ALT-1 Great Cars to Drive and own
Watch out Volvo! The new 2008 Ford Taurus has been given a pristine review by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Not only did the Taurus receive the highest possible five star ranking, it did so in all four major categories of the NHTSA's test.The four main areas the NHTSA concentrates on are frontal impact, side impact, frontal offset and rear offset. If you're wondering what "offset" means, simply put-It is a mechanism (or more often a concept)in cars built after 2002 that attempts to "shift" the affect of impact away from the most commonly occupied areas of the vehicle.
There is no denying these results, but as with any car purchase there are many other things to consider. The base model starts around $24,000 and gets 18 mpg city and 28 mpg highway. Call me a frugal greenest, but is that really anything to write home about? In the literal sense, these numbers are justified because the V-6 engine delivers 263 horsepower and nearly 250 lb.ft of torque at 4,500 rpm. I am not saying that this a powerhouse of a car by any stretch of the imagination, but I drive a V-4 153 horsepower Honda Accord, that is not only more Eco-friendly, you'd also never know that it wasn't a 6 cylinder. Moving up to the fully loaded Taurus with AWD and you're looking at about 31K. Ford quotes gas mileage for this top of the line version as only slightly worse than the FWD base model. I'm not convinced of that.
As a potential buyer, you would also have to consider Ford's track record for reliability. It's not good, one of the worst actually. Though recent rumors of better built Fords have left me questioning my memory of my first car, a Mustang! The "stang" as my "stereotypically" Italian sisters called it, spent more time in the shop than on the road.
It will take a lot for any Taurus to start taking back a nice chunk of the market share it lost to the almighty Camry and Accord over the last few years. These incredible safety ratings are a wonderful start, though. And, why not end on a optimistic note? If you're someone in the market for a safety obsessed vehicle, but don't have the means or desire to shell out another 15K for a Volvo S40, you're in luck.
