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...
1.7
hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
98,238 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.
Front coil spring exploded, 2003 Ford Taurus. Car was stopped in traffic lane. Front tire rubbed on wheel well. Inability to steer the vehicle. Very dangerous. $900 to repair. I read of issues with 2003 and 2001 models. Ford recalled 2001 models and apparently Ford didn't fix this problem in time. Where is the 2003 recall?
2003 Ford Taurus station wagon with 25000 miles. The front coil spring snapped. It happened in the driveway. The front tire was ruined and a stabilizer arm was also ruined. My daughter and son-in-law experienced the same exact problem with a 2001 Mercury Sable.
With the car parked in my driveway, started the car, placed it in reverse, the front left strut coil spring broke and punctured the tire. Complete strut assembly and tire need to be replaced. Potentially deadly crash if it happened on a freeway. Google search (2003 Ford Taurus front suspension complaints) reveals many have had a similar incident and there was a recall for this same issue for prior year vehicles. Makes you wonder if Ford ever fixed the problem before the 2003 model year, or like many other recalls the recall will be extended to cover through the 2003 model year. Research shows the manufacturer's try to achieve this to minimize the cost of the repairs as fewer cars will be in service when the recall is extended. It appears the problem is currently being investigated by NHTSA: NHTSA action number : EA08018 NHTSA recall campaign number : N/a make / models : model/build years: Ford / Taurus 2002-2003 Mercury / Sable 2002-2003 manufacturer : Ford Motor Company component : suspension:front:springs:coil springs date investigation opened : August 28, 2008 date investigation closed : open why do more people have to die before action is taken?
On my wife's 2003 Ford Taurus, the front spring broke and caused multiple damages to the vehicle. First of all the tire was completely blown out due to the spring breaking and secondly, a sway link was damaged to the point of repair along with another part that I need to ask the mechanic the name of. This same model car had a recall in the years of 1999 and 2001 for just this reason. The mechanic sees this constantly from this model car. The recall was for a "boot" to be applied to the vehicle in order to prevent the spring from penetrating the tire while driving. Fortunately, I was driving the car out of my driveway and down the alley, therefore no accident happened. I have contacted Ford directly and they say that there is no recall on my vehicle for this and referred me to you. The car has 43,473 miles on it. Of course it is out of warranty but this is uncalled for. I can understand the spring breaking on an automobile, but to completely shred the tire and cause all of this is their responsibility for not addressing a concern that had occurred on an earlier model and correcting it. They need to be held responsible for the damage that has been caused to my vehicle and they should be happy that this did not cause an accident. Ford Motor Company needs to address this issue on this car. I sincerely thank you for your time and concern.
While pulling out of a parking space in front of my home, the front left strut coil spring broke and punctured the tire. Complete strut assembly and tire had to be replaced.
- Ambridge, PA, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
2003 Taurus 25K miles. As the car was being backed out of garage a popping sound came from the left front tire. During the removal of the flat left front tire we found that the coil spring had broken at the bottom first coil and rotated into the tire sidewall destroying the tire. Looking at the broken spring it looks like the crack started at a rusted area and fractured across the coil. It appears to be the same as Ford safety recall 04S17. I called Ford to see if this applied to this car and they said no. In order to fix this the strut, spring, sway bar link, and tire need to be replaced. The right side spring needs to be replaced before it brakes and causes an accident.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 20 mph on normal road conditions there was a loud clanking noise and a strong rubber burning odor inside and outside of the vehicle. The driver pulled over to the side of the road with caution. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. The failures were contributed to a broken strut on the front driver side. The front passenger side strut was also severely damaged. The technician replaced both front struts. The failure mileage was 76,300. Updated 02/18/10.
2003 Ford Taurus front spring failure resulting in destruction of front tire. Left front spring catastrophically failed in driveway while driver was entering car, spring punctured left front tire resulting in instant deflation. Temperature at time of failure was approximately 25F. With 116,688 miles, last passed nh state safety inspection in June 2009 which included close inspection of front end due to tie rod replacement & subsequent wheel alignment. Car owned and operated in the salt belt states of ri, MA and nh. Carfax report in 2007 showed good maintenance history and no history of any damage to the vehicle. Cost to repair was $750 including spring replacement, front stabilizer link replacement, front end alignment, and tire replacement. Parts are not available, but contact info to repairing service person is available upon request.
