2013 Ford Taurus Limited

[GMTruckGuy74]

My step-son decided pretty late in the game to attend his senior prom last Friday (May 11). His original plan was to go with his friends in a stretch Chrysler 300 limo, but with his indesiciveness about attending, his friends replaced him with another couple. When he finally made the decision to go, it was too late for finding an affordable limo in short time (less than two weeks). In comes step-dad with the decision to rent a "luxury" car from Enterprise Rent-a-Car and offer my chauffer services for the evening (you must be 21 with a large fee to drive a rental car in NJ; 25 without the fee). I was hoping to end up with a Cadillac DTS or CTS, but being a holiday weekend (Mother's Day), selection was tight and the best that could be given was a brand new 2013 Ford Taurus Limited sedan.

As I arrived at the Enterprise location late that Friday afternoon, there stood the Tuxedo Black Metallic Taurus sedan. It had a whopping 51 miles on the odometer - it was brought in from a Pennsylvania location that afternoon (they removed the window sticker as I arrived). Opening the door gave me the aromatic smell of a band new car in its fullest (ah, the smell of factory-fresh leather!). Seeing as how this car was going to be doing livery service for the night, a quick stop at the local car wash to give it a proper appearance was necessary (the quick back-of-the-store wash left many a water spot on this metallic black car). A quick spray of tire shine in my driveway completed the look. The wife and step-son were impressed with the car for the night's limo-like duty.

A mix of local streets, major interstate (I-295), and local highways is where this car delivered it's demonstration.

Overall Impressions:

Smooth, quiet, solid and well balanced ride and handling. The performance of the 3.5L V6 was unexpected for a car of this size - definitely a plus.

Outward visiblity was good, though the rear window is not as big as one would expect in a car of this size. Side windows suffer from the gangster car, a'la Chrysler 300. The backup camera was a big plus when reversing!

Comfortable, adjustable seats. Floor console is huge and impedes on driver's comfort (plus it was tall, so if you suffer from restless leg syndrome you may find the lack of space disconcerting).

The steering wheel was of a good design, with my thumbs finding a comfortable spot to rest inset of the 10 and 2 positions. Very good steering feel and responsive to driver's input.

Turn signal was of curious operation - push down or up and release and it blinked for 4 times before automatically turning off. Want to make a full turn though required you to push down harder and in most cases I activated the flash-to-pass feature. Not the typical GM feel.

Nice gauge lighting, gauges easy to read. Love the combination digital readouts and analog spedometer (right side provided entertainment information, outside temperature & compass readings; left side was set for fuel, temp and tachometer options).

Controls wells laid out, easy to use. Did not take long how to operate touch-based controls on IP and use the touch screen of the radio & climate controls. The ambient lighting feature was one of my favorites, and I changed the color several times that night. Brightness could be set, but I choose full-on as it lit the floorwells (front & rear) very well and made for an interesting mood lighting feature.

I love the angular styling of the exterior. Very truck-like in appearance (tall body side, blocky hood and trunk).

Summation:

Great solid road feel, soaked up a lot of the bumps I feel in the G6 Sedan and somewhat in the Envoy. Very powerful V6 engine that liked the gas, but of course I was not driving this as it was mine (the point of a rental is to push it to its limits to see how it acts, right?). Interior was very roomy in the back seat, my step-son and his date had ample space to get comfortable in prom attire. Front seats comfortable throughout the seat time, though floor console will not be liked by everyone. Has made me a fan of this car from Ford - not an esay accomplishment for a guy that prefers to drive trucks! The question now is will I be enticed enough to want to buy one

Positives:

- Powerful V6 engine

- Roomy rear seat area

- Large trunk that appears to be able to hold large amounts of luggage (or "stuff")

- Easy to drive and easy to manuever in parking lots

- Love the backup camera and great visibility, even at night

Negatives:

- Large front console that robs personal space from front occupants

- Turn signal operation still hard to cope with 18 hours later

- Loves to consume gas (but also a result of my leadfoot driving)

- Rear headroom will be an issue for tall people, or anyone over 5'8"

Total Rental Time: 18 hours

Total Miles Driven: 88

[GMTruckGuy74]

More Photos:

[daves87rs]

Nice!!

