2.3

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
66,102 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.

2008 Ford Taurus X drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2008 Ford Taurus X Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #33

Apr 022021

Taurus X

  • miles

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

I bought this vehicle used from a lot. It had 2 previous owners and came with all the service history. I first noticed the vehicle seemed like it didn-€™t want to go into overdrive. It would get to about 70 mph which would have the rpm-€™s at 3k! The 2nd time or so that we got it to these speeds (on interstate) the vehicle suddenly clunked, steering wheel jerked, vehicle lost power - I had my 2 children in the vehicle and I was pregnant. We had to pull over immediately. After sitting side the road for a few, it crunk up and we rode out. Only for it to happen 2 more times. And this is not the only thing effected by this. Not long after I got it, I started noticing a hard shift / clunk / slam when going into gear and especially when the vehicle has just tried to downshift and I pressed the gas again. Due to this, I-€™m unable to tell when and if we can pull out into traffic and such. I must time it good in order to not risk getting T boned etc. Also, with 3 kids in tow, a vehicle slamming their necks and heads is dangerous and scary. So, I-€™ve had some work done on. Trying to help my issue. Apparently my issue is the same as a lot of others. Which is an intermittent issue. And apparently no matter if all the passed recalls were addressed. Or if the owners of the vehicle serviced it often and currant. Or if the pcm was reflashed, replaced etc - the Ford Taurus X will continue to have these issues. And these issues seem to be the same issues that were addressed in the ford recall in 2020 ( which didn-€™t include the Taurus X) and previous recalls. This drivertrain transmission has been an issue for the Taurus X since forever. Please check into this. Last thing we need is whiplash or life flights from this.

- Titusville, FL, USA

problem #32

Dec 232020

Taurus X

  • 162,000 miles
Transmission stuck in high gear while in motion. Can't accelerate from stop to maintain speed. Power cycle fixed. Intermittent issue.

- Brookfield, WI, USA

problem #31

Jul 282020

Taurus X

  • 65,000 miles
Had to shell out $528.06 to replace both the 'input & output shift senors' in the vehicle. Repair involved removing the valve body on the transmission for access. Majority of the cost involve the labor to reach this area on trans. A month earlier trans locked up in low gear, dash lights were flashing? shut off engine & restarted. Ran ok then. Safety issue! recall is in order!

- Dearborn Heights, MI, USA

problem #30

Mar 252020

Taurus X

  • 1 miles

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

Transmission is slipping and wont change gears

- Youngstown, FL, USA

problem #29

Feb 172019

Taurus X

  • 77,000 miles
When vehicle gets between 40-45 mph, will not gear up properly and will not run correctly. Only does this intermittently, and you have to stop the car, unhook battery cable, give it a minute, hook it back up and it will run fine until the next time it does it- which could be days, weeks, even months.

- Cadiz, KY, USA

problem #28

Feb 032018

Taurus X

  • 95,836 miles
While stopped at a traffic light the vehicle just took off and I couldn't get car to stop until I put it in neutral while applying the break. Mechanic could not find a reason for this and it doesn't happen all the time.since other people have had the same or similar problem seems like a recall problem to me. Car tries to drive itself!!!

- Cookeville, TN, USA

problem #27

Oct 202017

Taurus X

  • miles

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

We have been complaining since 2016 to ted britt Ford and to Ford about the transmission and the jerking, popping, slipping, especially while turning, and they told us that they could not duplicate the problem. This is not the first time we complained. At one point the service tech told us that slipping, jerking, and popping from the transmission was normal for the Taurus X. on 10/20/2017, we broke down on a very busy road. We were driving the car when all of a sudden the car started to buckle and choke. Then we had smoke billowing from the rear of the vehicle. We turned off the engine and turned on the flashers. We found out that the antifreeze reservoir was empty. Something is clearly wrong with this vehicle and Ford does not want to correct it. We were forced to buy this car because we believe that ted britt sabotaged our 2003 Ford Windstar LX. Ted britt sabotaged our Windstar through disconnecting the vacuum line that fed the heating and ac. We went for three years freezing in the winter and boiling hot in the summer. They did not want to reconnect that line for our heat and ac. They disassembled a lot of our Windstar and threw everything in the back of our van onto the cloth seats. Dashboard, cowl, grill, hood was off the van, tires, brake lines, engine parts, and other parts were thrown onto our cloth back seats. They made our tan seats black with the road grime and grease. Then they decided to ask us if we wanted our van back. That was very rude. We had just cleaned those seats. Now we are having problems with the 2008 Ford Taurus X. we had to call the police and our auto insurance to help us out. We filed an insurance claim to get the vehicle towed and we had to take a taxi to work.

