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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...

8.0

pretty bad
Typical Repair Cost:
$1,030
Average Mileage:
83,800 miles
Total Complaints:
4 complaints

Most Common Solutions:

  1. not sure (2 reports)
  2. repair springs (1 reports)
  3. replace real coil spring, struts, tires and alignment (1 reports)
2003 Ford Taurus suspension problems

suspension problem

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2003 Ford Taurus Owner Comments

problem #4

Jun 212016

Taurus 3.2L V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 126,956 miles

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

We took the car in for a VA State Safety Inspection and the car was rejected for safety. The inspector stated that he never saw a car that had 2 broken coil springs and he did not know how we were not killed going when driving on the interstate or taking on and off ramps. To make matters worse, Ford not only uses coil springs on the rear of the car, but inside the coil springs the car has a strut located on both left and right side which also was an additional charge to replace, additional labor charge, the tires were trashed and then a complete care alignment was needed. We also took the car to a second shop to get another estimate and to seek their guidance, the mechanic and shop owner agreed with the state safety inspector and said that our safety was highly compromised and they were also surprised to find both coil springs broken on a car garaged and driven in a city/highway environment.

- Edgar B., Williamsburg, VA, US

problem #3

Oct 152008

Taurus SE V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 50,000 miles

In 2007 I took my car into the FORD dealership for its maintenance and was informed I had a rear broken spring due to rust. I did not have it fixed at the time because of the recession and lack of work/income. The dealership told me I could drive it with a broken spring as long as I didn't become air born. The coil broke and slipped into the groove.

In October 2010 I was backing out of a driveway and heard a loud noise like I had backed into another vehicle, but didn't know the cause. After that I kept hearing a loud noise coming from the back when I was making turns. Not so much when driving on a smooth straight roadway. I stopped at a repair shop and was informed the sway bars had broken and the other spring had broken and again had rusted and fell into a groove. I am able to drive it, but it does have noise. I did have the sway bars fixed.

I am getting the springs repaired this week. I needed to wait so I could come up with the $450 repair. I already had to fork out $100 last month for the sway bars. I am on a fixed income. In all my years of FORD car ownership I have never encountered two rear springs breaking/rusting. Most of my cars had more mileage on the cars also. I believe this is poor quality parts. Now reading other comments I realize many others are having the same problems. I now worry that I will be driving and the front coils could puncture a tire. I sure hope not. I wasn't aware there was or could be spring/coil problems in front.

- schenk, Milan, OH, US

problem #2

Sep 222011

Taurus SEL 3.2L V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 83,222 miles

Took car in for thumping in rear, dealership said one spring had broken and the other was about to. We agreed to repair cost but they only half assed fixed the problem. I also need struts put on , GUESS WHAT?? the springs fit inside the struts, the rip off GARY CROSSLY FORD IN KC.MO. knew that the struts were bad. There is a kit, called "quick strut kit" and both the struts and springs come together as one piece. They just expect the consumer to bring the car back under their "so called warranty for the springs" and they tell you the springs are fine but you need struts now, then charge you for more labor and parts ETC............................................................................!

I'm sick of it! NO MORE FORDS, this is a defective part and ford knows it!

- Cindy B., Kansas City, MO, US

problem #1

Jul 022007

(reported on)

Taurus SEL 3.6L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 75,000 miles

Both of my rear coil springs broke on this piece of sh*t. Ford says no recalls but talking to repair shops say they replace tons of these ford sucks and I will never buy another one! SUCK my ford!

- tjc, Farwell, MI, US

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