89 was an aluminum sleeve over the tranny input shaft. The aluminum sleeve was part of the bellhousing and not replaceable except by replacing the entire bell housing. The throwout bearing eats up the shaft and after about 30K miles or so, the shaft starts to look like a chewed pencil. This makes the bearing stick and the clutch to not fully engage so it burns.

Ford had to replace all the 89 clutches according to the lawsuit. Unfortunately they did not change the design of the bell housing. The 89 Supercoupe had a similar tranny but the aluminum sleeve was a replaceable part of the tranny.

Also from reading on the SHO website, the clutch and presasure plate assembly was a French made unit designed for a Mazda drivetrain, the tranny is a Mazda. The SHO made about 220HP, the clutch unit was rated for something like 150 or less. So even without the throwout bearing eating the sleeve, the clutch would have glazed prematurely.

When I sold the SHO at 120K miles it was starting to get tight again which was a symptom that the sleeve was headed for round two.

If you drive where they gravel the road in winter, figure on replacing one fog light every year at (last time I tried) $120 a pop. Get some of that Griots Garage headlight film protective sheet, great stuff.

My 89 SHO was tons of fun but it was the most expensive car I owned to maintain, and I did most of the the routine stuff myself. It cost something like $2K per year to keep running when I sold it. Parts are much more expensive than for American. The EGR was something like $90 and you also would probably need to replace the pressure feedback emitter for another cool $100+. Some of the outrageous cost may be due to a dealer that I felt was incompetent working on this model. They removed and replaced stuff without really trying to find the real problem. Last major repair that finally made me chuck the car was diagnosis of stalling after driving in traffic. They charged over $1,000 for repairs and parts and I still had the problem. I hooked a cheapy scanner that said "replace this $100 part" and it worked like a champ. Jeez. OH and how about the heater core blwoing at 110K and costing $1,000+ to replace.

Anyway, probably the worst car I have ever owned in over 30 years of driving.

I have read that the 90 and newer were better, but last time I looked years back Consumer Reports still rated them as one of the 10 worst mechanical problem vehicles for those years(the 1990s).

My 96 Impala SS was head and shoulders a way better more reliable car and cooler too, but then they are appreciating in price so you aren't going to find a real one cheap.

They are fun tho, when they run,

Jim Henderson

 

Don't be too sure...my mom is a grandma, 72 yrs. young and the SHO would be for her to replace her '88 Taurus L. She likes driving a stick, and likes the kick of the 3.0 she has now but wouldn't mind a little more! Granny still likes to haul butt once in a while! -TD

 

If she can spin the tires and pin me in the seat, I look forward to riding with that girl!

 

my wife, 49yrs, has a 90, still drives it, 160,000 on one clutch at about 110,000, water pump and radiator at 140,000, usual batteries and brakes, still has original struts,paint is going to hell, radio quit,but it still runs strong

 

ooooooooooops forgot the shift cable, that cost $250, thats just the part, I installed it my self

 

Son, you better check out the demographics and see that a lot of grandparents (like me) have grown up with performance and are still buying performance cars.
Dono

 

My mom, who's the grandmother of 9, drives a '99 Cobra convertible. Not hard, but she'll chirp the tires on occasion.

What I notice the most in SHO's that I've seen advertised around here is that they seem to all need transmission work. If you're thinking of making an offer on the car, I'd aim for something closer to blue book.

 

At this point, after the responses I've gotten so far I'm shying away from it. I think I'll see if a little newer one comes along, or else a T-bird SC, that's one of my other choices. But thanks for all the replies, definitely food for thought. -TD