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:
6 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
9 / 1
Average Mileage:
88,616 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 was driving down state road 9 an as I started around a curve my RPM shot up an mph gauge went down envied revved up. I had no drive no neutral no reverse no nothing.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that the vehicle accelerated to 45 mph without the accelerator pedal being depressed. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer where the air idle regulator was replaced but the failure recurred on three separate occasions. The failure mileage was 171,000 and the current mileage was 193,000.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The contact stated while driving 15 mph she applied the brakes and the vehicle independently accelerated. The contact thought there was a brake problem and her son changed the master cylinder. Six months later the failure recurred three more times. The contact was informed by the local news about NHTSA action number PE12033. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was 80,000 and the current mileage was 90,000.
Entered highway on-ramp. As I merged onto highway at approximately 55 mph, I notice that the car was accelerating faster than usual for the amount of throttle I was using. I took my foot off the throttle completely and the car continued to slowly but steadily accelerate. Without placing my foot on the throttle, I continued down the highway to the next exit. As I approached the light at the end of the exit, I began braking. Feeling the engine fight the brakes, I moved the shift level into neutral and brought the car to a stop on the shoulder of the exit. As soon as I placed the shift lever into neutral, engine RPM shot up as if the accelerator was being depressed. Repeatedly pressing and un-pressing the accelerator pedal did not nothing, nor was the pedal stuck on the floor mat. I turned the car off and place the shift lever into park. Starting the car again resulted in the same behavior: Engine RPM shot up even though the accelerator pedal was not depressed. I turned the car off and opened the hood. I identified the throttle body and notice that a plastic clip had become dislodged from the point where the throttle cable enters the throttle body. After several minutes of reinserting and wiggling the clip, I was able to get it to stay in its proper place, and thereafter, the throttle behaved normally. I carefully drove to the nearest Ford dealership where they replaced the following part: Yfiz*9A825 actuator asy. I have this invoice available if you need it. I have not experience any other issues with the throttle.
In addition to previous complaint..confirmation # 10482482...... the repair shop I took it to said that it was the cruise control cable that was causing the problem with my engine speeding up like that. I was in the car with my son at the time. Safe to say that me and him were scared out of our wits. I haven't had any problems with my engine speeding up since the repair shop replaced the cable. Nevertheless, I just heard a couple days ago about an investigation into my model/year vehicle again about engines revving up on abc news. I don't know if there is a recall or not. However, on my way from church today, my engine light came on for the very first time this year. I stopped by an autozone to get a free engine check and the results said that it detected a higher than normal engine speed due to a possible engine vacuum leak or failed iac valve. I will take it to Ford dealership this Wednesday to get it checked out officially (if my car will make it) because I have to work Monday and Tuesday. I'm a little anxious, scared, and wondering if my engine will rev up like that again or stall out somewhere :(
- Orlando, FL, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
As I was driving, I noticed my car starting to accelerate. At first, I thought it was the cruise control, but when I went to slow down, the car just wanted to keep driving as if by itself; so, I had to make a sharp turn into the nearest parking lot in my attempt to get the car to stop. Finally, it came to a stop and almost ran into another car, but when I put it in park, the engine was still running at a fast speed; none like I heard before and then I turned it off.
The vehicle begins to throttle and then shut off at any time if your foot is not on the gas. The vehicle also stays or goes up in speed while you are driving. I had thought this was the fuel pump but learned it is not. Im afraid that whatever the problem may be I could be driving the speed will go up on its own and then force the car to shut off and die leading to an accident. Therefore I must say I do not drive this car often or far.
3 occurrences of throttle sticking open when attempting to accelerate when either passing or merging onto express-way. The first occurrence was when passing a vehicle on a road shortly after a full stop going about 35-45 mph the vehicle continued to accelerate even when pumping the breaks. The 2nd time was not until about 6-8 months later while accelerating rather quickly to merge safely into traffic on an expressway and the car continued to accelerate. Slowly at first and then after getting off at next exit I barely was able to apply the breaks to pull over. I was able to shut it down and after a few minutes attempted to start car and the accelerator raced so I immediately shut it down again. After waiting 10 min. Or so I was able to restart the car and it performed like nothing had happened. I was in an area of detroit that I was not going to stay there unless I had to so I again drove making sure I slowly accelerated until getting up to expressway speed. The 3rd occurrence happened in much the same way the 1st one happened. I think my response was different this time in that I did not attempt to pump the accelerator to try and unstick. If memory serves me I went into a coast mode until I saw the tack come down to a normal RPM speed. After the 2nd occurrence I removed the floor mat from the drivers side, so I know that after it happened the 3rd time it definitely was not the result of a jammed floor mat. The weather on all 3 occasions was not wet. The 2nd and 3rd happened during this past summer. No repairs have been made although we were going to have this looked at before winter.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 45 mph, the contact depressed the brake pedal but the vehicle would not decelerate. The contact placed the vehicle in neutral and applied excessive pressure to the brake pedal in order to stop the vehicle and turned the engine off. The failure recurred twice. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. There was a recall under NHTSA action number: PE12033 (vehicle speed control:cruise control vehicle speed control:cables) that could have been related to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 50,000.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 45 mph, the contact removed his foot from the accelerator pedal but the vehicle continued to accelerate independently. The driver applied excessive force to the brake pedal and shifted into neutral in order to stop the vehicle. The contact inspected the vehicle and noticed a plastic clip on the throttle cable was fractured, which caused the cable to become stuck. There was a concurrent investigation under NHTSA action number: PE12005 (vehicle speed control:cables) that could have been related to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 33,000.the VIN was not available.
