I love the extra knee room the front split bench seats offer you and I am trying to find a car with the feature within 20 years of age. I know the early 2000's Toyota Avalon sedans offered the option but the option is rare. Chevrolet Impala from has had it up to 2012, but it is GM. I think a 2004-2007 Ford Taurus would be a best fit for me since the Panther Platform cars are too big for my taste. But reliability wise which would you think is the greatest reliability wise from the worst to best? How many miles could a 2004-2007 Ford Taurus typically go trouble free, any known weaknesses?
P.S I Don't mind if this Topic is posted publicly or in a video.
@42luke
How about a 90's Chevy Caprice or a 2000's Suburban? Front Bench seats are a dead feature unfortunately. Like manuals and soon, v8's.
@42luke
I owned a 2000 Ford Taurus from 2012 to 2017. It had 65,000 miles when I bought it (from an elderly woman), with the 3.0 liter V6 Flex fuel motor. I was the 3rd owner. I doubled the mileage while I owned it as my primary vehicle. I still miss the car because it had leather seats, the bench seat in the front, and a V6 with acceleration that would keep up with the Mustangs!
It was mostly dependable for the age, but we had to get rid of it because repair bills started costing as much as just making payments on a car (over $3,000/yr). I replaced the transmission a year into owning it. Next major repair was the air conditioning about a year later. The following year I had it dump the brake fluid into the drum, so needed that fixed. Year after that, the steering rack went out. The final straw was when the heater core went out (no heat or air).
For comparison, during roughly same time (2013-2016), my (future) wife drove a 2004 Ford Taurus with over 200,000 miles. This one had the 24 valve V6, as opposed to the Flex Fuel. We found out while cleaning the car out one day that it was a former Hertz rental car. It didn't have the front bench seat, but it drove quite smoothly and only issue it had was AC didn't work. We only got rid of it because we needed a more fuel efficient and dependable car, and between the two, this one had the higher mileage.
I say all this to make you think a bit. I'm no mechanic, but the 24 Valve engine Taurus seemed more dependable to me, in hindsight. I had one mechanic tell me they were more expensive to work on, but I can't vouch for that, since it didn't have any engine issues while my wife owned it.
I can see the appeal of an old Taurus - I miss the bench seat and column shifter - but I think you'll pay more in repairs than the car is worth.
Suburban SUV's are cool and they offered it up to 2020 with the column shift. But it is a big car. Was thinking of sedans mid sized. Caprice is like panthers, very big for the city. Just thinking of Mid Sized sedans with the front bench seat.
Hi,
I know Im not Scotty but from a reliability stand point, a Ford Taurus will only frustrate you in the long run. Now Scotty did a video on the Ford 500 which they made a limited amount of but I am not sure about the seating you are looking for. Other than that, Toyota or Honda would be the best bet. I have 4 Toyotas, 1 Honda, and 1 Hyundai (Genesis). No issues with any of them. I hope this helps.
-Ambush
@ambush
What is it with the Taurus that is bad though? I have seen them with 300,000 miles https://youtu.be/L79XsdFctMo But I suppose then that Toyota would be the best, the Avalon sedans are good?
I can tell you Scotty loves the Ford Crown Vic' and Merc Marquis with the V8... one of the last of the bench front seat...a dying breed.
But if you didn't need that bench front... I'd get a Toyota Avalon instead.
