2000 Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable

By Bob Storck

In the last rework, Taurus designers may have gone too far with their interior and exterior emphasis of oval styling cues, but those have been moderated with this revision. What is left focuses on safety, quality, comfort, and convenience. All exterior panels are new, including a major revision of the rear roof that provides nearly a two-inches of improvement in rear headroom.

Ford now has just the entry level LX, an affordable SE, the high value SE Special Value Group (SVG), and the SE Comfort. The heart of Ford's safety system is a well planned structure that will protect occupants along with all the expected safety features. Additional safety can be obtained by ordering the side impact airbags, anti-lock brakes, traction control, or the Ford unique power adjustable accelerator and brake pedals. They can be moved three inches and allow a variety of statures to be accommodated, and cleverly move down as they move aft to deal with smaller feet.

Taurus is the only mid size to offer five and six-passenger configurations as well as a station wagon. Ford has chosen to forgo the less popular but sticker reducing four cylinder engines, and offers two V6s - the less pricey 155 hp two-valve Vulcan (available in gasoline or flexible-fuel versions) and the 200 hp four-valve Duratec. Both meet Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) standards.

For a complete review, read: 2000 Ford Taurus Emphasizes Safety To Gain Edge On Competition by Bob Storck.