Driving on the interstate at around 65 miles per hour the car started to accelerate on its own. I was unable to brake, so I pulled the car over to the side and put the car in neutral. In neutral the cars RPM shot up to 4000. I turned the car off. Upon examination of the throttle it has been discovered that the cruise control cable clip or adjuster that connects the cable to the throttle is cracked and not longer holds the cable in place. I have been able to manually adjust the cable back into position and drive the car, but it continues to fall out and accelerate on its own. Has happened several times and is very dangerous. I have been unable to locate this "clip" to have the problem fixed.
On Wednesday, November 25, 2009, I was driving my parents 2003 Ford Taurus sel around town, doing last minute shopping for thanksgiving, when all of a sudden the car took off, as if the gas pedal had gotten stuck. My mother was in the front passenger seat and I told her what was happening. I tried stepping on the gas pedal to see if it had gotten stuck, but that did not help and I was getting very concerned. I kept my foot on the brake and then put the car into a lower gear and then into neutral, all the while, the engine continued racing, and turned off the engine. It took me almost two blocks to get the car stopped. I immediately called the auto club for a tow truck, as there was no way I was going to turn the engine back on. I then called my father and told him what happened and he proceeded to come down to where we were. The tow truck came and the driver was the one who found that the plastic housing that holds the cruise control cable had broken and the cable slipped back and was wedged-up against the side of the broken housing. I took photos of this. The car was taken up to our mechanic. The cruise control has never been used. We contacted the Ford customer service who took all the information and gave us case number 0436723349. They told us to take the car to the dealership to have the part replaced. My parents took the car to the dealer, but they only offered to replace the part; however, we wanted someone to witness it and see what it looked like before the part was taken off and discarded and we would have had no way to prove it even happened. They just wanted my parents to leave the car all day to have it checked out, but my father opted to take it back to our mechanic who would save the part and give it to my father.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that the accelerator pedal stuck while driving 30 to 35 mph. There would be an increase in engine rpms up to 4,000 unless the vehicle was shifted into neutral while applying the brakes. The vehicle was taken to a mechanic, who inspected the engine and found that the plastic clip that held the vehicle speed control cable to its bracket was fractured. The mechanic took a piece of wire and wrapped it around the cable and bracket to remedy the failure. The dealer was not notified. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 87,000 and the current mileage 93,000.
While driving my daughter experienced a sudden acceleration and braking did not stop the engine from accelerating. She placed the vehicle in neutral and while still having difficulty braking was able to stop the vehicle and turn off the engine. Car was towed to service location and cruise control was disabled to remedy the issue. Fortunately no damage or injuries resulted.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that the vehicle would accelerate even when his foot was not engaging the accelerator pedal. The contact also stated that he was able to maintain control of the vehicle by engaging the brakes. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The current mileage is 184,341...updated 04/16/12 the consumer stated the engine did not slow down normally when the accelerator was released. The vehicle would maintain speed for 15-20 seconds after the accelerator was released. The engine idle was set too fast. Updated
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that when starting the vehicle, the rpms would fluctuate rapidly. The vehicle had not accelerated but the contact stated that when the failure occurred, it seemed as if the vehicle was attempting to surge forward. The contact would then firmly apply the brakes as a precaution. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who stated that the failure was most likely caused by a cruise control cable failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 140,000 and the current mileage was 150,000.
I have a 2003 Ford Taurus. In the past, I've had the pedal stick and the car will accelerate on it's own. When I pushed on the brakes, it takes me about 3 times as long to stop the car and once it's stop it is still trying to go and the RPM was above 3. I was also pushing the brakes as hard as I could and the car was still trying to go. The first time this happened was in the winter of 2010. It happened roughly 5 times in the winter of 2010 and 3-4 times in the winter of 2011. It did not happen in 2012 due to the warm winter climate, at least that is my guess. I also remember it happening when it was very cold outside. The one time it was around 0 degrees. It felt like the pedal would get stuck. The only way I could get it to stop would be to aggressively keep pushing the pedal and then it would get unstuck. One time I let it go to see how far it could speed up on it's own I got it to 50 mph without pushing the pedal before I got nervous and was able to get it to stop. I've also noticed in the past that the pedal sometimes will feel like it will get stuck but in those cases the car won't accelerate on it's own like I explained above. I brought all of this to the dealer's attention but they wrote me off and said it could have been due to the cold. I never thought to report it till I heard about other incidents similar to mine recently in the news.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The contact was driving 40 mph when the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The contact depressed the brake and was able to decrease speed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 185,000 and the current mileage was 202,000.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while stopped, there was an increase in the engine rpms. The contact had to apply heavy pressure to the brake pedal to keep the vehicle stopped. The failure ceased after a few moments. The failure also occurred while driving at various speeds. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer on three occasions and they were unable to diagnose a failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 130,000.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving 55 mph, the vehicle accelerated up to 75 mph without warning. The brakes were applied, but the vehicle continued to accelerate. The contact was able to maneuver the vehicle onto the shoulder and stop. The vehicle was then towed to the dealer. The dealer inspected the vehicle and found that the cruise control throttle cable was fractured. The dealer replaced the throttle cable. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 94,000 and the current mileage was 112,000. The VIN information was not available.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Crothersville , IN, USA