Well, you're one of the few that didn't hear that complaint from what I hear all the time. When I tell people I have a Taurus, they tell me to get ready for its transmission to fail or for its head gasket to blow. Only when I explain design changes to them do they realize that their view might have been dated.
Did you look at the Fusion when you got the Accord? The Fusion really is the replacement for the Taurus - the Focus replaced the Escort. They really were repositioning the entire product line recently. It had been Escort/Contour/Taurus/Crown Vic. But the Crown Vic had a shrinking market, and Ford had no large sedan to compete against the likes of the Avalon. That is really where the 500 comes in. Its not quite as posh as an Avalon, but it is ever so slightly larger, gets equivalent gas mileage, and is cheaper. The Focus came in as an Escort/Contour replacement - trying to hit the same market as the Corolla. The Taurus had been larger than the Camry, and the Fusion really is trying to hit the Camry/Accord market in terms of size.
I think the resulting cars are better fits in terms of competition for the Corolla/Camry/Avalon than the old, regardless of name. I have no doubts that the Fusion is a much superior offering in competition than the Taurus was. I don't think changing the name was a bad idea, although they may have been able to rescue the Taurus name.
What I think was a bad idea has been their horrible marketing since. I still know people at work who don't even know there IS a car called the Ford Fusion. That's pathetic.
Thanks for being a voice of reason. Quality numbers are only a tenth of a percent different on all vehicles. I should know being part of a family of Ford engineers, one of which is in quality.