CarComplaints.com Notes: Most people need a car where the coil springs don't puncture or shred tires while driving. The Taurus fails in that respect.
The 1999-2003 Ford Taurus 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 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
89,395 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.
My 2002 Ford Taurus broke a front spring and punctured my tire. This is the second time one of the springs has broken. In the summer of 2007 a rear spring also broke. I only have 32,000 miles on my car and take very good care of my car I was luck the last spring broke in my driveway but right before it broke I was driving in an ice storm. These 2002 Taurus need to be recalled before no one is in a serious accident. December 2008 I had a merry christmas because I was not involved in an accident.
While backing out of my driveway (12/17/08), the driver's side/front of my 2002 Ford Taurus simply collapsed. The front coil spring had completely snapped dropping the front vehicle structure onto the tire. A jagged coil spring piece had also ripped a large gash into the interior sidewall of the tire resulting in an immediate loss of all tire pressure. The repair resulted in replacement of the front coil spring pair (passenger side coil spring was corroded and in very poor mechanical condition), a sway bar link, strut mount, and new tire (total cost-$600). Additionally, I needed a rental car to get to work during the repair period (additional $132). Due to the catastrophic nature of the tire failure, if this incident had occurred at highway speed, I suspect that severe injury/death could have been a possible outcome.
The car was parked in the drive way and when I backed up to leave, front driver side spring broke, destroying the tire and the sway bar end link. From my research this is a very common problem on the Ford Taurus. Glad I wasn't on the highway at 65mph.
While parked coil spring failed (broke) puncturing left front tire on a 2002 Ford Taurus. Vehicle had about 90000 miles on it. I had to cut the tire off of the coil spring to remove it. The car had to be towed to a repair shop and the front set of coils was replaced.
- St. Louis, MO, USA
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On 12-17-2008 I drove my 2002 Ford Taurus out of my driveway. After driving approximately 300 yards I smelled rubber burning. Returned car to driveway and noticed left front to be setting much lower than normal. Car was towed to mechanic (Firestone) and left front spring and strut were broken. I was told this is a common problem for Taurus. Replaced both front springs, struts, sway bar links and left front tire (spring tore into tire) plus a front end alignment. Cost = $1400. I was lucky because this car is driven mostly on the interstate at highway speeds. Something needs to be done before someone is killed or hurt!
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 40 mph on normal road conditions, the contact heard a loud noise coming from outside of the vehicle. Suddenly, the tire exploded. He pulled over to the side of the road and replaced the driver's side tire. He also observed that the front coil spring failed. The vehicle was taken to the independent mechanic for inspection and they stated that the front and rear coil springs failed. The vehicle is currently being repaired. The contact was in the process of notifying the manufacturer. The failure and current mileages were 90,500.
I was coming to a stop light when I heard a loud bang noise. I put the car in park and looked around the car but at this time saw no damage. I was a block from home so I drove home. At this point I did notice the front end was low, so I jacked the car up and saw the spring was broken. Upon breaking it also snapped in half a sway bar and damaged the tire. All I can say is I was lucky. I drive the expressway every day, if it would of happened then I could be dead or could have killed someone else or both.
My fiancee's 2002 Ford Taurus sel front driver side coil spring broke and tore the whole inner sidewall off of the tire. The coil spring broke while the car was sitting in the driveway over night and thankfully my fiancee was just pulling out of the driveway when she noticed the tire halfway off the rim. Had the coil spring broke on the highway she may not be alive today. I spoke to Ford and they were unable to offer us any assistance. The vehicle is only 7 years old and only has 115K miles on it. There is a recall already in effect for 2001 models that have the exact same issue. I have the broken coil spring in my possession if in the case an investigator would like to examine the faulty part.
My wife was backing the car out of the garage and the front drivers side tire popped. After removing the tire I noticed the coil spring had broken and went into the tire. We called two Ford dealerships and they told us this was not covered or under recall. We had the car towed and new coil springs and a new tire put on at our expense. I did a search on line and this has been a problem on earlier Ford Taurus with a recall on 1999-2001 models.
My 2002 Ford Taurus front left spring/strut broke and punctured my tire. I have to admit I'm very grateful that my daughter had put the car in reverse to back out of the driveway when this event took place. She is safe. But this is a serious issue! when I looked for information on a recall on-line, there are many people with this same make that have experience the same results. I insist on buying american, please don't tell me it's no longer safe to buy american. Please investigate this for others safety as well as my families.
Driving about 45 mph when I heard a loud pop and my vehicle swerved to the side of the road. The car would not move and I had to have it towed to the repair shop. They observed that the front driver side spring had broke and cut my driver side tire in half and also damaging front struts and additional suspension parts. He thought Ford would pay for repairs since he has had this happen before and it was covered. Ford informed him 2002 vehicles were not covered and they would pay nothing. This is a very dangerous defect and could have caused a serious accident had there been a car in the lane next to me when it happened. Ford needs to take responsibility for this defect since a internet search of this problem has revealed hundreds of identical incidents. It is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed due to this defect!!! in the meantime I am out over $1000 for repairs and am scared to drive this vehicle on the highway for fear that I won't be so lucky next time!!!!!
Backing out of garage heard a noise, left front tire went flat. Inspection found the tire was torn from a broken front coil spring. Replaced both front coil springs and suspension sway bar links. This could have been a disaster if it would have happened while driving at highway speeds.
2002 Ford Taurus V6 front coil spring broke and ruptured tire in 2006, rear coil spring broke in 2008. Front strut assembly including spring was replaced along with the tire.
Drivers side spring busted in half ripping the tire apart....when we went to put the spare on the coil dropped off hitting the pavement barely drove it to Firestone with the coil hitting the spare tire. This happened while in the driveway when I was ready to go to work. Firestone also found the back passenger suspension coil also cracked and a bad hazard. I had to have all four suspension coils replaced along with the sway bars and a wheel alignment. I was lucky to have it bust apart in the driveway and not on the highway I was very lucky. This was a costly repair....... updated 02/04/09.
The summary from NHTSA action # EA08018 precisely describes what happened w/ our Taurus. " the broken coil spring punctured the adjacent tire resulting in loss of inflation pressure" in our case the tire had to be completely replaced. **** we also had a spring/coil break w/in the engine in March 2007. **** NHTSA action number : EA08018 NHTSA recall campaign number : N/a make / models : model/build years: Ford / Taurus 2002-2003 Mercury / Sable 2002-2003 manufacturer : Ford Motor Company component : suspension:front:springs:coil springs date investigation opened : August 28, 2008 date investigation closed : open.
Front spring broke on my 2002 Ford Taurus. The broken spring slashed my brand new tire. Had to have the vehicle towed to a Ford dealership. Spring damaged struts and also needed to be re-aligned.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Lawrenceburg, IN, USA