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:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
23,748 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.
I have a 2002 Taurus. When the engine is warmed, exhaust fumes come in the ventilation system, (heater or A/C). The fumes are overcoming. No sound of a leak and no help from any repair place.
Sept 18, 2001 we purchased a new 2002 Ford Taurus. In one day radiator hose popped off. Thirty days after the firs repair the hose popped off again. The dealer wanted to replace the engine to correct the problem. On 10-29-01 the car started to make a hiss noise and smoke would come from the front end when it was parked or turned off. The vehicle was taken to the dealer dirks motors. They asked if the could replace the engine again and we said no. We left the car and they told us they would let us know but we did not hear nothing from them, when we would call to ask them what was going to happen they did not know at all. On 11-5-01 the car was returned to us and with leaving the service center and not being less then 20 miles from akron, Iowa the car got hot and started to smoke and I called dirks service center on my cell phone and told them I was bring it back and this time I wanted the car replaced no questions.. but the car was taking back and they looked over it and they did not call us at all while it was in service, we called everyday to see if they knew what was wrong with it and the funny thing about it was the car was at dirks motor Inc from 11-5-01 to 11-16-01 and they could not find nothing wrong. On 11-16-01 this would have been the 4th time this car had been serviced and it was getting old.. on 12-27-02 the car started the hissing noise and short cuts on and the cd player stopped working and that was it.. I called the Ford company at 1-800-392-3673. While talking with the call center they called dirks service center and edu'd them to have the cd player replaced and look at the engine. This car has been service for the same issue more then 3 to 4 times.. we wanted the car replaced.... we rec'd a call back from Ford call center (natalie) and she edu'd to me they were going to order a new cd player and have the car looked at to see about getting the car replaced. Steve irwin afitchboy1@iw.net P# (605) 761-0268
I bought my car new in Nov 01. I noticed a stale smell and complained to the dealer and they changed a filter. Two days later the smell was back. This month, after a heavy rain, there was 1 1/2 inches of water on my passenger floor and water in my heater blower which within a matter of minutes killed my blower on all positions but high. I called Ford and they said there was no recalls on my vehicle. I did some research and found that my car was manufactured in Oct 01 and there was a recall on the windshield. I took the car to the dealership and they told me it was probably not the windshield put a design flaw and they had a kit that would fix the problem and they would put a new blower in. I informed them that I was not going to pay anything for this they said they would contact the rep. I scheduled an appointment and in the meantime called Ford and told them that I was not paying for it because it was a design flaw. I talked with gloria and she took all the information and she told me that she would advise the dealership and also throw in a carpet shampoo and deordorizer treatment. When I picked my car up I was charged $36.66 for a consumer co-pay and I had to pay it or I could not have my car.
Car was driven for approx. 100 miles, gas was low, so stopped to refill. When car was restarted, the car hesitated then sounded choked like it was not getting gas. Revved car to try to 'clear' system. Problem continued, at worst when idling. After a few minutes, engine light came on, so I turned off the car and called Ford dealer. Wrecker driver came out, revved car a few more times (approx. 3000 RPM) small backfire out of muffler each time. Problem seemed to go away. Wrecker driver blamed 'baffles' in muffler? drove car another 200 miles home. Three days later, after driving a bit, parked for short time then restarted car, same problem reoccurred.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Whitehall, PA, USA