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.
Drivers side coil spring fractured, causing damage to strut, sway bar linkage and tire. This failure occurred during normal driving conditions in a right hand turn at approximately 25 mph.
There was no warning. Front spring broke and punctured the front tire when driving to work. Vehicle was towed to plattsburghford and repaired. Dealer advised this is common problem with Taurus. That the 2003 never had a recall but other year Taurus did.
Just pulled into my workplace in my 2003 Ford Taurus and all of a sudden a loud bang and the drivers side front end fell right on my tire. No prior warning whatsoever. The front drivers side spring had broken. I did have extended coverage but what a hassle with the insurance company to get them to pay which they finally did minus a $100 deductible. Took 1 1/2 weeks to get it fixed and now something is wrong with the brakes.
I was backing out of my garage, heard a loud crunching noise and a huge bang! my car was unable to go into reverse without pressure on the tire...I got out and the tire was blow out! I called the tow company and the technician felt under the car and said my coil spring has broken! he said it was a good thing it happened in my garage and not when I was going down the road!!! Ford had a recall on 1999 - 2002 Ford Taurus cars but obviously the problem never got resolved on the 2003 cars! very frustrating and could have been very dangerous! Ford and the dealership has done nothing to help!
I was backing out of a parking space (got maybe an inch) and the car jolted slightly. I heard a loud popping noise followed by a puff of what seemed smoke. I got out of the car and saw my tire was flat. Removed tire to find front drivers side coil spring had snapped in half and ripped a long deep line in tire.
The vehicle shimmied/vibrated in the steering wheel and caused the vehicle to wander across the road, whenever the vehicle was driven at highway speed of 55 mph or more. The vehicle has been to the dealer on five separate occasions. The dealer rotated the tires and balanced each wheels, but the problem continued.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Elkview, WV, USA