Sounded like fun though,,,

Edited May 15, 2012 by daves87rs

[GMTruckGuy74]

Happy Prom Couple in front of the Taurus:

Happy young man, who now wants a new '13 Ford Taurus):

Ford Taurus picture taken with my camera (others in the post above were taken with my older Droid phone):

While cruising home from Mother's Day brunch on Sunday, stopped to look at this SEL-trimmed model:

[G. David Felt]

Awesome review of the 2012 Taurus. Thanks for the pictures, nice looking young man and woman you have there. Always cool to help out family, your son will remember the night.

[caddycruiser]

Nice choice and good move on the last minute rental. I think back in the day...hmm...I borrowed my mom's '02 Avalanche Z66 for both proms, both years. Great truck for that.

The 2013 Taurus looks really nice and the nose and wheel changes are very noticeable. I've been seeing an abnormal amount of them in & around Philly already, in addition to 2013 MKS's which is odd, as they sell 3 a year. I tried a 2010 SHO back when I worked for the dealer in Maryland and we had 3 leftover SHO's no one ever touched. Nice car, but sloppy front seats and a console that makes you feel squished in such a big car. I think the seats have improved and the console/plastics too.

Nice ride for the night.

[Lamar]

Nice review.

You said nary a word about MyFordTouch (didn't even reference it by name), which is a good sign that you had a non-fussy system. People I see on BON still kvetch about it... probably for the sake of kvetching.

Also, by the time your son gets into the buying public, Taurus will have moved to a stretched Fusion platform. I'd urge him to wait... unless he really likes this bodystyle.

Nice-looking prom couple too... though I would think that your son's date could have found a more elegant hairstyle than a weave ponytail.

[bobo]

Yes, nice looking couple. I'm not really a fan of the Taurus, though. I haven't driven the refreshed version, but I found last year's model to be a big, wallowy cushmobile. For being such a big car outside, the inside feels tight.

[ZL-1]

I like the Taurus. And the red color looks just great!

[GMTruckGuy74]

Nice choice and good move on the last minute rental. I think back in the day...hmm...I borrowed my mom's '02 Avalanche Z66 for both proms, both years. Great truck for that.

The 2013 Taurus looks really nice and the nose and wheel changes are very noticeable. I've been seeing an abnormal amount of them in & around Philly already, in addition to 2013 MKS's which is odd, as they sell 3 a year. I tried a 2010 SHO back when I worked for the dealer in Maryland and we had 3 leftover SHO's no one ever touched. Nice car, but sloppy front seats and a console that makes you feel squished in such a big car. I think the seats have improved and the console/plastics too.

Nice ride for the night.

For my high school prom (1993), I borrowed my brother-in-law's '92 Toyota Camry XLE V6 sedan, as that was the newest & nicest car in the family at the time. I would have much preferred any rental over that (wasn't an option that I thought of), but not wanting to pay for a limo and my '78 Camaro LT not being the best for two couples, it fit the need for the night.

Front seats felt fine for the time I put in, but will admit the large & tall console restricted front seat movement and may irritate some people. I'm wondering what a two-hour drive would be like with that console?

Nice review.

You said nary a word about MyFordTouch (didn't even reference it by name), which is a good sign that you had a non-fussy system. People I see on BON still kvetch about it... probably for the sake of kvetching.

Also, by the time your son gets into the buying public, Taurus will have moved to a stretched Fusion platform. I'd urge him to wait... unless he really likes this bodystyle.

Nice-looking prom couple too... though I would think that your son's date could have found a more elegant hairstyle than a weave ponytail.

Is that what that's called? I did like the MyFordTouch setup, and if I had the rental longer I would have sync'ed my cell phone to try that out. Seeing as how it was going back at 9:30 AM, I didn't bother. The controls were easy to understand and use, and I had no problem finding out anything I wanted to know (especially with the settings feature).

