My husband has a 2002 Ford Taurus which seems to be in perfect working condition. HIs dad for some reason told him he should get the transmission fluid changed someday and of course ran out and made an appt to get it done this week (200 bucks!! Jeesh). Neither of us know anything about cars and maintenance… does this seem necessary to do? Our extended warranty runs out next month and want to get as much done as possible. Thanks for any input!

My car had 97K miles when the catalytic converter broke. I’m wondering whether it should have been covered by warranty, even though the dealer said it was not. THANKS!

In answer to the reply I got about having the ford taurus for 5 years, and feel lucky it ran that long . I have had the car since it was new 13 years ago. This is the only major problem out of warranty that I have encountered with it. I neglected to say that when it stalls out, there is a strong gas smell from under the hood.

What the heck? My mother-in-law (whose brother works in the parts department at a Ford dealership) said he told her the revamped 2008 Ford Taurus is better ranked than even Toyota/Honda. How did that happen?
Currently have a 2000 Chevrolet Malibu LS with nearly 151,000 miles — with original factory alternator. Routine maintenance is being done, and other than a couple of electronical hiccups very early on which were fixed under warranty (turn signal, false check engine light indicator), nothing has gone wrong with it yet. I commute 60 miles a day and use cruise control most of the time. But I am starting to do my research for another car.