Listing snapshot
| Spotted | January 2023 |
| Asking price | $6,497 |
| Mileage | 45,000 (stated as original) |
| Listed on | Cars.com, dealer |
| Drivetrain | 3.0-liter Vulcan V6, four-speed automatic |
| Status | Ad expired. This page is our archive of the listing. |
We spotted this 2005 Ford Taurus SE on Cars.com in January 2023. A dealer was asking $6,497 for it, with 45,000 original miles. The ad has expired, but we keep the record here. Low-mile examples of ordinary family sedans are easy to overlook, and a real asking price helps anyone trying to price one.
What this car was
A fourth-generation Taurus SE sedan in dark gray, which is a less common color on these than the usual silver or beige. In the showroom photos the paint has no obvious scratches or dings, and the lights and trim all look intact.
Inside it had gray cloth seats, and the carpet and headliner look close to new. Unusually for a Vulcan-powered Taurus, it had a floor shifter in a center console rather than the more common column shift and front bench.
Under the hood was the 3.0-liter Vulcan V6 with a four-speed automatic, the base engine for this generation. The engine bay photo shows some light surface rust on the shock towers and exhaust manifolds, but nothing that looks serious.
Was $6,497 a fair ask?
It was a dealer price, so it sat at the higher end for a plain 2005 Taurus. The low miles were the whole case for it. The Vulcan V6 has a reputation for being simple and durable, and a 45,000-mile car has most of its life ahead of it. What held the value down was the car itself: a base-engine family sedan with limited enthusiast interest, where most buyers shop on price.
A little Taurus history
The fourth-generation Taurus ran from the 2000 to 2007 model years. Ford dropped the rounded oval styling of the 1996 car for a more conventional, upright shape and a roomier cabin. The SHO did not continue into this generation. Buyers chose between the pushrod Vulcan V6 and the twin-cam Duratec V6, and by the end of the run most of these cars were going to rental and fleet buyers.
More cars from the archive
- Every Ford Taurus we’ve spotted, with asking prices
- 2003 Ford Taurus SE, another Ford Taurus
- 1993 Ford Taurus SHO, another Ford Taurus
- 1990 Ford Taurus SHO, another Ford Taurus
- 1989 Ford Taurus GL, another Ford Taurus