I sat in the driver's seat of my 2003 Ford Taurus and the driver's side front spring sheared and slashed my tire. I had to tow the car and replace both front struts, springs and the ruined tire. I saw this was common in 2001-2003 tauruses in northern states but a recall has only been issued on the 2001 models. I could have been killed if this happened while I was driving.
Mid December I noticed my alignment was turning towards the right, about a week maybe less, later I noticed my car was starting to wobble. I took it to Firestone and they said my ball joints were seriously worn and because of the wobble the inside of my tires were worn out. Ball joints and tires now need replaced.
Was making a turn onto a street when I noticed loud noise coming from the front of the vehicle and smell of burning rubber. Stopped and noticed front left tire was flat. After removal of tire, noticed that inside of tired had been ripped open as a result of the breaking of the front left spring that encompasses the shock.
Owner was pulling out of driveway (in reverse) when loud noise occurred and left front portion of car dropped down towards pavement. All tires were fully inflated prior to operating vehicle. Driver exited vehicle to find tire punctured/shredded and a ring of the spring coil on the ground. Vehicle was put on jacks at which time it was detected that tire had been shredded by broken spring coil with possible damage to strut. Vehicle is to be towed to Ford authorized service center for evaluation and replacement of tire, coil spring and possibly strut depending on damages to be detected.
While backing my 2003 Ford Taurus out of my garage, the drivers side front coil spring broke and punctured the front tire causing severe damage and destroying the tire.
1. normal driving condition. 2. front left coil spring failure resulting in a punctured tire, broken sway bar end link and possibly ruptured brake hose. 3. vehicle not drivable, towed to repair facility. Will need to replace spring, strut, sway bar end link, possibly brake line. Failed coil spring is available.
The left front coil spring on my mothers 2003 Ford Taurus broke as she was nearing home. It destroyed the tire. I called Ford & they said there was a recall, but only for tauruses up to 2001. My mother drives on a lot of highways & I feel this could be very unsafe. A local auto shop replaced it & told her the springs break as easily on the '03's as the older tauruses.
On Dec 26, 2009 my wife was backing out of the driveway to head to work, and the pass front tire blew out due to the coil spring rupturing. The car has about 80,000 miles on it. Researching this, there are thousands of cases where this has occurred, a small sampling can be found here: www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/ford_springs.html it is a widely documented issue, with no recall action by Ford Motor Company. I am currently deployed, serving our country... why has there been no action to force Ford to fix this issue before somebody gets seriously hurt or killed? the property damaged by this failure was my car, which involves the spring, strut and tire (just purchased earlier this year). My wife lost a day of work because of this issue. How long does it really take for an investigation of faulty manufacturing, with the potential of ending lives, have to take with the thousands of cases that are already documented, and occurring continuously?
2003 Ford Taurus, noise from left front, hard to steer, found left front tire flat, after swapping tire with spare found noise still present and hard to steer, towed to repair shop found left front coil spring broken, replaced both front springs, struts and ball joint had play in them.
As I began to drive my 2003 Ford Taurus, I heard and felt a loud noise in the front end. The front end of the car dropped suddenly. I put the car in park, turned on the hazard lights, and got out to inspect it. I found the passenger-side front tire not only flat, but nearly dragged off the rim. It had been speared by the coil spring, which was broken and had run through the (almost new) tire like a hook. Two-thirds of the tire sidewall is torn open. Luckily I was not driving at any great speed when this occurred. When I inquired about any recall or tsb that may apply at my local Ford dealer, the woman at the desk told me this type of failure "tends to happen", and did not seem at all concerned, or even surprised, at the problem. I was quoted roughly $400 to replace both front springs and have the car aligned. This is a vehicle that has only been back from my usual repair shop for less than 3 weeks, due to the repair of other equipment failures.
Front left coil spring fractured on my 2003 Ford Taurus, puncturing the adjacent tire. This happened in my driveway as my wife was leaving for work and the tire instantly went flat.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Franklin, WI, USA