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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:
81,157 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.

2002 Ford Taurus suspension problems

suspension problem

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2002 Ford Taurus Owner Comments (Page 2 of 6)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #89

May 152010

Taurus 6-cyl

  • 160,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Our 2002 Taurus was sitting in our driveway when we heard a loud bang. When I looked the car over, I found a broken rear left spring. One end of the spring was about 1/2 inch away from the tire. If this happened on the road, the result could be catastrophic. We have not had the repair done yet.

- Grand Rapids, MI, USA

problem #88

May 052010

Taurus 6-cyl

  • 99,943 miles
2002 Ford Taurus left rear spring broke and punctured tire side wall making tire unrepairable. Right rear spring also broke but not yet touching tire side wall. I do my own repairs and the cost will be approximately $200. Parts will be available if requested.

- Brownstown, MI, USA

problem #87

Feb 142009

Taurus 6-cyl

  • 85,000 miles
Last February I had to replace the 2 front coil springs in my 2002 Ford Taurus after the drives side broke puncturing the tire. The vehicle had about 85,000 miles then, and I was making a right hand turn into a parking lot at about 10 mph. Now my 2 rear coil springs have broke and are in need of replacing. The car has about 114,000 miles, and when the passenger side broke, I was driving about 60 mph.

- Cuyahoga Falls , OH, USA

problem #86

Apr 212010

Taurus

  • 165,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

See EA08018... rear springs both snapped on my 2002 Ford Taurus. Thank god I hadn't made it to the interstate yet. After some research, it appears this extremely common on the 2002 Ford Taurus and that Ford is aware of the chronic nature of this issue. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Overland Park, KS, USA

problem #85

Apr 192010

Taurus

  • 40,673 miles
I just purchased a 2002 Ford Taurus with 40, 673 miles. I had the vehicle safety inspected and revealed that both rear springs were broken. I learned that this is a very common occurrence on the 2002 Taurus, after the fact that I had just purchased the vehicle. My dealer is replacing them at no charge, but I will have to pay to replace the front springs. How can a vehicle with 40,500 miles have broken springs? I am concerned for the safety of my young family driving on the roadways if all the springs are not replaced, and the 2002 Taurus is not recalled.

- Youngstown, OH, USA

problem #84

Apr 172010

Taurus 6-cyl

  • 100,000 miles
Left rear coil spring is broken.

- San Ramon, CA, USA

problem #83

Apr 102010

Taurus

  • 130,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

2002 sel noticed running a little low in the rear, before I took off for my 140 mile drive to the race track (I am a chaplain) I decided to pull one rear tire and take a look at the suspension. Saw no problems, was about to put it all back, when my tire (thanks god) flipped over and I saw a groove. Why would Michelin put a groove like that in the sidewall? I was stumped and thought it looked like it had rubbed, so I started looking - the lower coil of the spring had popped out and was worn shiny from the contact with the tire. I have been driving like that for probably 1000 miles. Went and bought a new strut assemble and now I am trying to get the lower pinch bolt out! then I need to go buy a new tire.

- Monrovia, IN, USA

problem #82

Apr 032010

Taurus 6-cyl

  • 84,000 miles
Both rear springs broke on my 2002 Taurus at the same time. The broken spring also damaged the rear tires. My mechanic would not let me drive the car till it was repaired because the broken springs were sticking into the rear tires.

- New York, NY, USA

problem #81

Apr 012010

Taurus 6-cyl

  • 57,758 miles
The rear driver's side coil snapped, and jetted into the tire, causing air to leak and a circular rut around the entire inside rim of the tire. Left driver and passengers stranded and resulted in almost $600 in repairs.

- Watertown, MA, USA

problem #80

Apr 062010

Taurus

  • 72,000 miles
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. The contact was driving approximately 55 mph when the left coil spring broke. The driver side tire was punctured as a result of the failure. The failure occurred two years ago. Recently, the rear right coil spring broke which was replaced. The contact had concern of the potential safety hazard. The failure and current mileages were 72,000.

- Southdury, CT, USA

problem #79

Apr 012010

Taurus

  • 74,110 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Rear coil springs failed after 74,000 miles. This was discovered during a safety inspection. This failure caused the vehicle to fail the safety inspection and by state law is not driveable until repaired. Springs had split and were partially collapsed. This car is not driven on rough roads, used to tow or carry any heavy loads. The cost to repair was quoted at $635 by a Ford dealership. I believe that these springs failed due to defective or inadequate materials.

