I've seen many threads on this forum about how people avoid the Taurus, ask for something else, prefer a smaller car, etc. I just had a great experience with a Taurus.

I went to a non-airport location last weekend (getting there was a story in itself), finally get in front of the 1 agent, and she tells me she has a Taurus for me (I reserved a mid). They somehow screwed up and had Neverlost and not Sirius, so she says she won't charge me for it.

Anyway, this was a personal/vacation type rental. Drove from the Phoenix area up to the Grand Canyon, around Flagstaff, and down the back way through Sedona, Cottonwood, Jerome, and Prescott (an amazing drive). I did a similar drive last year in a Nissan Sentra (one of my non-upgrades with National), and the thing struggled so much climbing on I-17 that I turned the A/C off. The Taurus handled exceptionally well...could barely tell the difference in the engine when going uphill or downhill. Since we left in the morning, we didn't have a/c on for the trip up, but did have it on for part of the way back, after Prescott. When driving in the mountains here, a V6 is pretty much necessary.

The Taurus was newer, had about 6k miles on it, leather, electric seat controls (not heated tho), and sunroof. And it had great pickup, great control. The only bad thing was the back seat hadn't been cleaned and had something sticky on it. I'd get a Taurus like this again any day.

This was my first experience with Neverlost, and it was generally good. There is a freeway near my house that isn't yet in their system (the freeway has been open 1-1/2 years), but it was fun to play around with it. When I would deviate from what it told me, it recalculated and still got me there. It was a huge help in finding the Lowell Observatory in Flag!!!! Now I'll probably want Neverlost all the time....

Why I hate the Taurus:

-butt ugly
-no power (150hp V6)
-not great fuel economy for such an engine

Don't forget VERY uncomfortable.

The Taurus isn't horrible, but I still do everything I can to avoid them (including the "NO TAURUSES" notation in my Gold profile). Personally, I don't like the way it drives -- the handling is ponderous, the steering is numb and the Vulcan V6 is unrefined. However, the interior is user-friendly and it does drive relatively smoothly.

There are plenty of other unexciting cars at Hertz (like the Camry), but they manage to be less boatlike. So in the end, I prefer smaller cars, but even some of Hertz's choices in that segment are not much different. The Aveo, Sentra and Corolla (and the Amanti in the premium class) are just as bad, and I decline those as well. Then again, I would rather take a Crossfire or Mustang over an Avalon or Sonata.

With all of that said, here's the confusing part -- I like the Lincoln Town Car...

My biggest beef with the Taurus is the gas mileage. It's 20 mpg city and 27 mpg highway, which is pretty bad for today's standards for this type of vehicle.

^ The Town Car is one of my favorite Hertz cars, even though my coworkers call me gramps when I pull up in one...

This may be a moot question pretty soon since the current Taurus is being eliminated and the 500 is being renamed the Taurus. I sure will feel a lot better about seeing a Taurus in my stall when it becomes a 500.

Is it April 1 already?

Seriously, I don't hate it, there are worse cars in the Hertz fleet (Chrysler Sebring being at the top of that list if you ask me ...). Since I usually don't reserve F class, I don't mind the Taurus when I get it (I have one right now on a B class reservation) since at least I can see it as an upgrade from a B or C class.

Well, the leather and sunroof might have improved the experience a bit. Still, it drives like crap, handling-wise, and I can't get comfortable despite the power seat.

I don't mind the new ones with leather and such. But the old ones really suck.

I don't have a problem with the Taurus. I had to drive one from Grand Junction to San Diego, and back to Denver. For three people plus luggage, it was fine. I wouldn't buy one, but I wouldn't throw it back if it showed up in my rental stall. .

I admit, I hate the Taurus because of the look and image of the Taurus. I have never driven one in recent memory because I always opt not to.

I think I would take a Taurus over the PT cruiser. The pt cruiser was my worse rental in recent memory

I have NO TAURUS in my profile too....I had Hertz add it in, because it was one of the cars that I consistently hard problems filling up at gas stations.

For some reason, when the automatic shutoff on the pump would kick in, the needle would almost always show below full. Sometimes I'd catch it and top it off another 3-4$ but eventually I got fed up with getting into arguments with the return agents so I just avoid getting a Taurus.

I feel that the Taurus brand has become to symbolize a mainstream boring appliance for mainstream boring people or car rental fleets. Sure it might be somewhat comfortable, but mostly is designed to not offend anyone.

Hertz gave me a few brand new Taurus a few years ago (the old style, not the Ford Five Hundred rebadge) and I only managed 15 MPG. After they are broken in, they do much better, but still very little power from that 3 liter V6.

When the Taurus first came out, it was cutting edge. What happened?

Even the "new" Taurus / Ford Five Hundred, turned out to be a bloated, gutless, cheap feeling appliance. My refrigerator is more stylish, so maybe that would be a cheap economy appliance. I guess Ford knows their market.

Yes! I've had this problem with Taurses too! I thought it was just my ineptitude when it comes to filling up the tank of gas.