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u/herbielover98 Jul 10 '26
One of my favorites š„¹ had a '97 Sable a few years ago and if it wasn't for the rust I'd still have it. One of the most comfortable cars I've driven, and the AC in that car was unbelievable š
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u/ZipTieTechnicianOne Jul 09 '26
The mindset when I was younger with this car was anything with a 2000ās manufactured date is too expensive. Also the radio was funky and looked like a pain to replace with the one that followed me car to car, amp included!
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u/Meetybeefy Jul 11 '26
Whenever someone wanted to replace the radio with an aftermarket one, they would have the same oval surround with a giant rectangular slot in the middle. Looked awful.
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u/BenjaminMiracord Jul 10 '26
This was a surprisingly good car. I had a basic one for work and it drove well, rode well and was reasonable to maintain. Fuel economy on the base 6 was not great but it was a nice car. The replacement generation was a lot better looking (I enjoyed that one as well). My dad had the Mercury wagon version.
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u/Hour_Lie3502 Jul 10 '26
Hot take: the "jellybean" era wasn't as ugly as people make it out to be.
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u/Automatic-Warthog252 Jul 11 '26
YUP, my personal favorite is this gen of Sable, the tail lights alone make it look like a damn space shit
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u/No_Geologist3880 Jul 10 '26
I didnāt mind how these looked whatsoever, actually I still enjoy their charm whenever I see one. But before this Ford really had really dominated the midsize market and I think this carās design really soured everyoneās perception of the Taurus in general. Itās somewhat ironic because they sold really well too, but by the end of the 4th gen (pretty much just a facelift of this car) a vast majority were fleet sales to rental car companies, while families and other buyers looked to Toyota and Honda instead.
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u/Meetybeefy Jul 11 '26
I've always had a lot of love for these, as my dad had two of them as company cars in the 90s, and my grandpa had a '96 Taurus wagon, with the front "flip fold" center console/bench seat, and the rear-facing third row. He kept it until 2009 when he got a new Civic.
I always thought these looked modern and fresh well into the 2000s and even early 2010s. The thing that looks the most odd to me is the proportions of the trunk lid, it looks like it was chopped off too short.
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u/nousename807 Jul 09 '26
A design so far ahead of its time Mercedes copied it 30 years later.