- Reston, VA, USA

problem #26

Aug 202017

Taurus X

  • miles
The acceleration speeds up on its on. The electric components mis charge.

- St Petersburg, FL, USA

problem #25

Aug 072017

Taurus X

  • 57,945 miles
The Ford Taurus X has 57,945 miles on it. Two times while driving the vehicle on the interstate highway the dash showed all zeros and the car lost power. The check engine light came on. The car exhibited slow acceleration and unusual shifting. I took it and had the obd code read. The code indicated that it was a speed sensor in the transmission (P720). The code was reset and the car is currently being driven. It happened twice within a two-week period. I own two 2008 Ford Taurus and it happened on the same day to both of them. I will be filing incident information on the other vehicle too.

- Zionsville, IN, USA

problem #24

Jul 152016

Taurus X

  • 165,000 miles
W driving at all different speeds the transmission will jump. The little wrench light will come on the code is P0715. Tss sensor. The rpms will go up once this happens and the light is on, at this point there is no power and I was almost hit by a truck while all my family was in car. If I stop and turn the car off the light will reset its self. This is a very dangerous thing. My whole family could have been killed. Ford knows this is a very common thing in this transmission. It should be recalled before someone gets killed

- Horse Cave, KY, USA

problem #23

Jul 052016

Taurus X

  • 110,000 miles

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

While at a stop sign or traffic light withmy foot on the brake the vehicle accelerated independently without warning. I have almost been thrown into traffic due to the independent accelerated. After this happening sevral times and phone calls to the dealer and then taking the car into the dealer.the Ford dealer stated they have seen this alot and the problem was in the throddel body. However, I had to still pay $700 to have their known problem fixed. Car mileage 113,000.

- Crawfordville, FL, USA

problem #22

Apr 072016

Taurus X

  • 153,000 miles
The contact owns a 2008 Ford Taurus X. while driving at any speed, all of the warning lights illuminated and the acceleration failed. When the battery was disconnected and reconnected, the failure went away for approximately two months. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was driven to the dealer where it was diagnosed that there was an issue with the transmission sensors. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was approximately 153,000.

- Charlottesville, VA, USA

problem #21

Jul 162013

Taurus X

  • 60,808 miles
Problem 1, paint peeling off hood and rough metal under problem 2, transmission began failing while under warrenty, dealership could not get any codes to show problem this, has continued to present. Was notifed this week by dealer that transmission needs replaced, but because every time you turn off the car the codes reset. Ford Motor Company and the dealer do not want to assist in the repairs of over $4500. Bought extended warranty to 75,000 miles and problem first documented on there forms was at 60,000 miles. While driving the car would down shift and jerk. Happened several time and each time took to dealer they could not find a problem. On several occasions the car would not go in reverse but after turning car off and restarting it would.

