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...
9.1
really awful
Typical Repair Cost:
$1,930
Average Mileage:
93,200 miles
Total Complaints:
340 complaints
Most Common Solutions:
replace transmission (157 reports)
not sure (81 reports)
replace torque converter (37 reports)
sitting in drive way trying to figure something out (33 reports)
rebuilt the transmission replacing only failed parts (20 reports)
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration - The more of us that call or go online and file a complait about this issue with Ford Taurus Transmissions The better chance we have of getting this taken care of by the responsible manufacturer. Also even if you already fixed your car if a Recall is issued then Ford will have to reimburse you for the cost Just Save All Reciepts. Also I not sure If we all stand to gether
my and my children were driving our 2003 taurus. it slipped out of gear and won't move at all but I can shift but wont go anywhere. turns on and off fine, just wont drive.
Have a 2003 Ford Taurus while leaving a parking lot yesterday, transmission just stopped, car would rev up but go nowhere. There were no warning signs just replaced electronic spark, wires, and plugs car was running great. After a 80$ tow and an evaluation from my personal Mech he says its "toast" 1,800-2,000$ for rebuilt one or 1,000$ for used around 100,000
the car only has 125,000 miles on it with value of car factored...
My Parents and I bought our 2003 Ford Taurus's new together at the same dealer at the same time. in March this year (2012) their transmission completely failed with no warning while driving. they had 88,000 miles. cost them $1750 to repair.
June 8th this year, three months later, my transmission completely failed while driving. I had 82,000 miles. Same exact thing. Same shop practically reprinted my parents bill and gave it to me $1750.
This is positively a defect. FORD needs to take some responsibility. Our family is historically Ford people. Sadly I don't think Ford will own up and contribute something, half? In order to keep a customer. We will never buy a Ford again.
The car had 16,000 miles on it when I got it. Has been a pain in the ass since then. Was driving to work one morning, stopped at a traffic light and when I went to take off, nothing. Managed to get it to the emergency lane and finally got it towed a couple hours later. Had roughly 88,000 on it when the transmission went out, and now the engine is using oil. And yes, I have routinely changed the oil and everything that goes along with that. Safe to say I will never own another Ford
It makes me feel better to know that 226 other people have had problems with a 2003 Ford Taurus transmission. You can consider me Number 227! Others of you have the right idea, hopefully we can get a lawsuit filed against Ford!
- Jeff B.,
Logan, UT, US
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Transmissions should not be this expensive (nearly $2000) for this old of a car - especially if the manufacturer knows there is a problem. This is a blatant example of a company over charging customers.
Had a Taurus wagon that lasted for 300,000 miles; bought a 2003 Ford Taurus new and while driving to work yesterday, it just died out. Found out it needs a new transmission - only 69,000 miles on it and taken the best care of. Wish I still had my old wagon that never had a problem.... Won't buy another Taurus....
I got up this morning drove to the gas station and went back home. I got back in the car 5 minutes later and drove off a few minutes later the car stopped moving while I was going up a small hill and started going in reverse and would not go in gear. I pushed it to my house and it is sitting. I had a mechanic look at it and he said the transmission gears went out. Where is the RECALL for this ridiculous failure of the transmission with no warning?
no warning,i was driving down us-10, on my way back from my aunt's funeral, with my mother in the car. i started loosing speed, no matter how much i stepped on the gas the car wouldn't go. i steered the car to the side of the road & called a wrecker. which toed me to my ford dealer. i'll find out Monday what the problem is...I'm not very happy. i hear Subaru's are pretty dependable
I was driving 65 miles an hour down the highway and the car stopped going forward, the more gas I applied, well nothing. It just started coasting, no forward drive motion so I pulled over, well steered over, to the side of the road. Once there, I had no forward gear and no reverse gear, I waited only 20 min. after a call to AAA for John's towing to come and get me, very scary as traffic was whizzing by at 65 to 75 mph with little shoulder to be stopped on, as it was on an incline on a major US highway on a slight curve. There was no warning no indication that there was a transmission and or torque converter problem, upon further research on the internet I find out many many as in the thousands of consumers have had issues with 2001 2002 2003 Taurus / Sable transmissions under 80000 miles. They go just like that, one minute you have a solid driving transmission the next nothing. Ford should have acknowledged this long ago and recalled these faulty transmissions. This car has been properly serviced and maintained with all recommended services by authorized Ford or service centers to present day.
Was on my way to take my son to the hospital for an ultrasound for possible gullstones, stopped at a stop sign, began to make a left hand turn, engine would not engage. Luckily my husband was with me & he was able to safely push us off the side of the road. Needless to say we did not make the appointment & was stranded on the side of the road for nearly an hour before we was able to find someone to pick us up. Had the car towed to a mechanic only to find out the transmission was going to need to be replaced then had to pay another tow fee to have it towed home because we could not afford to have it fixed. No warning what so ever, have had the car for almost three yrs & never any kind of indication of transmission problems. Could not believe it when I got online & seen SO many complaints about the same problem. What is even more troubling is that Ford isn't doing anything about it! Thank God I have not read any complaints, yet, of injuries or deaths caused by this problem.Unfortunetly I guess thats what has to happen before Ford wakes up & does something. Have never had much luck with Ford vehicles but this one takes the cake. I will never own another Ford!!