He's 18 y-o, he's not in the market for anything new (though he "wants" sure enough). He has been on a Jeep Wrangler kick for a few months now, and has always wanted a Cobalt (especially a SS or Sport version). His '98 Regal LS serves his needs just fine for the time being

It really was a last minute deal for them both. Both wanted to go, but not alone. Somehow they both found this out 2 weeks prior to the prom. I don't know if that's why she did what she did, but my wife said prom planning for girls is a long and extensive process (thank God my daughter is only going to be two soon!).

Yes, nice looking couple. I'm not really a fan of the Taurus, though. I haven't driven the refreshed version, but I found last year's model to be a big, wallowy cushmobile. For being such a big car outside, the inside feels tight.

Did you have a Limited model? If not, I'm curious if the suspension setup is different. This was the new 2013 model, so I don't know if suspension upgrades were part of the new deal. The car felt very stable on the road, gave a comfortable, not-too-firm, not-too-soft ride, and drove like a smaller car IMO. One of the reasons I was so impressed with the '13 Taurus was for how it performed/handled on the road.

I like the Taurus. And the red color looks just great!

So far that's my favorite color for it (heck, dark red metallic on any vehicle tends to be my favorite the past year or two, though I'd personally like my next vehicle to be in dark blue). I saw a Sterling Gray Metallic 2013 Taurus SEL at a car show Saturday afternoon, not a fan of that color. I'm curious to see one in Deep Impact Blue, though I feel it will be a brighter blue vs. a navy/dark blue.

One thing I could not find, and my neighbor/friend who is a loyal Ford owner couldn't either, was the heated seat controls for the front seats. Not sure if the car had the feature, but why wouldn't a Limited? The two '13 SEL's I saw later that weekend had the leather interiors with the heated seat option on their window sticker, but nothing looked different from the Limited I had. Very curious to learn where those controls are.

Edited May 16, 2012 by GMTruckGuy74

[Lamar]

Is that what that's called? I did like the MyFordTouch setup, and if I had the rental longer I would have sync'ed my cell phone to try that out. Seeing as how it was going back at 9:30 AM, I didn't bother. The controls were easy to understand and use, and I had no problem finding out anything I wanted to know (especially with the settings feature).

He's 18 y-o, he's not in the market for anything new (though he "wants" sure enough). He has been on a Jeep Wrangler kick for a few months now, and has always wanted a Cobalt (especially a SS or Sport version). His '98 Regal LS serves his needs just fine for the time being

It really was a last minute deal for them both. Both wanted to go, but not alone. Somehow they both found this out 2 weeks prior to the prom. I don't know if that's why she did what she did, but my wife said prom planning for girls is a long and extensive process (thank God my daughter is only going to be two soon!).

Good to hear about MFT. I only tried out once, and that was version 1 with the new Explorer. It didn't work and they had to reset the system.

I understand about your son not being in the market yet "wanting" something new. I'm 29 and in the same boat.

And yeah, from what my wife tells me, those prom preparations do require weeks of advance planning. So I won't rag on her hair anymore, lol. (BTW, my daughter is almost 1, so I have a little more time than you...)

[caddycruiser]

One thing I could not find, and my neighbor/friend who is a loyal Ford owner couldn't either, was the heated seat controls for the front seats. Not sure if the car had the feature, but why wouldn't a Limited? The two '13 SEL's I saw later that weekend had the leather interiors with the heated seat option on their window sticker, but nothing looked different from the Limited I had. Very curious to learn where those controls are.

Heated seat controls are hidden within the MyFordTouch touch screen, under a menu somewhere. No more physical button.

[regfootball]

who ever said rentals were bad..... you rented a Taurus and now you probably would consider buying one maybe in the future. if the car is good, being a rental is not bad. i even bought 2 diamantes after having one for a rental on vacation many years ago.

[ponchoman49]

The massive center console would be a deal killer for me with this car. That and the overly tall belt line and small trunk opening relative to interior size. I just don't understand why they can't make a car's interior space efficient relative to exterior size like the Koreans are doing with the new Azera/Sonata/Optima/Elantra etc. The rest of the Taurus is really nice IMO, especially the revised 3.5, the 6 speed transmission, interior materials, features, ride/handling etc.