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Remembering The 25 Worst Cars That Ford Ever Made

Cameron EittreimSeptember 3, 2021

4: 1996 Ford Taurus

The original “Oval”. Taurus was a game-changer for Ford and shifted the momentum for the popular Taurus into the negative. The 1996 Taurus was universally panned for its overtly oval styling but there were also reliability issues with this model. The head gaskets on these Taurus models were notorious for going out, as were the automatic transmissions (via Road and Track).

Consumers developed a negative perception of the Taurus brand beginning with this generation and the brand never fully recovered. Before this release of the Taurus, the car was the most popular family car in the United States, but by the 1990s favor had shifted toward SUV models.

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3: Lincoln Aviator

The Aviator was released at the height of the SUV boom in the early 2000s. Ford already had great luck with the Navigator so they thought it would be profitable to release a smaller offering. Sadly, the Aviator was nothing more than an overpriced Ford Explorer and consumers were hip to this revelation (via Car and Driver).

There were some unique aspects to the Aviator such as the shared a powerplant with the Ford Mustang Mach-1. That helped to increase the performance to new heights but as far as the rest of the car went it was a relatively standard offering. Most consumers weren’t willing to pay a premium price just for a Lincoln badge.

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2: Ford Taurus X

The Ford Five Hundred wagon was not a great seller for the brand, so Ford tried to reinvigorate the model by renaming it after the popular Taurus. But guess what? Even with a Taurus badge on it, the Taurus X wasn’t a popular offering by any means. Consumers just didn’t see the promise in driving a lifted wagon and thus the Taurus X died off.

The Taurus X had the usual reliability issues that came out of this generation of Ford cars. The transmissions are notorious for going out and the safety ratings were questionable. From a practical standpoint, there were much better options that you could choose from besides the Taurus X (via Motor Biscuit).

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1: 2000 Mercury Cougar

Affectionately known as the “cateye,” the 2000 Mercury Cougar was a departure from traditional Mercury vehicles. As the brand shifted its focus toward a female demographic the Cougar was one of the first cars. The performance wasn’t anything to be excited about as the car shared most of its components with the Ford Focus.

As the years went on reliability was a problem for the Cougar and the brand was eventually shelved altogether. The car was not a success for Ford by any stretch of the imagination. The Mercury brand as a whole was disbanded in the late 2000s (via Car and Driver).

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Remembering The 25 Worst Cars That Ford Ever Made

4: 1996 Ford Taurus

3: Lincoln Aviator

2: Ford Taurus X

1: 2000 Mercury Cougar

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