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.
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. The vehicle was taken for routine maintenance when the contact was advised that the rear coil springs were fractured and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.
Noticed grinding/rubbing noise while driving; noise varied with speed, turning and braking. Observed rubber residue in left rear wheel, on wheel well. Removed wheel, discovered coil spring rusted and dislodged from lower support and was shaving the tire. Loss of tread observed. Coil spring was subsequently cut to remove impacting area and will be replaced. No injuries. Ford has issued a recall on similar models in similar years for the front coil spring; internet reports indicate that the problem may not be limited to the parts already recalled by Ford. The recall may need to be expanded to cover the rear springs as well. Upon replacement, will keep broken part and request servicer to submit information to NHTSA as well.
I have a 2002 Ford Taurus with several cracks in the right rear coil spring. I noticed that this is not an isolated situation based on reports from other owners.
2002 Ford Taurus sel: Driving at 40 mph, passenger's side spring broke and immediately cut entire inside diameter of car tire. Car immediately pulled hard to the right and was not drivable. Car was damaged as well as lawn that car swerved onto. Had to have spring and tire replaced, replaced driver side as well. Cost was over $550. 6 months later at inspection rear spring was broken and had another $450 expense. Online search shows this is a common complaint and re-call should be extended to 2002 Ford Taurus.
I have a 2002 Ford Taurus and about two weeks ago I was getting into the car and sat down when I heard a loud metal pop or bang, I got out and looked around and under the car and did not see anything, but I had noticed if I ran over a slight bump in the road I would hear a clunk at the rear driverside wheel area so today I heard it again and when I got home I looked under the rear driverside wheel well and low and behold I have a broken coil spring so I am in the process of getting it replaced and I will request to have the part returned to me as proof of the problem so if and when Ford does a recall on this I can be reimbursed..
- Greensboro, NC, USA
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This winter I had my right front strut spring break as I was backing out of my driveway and the spring went right through my tire. The noise sounded like an explosion and scared me to death! my husband got the spring and strut repaired and purchased a new tire. I thought this was an isolated problem until I walked out today and sat in my car to go to work. I had not turned the car on, or even touched the steering wheel and again I heard the same loud noise and now the spring on the left side broke. I am also going to check the back tires because my car sits at a funny angle and I would guess the the spring on the left rear is about to break.
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 25 mph, the front driver side collapsed without warning and punctured the tire. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where they stated that both front and rear coil springs fractured due to severe corrosion. The vehicle was repaired and the front driver and passenger side tires were replaced. The contact advised of a recall on the 2001 model year vehicles which related to the same failure he experienced. The recall was associated with NHTSA campaign id number 04V332000 (suspension:front:springs:coil springs). The contacts year vehicle was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was approximately 78,000.
Both rear springs on my 02 Ford Taurus snapped and broke. Ford will not pay for any repair costs. I've heard that this is a common problem on tauruses/Sable, but Ford is not doing anything. Only front springs were recalled thru the 01 models. This is dangerous as the broken spring may pierce the tire and lead to tire failure as you're driving the car!! they both had to be replaced at a cost of over $500. I have a low income job and can't afford it but had to be done so I could drive my car to my job.
Driving at approximately 10 mph, slowed to turn left and heard a pop from the passenger rear side, followed by a grinding noise. Proceeded another block to the home driveway, checked vehicle and found that the passenger side rear spring had broken and was eating the inside sidewall of the tire. Checked online and found numerous complaints. Checked this site and found numerous complaints and a NHTSA investigation, for both front and rear springs breaking on the same model year Taurus. Contacted the Ford dealership and Ford corporate and was told there was no recall and said they would not assist in paying for the repair and accepted no responsibility for the problem. Had the vehicle repaired, and tire replaced at our expense. During the repair, also found the driver side rear spring was bad, but had not completely fractured. Also replaced the spring on the driver's side. This car has only 47700 miles, has been well cared for and has never pulled a trailer or carried any type of load. Had just left the interstate moments before the spring broke. Had the spring broken at 70 mph, destroying the tire, the resulting damage could have been catastrophic and injuries may have occurred.
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that the vehicle was being serviced by a local mechanic for routine maintenance when the mechanic advised that the passenger side of the vehicle was sitting much lower than normal. The mechanic further inspected the vehicle and discovered that the rear passenger side coils spring were fractured. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 80,469 and the current mileage was 82,000. Updated 03/22/11 updated 1/3/11
2002 Ford Taurus rear coil spring broke. This seems to be quite a problem with the Taurus and was recalled for upto 2001. I don't know why 02 was not involved in the recall but a new one needs to be addressed.
