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 was more fortunate than others on here as I was able to catch the transmission problem ahead of time before it left me stranded. I bought it when it had 78k miles. This vehicle did nothing but eat me alive in repair bills in the 23k miles I owned it. Sometimes I would be stopped at a fast food drive through, idling in park gear, and the vehicle would jerk and stumble when i'd put the vehicle in drive gear and press the accelerator. Took it to a reputable transmission shop, told them my symptoms and they wanted $3500 to replace it. So I decided get out from under the junker and sell it. Glad to be done with it.
Update from Sep 25, 2022: This vehicle has the Duretec engine. I was more fortunate than others on here as I was able to catch the transmission problem ahead of time before it left me stranded. I bought it when it had 78k miles, having test drived it through the city and on the freeway with no symtoms or issues prior to purchase. This vehicle did nothing but eat me alive in repair bills in the 23k miles I owned it. One day I was stopped at a fast food drive through, idling in park gear. I like to idle in park when possible cause it lowers the temperature of the transmission preventing unessessary heat related wear. On this occasion the vehicle jerked and stumbled when i'd put the vehicle fully in drive gear and then press on the accelerator. This happended several times over the course of a year, mainly at drive thrus. Took it to Freeway Transmisions and told them my symptoms and they wanted $3500 to replace it, more than the price of the car. So I decided get out from under the junker and sell it. Glad to be done with it.
Driving through the city is fine. But every time I tried to really give it gas it gets stuck it seems like. The RPMs like to bounce between 3000 and 4000. It also does it between 55 to 65 mph. My friend was telling me that the fuel pump could be the problem and that it's not getting enough gas.. I was getting a check engine light for a cylinder 2 misfiring but I changed the coil pack and the spark plug wires and the check engine light went away. I'm just tired of pouring money into this car and problems keep occurring. Right now the only light that's on the dash is the ABS brakes.
The car stopped shifting gears in the middle of traffic on I-75 south in Atlanta. Was in heavy traffic in the south bound lane about 30 miles outside of Atlanta , ga. Had to coast to the shoulder. Fortunately I was in the right lane when it went out. This could have created a major accident if I had been in the middle or left lane since this is the major north / south interstate in Georgia.
Same as everyone else, wife driving home, went to turn onto our road Tranny seemed to go into neutral and stay there, will go into park but no other gear available. Ford should do something about this now. I would join any class action that would start maybe then ford would wake up.
This car has been fairly reliable and a workhorse of a car and my daughters have learned how to drive with this car. The transmission gave no indication that it was going to go and in fact my daughter was out with the car last weekend and came home and parked in the driveway. The next morning the car started up and she tried to put the car in reverse and it wouldn't move. We had the car towed to the mechanic we use and he said the car needs a new or rebuilt transmission and it would be $1800 and I said WTF. So now we are in a dilemma we really don't have the money to get the car repaired. I really want to know if Ford is recalling the 2003 Taurus for transmission problems or has recalled.
- thirdeyepro,
Cheltenham, PA, US
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Bought used in '07 w/43K miles. Love the car but it's been thru two starters, two alternators, a water pump, AC leaks, cam sensor, rusted out rocker panels ($1900), struts/shocks. Now the transmission has a hard 2-3, 3-4 shift and I find it's a chronic issue w/ '03 Taurus. Ford owes it's customers a solution if not a recall, considering the frequency and severity of the issues. Everything has been repaired except for trans I.e. we'll probably have the trans fixed and drive it for another year. Like Ford BUT not likely to buy another (look at the recalls already for the 2013 Escape!).
Update from Jan 16, 2013: Transmission shift issue turned out to be a broken motor mount. Evidently the motor and trans were moving around, giving the impression that there was a trans shifting issue. Mount and transmission bolt replaced to cure the problem.
