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:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
81,157 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.
In the summer of 2009 my 2002 Ford Taurus was taken to the shop for brake issues. While there, the car's back springs were found to be broken. To repair this problem new parts were required and subsequently bought and replaced in my car. Recently, in the past month my car started to have problems with the suspension again. When I took it in to the shop they told me that the front springs were broken. Again new parts were required to fix it.
Broken coil springs front and rear on a 2002 Ford Taurus. Resulting in punctured tires in both cases. They broke within 7 months of each other. Living in mass.
1. the 2002 Taurus was purchased new and we have had no unusual incidents, accidents, or failures. 2. the 2002 Taurus with less then 60,000 miles was parked when the rear spring snapped. The edge of the spring cut the rear tire causing the tire to fail. All of this happened with the vehicle parked and unoccupied. Yes we retained both of the (failed) rear springs. 3. we had the vehicle toed to the Ford dealer. We had both rear springs replaced. When asked if there was a design change on the spring all we were told was to drive with caution.
Broken rear driver side spring pending repair you people have limited your investigation in EA08018 to only the front springs on the Taurus models. The back springs are garbage too. Thanks to you '!@#$% bureaucrats, thousands of drivers nationwide are being screwed out of hundreds and thousands of dollars of repair costs. Most mechanic don't want to just replace the springs, they want to replace the struts too. That estimated cost is $1200. So far we've been lucky that the one spring that did brake, did not do peripheral damage, so far.
Rear coil spring broke sometime during 2006 or 2007 which caused the rear end of car to sag and vehicle did not handle as well after words. During the summer of 2008 my car slide off the highway while driving 50mph during a rain storm. I always wondered if it could have been due to the broken coil spring. Luckily I wasn't hurt and there was no accident because I slide into a grassy field. This fall 2009 I replaced the rear struts and springs and now my vehicle handles much better.
All four coil springs have failed on this 2002 vehicle. If this were to happen at high speed a front end failure and or punctured tire could lead to a serious accident. The fronts failed last week, the rears about 8 months ago.
2002 Ford Taurus- rear spring coils are crack and rusted, check other 2002 Ford Taurus having same problem. Piece of the coil could fall out and pinch tire or pinch car behind you if hitting pot hole or big bump. I check to see if there been a recall on this, none seen yet. Check 7 seven Taurus with in that year.
I woke up in the morning to go to my car and found that the tire on the front driver side had a flat tire. My son went to help me put on the spare tire, but after he took the flat tire off he saw that it had been punctured oddly, and saw that the cause of the puncture was a broken coil spring which is part of the struts. The coil spring was broken so badly that it had a sharp point where it was broken, and a center portion- about 4 to 5 inches of the spring actually had been broken off completely. The whole front end of the car fell and almost broke his hand while he was examining this, luckily he was quick enough to move his hand away. He was able to put the spare tire on, but the coil spring was actually touching and rubbing on top of the spare tire. I drove the car, very cautiously and slowly to a repair shop. They found that all my struts were bad, and the coil spring on the back passengers' side was also broken and actually rusting away. The total estimate for everything, including 4 new coil springs and struts, new tire, new tie rods was $1,239 plus tax. I had to have it fixed, there wasn't any way I could take the chance of driving this car out of the repair shop. I was laid off of my job this past January, so this is a big set back financially for me. I am lucky this didn't happen when I was driving at a high speed, it could have caused a bad accident.
Brought vehicle to local mechanic for replacement of 2 rear tires. While replacing tires, mechanic discovered rear coil spring on passenger side was completely broken. Advised me not to drive vehicle, that it was extremely dangerous, and could cause an accident. Repair was performed at cost of $911.70. Involved springs, struts, and stabilizers.
My 2002 Ford Taurus ses was parked in my driveway when my right rear coil spring broke for no reason. Ford only offers a recall on Taurus's made in 2001 and before. Obviously they are aware of the problem but seem to ignore that the 2002 models have the same problems. The break also caused significant damage to my tire. I am a 22 year old musician, fixing Ford's mistakes isn't exactly in my budget.
My wife had our Ford Taurus at mark Ford Mercury in new milford ct. On Saturday May 16, 2009 for regular service at 50K miles. With a planned trip of several thousand miles ahead we wanted the car totally checked out and serviced as necessary. My wife still complained of the ride feeling funny, so we made an appointment with our local tire center to have the tires checked for problems. After a few minutes with the car on his lift to remove the tires he brought me into the shop to show me both rear springs were broken! the broken coils had slipped over the strut and were perilously close to the rear tires.
Car 2002 Ford Taurus sel 3.0L the rear drivers side spring broke and cut the rear tire. The incident happened when the car was being backed out of the garage. Car had to be taken to the dealership on a flatbed. Both rear springs and the cut tire are being replaced.
I own a 2002 Ford Taurus and when I took the car in for brake service my mechanic discovered that 3 of 4 coil springs were broken. The left rear spring spun and cut a gouge in a tire with less than 100 miles on it. There is no recall on this item so for replacement of the springs I was socked with a $400 bill. I researched the problem and discovered this has been a problem with these springs for several years. See below associated press tue, Oct. 04, 2005 Washington - the government is investigating whether the rear coil spring can fracture and punch a hole in the rear tires of some models of the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable, federal auto safety officials said Tuesday. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it opened a preliminary investigation into the 2000-2001 models of the Taurus and Sable sedans after receiving 131 complaints about broken coil springs. The inquiry involves about 467,000 vehicles. The Taurus was among the best-selling passenger cars in the United States during the two model years. Most of the complaints came from northern states where vehicles are often subject to salt corrosion during the winter. About half of the owners who filed complaints said there were punctures in the rear tires because of the broken coil springs. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Grand Rpaids, MI, USA