One thing I should mention, that it was a dealer that wanted the 4500,
and they're famous for 'best price' IE - they won't negotiate, or so
they say. The salesmen did a whole spiel about it. I had it out for a
nice drive and it really ran nice, good glass, tires, interior was
pretty nice, highway miles, but still I thought 120K might be trouble.
Thanks again.

The engines are not bad if properly maintained but the automatic trannys
tend to bit the dust rather early even with fluid changes.

The 3.8 is a time bomb. Very poor reliability - head gasket and
timing cover leaks and extremely fragile bearings. An ounce of
antifreeze in the oil will wipe the bearings right out.

The 3.0, on the other hand, is an exceptional engine as Ford engines
go. Virtually bullet proof if reasonably maintained. One weakness is
the oil pump drive (on the cam sensor, where the distributor would
"normally" be.)

I have had oil analysis done at 150K and 160K on my '03 and it is
wearing fine.  I expect it to run for a long time.  I drive about 200
miles a day, six days a week so I am running Pennzoil Platinum 5w20 at
10k miles per change.  It works out to about the same money as the
5w20 Motorcraft I was running at 5k but I spend half as much time
doing oil changes.

The bigger worry with a Taurus is the transmission.  I can speak from
experience that the Ford A/T's are no where near as reliable as what
you might find mated to a 3800.  Before the Taurus I had a '00 Impala
that I ran to 210K on the factory-filled ATF - I didn't know any
better.  Once I got into the Taurus I had the ATF changed out every
20k and it still fell to pieces at 135K.  From what I have read that's
about average for the Taurus.

$4300 for a dinged up Taurus w/120K?  I'd laugh at the dealer's sign
in my rear-view mirror.  If I had $4000 to spend I'd go find another
gen1 Impala with a 3800 and as close to 100K miles as possible.  A
gen1 Impala will give you a peppy 30mpg on the highway while the
Taurus will give you a dumpy 25mpg if you're lucky.

Calvin

To cut past the debate, The Ford Taurus is a solid reliable car. The
basic car and 3.0 engine have carried on since 1986.  The refinements
were numerous, but the end result is that a late model 3.0 Taurus with
an automatic trans is almost bulletproof mechanically.
$4300 for a car with 120K and external flaws, well...  Maybe $3500 or
a bit more, but that's just me. There's a sharp drop in perceived
value after +100K miles, IMHE.  Still, it's an '03 and only 3 years
old. (I really understand  your dilemma)???

I've seen Taurii with the 3.0l\AX4N combo go for 300K+ miles. I don't
think I've ever actually seen a 3.0L "fail" mechanically (as in,
"throw a rod" or "blow up" ).
BTW, the 3.0 has proven a bit more reliable than the 3800 Series in
recent years. GM has had some intake gasket related engine failures
recently on that series. Prior to that, the 3.0 and 3800 were about
neck and neck. Both are proven, reliable engines.