Replaced in dealer showrooms this year by the bigger Ford Five-Hundred and next year by the smaller Ford Fusion, the Taurus is primarily sold at big discounts to fleet buyers looking for maximum bang-for-the-buck. This matters to you because thousands of these cars will ultimately land in the used car marketplace, where a good two-year-old Ford Taurus equipped like our test car goes for about the same price as a bare-bones Hyundai Accent.

New or used, the Ford Taurus represents value. It’s not a great car – it never was – but it is perfectly serviceable for the Point A to Point B commuter who simply needs a decent set of wheels and doesn’t care about what the neighbors think.

Just make sure to get that pile of rebate cash in your pocket, and if you’re buying a used Taurus, consider yourself forewarned that most spent their first several thousand miles in the hands of people who didn’t care one bit for break-in procedures or proper maintenance, which could ultimately render it boring and incompetent.