Well I love my 87 F150. But as for a car, I have a 1984 Toyota Supra. Only 122K on her. I consider both daily drivers, but the Supra was a garage queen before I bought it.

Now, I have been contemplating going Ford for as my car as well. The Supra cannot be yarded for period around here, and a lot of parts can't even be had at Toyota. According to their website there is not a Mark 2 Supra at a PickNPull within 1000 miles of where I live.

I was considering a Fox Body Mustang, but I'd want it stock and you're hard pressed to find one that someone hasn't already modded. I don't want anyone modding my car. I'll do that.

I want to know who has experience with the Taurus SHOs. First gens. Ups? Downs? I know right off the bat it's about 4 seconds faster from 0-60 than my Supra. There are 3 89 Taurus' at PNP right now. Don't know what engine but yea.

My ol lady wants an Escape, so yea we'd end up one big happy Ford Family.

 

Taurus SHO.

You think Toyota claims to have no parts for your Supra. Go into a Ford dealer and ask about an SHO. "Oh, the new one?". They won't even know about the models you are talking about.

"Super High Operating" costs.

They had Yamaha engines in them.

Run.

How about a 4 cylinder Fox Mustang? Usually not so torn up as the V8s, and you can do the running gear and brakes and still have a driver 'till you're ready to put that 500 horse 331 in it....

Now you may get some of the cultists that follow the SHO to stand up for them as they are--were--pretty cool in their day.

Back to the Taurus--a 3.8 Taurus runs almost as quick as the earlier SHO's, and all you have to do is keep a supply of head gaskets and transmissions in stock.

 

ROFL. A 4-banger Fox wouldn't be bad. I don't mind it especially since I don't NEED anymore tickets. Got enough with the Supra. Long as I have a manual tranny I'm good.

Might have to grab one and decide exactly what I want to build for it. I'll enjoy the better gas mileage in the meantime

The Supra may have low miles, but sitting in a garage can do harm as well. I really need to take it off the road for a bit to fix up, but I'm definitely tempted to get another ol' Ford.

 

I personally have had terrible luck with FWD cars. If you want to stick with Ford I've known a few people that have had superb reliability with the Escorts and Tracers (1991-96) and I found them pretty easy to work on and majority of parts won't kill the wallet. I've had a mixed bag with the Taurus, the SHO is neat, but I hear it's pricey and difficult to maintain. And some have had good and some have had bad reliability. I would stay away from the Contour/Mystique as well. If you want RWD I've read many people have had good luck with the Crown Victoria/ Grand Marquis/ Thunderbird/ Cougar. I'm unsure how parts prices are for them. And I know nothing about Probes. I would say for cheap I'd go with the Escort/ Tracer and if you want more pep look for an Escort GT or Tracer LTS. Just my two cents.

 

I owned an 89 SHO from new. BAD YEAR, CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS etc.

That year had a throwout bearing that would chew up the input shaft of the tranny every 30-40K miles. Had to replace the bell housing to repair. Ford paid to replace all the ones that failed after the class action lawsuit.

The only engine problems I had were probably dealer lack of knowledge or desire for $$. My SHO started to stall out after about 30-40 minutes of driving. A tester I borrowed from a professional mechanic said I needed a new PFE. Dealer ignored that and replaced the fuel regulator, ignition parts and many other parts to the tune of $2000 in a year. I replaced the $100 PFE, good as new. I think they threw parts at it because they had no clue.

When I last bought parts for my 89 SHO in 2000, they were hard to come by, expensive and often specific to seriel number ranges. They were expensive even when the car was new.

89 is one year you DO NOT want, unless you are willing to replace the bell housing as regular maintenance. Clutches are also undersized that model year so they burn out or glaze way before the clutch material is gone. Don't know if Ford ever fixed these issues, I sold my SHO and bought a new Chebby and loved it.

I have read that later years were fairly reliable. There is a SHO webpage somewhere. You might look them up, they have far more experience than I do with just my 89.

Last statement, the 89 SHO is the worst car I have owned since 1973.

JUst my experience,

Jim Henderson

 

89-97 T-bird or Cougar with the 5.0 or 4.6 V8s (I prefer the 5.0 for user friendliness and mods) Highly underrated cars. As long as the trans has not been abused, real reliable.....even the later non S/C 3.8 157hp V6 (95-97) goes like heck for a V6!

