This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. The contacted stated that the vehicle was being serviced for routine maintenance when the mechanic informed him that the front suspension had failed and there was a leak in the power steering pump. The vehicle was repaired for the front rotors, brakes, and the power steering pump. The failure mileage was unknown. The VIN was unavailable.
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. The contact started the ignition and heard a loud noise coming from the steering wheel. There were no warning lights illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and they stated that the failure was related to the steering wheel rubbing against the steering column. The vehicle was repaired for the malfunction. Recently, the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for identical failures on a separate occasion. The noise level was more intense. The technician stated that the failure was related to the driver side tie rod end. The vehicle has not been repaired. The failure mileage was 43,700 and current mileage was 62,441. Updated 09/24/08 updated 09/26/08.
Bought used 2001 Taurus in Aug. Of 2002. On the test drive I noticed the car pulled to the left and there was vibration in the steering wheel. The dealer at no cost to me did a wheel alignment and wheel balance. I drove again and it was fine. Approximately 4500 miles later the steering wheel vibration returned and the car was again pulling slightly to the left. I took it in to the dealer again and was told that the likely cause of the vibration was that a wheel weight was lost, but had no explaination for the pulling. They rebalanced the wheels and rotated the tires. Again everything was fine until Nov. 2003 as I was driving I once again felt the vibration in the steering wheel and it was much more severe on cornering. I took it to an independent repair shop(nearest Ford dealer was 25 miles away). They found the left front tire to have a flat spot on the outer tread area(slipped belt) and both outer tie rod ends to be loose, the left one being extermely worn. They indicated to me that they have seen numerous problems with the Continental oe tires not holding balance, having bad wear problems, etc. They installed two aftermarket, greasable tie rod ends and did a wheel alignment and rotation. At this point I have submitted the repair bill to a Ford dealer for possible reimbursment, however I am not holding my breath. My opinion is that Continental tires are junk and Ford knows it. The Ford dealer indicated to me that they have had no othe problems like mine, a much different opinion than the independent garage. Also tie rod ends usually don't fail at 39K miles for no reason. I have a friend that has a 2002 Taurus with Continental tires and has had to have them balanced several times due to steering wheel vibration.
On several occasions, vehicle seems out of control when cornering, front end steering feels unstable when steering or cornering, front end steering is also noisy when cornering.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Fulton, NY, USA