The only Taurus I ever drove a few times was my grandmother's 1995 Taurus she bought brand new off the showroom floor, and traded it in for a 2000 Taurus. Neither one had any problems, cosmetic or otherwise. I had no complaints, but of course, they weren't mine. :)
My 'check engine' light used to come on at random times and the car would just quit. I could avoid this if I put in gas treatment AND only used premium gas.(the dealer always hooked it up to the computer and said that nothing was wrong....if I have to hitchhike....something is wrong!) The transmission had been rebuilt once and was starting to slip by 1998. (absurd)
I did not buy it new, but a buddy of mine had a 1996 bought new) with the EXACT same problems and the exact same fix temporarily solved them.
Ford makes me sad, no 2 ways about it.
Thelastbestlady