The original Taurus was actually a half-decent car and it was cheap - became the best selling car in America for a while. The second generation wasn't bad, but it was pretty much just a reskin of the original car. The car became less and less competitive and as for the quality, it went way down hill towards the end of that generation. The third generation (which is what we 30-somethings remember driving ourselves, and loathing) was made from 96-99 and with a facelift from 00-07. That was the one that spiked the Taurus name forever; poor reliability, poor value for money, poor *everything*.
This is what they're currently telling us is a Taurus. Check out the razorblade face!
The styling on the current Taurus is insipid. The crazy thing is, companies like Toyota use California car design firms to style their cars so they look good. Who the heck is doing the styling for Ford? North Korea?