When you have an indelible image in your mind, it’s tough to wipe it out. That’s one reason Ford arguably did the Taurus a disservice when it completely overhauled the model in 2010. The stem-to-stern overhaul — it would be a disservice to call it a face-lift — turned the once boxy, unpolished sedan into a top-ranked contender that is often favorably compared to the Toyota Avalon that is, in turn, often favorably compared to the Mercedes Benz E-Class.
The problem is the Taurus name. Although the early Avalon received its share of scorn, if not outright derision, auto critics’ thumbs up for the top-of-the-line Toyota sedan — plus buyers’ hard-core loyalty to the automaker itself — helped the Avalon hit and maintain popular success and honors such as Intellichoice’s “2011 Best Overall Value of the Year.”