STAY AWAY FROM THE OLDER SHO TAURUS!!!!!

 

93 is right , but i'd go with the 4.6 myself . i bought a 95 bird with an 4.6 for 200 last year for a beater , was given a 91 5.0 free that i parted out , and have run across a few more at really reasonable prices here abouts . stay away from the v-6's unless it's a supercoupe . the pedestrian 3.8 is a big P.O.S !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! working on a 95 here that's pearl whit with a 4.6 and laoud a-- pipes on it the kid parked . he lost his ability too drive if you take my meaning . he was selling it for awhile for 1100 but is back and forth on it . mine has been dependable as hades gets anywhere from 18- 24 in town depending on my lead foot , and has gotten as much as 33.7 on the road . seems hard to believe but i di it all the time . the wife has been driving it lately and the mileage figures have just plain went to hades in a hand basket since ................ hers a pic of the cheap wheels Attachment 25875

 

My "pedestrian POS" 3.8 96 T-bird will smoke the tires and do 120mph (at least).....(don't ask.)
The 3.8 SCs are getting too hard to find parts for.........but when they run, man do they run!

 

I was at the junkyard today. Saw a few older Escorts that I took a liking too as far as looks.

But I think I'm gonna find a Mustang and then build a motor for it.

I'm in a bind cause I know I love my Supra, but a Mustang and family of Fords would be so nice too.

 

The SHO V6's were reliable enough (after teething issues...) It is the SHO V8s that were truly terrible. They were famous for the camshaft gears separating off the shaft and smashing a whole bunch of pistons into the valves.

 

had nothing but bad luck with the 3.8's 93 as they all ate head gaskets and cost me a fortune to fix . finally just convinced the wife to quit buying any mini or car with one in it !!! that's why i call 'em a pos and would not recommend them . most peeps do not take very good care of anything anyway and they are prone to some major headaches . you doing 120 with that pos driveshaft ford blessed us mn12 owners with ?????? my 95 has been chipped and haven't found the top speed yet , speedo only does 120 , and i usually get a little unnerved at the nasty vibrations that 2 piece junk gives at 110 plus . thats on the fix at all costs list . gotta long **** truck shaft here im gonna have cut down and the right ends put on it for the bird by acme in decatur il .............. some have good luck with them some don't , the 3.8 v6 . i knew of a really nice 94 sc bird here in athens the girl wanted only 900 for it as she wanted a " new " car . i just didn't have the cash at the time , but my son in law up there is 'sposed to be getting hold of her dad as she still has it sitting in the driveway .

 

You forgot something...valve cover gaskets and timing covers. The 3.8L V6 was once called the miracle engine.

If the head gaskets didn't blow before 60,000 miles, the timing covers didn't rot out before 40,000 miles, and the valve cover gaskets didn't leak from day one, it was a MIRACLE!

The transmissions were horrid terds, ate planet assys, sun gears and valve bodies like crazy. Ford was never able to solve the crappy brake problems on 1986/95's.

The calipers got sooo hot, they melted...I kid you not.

 

In my mind, if your simply looking for a DD until you can get a project car, I'd opt for a later generation Taurus with the 3.0L or the 3.0L 24V.

These cars can be had pretty cheap, there's plenty of them around, they get great mpg's, parts are reasonable and they're reliable as hell.

 

Later Tauruses reliable? Their automatic transmissions were horrid. Everyone one I've been in never shifted right.

 

The best possible scenario is...PASS on all the Taurus' ... cuz all were problematic from day one.

Stay far away from Tempo/Topaz's, Escorts and Mercury Tracers with ATX's, another terd of a Ford A/T.

The timing belt on Escorts/Tracers (4 banger OHC 1.6L & 1.9L) was supposed to be changed when the cars reached a certain mileage, I forget exactly what it was.

Most people were unaware, since most never read the owners manual. When the timing belt snaps, the valves hit the head, and when this occures, you can kiss the head good-bye.

IMO, I wouldn't buy any of these cars, cuz all were fraught with all sorts of problems even when brand new.

Today, all the problems will be multiplied, considering when a car reaches this age, ppl spend next to nothing on maintenance.