My husband and I bought this car for my son to get back and forth to college . We own two other ford vehicles including a 2002 Taurus that has 170,000 miles and never had any complaints just the normal maintenance. We haven't even had this car a year and already spent almost $2,000.00 to replace tie-rod ends, front struts, axle shafts, front wheel bearing etc. Of course the dealer offered no warranty on it but they said it they checked it out and there were no issues. We also looked up the car fax reports and didn't see any major issues. While driving to school this past Friday, my son passed through the intersection and tried to accelerate and nothing- he pulled to the side of the road and walked home. AAA towed the car to my driveway where it now sits. Car starts, don't go nowhere- REALLY Ford knew about this problem and never had a recall- I used to stand by Ford vehicles and their quality- now I'm not so sure and being one of many loyal customers for years I believe that they should take responsibility for this problem and fix it at no cost to the customers. Now I have to sink another $2,000.00 or more dollars into it- it cost me more to fix then it was to purchase- that is some serious bullshit!! I will be filing complaints to Ford and NHTSA!! In this economy with gas prices rising and people losing jobs , nobody has this kind of money to fix what apparently has been this model years' problem and Ford knew about it. I would like to continue to buy American vehicles but it is becoming harder to do so with outrageous prices and money it costs to fix- it's no wonder our car industry is going to sh*t!!! Stand up and do what is right FORD!!!!!!!
I was disappointed that I had to spend so much money on repairs for this car. This was the last major repair. I got a rebuilt transmission with a one year warrantee. Going into year two and its still holding up. At present its making a lot o noise. Now I think its the muffler thats gone.
Had the cruise control set at 70, going down the interstate, and all of the sudden the engine popped, the RPMs went sky-high making this horrible high-rev sound, and then that's it - no control, no gas, no nothin'. Just coasting in neutral, 5 miles from the nearest exit in the middle of nowhere. Took hours to walk / get help. Got devoured by mosquitos. Glad the wife & kids weren't with me...
Mechanic said it looked like my transmission "exploded" and was surprised there was no fire or more serious control issues associated with it. Said I was lucky. Easy to say when you get a $2000 check to completely replace 200 parts, huh?
I was coming from work headed to pick my kids up after stopping to get 30.00 worth of gas for only 6 and a half gallons (just thought I would throw that in there) luckly i was on one of the back roads I stopped at a stop sign and as soon as I took off the car made a sound like it was in neutral when Iooked down and seen it was in drive I tried to keep going and It would barely move so I had to coast into a church parking lot that was nearby it gave me no warning whatsoever my dad has a trailer n came n picked it up so luckly I didnt have to pay for a tow but as for the solution I havent found that out yet but I will be using those numbers to complain I didnt realize until reading these complaints that this problem existed with so many Fords thanks for the info everybody
63,000 miles, failed transmission. Always took care of it, kept up on fluids and maintenance. UNACCEPTABLE. Drove about an hour on the highway, got off the highway, stopped at a red light. Light turned green, transmission was dead. Same thing happened with an older Ford Taurus I owned. I will never buy anything from Ford again.
Same thing happened to me!! Transmission is a piece of JUNK. Got stranded on the interstate .. My 2003 Taurus just coasted to the side of the road. No drive ..no reverse..and all with no warning what-so-ever. I only have 64K miles on it !!
THAT'S RIGHT! AFTER JUST OVER 30,000 MILES ON THE ODOMETER, MY 2003 FORD TAURUS SE, DIED ON THE FREEWAY OF TRANSMISSION FAILURE.
THE DEALER'S SERVICE DEPARTMENT SAID THAT SINCE THE SERVICE WARRANTY EXPIRED 2-MONTHS PRIOR, THEY ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY REPAIR. I WROTE FORD CORP....NOTHING. THEY DID NOT NEED A GOVERNMENT BAIL OUT BECAUSE OF IGNORING FORD CUSTOMER'S NEEDS.
REALLY! THIS WAS ONE OF FORD'S WORST YEARS FOR TRANSMISSION FAILURES. RATHER THAN RECALLING THIS PROBLEM, THEY WOULD RATHER RUN TV ADS TO ATTRACT A NEW GROUP OF SUCKERS.
THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF US OUT THERE WITH THIS TRANNY PROBLEM. HAS ANY ONE STARTED A CLASS ACTION YET? I WANT TO JOIN!
I bought this piece of sh*t new. For what I paid for this car, I feel this should not have happened. Ford claims they had no knowledge of this problem with the 03 taurus, but I know they're full of sh*t and a lot of other things. FMC should be should make good for this,
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
my and my children were driving our 2003 taurus. it slipped out of gear and won't move at all but I can shift but wont go anywhere. turns on and off fine, just wont drive.
- Sophia G., baltimore, MD, US