I will keep this short. We bought a new 2014 SHO. We absolutely LOVE it. It had 7 miles on it December 20 2014 and now it has 24,000 miles.

We test drove and checked out Cadillacs, BMW 5 series, Loncoln, Hyundai Genesis, Volvo and came to the conclusion that for the money. The SHO was hard to beat. It's got a lot of interior space, trunk space very nice fit and finish, electronic amenities, good power, nice styling and AWD. (my wife demanded AWD)
I wish we would have found one with the PP package. But for the price, rebates, interest rate and the dealer gave us $4k more than what we owed on our trade in. We could not pass it up.
If you truly plan on auto crossing and such. Get an SHO with the PP package. Besides it having a slightly quicker gear, and brakes. It has all the coolers and you can truly disable the traction and stability controls. The non PP cars you can only partially disable the traction control. Not even a tune can disable truly disable the traction control and stability control on the non PP cars.
I do love how easy it is to use the Sony/Microsoft Navigation, XM, etc etc. we also have the optional 20" runs too. Took these pics soon after we bought it. Shortly after wards I had tinted windows installed. Looks much better now. Absolutely love the heated and cooled seats and heated steering wheel. I mostly love how much side to side interior space there is. I will not buy a car that when I close the door. My arm is touching that door when closed. I like lots of elbow/arm space and the Taurus has that.
Don't trade in the Merc.
Sent from The White House on taxpayers dimes.