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...
I had a chirping noise coming from the bell-housing area ! I took it to a mechanic and he checked it out, He told me that I would need a new transmission at a cost of anywhere from $ 800.00 to $ 2800.00 ! I made a few calls to transmission shops and they all told me the same thing. I was talking with a co-worker and he suggested that I take it up to a local transmission shop that he has had alot of success with. He told me that these mechanics were very honest ! so I took it to them, they were all older gentelman with years of experiance. They all looked at me and one of them said I didn't need a transmission I needed a new Cam-Synchronizer ? They told me that alot of mechanics mistake this chirping noise to be coming from the bell-housing. In fact the Cam-Synchronizer sits right next to the bell-housing.
Sure enough they replaced the Synchronizer at a cost of $ 427.47 and now the noise is gone ! Its nice to know that their is some good honest people out there. I am still upset with Ford motor company, When I called them afterwards, They said that they were aware of this problem and also aware of alot of transmission problems with the 2003 Taurus, but that my car was past its warranty and they could'nt do anything for me ! I said my car has only 40,000.00 miles on it, Could we work something out...Like I will pay for the parts and they can maybe eat part of the labor ???? The answer was NO ! I will remember that the next time I go and purchase my Chevy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I took this car to my cousin, who is a mechanic, and he changed out tranny fluid and replaced filter and it is still chirping. He is thinking that the transmission is about to go out. This is ridiculous for a car with this few miles. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one but I hate that anyone is having problems with their cars!!!!
Update from Sep 22, 2010: Ok...had my cousin, who is a mechanic, look at my car. He changed some belts and that did not fix the problem. He also changed out tranny fluid and filter...chirping still went on. We decided, after reading all of the problems with the 2003 taurus on several sites, to trade out of our taurus and we got a chevrolet uplander mini van.
- Jamie H.,
Amarillo, TX, US
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I had a chirping noise coming from the bell-housing area ! I took it to a mechanic and he checked it out, He told me that I would need a new transmission at a cost of anywhere from $ 800.00 to $ 2800.00 ! I made a few calls to transmission shops and they all told me the same thing. I was talking with a co-worker and he suggested that I take it up to a local transmission shop that he has had alot of success with. He told me that these mechanics were very honest ! so I took it to them, they were all older gentelman with years of experiance. They all looked at me and one of them said I didn't need a transmission I needed a new Cam-Synchronizer ? They told me that alot of mechanics mistake this chirping noise to be coming from the bell-housing. In fact the Cam-Synchronizer sits right next to the bell-housing.
Sure enough they replaced the Synchronizer at a cost of $ 427.47 and now the noise is gone ! Its nice to know that their is some good honest people out there. I am still upset with Ford motor company, When I called them afterwards, They said that they were aware of this problem and also aware of alot of transmission problems with the 2003 Taurus, but that my car was past its warranty and they could'nt do anything for me ! I said my car has only 40,000.00 miles on it, Could we work something out...Like I will pay for the parts and they can maybe eat part of the labor ???? The answer was NO ! I will remember that the next time I go and purchase my Chevy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Nino P., Harrison Twp, MI, US