I PURCHASED MY 2008 FORD TAURUS SEL ABOUT 2 MONTHS AGO @135,XXX ON IT. TRANNY HAD LOW FLUID WHEN I BOUGHT IT WHICH GAVE A POP IN THE ENGINE WHEN ACCELERATING. LOCATED THE CORRECT TRANNY FLUID AND HAD IT APPLIED AND WEEKS LATER IT'S SHIFTING HARD AGAIN. WHEN I CHECK THE TRANSMISSION FLUID IT IS ONCE AGAIN LOW, NOT EVEN A MONTH LATER. THERE'S NO CODES POPPING UP ON MY DASHBOARD AND NO MECHANIC SEEMS TO FIND THE REAL ISSUE ON WHATS GOING ON. BEFORE I EVEN DARE PUT MONEY INTO THIS CAR WHICH PURCHASED FOR A FEW THOUSAND DOLLARS I NEED TO KNOW IF IT'S WORTH FIXING THIS PROBLEM. IF NOT, IT'S JUST TAKING A COMPLETE LOST IN A VEHICLE. MAN I ALWAYS KNEW FORDS WERE PIECES OF CRAP. PLEASE HELP ME OUT. I DON'T WANT TO LOSE ANYMORE MONEY IF IT'S NOT WORTH IT.

Very disappointing. At only 64,000 miles the transmission fluid began leaking - primarily only while driving so I didn't notice. The fluid kept going low and the transmission would jolt and slip out of gear. I'd fill up the fluid, then it'd leak down to a level where the transmission began to fail again. Mechanic confirmed it's a common problem for a ridiculous Ford design where they cool the transmission fluid through the same place as the a/c condenser...or something like that. The leak occurs right on the radiator so the fluid clogs up the entire radiator grill too. It'll be about $700- $1000 to fix. Haven't received the estimate yet - they are searching for parts at the moment. I am out of warranty which ended at 50,000 miles. Now we can see why they put the warranty at this level - they know their cars wont last any longer. Ridiculous quality. At least they could recall and fix this design flaw that otherwise takes advantage of honest working Americans who shouldn't have to pay for such major problems so early in the life of a car. But hey, life is good even though Ford is not. :-)

Update from Jan 5, 2013: So, the $900 repair is done. My transmissions no longer leaks. The mechanic noted taht sometime back around 2007 or 2008 (maybe earlier), Ford began a poor engineering practice of combining the transmission fluid cooling system with the air conditioner cooling system. The transmission fluid is run through part of the a/c system to cool it down. As a result, it often leaks in Fords built this way. So, I had to buy an entirely new air conditioning compressor in order to stop the transmission fluid leak. Go figure! So, thanks for the poor design Ford. Your poor design cost me $900 and probably much more given the weat this caused on my transmission. A new transmission costs about $6000 on a Ford Tarus X. This is why people often choose to buy foreign not USA because USA often doesnt know how to build and test with quality anymore.

Noticed a puddle of transmission fluid under the front passenger side of the vehicle. The dealer diagnosed the problem as a bad transmission seal, estimating that it could take a month to make the repair due to upwards of 3,000 vehicles necessitating the part.

Allegedly there is a large backlog on the transmision seal availability. We purchased this vehicle less than a year ago brand new. We are paying for a car that we cannot drive for an entire month.

If this problem affects 3,000 vehicles as of now, why hasnt Ford issued a recall, or at the very least a TSB. We are very disappointed in this product and seriously doubt any future Ford purchases.

leased a ford taurus limited edition AWD with the possible intention to purchase the vehicle at the end of the lease term. Six months previously we noticed that when the car was shifting from first to second gear the car was jerking. The transmission was not shifting smoothly. We had the car serviced by ford as was told the problem was rectified. Now we have an issue regarding the transmission leaking transmission fluid on the manifold and recirculating an odor through the vents. We were notified by a representative for ford employed in the service department that there are no parts in North America available and that a part that will be replaced will only be a temporary solution. The car has been sitting at the dealership for three weeks and no employee at ford knows when the car will be repaired. I am paying for a car i cannot DRIVE.