Car Advice

I'd agree with looking at older Japanese cars.  I'm driving a '91 Camry and it's the best car I've had.  I was driving a '93 Taurus before I got it.  The Taurus started falling apart around 90K miles.  We've had Toyotas, Hondas, and Subarus in the past and can usually expect about 160K to 225K on them.  My wife was driving a Mazda Protege with 120K on it when it get totalled this summer;  we were hoping to get another 50K out of that.  Now she's driving a 2009 Suzuki SX4 Crossover because it suits our needs:  I can get in and out of the passenger seat easily (I'm 365), it has AWD available with the push of a button, and we get 26 mpg with a 4spd auto. Be aware that you are probaly going to have to put a couple thousand into any used car you buy.  They may be fine now, but they probably are due for a major repair in a year or so.

I think the later year Tauruses are great, dependable cars ..   (and yes, I bought a "salavage titled" one when I first moved to Texas) ..  Like most any car, though, a lot depends on how well, promptly and correctly you maintain it!  I would contact the previous owner of the Taurus, though, if you can find out who they are, and ask them what all was done to the car and why it was "salvaged" (does the car still have a license plate on it, or do you have the VIN #? - check with www.publicdata.com to find out the owner if so, although it's not available in all states) .. If the insurance company purchased the car as part of the total loss, you might be able to get information out of them as to the particulars, or, if you can find out which body shop did the repair work on it, from them (they may even have "before" pics of the damage)   ...  You don't want a (Katrina) flood car, but it could be the case that it was in an accident in which just enough damage was done to make it technically a total loss (although a total loss at less than 5 years of age means it must have been pretty badly damaged, even at Taurus book values!).  What does a Carfax check show about it, as far as reported wrecks and the history chain of inspections and registrations?    btw - I've heard some horror stories about how some major insurance cos. are taking the total loss cars they "buy" and send them to some cheapo mass production body shop to get them passable and then resale them ..  Many times shortcuts are taken on these cars as to their safety features, so beware!    It also could be important as to whether the title to the Taurus is a "rebuilt salvage title" or just a regular salvage title.  To receive a rebuilt title in Texas, the seller in their application has to identify who did the rebuilding and that person must state, under oath, what the prior damage was to the car and what parts, if any, were used as replacements in the repair process.   With either car (or any car for that matter), I'd take a mechanic along (and have a body shop or tech examine the Taurus) to check out the car before making your final decision to purchase it  ...