2002 Ford Taurus taken to repair shop for routine service: Oil change and multipoint inspection. Received a call from repair shop indicating that during the multipoint inspection they found that the left rear coil spring was fractured and separated. They indicated that this could have punctured the tire during normal driving. Rear and front coil springs are original as installed by the vehicle manufacturer. Repair shop was authorized to replace the left and right rear coil springs. Ford Motor Company was contacted. There was no promise made of restitution. Email indicated they work closely with NHTSA. Portion of repair bill dealing with the replacement of both rear coil springs was $640. Both coil springs have been saved and in our in my possession. A couple of photos have also been taken of the one that fractured.
Driving 20 mph down sidestreet with wife, 3 and 6 year old kids in car. Very loud bang, car dropped a couple inches and we pulled over. The left rear coil spring had broken and the spring was rubbing on the inside of the tire. I just had the 2 front broken coil springs replaced about 3 months ago, and the mechanic told to watch out for the rear ones, there is a known defect with them. As soon as it happened I immediately knew what it was from what the mechanic told me. I put the doughnut on, and drove home. Tire is probably unsafe now as the spring has been digging a groove in the sidewall. This is a real safety hazard, as I have been reading up on the large number of complaints online, and the recall of prior year models with the exact same problem. Ford needs to address this before someone is killed, and a lot of owners are forced to pay for an obvious engineering mistake. I have not had the car fixed yet because it just happened today, but I am expecting the repair cost to be similar to the front strut replacements plus the cost of a new rear tire - probably in the vicinity of $1400. This is unacceptable for a manufacturer to allow this to continue when there is an obvious problem, they should have learned from the damage this is doing to Toyota. I am going to write a complaint to them as well.
Both rear coil springs on my 2002 Ford Taurus broke at the same time. There was no special event that caused the failure. The broken spring on the drivers side ruined the tire. Ford was contacted and even though previous year models were recalled for this problem no recall exists for my car. Both strut assemblies and one tire were replaced before the car could be driven again. Old parts are still available.
I have a 2002 Ford Taurus. I discovered on June 7, 2010 that both rear coil suspension springs are broken on the rear of the car. I had a flat tire that I took to have repaired. The side wall was cut and the tire could not be repaired. I had the tire replaced and before I could leave the parking lot the broken spring had cut and ruined the new tire. This defect could result in serious injury. I could have had a tire blow out, I was lucky that I did not leave the parking lot of the tire repair center. The car is at the Ford dealership being evaluated for repair. At this time there are no recalls on my car. This is a common problem with these Ford cars and I understand that several complaints have already been filed. I am very concerned about the safety of this car. I understand that there have also been problems with the front coil suspension springs breaking and puncturing tires.
The passenger rear spring busted on my 2002 Ford Taurus while just sitting in the driveway. About 2 months ago the front driver's side spring busted while I was backing out of the garage (I already filed a complaint for that incident).
I was driving to work and I heard an extremely loud pop come from the right rear side of my car when I had made a left hand turn at a stop light. At first I didn't think anything of it because I saw no evident damage after arriving at work. About 2 weeks later I noticed some abnormal tire wear. I took my car to the shop to ask about the tread wear and when they went to rotate my tires they found that the rear right spring had fallen off the seat. Because of the spring falling off the seat I had to have the entire right rear strut replaced. Because of the history with the springs falling off the seats and the potential damage it could do I also had the left rear strut replaced as well. I had done some research to find that what happened to my car is a very common problem among 2002 Ford Taurus as well as older models. I want the safety commission to be aware that this has happened to my vehicle now as well.
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. The contact stated he heard an unusual noise in the vehicle and it was taken to a local repair shop. He was advised that the rear suspension had fractured and would need to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired and neither the dealer nor manufacturer were contacted to report the failure. The failure and current mileage were 107,000. Updated 11/16/10 updated 11/26/10
Front and rear coil springs broke in 2006. The front spring broke and went through the side wall of the left front tire. Had to be towed to the Ford dealership. Cost was around $450 with every thing. Then in 2007 or 2008 the rear coil springs broke and had to be changed along wit the struts. And that bill was also around $400 to $450. And it has never stopped it eats front tires up like it's candy. This car is like a money pit.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Albany, NY, USA