- Penfield, NY, USA

problem #78

Mar 012010

Taurus

  • 75,664 miles
Both rear springs on my 2002 Ford Taurus ses broke. The left front spring broke 3 years ago.

- Ebensburg, PA, USA

problem #77

Mar 192010

Taurus 6-cyl

  • 132,000 miles
2002 Ford Taurus. Right rear coil spring broken at base and hung down causing tire damage. Did not puncture tire as broken end was facing away form tire, but possibility of more serious damage existed.

- Saratoga Springs, NY, USA

problem #76

Mar 202010

Taurus 6-cyl

  • 90,930 miles
My son was driving home in his 2002 Taurus, when all of a sudden the passenger side rear tire blew out. Fortunately he was not far from the house and he was able to get the car home. I was upset because I had just replaced all four tires on 1/3/10. As we processed to change the tire, I discovered that the rear coil spring was broken and that is what causing the tire to blow out. I had a similar problem with the coil springs breaking, when I had the tires replaced back in January. The complain number from that incident is 10297845. I was told by this office and by the Ford Motor Co. That they are looking into this problem. Here it is almost 4 months later and I have not heard a thing!!. when is this problem going to be remedied...when someone dies? please get back to me. This office can reach me by phone, [xxx]. information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Bristol, WI, USA

problem #75

Mar 152010

Taurus

  • 128,000 miles
17 year old daughter was pulling out of parking area and front driver-side tire popped on 2002 Ford Taurus. She called aaa and had to have flat tire changed but was informed had to be towed because the coil busted and punctured her tire. Previously in September 2009, we had new tires put on the car and one of the back springs were broken and had to have it repaired before putting on the tires.

- North Ridgeville, OH, USA

problem #74

Oct 012009

Taurus 6-cyl

  • 90,000 miles
Front spring broke and slashed tire. Now, a few months later, the rear spring is broken.

- Johnston, IA, USA

problem #73

Feb 082010

Taurus

  • 87,000 miles
2002 Ford Taurus last month I had to replace both of the rear springs last week I had to replace the rack/pinion today as I just started to drive forward in my driveway, the front right spring broke and pierced the front right tire. I was going so slow in the driveway that the sharp edge of the broken spring started slicing into the tire as if a person were peeling an apple. It scraped into the tire until it pierced through the sidewall. Thank heavens this did not happen at 70mph I have read about the prior recall involving these same parts on the 2001 and earlier Ford Taurus models and on 2003 and earlier Ford Focus models which use the same parts. How in good faith could you believe that these parts were going to just disappear from the face of the earth. Ford continued to use these parts until they were gone and just rolled the dice that they would not be caught by your Agency. You must help the thousands of people out there driving various models of Ford with these same parts this appears to be a very, very common problem with the Ford springs. The events that lead up to the rear springs being defective were a thump when the R/R spring broke and the car dropped a little bit. While the mechanic was replacing it, I had him check the L/R spring at which time he found that one on the verge of cracking. The rack and pinion was leaking and upon further inspection it too was found to be bad. And as I explained above, I was driving out of my driveway at approx 2 mph as I was only going about 20' as I had to stop and pick up my wife who had walked to the mailbox. The rear springs are not available as it was last month. The rack and pinion is going to be returned for the core deposit unless you ask me to keep it. The front springs will be available as I will be changing out the L/F spring also. Please help all of us and possibly prevent a tragic accident.

- Darien, IL, USA

problem #72

Jan 312010

Taurus

  • 153,323 miles
I didnt get into and accident. Went to change my tires, the rear springs were broke. I replaced both sides and spent 800. Took my car into my dealer in January to get my heat fixed and they told me the right front spring was broke. So I had the fix plus the tie rod

- Toledo, OH, USA

problem #71

Feb 042010

Taurus

  • 86,994 miles
2002 Taurus LX driving and rear strut assembly failed spring broke and punctured the tire, vehicle towed for repair. Rear coil springs defective, final cost of new tire and parts and labor on struts approx $875- in repairs.

- Franklin, MA, USA

problem #70

Dec 272009

Taurus

  • 100,100 miles
My 2002 Ford Taurus has broken both rear coil springs. The car is driven in the western New York area all of it's life and has about 100,000 miles. There was no other damage to the vehicle. I have heard of other model years also having this problem. I'm going to replace these to correct this problem, and keep the old parts.

- Holland, NY, USA

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