First,had to replace motor mounts early this year, then a strong smell of gas, gas tank is leaking and now the tranny making a clunkin noise when i first started to go,if I had a Hyundai i would get a new tranny
IF I WOULD ACCELERATE WITH MODERATE TO HARD ACCELERATION THE TRANSMISSION WOULD NOT SHIFT OUT OF 1ST GEAR & THE ENGINE WOULD RED LINE TO ABOUT 6,000 RPM & THE REV LIMITER WOULD KICK IN & TURN OFF THE FUEL INJECTORS WHICH CAUSED THE RPM'S TO DROP BACK & THEN THE TRANSMISSION WOULD JERK/SHIFT TO 2ND & NORMAL UP SHIFT TO 3RD & OD. IF I LIGHTLY PRESSED THE GAS THE TRANSMISSION WOULD SHIFT NORMAL. I FIRST BROUGHT THE TAURUS TO THE FORD DEALER SERVICE DEPARTMENT 3 TIMES, THE 1ST TIME THEY COULD NOT DIAGNOSE ANYTHING, THE 2ND TIME THEY SAID THE TRANSMISSION IS FUNCTIONING WITHIN FORD SPECS, & THE 3RD TIME THEY SAID TO DRIVE THE CAR THE WAY IT IS UNTIL SOMETHING DIES & THEN THEY WOULD REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION WITH ANOTHER FORD REBUILT ONE AT A COST OF $3,500!! I THEN TOOK THE TAURUS TO A NON FORD INDEPENDENT TRANSMISSION SHOP & THEY REMOVED THE TRANSMISSION & DISASSEMBLED IT & DISCOVERED THE CLUTCH DRUM WAS CRACKED!! THE SHOP PARTIALLY REBUILT THE TRANSMISSION REPLACING THE CRACKED DRUM & SOME OTHER PARTS. THE TORQUE CONVERTOR WAS ACTUALLY STILL OK, HOWEVER KNOWING THE PROBLEMS WITH THIS POORLY MANUFACTURED PART ( THE SPLINES WERE NOT PROPERLY HARDENED & WOULD EVENTUALLY STRIP OUT & LEAVE THE CAR SIT LIKE ALL THE OTHER COMPLAINTS) I HAD THE TORQUE CONVERTOR REPLACED WITH A SUPERIOR NON FORD AFTERMARKET TORQUE CONVERTOR!! IN CONCLUSION FORD SERVICE WOULD NOT TAKE THE PAN OFF THE TRANSMISSION & JUST WANTED TO REPLACE IT WITH ANOTHER LEMON FORD REBUILT TRANSMISSION!! THE TRANSMISSION PROBLEM WAS CURED FOR ABOUT $1,250 & IT SHIFTS MUCH BETTER NOW THAN WHEN THE CAR WAS NEW!!!! FORD CAN TAKE THEIR BETTER IDEA ( LIGHT BULB ) & STICK IT WHERE THE SUN DOESN'T SHINE!!!??!!!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I was more fortunate than others on here as I was able to catch the transmission problem ahead of time before it left me stranded. I bought it when it had 78k miles. This vehicle did nothing but eat me alive in repair bills in the 23k miles I owned it. Sometimes I would be stopped at a fast food drive through, idling in park gear, and the vehicle would jerk and stumble when i'd put the vehicle in drive gear and press the accelerator. Took it to a reputable transmission shop, told them my symptoms and they wanted $3500 to replace it. So I decided get out from under the junker and sell it. Glad to be done with it.
Update from Sep 25, 2022: This vehicle has the Duretec engine. I was more fortunate than others on here as I was able to catch the transmission problem ahead of time before it left me stranded. I bought it when it had 78k miles, having test drived it through the city and on the freeway with no symtoms or issues prior to purchase. This vehicle did nothing but eat me alive in repair bills in the 23k miles I owned it. One day I was stopped at a fast food drive through, idling in park gear. I like to idle in park when possible cause it lowers the temperature of the transmission preventing unessessary heat related wear. On this occasion the vehicle jerked and stumbled when i'd put the vehicle fully in drive gear and then press on the accelerator. This happended several times over the course of a year, mainly at drive thrus. Took it to Freeway Transmisions and told them my symptoms and they wanted $3500 to replace it, more than the price of the car. So I decided get out from under the junker and sell it. Glad to be done with it.
- polaris93, Salt Lake City, Utah, US