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.
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 3 mph, the contact heard an unusual spinning noise from the front end of the vehicle; suddenly, the front end collapsed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where they informed that the front passenger side coil spring had completely broken. The technician was in the process of replacing both front coil springs. The failure mileage was approximately 61,000. The VIN was unavailable.
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 5 mph in reverse, the front passenger tire blew out. The tire was replaced by a spare tire and was driven to the dealer. The technicians stated the front passenger side coil was broken and the failure had caused the tire to blow out. The coil and tire were replaced. The failure occurred a second time. The vehicle was making a grinding noise and was taken to the dealer. The technician stated the rear driver side coil had broken and the tire was destroyed. The vehicles coil and tire were replaced. The failure occurred a third time. The contact heard a loud bang from the front of the vehicle. The contact pulled to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where the technicians stated the front driver side coil had broken but the tire was not damaged. The coil was replaced. The manufacturer was not contacted. The VIN was unavailable. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. The contact was attempting to exit a residential driveway when the front passenger side tire exploded. The contact discovered that the coil spring was fractured and punctured the tire. The front coil springs and struts were repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure who advised the contact to take the repair invoice to the dealer for a possible reimbursement. The dealer was contacted who offered neither assistance nor a reimbursement to the contact. The current and failure mileage was approximately 79,000.
Front coil spring broke while backing and ruined new front tire and who knows what else on our 2002 Ford Taurus. Based on the huge number of complaints..why hasn't there been a recall. Our car has 55,000 miles. We live in Minnesota. This is crazy.
The front left coil spring broke and punctured and shredded the tire on my 2002 Ford Taurus wagon. I also had this happen on a 2000 Taurus, this was covered by a recall. Why isn't there a recall on later models. This should be considered a serious safety defect.
- Roseville, MN, USA
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2002 Ford Taurus ses. Front driver side coil spring snapped while sitting in driveway. The spring subsequently punctured the tire upon its failure. There was no warning or cause for concern. The car has 80,000 miles. Had this happened while driving, a crash would have been almost certain.
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that after entering his vehicle, he noticed that the driver side of the vehicle was sitting lower than normal. He went to inspect the vehicle and saw that the coil springs punctured the driver side tire causing it to deflate. The vehicle was then towed to a dealer who informed the contact that he needed to replace the coil springs. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 55,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Christmas morning I was backing out of my driveway when a loud popping noise occurred. It was found that the front drivers side spring has fractured. I was lucky to be at home driving at a low speed. However, this is the second time in 6 months that I have had a spring fracture on me. Back in June 2010 I had the same experience with the right rear spring. The car is currently un-drivable and must be towed to a shop for assessment and repair. Parts will likely need to be replaced and I hope there isn't more damage than needing the spring and potentially the tire replaced. I am writing to make you aware because many other 2002 Ford Taurus owners have experienced the same problem yet the real recall ends with model year 2001 and there is still a defect investigation open on my particular car for this problem.
Broken front spring on 2002 Ford Taurus. Only 40,000 miles on it & it ruined a brand new tire. $700. Repair cost that I couldn't afford but had to have a car, therefore had no choice but have it fixed. Why isn't something done about this problem, repair man said it's common on the Taurus. Has something been done to fix this problem, no one was hurt or killed but it sure could have happened.
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that front suspension coil snapped. The vehicle was sitting in the garage when the contact heard a loud bang. The spring had punctured the front passenger side tire. The vehicle was towed to a local repair shop where the spring with replaced with a used one. The contact called the manufacturer who offered no assistance. The current and failure mileages were 143,282.
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. While driving in reverse at a very low speed she heard a loud popping noise. While examining the vehicle the contact noticed that the drivers side front tire was flat. A spare tire was installed and the vehicle was taken to an independent repair shop where she was told that the front drivers side coil spring fractured. The vehicle was in the process of having both front coil springs replaced. The failure and current mileages were 126,000.
About 5 months ago I filed a complaint about my strut spring breaking and going into tire! I was told that issue is still under investigation! please give me a status! I have friends with same issues, and these cars should be recalled, its obvious that the strut or springs are defective. Im afraid of driving the car and I should not have to pay for this defective part!
Two nights earlier I was in my garage working when I heard a loud bang. I was startled enough to go outside. Believing it was a vehicle that had just driven by I went back to work. That evening my son was going to borrow our 2002 Ford Taurus sel. As he was backing out to leave the front passenger tire blew out. Further investigation revealed the spring snapped in half. You could see by the tire that the spring rubbed a groove on the tire and once he turned the steering wheel the spring tore a huge long hole into the tire. The tires have approx. 20,000 miles on them. I went on-line to see what it takes to replace a spring when I saw a bunch of forums where this has been a fairly common occurrence/problem. I will purchase a new spring and have it installed but actually it seems like the safest thing to do would be to replace them all. I will also keep my receipts for the work if there is ever a recall. It sounds to me like until there are some tragic accidents Ford doesn't see this as a big problem. I just warned a coworker whose wife owns a 2003 Taurus about this and she had one snap a year ago but the tire wasn't punctured. This is crazy!! I can't believe this hasn't been taken care of. Thanks!
On July 18, 2010, while putting my 2002 Ford Taurus into reverse, the coil spring on the front driver's side snapped and punctured my tire. This happened as soon as I took my foot off the brake to begin backing up. I currently have it at a body shop to look into the repair.
My car was parked in a driveway and as I was about to back out my front driver side tire blew. A new tire was purchased and replaced on my car. While attempting to back out again, the brand new tire blew as well. After reaching into the wheel well, we found that the coil spring had broken and punctured the tires. The car showed no signs of upcoming failure prior to this event. It was driving perfectly fine and was just in for an oil change and inspection 3 days prior.
My front passenger coil spring broke and cut a slash in my tire. My husband says we all could have been killed had I been going faster - as in down the highway. My car just missed the recall and Ford won't do anything about it. I'm worried that the back springs will break and we'll all die.
Car was parked, when I went to get into car to go to work, I heard a bang! I went to inquire, I noticed a piece of broken white nylon stabilizer link, then I went to put car in reverse, and the drivers side strut spring went into tire, if I had been driving, a serious accident could have occurred! please help Taurus owners with this problem. Thank you!
When backing out of my driveway my left front tire on my 2002 Taurus exploded. My car has under 64,000 miles on it and my tires were less then 6 months old. The spring broke and cut the tire half way around. I was just stopping to look for traffic when it happened. Had this happened 3 days before I would have been on the freeway with my grandchild. Ford knows of this problem and recalled all cars up to 2001 even though these are the same springs. How needs to die before they fix this. I am afraid to even drive it because I see someone had it happen 2 times. It may cost up to $1,000 to repair it and that is not counting the towing and the new tire.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Candor , NY, USA