Prospective Buyer Here - Hi!

[nameless1]

Hi there guys and gals—

I’ve been the proud owner of a Mazdaspeed6 for quite a while — with plenty of mods and putting down plenty of fun/sleeper power, however, I keep finding myself coming back articles, photos and videos of the Taurus SHO (4th gen). I just love this car and even test drove a 2016 model last year. I’m probably going to pull the trigger and buy a 2015 model sometime in the next 12 months - but wanted to know if you guys have a general need-to-know thread as I shop around. For example, I don’t see any sticky’s for the prospective buyer to educate them on this platform.

Also, of note, you guys are a lot nicer on these forums that what I’m used to as a mazdaspeed owner - holy F, I’ll need to recalibrate myself as I contribute and take vaulvable info from this forum. Thanks for being....adults.


Thanks in advance!

 

[SHOinVa]

LOL Well its a little early to welcome you to the Ford family, but hopefully you have truly seen the error of your ways and are coming back to an American car.
----Its hard to answer such a general question but I will give it a shot. I have seen a few things on the Mazda 6 but I would not be able to draw any kind of comparison, My guess would be there are a lot more parts available for the Mazda then are available for the SHO. The GEN4 is a much loved but almost completely unknown performance vehicle. That means there are very few aftermarket parts specifically for the SHO and almost NO suspension parts. You can lower it with springs, or go all the way to coil overs which come with there own set of issues, but that is about it. There are more options when it comes to the EcoBoost motor because you find them in a lot of platforms so you have more performance related options there. The fact that its unknown means you can find a nice car for a decent price BUT that is double sided because it continues to lose value once you buy it. Once again such a general question, I guess the one big thing that scares me is the way the water pump is designed on 2012, its around $2000 to replace so that does worry me BUT I just spent about that much on rims an speakers, so guess I'm not that worried. That would be another thing the stereo is not easy to upgrade, with the Sync involved in so many things you really need to decided what if anything you want to do. To me the stereo sounded great as long as the volume was not to high, once you cranked it up it just sounded very harsh. But I replaced most of the speakers an its not perfect but its pretty good.
----That was kind of a free form answer, with all that being said I LOVE MY CAR! I use her for road trips, its comfortable, good on gas, and I can run with just about anything on the road. I took her out in Oct for a week an I was in the mountains, running 80 or both and I still got almost 20 mpg. I was and still am a Mustang guy but I just love the old school feel of the SHO. She is like the cars you used to see on NASCAR, a lot of weight but lots of horsepower also. Anyway hope that helps feel free to send me or pretty much anyone out here a message if you have any questions.
Charlie

 

[nameless1]

Thanks so much - I realize I’m asking questions more in the form of generality, than specifics—sorry about that.

I guess with the platform I’ve grown to know so well (mazdaspeed) - I could rattle off a list of things to “watch out” for...for anyone looking to buy a mazdaspeed. So for a used 2015-ish SHO, is there anything I should be trying to identify closely when I start shopping (known leaks prone to eventual failure (like my PTU on my mazdaspeed), warning signs/sounds from the engine compartment. Also, would you recommend I stay away from any SHOs that were obviously modified/tuned?

Sorry again - I just know that the most helpful place to come when shopping for a particular car is to the forums where the enthusiasts live and breathe this lovely car. Cheers and happy new year!

 

[krewat]

Turbo oil leaks and PTU issues - those are the main things you want to keep an eye out for. The PTU might leak oil, it might not. But it can grenade itself pretty badly before you know anything is wrong. Or at least, so I've heard - Drive it on the highway, and listen for any bearing-type whine at cruise, decel, and light accel.

That being said, you might want to look at a 2016 just for the Sync 3. It really is a lot better than the Sync 2 I had in my 2013 in a lot of ways. Especially not crashing every month or two.

A note about the forum itself here: It's been a pleasure to be here, there's no arguing, no bickering, no flaming, nothing. It's what Ford Truck Enthusiasts (ford-trucks.com) tries to be. I would know, I'm a supermod over there. But for the most part, we keep it civil there. OK, maybe not the offroad section. But you get the idea. Coming from me, that's quite a compliment for the shoforum.com ... keep up the good work, guys!

 

[Johnbigdog]

Sync 3 is nice in that if you buy a car without navigation, you can have navigation with Android auto or Apple car play in the touch screen.

 

[SHOinVa]

LOL I will give it some though but I have not really had any issues to speak of, and pretty much everyone out here has a different point of view, such as I like my Sync2 and have had no issues with it.
-----PTU issues do seem to be a pretty common thing in that Ford, does not require much in the way of maintenance BUT Almost everyone who does change the oil finds it to be in pretty bad shape (metal, dark not really still a liquid), one member suggested it could be do to its proximity to the cats causing a lot of heat, but gears are funny even if they whine a little they all work till they don't. It may just be the way Ford wants it to operate but most of us change out the PTU fluid a lot more often then required.

would you recommend I stay away from any SHOs that were obviously modified/tuned?

-----There is a lot of debate on this subject an once again everyone has a very different opinion, an there are so many variables it really has to be a case by case decision. What is the over all condition of the car?, did they take care of of her or did they just tune it a run the **** out of it. Who did the tune? not all tuners are created equal in fact some have a reputation of destroying motors and some give a very safe sound tune. How far did it go? does he have a full blow tuned meth beast or did they tune her for a little fun and call it good. For me if its a well taken car of car, with a good service record and she has a tune an down pipes, I would look at it as a bonus, with no disrespect to anyone if she has a meth kit I would start to look a little closer, not saying I would walk but whenever you try an get every bit of performance out of something it is going to have implications.
-----I don't drive mine much and don't really do my own work so hopefully some of the people who turn wrenches and drive theirs more often can help you out, but if I come up with something I will let you know.
C/

 

[SilverSH0]

PTU and turbos are the two biggest check points in my book. It's good if they have done PTU maintenance (ie, changed fluid). I would also get under the car before buying and look for oil coming from both turbos. The rear one is more prone to failure but it's also a lot harder to see since it's fairly high in the engine bay.

The only other things I would recommend is checking all switches, buttons, etc. The car is very much electronics based and gremlins can pop up and get expensive quick. Also find out the difference between the Performance Package (PP) and non-Performance Package (non-PP) option. Most dealers don't even know there's a difference when selling the car used. So it's kind of up to you to determine if the car has it and if it's what you want.

 

[nameless1]

You guys are the best - thank you - I’ll keep you posted on my search and will continue researching this platform...I find myself digging through pages and pages of threads here - finding lots of good info to keep in mind. Thanks again!

 

[Jeff2017]

I bought a 2015 in Feb. 2016. So far I have had no issues to speak of. But it only has 6700 miles on it, so I wouldn't really expect any. Pretty much all the bugs in the 2015 were worked out so, other than the Sync 3 upgrade, I don't think there is a major difference from the 2016-2018 SHO's. I think 2016 was the last year for the massage seat option if that matters to you. Most important thing is to make sure you let the engine breath every now and then. I call it a Ferrari tune up but I think it helps with break in of the rings and such. Plus it's fun. Also, if you plan to tune, the non-PP cars are actually quicker after a tune. I guess the gearing is more optimal for the increased HP and Torque. But you do lose the extra cooling stuff for the PTU and tranny.