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.
Went to back out of driveway in my 2003 Ford Taurus and a loud gush of air was heard and the front left tire went flat. Removed tire and found front spring was broken and had punctured tire. Have gotten the vehicle to repair shop and am awaiting repair estimate.
Driving @ approx 30mph and heard loud pop...immediately pulled over to discover front end driver side lower than rest of car. Ended up front spring cracked. Both front springs/strut assemblies replaced.
2003 Ford Taurus has had 3 coil spring failures in the last 2 months, resulting in 2 tire punctures. No accidents, no injuries. This vehicle is driven daily by a 71 year old man.
Coil spring snapped off went through tire and popped tire - fortunately happened in driveway backing out - if this happened on the road someone could have been killed.
- Palmyra, NY, USA
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2003 Ford Taurus- broken left front spring. Turning around in my driveway, the left front spring broke, puncturing the tire, and causing the car to collapse nearly to the ground. My car has about 78,000 miles of normal road driving. The Ford dealer said that there was a recall for this but it ended with 2001 vehicles. My research indicates that the problem did not end with the 2001 vehicles and certainly was not corrected through at least 2003, perhaps longer. The repair expense should be on Ford. It is obviously a defective design and not my fault or because of wear. More importantly, what if I had been doing 55 mph or 65 mph. This could have resulted in a very serious accident, perhaps even death. When will the other side break? research indicates that it may very well happen again. I'm very, very concerned and constantly worried when I drive.
Left front coil spring failure. Making left hand turn when coil spring broke causing momentary loss of steering control. Replaced both front coil springs. Front left coil spring is available for inspection / research.
In my 2003 Ford Taurus sel (24V DOHC 3.0L) I experienced a failure of the driver side coil spring on the front assembly. At the time the vehicle was not in motion. I still have the old spring (it has been cut into several pieces to facilitate removing it from the vehicle). In addition to the coil spring destroyed was a Goodyear Eagle GT P215/60R16 95V. This tire has been replace by my tire dealer at no cost to me.
I had my 2003 Ford Taurus inspected by a local garage on Friday, July 31st. 2009 in ambler, pa. I was informed that I needed to have my sway bars replaced to pass inspection. The work was performed and my car passed its state inspection. On Wednesday August 5th, 2009 as my wife backed out of our driveway with my 1-year old and 2-year old daughters in the car, the front, driverside tire suddenly, and without warning failed. Thinking it was just a flat, I prepared to put the spare tire on the car. Upon removing the lugnuts, I realized the problem was much more serious. The coil spring had snapped and punctured the tire, rendering it useless. (the tires were brand new, I had just purchased them in order to pass my state inspection.) I was forced to have my car towed back to the garage that performed the inspection. This was the first time this happened. My local repair shop fixed the problem, but I was forced to pay out of pocket.
My 2003 Ford Taurus had been parked in my driveway when I heard a very loud bang and then air leaking. I discovered that the left front spring had broken causing damage to the spring, stabilizer link, strut and tire. We had to replace both springs, both stabilizer links, both struts and the left front tire.
In regards to complaint # EA08018, I experienced the same problem with my 2003 Ford Taurus. I was backing out of my driveway when the front drivers side tire blew. After removing the tire it was discovered the front suspension coil spring was the underlying issue. The fractured coil spring punctured the adjacent front tire. I am aware that this is a recurring problem with tauruses, particularly in the salt belt states-- I reside in Michigan. Given the holiday weekend I have not been able to get it repaired, I will be contacting my local Ford dealer Monday July 6th to see what he can do for me.
As I was backing my 2003 Ford Taurus (55,000 miles) out of my driveway I heard a loud bang, I stopped the car. I found my left front tire had blown. I called aaa to change the tire that is when I found out the spring broke puncturing the tire. I was very fortunate to be in my driveway. The mechanic I took the car to was not surprised. This is very dangerous. Lives could be lost. Please look into this.
I own a 2003 Ford Taurus with defective front coil springs. On 6/22/09, the spring on the front driver's side broke while sitting in my garage and punctured the tire. According to Ford, and my mechanic, these springs were recalled, but only up to the 2001 Taurus. The spring showed no signs of rust or corrosion, and basically just cracked and broke. If the break had occurred while the car was being driven it would have had the potential of serious injury/death. As the springs appear to be the same as in the 2001 model, I am curious why the 2003 springs were also not recalled. I now have to pay to have both springs replaced, as well as the tire, which was nearly new.
While parked in my driveway, my 2003 Ford Taurus snapped left front coil spring and stabbed the tire. While breaking, it also broke the strut and torsion bar. Total cost was $810. I went to the Ford dealer where I bought the car and the service manager said " water got up in there and rotted it."
Front drivers side coil spring fractured and punctured brand new tire while reversing out of a parking space, instantly deflating tire. Was on a road trip out of state at the time and had it happened on any of the 65 mph highways we traveled, it would've caused a serious crash. Had to have the vehicle towed 90 miles back home and am being told I will need to replace both front coil springs and struts as well as replace the brand new tire that was damaged.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The driver side front coil spring broke and cut the tire in half. The vehicle was towed to a mechanic who stated that there was a recall related to the coil spring. The front and rear coil springs were repaired at the owners expense. The contact was advised that you cannot repair one coil spring without repairing the other. The Ford dealer stated that there was nothing they could do for him. The failure and current mileages were 70,000.
Left front coil spring broke while pulling out of parking spot, puncturing the side wall of tire( 30K mi left on tire) now have to replace both coil spring(only come in pairs, by new tire. Dam lucky I wasn't on express way doing 65. My car is a 2003 Ford Taurus 98K mi.
2003 Taurus wagon - front left coil spring broke and punctured/ destroyed tire. Started car in am, placed into reverse and heard noise/ air pressure whoosh and lf sank. Learned coils spring had failed when removed tire to put on spare. Told by both dealer service manager and tow truck operator this is a common problem. Checked on-line and it does seem to be a problem addressed for 99-01 but not 02-03 yet. NHTSA investigation open. Although Ford argues failure such as this not life threatening, I feel if roads are slick with snow/ ice, loss of control could be very dangerous. In any event, it appears there is a history of this problem with 02 - 03 model years that sounds exactly like the 99-01's based on my search of the net.
Right front strut/spring mount broke looks like from corrosion these models were recalled on earlier models for this same thing seems like its not on your site for the 2003's.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Garfield Hts, OH, USA