CarComplaints.com Notes: Most people need a car that shifts gears & coil springs that don't shred tires. The Taurus fails in that respect.
The 2003 Ford Taurus has major issues with the transmission failing. Typically the 2003 Taurus transmission failure costs $2,000 to fix by about 90k-100k miles. Not good.
Adding insult to injury, the 1999-2003 Taurus also 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 / 5
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
71,779 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.
Brake light switch failed, at first the car wouldn't go out of park, after several tries it finally did. At that point it was noticed that the brake lights wouldn't turn off. I found an old recall that appeared to match the vehicle (04S12) but the Ford dealer stated my car was not part of that recall and they would not state whether the car had already had it done or not.
Affected part: Starter...car would not start. I got it jumped and drove to autozone to test. Starter was dead. Replaced starter. Affected part: Not sure what part but I am having problems with the headlights/dashlights and air, all weakening as I am driving. Vehicles think I am flashing my headlights at them.
Failure of blower motor. My research shows that water leaking into the blower motor compartment and shorting-out the blower motor/resistor is chronic in the 2003 Ford Taurus, evidenced by the presence of water on the floor passenger side-front, and necessitates replacement of the blower motor and/or ballast resistor from water damage, at owner expense! a recall is in order to compel Ford to address this design issue, at their expense.
My son was driving along when the radio stopped working and than the car would not accelerate. He pulled over and it stalled and he saw fire under the hood. The police officer suspects an electrical problem. The car burnt from front to rear..a total loss.
- Readfield, ME, USA
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The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that both the blower motor and the interior lights experienced failures. As a result, hot air would not blow from the vents and the windshield could not be defrosted. The interior lights illuminated constantly and drained the battery prematurely. The dealer reprogrammed the electrical system computer and corrected the interior light failure. The blower motor failure was not corrected. The failure mileage was 82,555 and the current mileage 85,754. Updated 03/05/12 updated 03/06/12
A water leak, possibly from a faulty seal, onto the passenger interior floor board also caused my ac/heater blower motor to short out. My heater switch will only work in the maximum position. From what I have read it is due to a heater motor resistor, which has caused similar problems for other Taurus owners. I could not get Ford to act even though a related recall existed under 03V087000.
Power windows will not roll up or down, mirrors do not work, inside lights are out. Ford replaced GEM module a couple of years before for the same problem costing me money at that time. When the windows would not roll up or down, Ford would replace fuse and in a few minutes the fuse would blow, again and again they did this and now they are not interested in fixing the problems since the vehicle is older and not under warranty and they claim fixing it would cost more than the vehicle is worth. I have a very good vehicle and would like to use the windows and mirrors and especially the lights inside and I feel this is definitely a safety hazard to me since I travel alone a lot each year. I have contacted Ford and they repeatly state that they do not have any recalls and are not aware of such problems. I even sent them websites from people who are having these problems with the windows. All you have to do is goggle: Taurus window problems and there are numerous owners with this problem. Hope you can help with this matter as Ford is not listening to us.....
When my car is parked in the rain, water will leak into the passenger side floorboard of the passenger compartment. On approximately February 1, 2011, it shorted out the blower motor that cools/heats the passenger compartment after sitting in the rain at the airport parking lot. Since then, I have experienced several instances of water in the passenger floorboard. I had experienced the same water leak in 2006, but the short of the blower did not occur until this year.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The contact stated while driving 20 mph, the exterior lights and the instrument panel lights failed simutaneously. The light would remain off for approximatley five to ten seconds before re-illuminating. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer were contacted to report the failure. The failure mileage was 55,000.
1st occurrence: Driving on freeway, all electrical power lost except antitheft light on dash on. Turn signals not functioning, was lucky to get to shoulder, no hazards worked while on shoulder. Stranded for approx 1 hr when all power came back and car functioned normally. 2nd occurrence; car was parked at work, antitheft light on and all electrical dead leaving driver stranded. Will be towing to Ford dealership if it doesn't start tomorrow.
Repeated stalling of my 2003 Ford Taurus upon deceleration. RPM's drop to around 500 and then the engine either surges to approximately 1200 rpms (3 times in a row) and then idles normally or stalls. Oddly if I shut off the blower fan, and shut off the radio I can prevent the stall but I still get the RPM bounce. There are no codes recorded in the onboard computer when this occurs. This happens very frequently and is very dangerous as I loose all power while operating the vehicle in traffic.
I had to have my transmission rebuilt last Dec and now am experiencing electrical problems, my signal lights/hazard lights do not work and was told the wires and harness need to be replaced. Hinges that hold rear window in have snapped off, window held in place by lock.
Heat/ac fan blows only on high. Replaced cowl panel and installed rain hat and blower resistor 11/08; blower motor resistor found defective 7/10 and replaced. Heat/ac fan blows only on high today 12/10.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. While attempting to use the air conditioner or heating system the contact noticed that no air blow out of the vehicles vents. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where the resistor was replaced, however the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the local mechanic where the resistor was replaced for the second. There were no prior warnings. The failure mileage was 51000 and the current mileage was 59000. Updated 12/10/10. The consumer stated he replaced three resistor units and a protective bonnet for the outside air vent and a new blower unit. Updated 12/17/10
Car was going approximately 45 miles per hour when the "check engine" light came on. Car was taken to the car repair shop and it was discovered that the entire computer had to be replaced. A remanufactured computer was installed into the car and the cost was still over $600. Mileage of the car was approximately 155,000.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that when it rained, water made its way into the vehicle from the instrument panel and flooded the front passenger side. Furthermore, the defroster did not work. The steering wheel vibrated and, interior light was always illuminated and the door locks did not engage automatically. The contact called the dealership and was advised to take the vehicle in for repair at his expense. The current and failure mileages were 140,586.
Blower fan failure to operate and when it did work, it made a loud squeaking noise. Finally complete failure. System evaluatlion, fuses, circuit breakers, harnesses all good. Removed fan motor housing and fan motor. Both showed evidence of water collecting in the housing and motor itself. To correct the problem I purchased a fan motor, installed and reassembled everything. My question, is this going to happen again?
On February 5, 2010 my 2003 Ford Taurus caught fire at 1:00 P.M. parked under our car porch and there was no one in the car and no one had driven the car for 5 hours on Saturday morning. The shreveport fire department was call to keep the house from burning down with the car. The city fire marshall said the fire was caused by the cruise control switch. I told him no one uses the cruise control in that car because we just go in town and there is a red light at every corner. He stated that he had been to many other fires just like this one and it was always the cruise control switch. My husband is emotionally disabled and I nearly had a nervous breakdown just the sight that our investment was burning up and there was nothing we could do. I have call the fire marshall for a written copy of his report. I have taken pictures of the vehicle and their is some minor damages and lots of smoke damage to done to the house.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Winnetka, CA, USA