“It’s funny, everytime I rent a new car for long trips I love all the newness, but I still measure it up to my Taurus and find I’m quite happy w/ my old friend”.
I owned a 1988 Taurus and a 1989 Sable and liked both cars. We had the same feeling you had about rental cars. My wife and I both used cars from the fleet at the university where we were employed. My wife was on the road quite a bit for recruiting trips. She requested a Taurus from the other cars that were available–Chevrolet Malibu, Honda Civic Hybrid, Dodge Avenger, etc. because she found the Taurus had more comfortable seats and driving position.
When you do finally replace the Taurus, you might consider the Ford Fusion. I liked the Fusion I drove, although it wasn’t the current generation.