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donaldan · Joined: 01 Jul 2001 Posts: 1881 Location: Ft. Myers, FL

I guess the "proof is in the pudding" so to speak. Ford sells more trucks and vans than all the others. Ford cars have had mixed reliability history. Some are OK. Others are less reliable. Anyway, my impression is Ford trucks and vans are more reliable. In terms of automatic truck transmission, my trans man finds less problem with Fords. Chevy ranks second. Dodge had near epidemic trans failure in the last Ram models due to a design weakness. Both my buddy's and my neighbor's Ram trucks had trans failure around 30k miles. Both replacements were done at Chrysler's expense after some negotiation.

By the way, the old C3 (3-speed) automatic in the Ford was a workhorse, so was the 300 cubic inch straight six. Unfortunately both are no longer made.

rld777 · Guest

Guess I'll jump back on this mix here as the topic has skewed far off the original intent. Can you believe I have still not found one decent site for Taurus work? Guess the car really has been unloved.

I personally agree with donalddon about reliablity. Generally spekaing, Ford trucks and thier vans (not the aerostar) are reliable. Thier full-size vans capture nearly 80% of the market, but with the new Mercedies-diesel Sprinter, Dodge may stand a chance once again. The old Dodge vans look as though their rear axle is narrower than the front...and people wonder why they roll over??

I actually have a Dodge truck, a '96 with just under 275k on the original engine and transmission. But it's a Cummins diesel with the 5-speed manual. I owned for a brief time a Cummins 4wd automatic '95, but I could tell the transmission was beginning to act up, and so I found a willing buyer and sold it, he was a mechanic himself and could obtain the transmission easily.

As for Chevrolets, I find in the experances I have had are they are good or great for the first few years, then they start the rnadom electrical failures. I recently foudna '96 Tahoe for a family I know for $7000, it has 196k on it, and the only problems they have had are electrical. What to do? I guess use the American vechile as the second car?