CarComplaints.com Notes: Most people need a car where the coil springs don't puncture or shred tires while driving. The Taurus fails in that respect.
The 1999-2003 Ford Taurus has a huge problem with coil springs breaking, which can puncture or even shred tires while driving.
The US government spent THREE YEARS (2008-2011) investigating the 2002-2003 Taurus coil springs. Although Taurus/Sable from earlier years were recalled, ultimately the NHTSA did not force a recall. They determined that because there had been no deaths & very few bad crashes & injuries, the broken coil springs defect was no big deal & not a safety defect. Tell that to all the owners who had close calls...
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 3
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
72,670 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
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.
I've noticed on a few occasions that my passenger floor board would be wet; my fan blower motor stopped working; I went to a local garage to have it fixed and when I left I realized that the fan only worked on high. I called the garage and was advised that I will now need a resistor replacement.
I have a 2002 Ford Taurus and as I was driving today I suddenly smelled something burning (electric wires etc.) then the blower moter startted rattaling and running at very low speed. Then I turned off the ac blower motor. I have heard from others that water leak in the dash board have caused other motor blowers to go bad. I suspect the same issue. I haven't checked it further yet. I am not sure if this could casue fire. But I am keeping my blower motor turn off. Burning smell was very strong.
- the contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that on 01/022/07 while the vehicle was sitting warming up with a block heater, the contact heard popping noises, went to check on the vehicle and it was on fire and burned the car port, his mobile home and all the contents.
I bought a 2002 Ford Taurus sport edition used in July of 2005. Several times the dome lights and puddle lights would not turn off because the car thought that a door was open. There were no doors open. The car is designed to turn the lights off after 20 minutes, but this is a problem. If it happens often enough it could run down my battery. This is the 3rd time it has happened and this time I started the car and drove around for a minute and the dome lights finally went off while I was driving. However the door ajar warning was still on. So I got home and turned the car off and got out and then the dome and puddle lights do not come on now at all. The only way to get them to come on is to unlock the doors using the keyless remote. I am almost positive that the passenger side door is causing the problem, and oddly enough now the passenger side window wont work either and this has also happened before. This is a defect and should be fixed or at least diagnosed by Ford at no charge. I'm only 16 and don't have the money to fix this. Electrical problems can be very pricey and after I pay my car payment and insurance (mind you im 16 so my insurance is high) I hardly have enough money for gas let alone an electrical problem.
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. Contact's wife was pulling out of driveway on October 1, 2005. As soon as she started the vehicle it caught on fire.no signs of anything going to catch vehicle on fire. Turned on the defrost and then the vehicle started to smoke, and caught on fire. No injuries. Police and fire departments filed reports.
The inside dash lights and power windows come on intermittently. When the vehicle would not start, the consumer took it in and had the battery and starter tested. The mechanic told the consumer they were fine. The consumer took the vehicle to the dealer, they reprogrammed the key, replaced the battery and the starter and they all said that they could not find the problem at all, which lead the consumer to believe that it was an electrical issue.
All warning lights on dashboard would turn on spontaneously, car would stall for a fraction of a second. Sometimes that vehicle would just die, sometimes it would just slow down for a fraction of a second, then pick up speed again like nothinng happened. This is regardless of how fast you're going. You could be going 20mph on a school zone, or 60mph on a highway. We've brought the car in on (4) different times throughout the last 12 months. On the 3rd time we brought it in (sometime in February/March), carmax changed the force air valve which we thought fixed the problem. This problem didn't happen again until after a month later. The condition has gotten worse. It used to happen like this when the car is at a slow down phase in traffic. But now, it even happens while you're running 60mph on a highway. Both carmax and friendly Ford dealership say they can't find what's wrong with the vehicle. The car is our main vehicle as it is the only car that can accommodate our family of 5 (3 children). With this condition, I'm too afraid to have my children ride in the car.
My car has been in the shop about 3 times for a similar problem. Two times for the same exact thing. I go out to start the car and it doesn't start, the dealership service has put in a starter and a starter relay and it still don't want to start. They say they can't do anything about it unless it happens when they have the car.
August 6, 2004 while driving at 65 mph the vehicle (30,750 miles) experienced a complete loss of electrical power. This included the four-way flashers. Towed to dealer who diagnosed the cause as a weak battery which was replaced.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Schenectady, NY, USA