wether new or used does not matter. What Ford did already told you the whole story. Basically, Ford fooled americans so that nobody wanted to buy Taurus again. That was why they shut it down a few years ago. Never trust a car with only a few year history while talking about its quality improvement as shown by some stupid consumer reports. Of course, new cars have less problems, especially serious ones, thus reparable. The long time stability is the most important criterion. Just as american friends said, the automakers are able to make good quality cars. However, they don't want to do that since they can sell more cars if the cars don't last long. However, that is only one side of the story. My point is that knowing how to build a quality car is not enough. You need to know how to build a competitive one. You need to cherish your reputation as always, not only the time when you need it. I will never come back to Ford if their reputation is still so so.