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:
1 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
81,188 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.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The contact heard a rattling noise coming from the front of the vehicle. The contact took the vehicle to a repair facility for inspection and was informed that the front passenger side coil spring failed. The speed was unknown. The current mileage is 46,129 and failure mileage was 38,000. Updated 02/01/08.
2003 Ford Taurus coil springs repair recall customer wants Ford to pay for some or all her expenses* the consumer stated he is writing on behalf of customer who has trouble communicating. The consumer found her left front tire flat in the driveway. The consumer had recently purchased four brand new tires. The consumer went back to the dealer to see what the problem was and found that the front coil spring was broken and punctured the tire. The dealer replaced the tires and coil springs at the consumers expense. There was a recall on the Ford Taurus, but not for this specific year.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. While driving 35 mph the front coil springs broke which caused a flat tire, damage to the air bag sensors, a break in the mounting bracket, and failure of the shocks. The manufacturer stated that there were not enough complaints submitted to warrant a recall. The current and failure mileages were 68,000. Updated 02-01-08 updated 02/01/08
I was pulling out of a parking space. The front right coil spring broke and punctured the tire. It was an immediate failure with a loud explosion noise. The only thing that saved me from a major accident was that I was just starting up. At highway speeds, this would have been a serious accident. Ford has refused to repair this problem. The car is a 2003 Ford Taurus.
2003 Ford Taurus. Front coil spring broke, punctured tire and damaged other related parts. Fortunately the car was parked at the time. Car was taken to dealership for rpair and replacement.
While backing out of drive way loud pop left front tire went flat removed tire and noticed coil spring broken it punctured tire. If it would have happened on the road could have caused serious injury. There is a recall but only to 2001 and this is a 2003 don't seem to be getting anywhere with Ford on this. Do we need a serious injury before they start a re call on later models.
- the contact stated that while backing up the 2003 Ford Taurus with 72000 failure mileage a couple of feet he heard a popping sound. The contact got out of the vehicle and raised it to discover that the driver's front left tire H split and coil spring sheared. The vehicle has not been repaired.
As I backed out of my paved driveway in my Ford Taurus (2003) ses I heard a pop and a hiss - apparently the front spring broke and damaged the tire. I know the 2000 - 2002 had a recall on this. I don't think the problem was solved on the 2003.
I own a silver, 2003 Ford Taurus with 81,000 miles. As my wife was pulling out of the driveway she heard a loud pop and the car came to a screeching halt. She immediately called me on my cell phone to tell me that she had a flat tire on the drivers side of the vehicle. I came home and removed the flat tire to find out that the tire was completely punctured and ripped half way around the inside of the tire. I then placed the spare tire on the vehicle and drove it to discount tire company down the street who took one look at it and said that the spring was broken and that there was a recall from Ford on this problem. When my wife found out that this could of cause serious damage to our family she was extremely upset. I did some research on the web and found out that there is only a recall on 2001 vehicles and not 2003 vehicles. Nothing has been done to the car yet. It is still in the driveway waiting to be fixed. My wife and son are nervous driving a car with these kind of problems in the city or highway.
Front drivers side coil spring snapped causing car to fall on tire. Punctured tire, ruined strut and brake line. This happened while backing out of drive way, had this taken place while traveling down the road it would have easily killed or injured everyone in the car. There was no indication leading up to this that this would happen. After searching the internet I am finding that this is a common issue with the Ford Taurus, something needs to be done.
I own a 2003 Ford Taurus. Last week the right front spring broke and ripped the tire. Ford has a recall on this problem for 2001 and earlier models. This could have caused an accident.
: the contact stated while backing out of the driveway, there was a noise and the driver side front end of the vehicle dropped down. The vehicle was towed to an independent repair shop, who determined the coil spring had fractured, puncturing the tire, and fracturing the sway bar link. The coil spring, tire, sway bar link and strut were replaced.
: the contact stated the front driver's side tire blew while in a parking lot. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was determined to be a broken coil spring. There is a NHTSA recall, # 04V332000, regarding the front coil springs. The vehicle has the same problems as indicated in the recall; however it is not included in the recall due to the year of the vehicle. The dealer replaced the front coil springs. Updated 3/17/2006 -
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Kane, PA, USA