Thursday, August 27, 2009

Ford You--Product Review

So last Friday I was invited to attend a blog event.

I know, it's like I have credibility or something. Who knew???

The sponsor was Ford & the product was the Taurus SHO. No, I'm serious. Really. They were interested in what someone like myself (a regular Jane,) thought of their new car.

Stop laughing!

So, of course, I was game to go check it out. It involved a MNO (Mom's Night Out) in The City (San Francisco) after we were done. When does that happen? Like never. And yes, I'll admit my first priority was not driving the Ford Taurus. It was more toward getting out of the house. Gasp! Having been in PR, yes, I do realize I just committed a cardinal sin. Know what? I'm not a PR/MarCom person anymore. I'm a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom). While I know the "rules" of PR & events, I think part of the point was the the people reviewing the product didn't necessarily know those rules, and therefore, gave you an honest review. So, that being said, I went w/small expectations at best.

I was floored.

I guess when you start w/the bar low (as I did) it isn't too hard to impress, but I have a couple things I should declare before I continue. Bar probably wasn't actually as "low" as I'd like to think.

My dad worked for the Ford company, (in it's various shapes, sizes and names,) while I was growing up. He wasn't in the car business, and was, in fact, one of those Silicon Valley workers who never changes their desk/location, but works for 7 different companies in 4 years. Eventually, his division became part of Loral, but for most of my life it was Ford. As a result of that, I happen to have driven a lot of Ford cars. (Go Figure.) You know those used cars that are like new? Yeah, we were one of the families who put the miles on them to make them used. Deal worked like this; we paid a monthly lease fee and Ford paid all maintenance & insurance. Go ahead and mull that one over for a minute. Yes, they paid the car insurance of a family w/two teenagers. During that time I got to drive; a convertible Mustang, (it was fire engine red too), a Capri (punishment for something I did w/the mustang), a (turbo) Taurus, (which I bent the frame on, don't ask, just don't get your teenager a turbo boost engine), an Escort & a Mustang. There may have been a few more, but those are the ones I specifically remember driving. Additionally, my folks have always owned a Ford, including a Taurus, for a long period of time. So, yeah, I probably have more than your average experience driving Ford cars.

I have to say, this was one of the nicest cars I've ever driven. (And, they didn't pay me to say that.) It's extremely posh, and has all kinds of bells and whistles. The one we drove wasn't stock, but it wasn't totally pimped out either. We were driving in San Francisco, so the fact that I enjoyed my experience is saying something. The City can be a bit stressful to drive in, one-way streets, lots of traffic, oh and those famous hills. The car drove like a charm & honestly I felt like I was in a Mercedes or a Lexus. It was smooooooth. In addition to the fact that the car was super nice, drove really smoothly and very comfortable, it was super quiet too. My family currently owns a hybrid, (not a Ford, sorry) and I thought it was one to be honest. It's not, it's got "EcoBoost™ Twin-Turbocharged Power". Ok, whatever that is. Actually, the way it was described to me is that it drives like a v8, but w/a v6 engine. (Now that I understood.) What I also understood is that it handles really well.

If you want a well researched and more complete review you might want to check out Glenna, who actually got some facts about the car and wrote things down and such. I was excited to get out of the house, so next time I'll do more than reference Glenna, (maybe, she does such a nice job, why compete?)

Bottom line, it's not a car I would've considered prior to having the opportunity to drive it. If I were in the market for a car, I'd give it more than a once over.

And driving my mini-van kinda sucks now.

2 comments:

Jeff said...

When did Ford make a turbo Taurus? I'm pretty sure the SHO was NA.

mama speak said...

Well, the turbo I totaled was in '87. They only did it for a couple years. Turns out the issue I had (turbo kicks in on it's own,) not such a great idea in wet conditions. (Can you say hydroplane?)