- Bethalto, IL, USA

problem #20

Jan 292016

Taurus X 6-cyl

  • 86,000 miles
Ongoing transmission upshift problems. Upon leaving the driveway first thing, or soon after coming to a stop and trying to accelerate again the transmission at times refuses to up shift then slams into gear at high RPM. Dealer/other mechanics have not been able to duplicate although there are 2 tsb on these 6F50 transmissions. Worse in colder months and somewhat random. Besides the cumulative damage this is doing we are worried that the transmission may fail entirely at the exact wrong time (waiting to turn left in an intersection, waiting to enter highway etc) resulting in serious injury. Researching online, this is a common problem for this transmission type ( see www.fordtaurus.net/forums/viewtopic.php?F=30&T=15703&start=80 ) and especially the 2008 Taurus X model year. The 2008 Ford Taurus X was a design refresh of the Ford freestyle, which was later dropped by Ford in 2009. Since there are fewer models on the road there are fewer datapoints--but it is a common problems amongst the owners (again please see the link). A common thread online is that any repairs at the dealer are not effective (PCM reflash tsb 08-26-13; tss, oss sensor replacement tsb 07-21-11 ) and the only fix is a $6000 transmission replacement upon total mechanical failure. Clearly, there is a engineering design flaw that is a safety issue in a critical component--the power train. Please investigate. Thank you. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Mount Prospect, IL, USA

problem #19

Dec 082015

Taurus X

  • 64,000 miles
There is an intermittent problem with the transmission that has happened about 4-5 times in the past 14 months. When pulling onto a road from a stationary position (like from a driveway or gas station), the transmission had a horrible grinding sound, the vehicle would jerk around for a couple seconds and the gas pedal would not work. It felt as if there were rocks in the transmission. Then, after several seconds, it would be back to normal. I tried taking it to the pegues hurst dealership but since they could not duplicate the issue, even though the vehicle is still under warranty, they say they could not do anything about it. The Taurus X has about 64,000 miles on it currently. It most recently happened on about December 7th 2015. If this happens again while pulling into traffic, it could easily cause an accident since the vehicle loses power for several seconds.

- Diana, TX, USA

problem #18

May 052012

Taurus X

  • 76,000 miles
For the past 2-3 year, when attempting to turn the steering wheel left or right, vehicle looses power steering. Took the car into Ford dealership, while under warranty, and was repeatedly told by service tech, mechanic did not notice a problem. Vehicle shudders when backing up and struggles to shift gears when accelerating on highway. ABS brake system kicks in for no apparent reason when driving. Grinding noise coming from rear wheel on drivers side when driving the vehicle. Took car to mechanic and was told no power steering, need ball bearing replacement and need new/ rebuilt transmission. Completely disgusted as the car is only 7 years old. Why cant similarly situated owners of the Ford Taurus-X seem to get the NHTSA to take any real action on our behalf? I'm confused. Please help!!!

- Gaithersburg, MD, USA

problem #17

Nov 012013

Taurus X

  • 160,000 miles
We bought our Taurus X used in 2013. Drove around fine for a month or two, would notice that occasionally it would buck as it shifted from 2-3 or 3-4; then would drive 'funny' until the car was shut off and then started back up; the speedometer would fluctuate and when accelerating the speedometer would drop even as we were increasing speed. If using cruise control on the highway it would go exceedingly fast as a result. This happened off and on for most of a year, we would just shut the car off and turn it back on and would be good to go. Could not recreate it, but would happen at least once a week. Last fall, the transmission finally cooked as a result. Now the car will only drive in reverse and 1st, when it shifts into 2nd, it loses power like the gear won't fully engage. Almost got smacked at a red light when this first occurred, since I was halfway through the intersection and lost power. Mechanic drained and flushed the tranny, he said the fluid was cooked. He tried an additive, but it was ineffective. Needs a new tranny. Been sitting since then, a replacement tranny with labor is at least 5K, and the car is only worth about that in perfect condition.

- Middletown, PA, USA

problem #16

Sep 292014

Taurus X 6-cyl

  • 84,000 miles
This vehicle was shifting incorrectly on a busy hwy...from second to third. And slammed into gear eventually, extremely hard causing me to jerk the vehicle to the side. Took it to the dealer they supposedly fixed it. Doing the same thing took it back and they will not fix it because it will not throw a code. I got online and found several blogs about having the same issues and not throwing a code. It does all of this totally random. Several people have brought up the fact of being on a major hwy or interstate and this being extremely dangerous to them or their family. Someone will get hurt, this is an ongoing problem that dealers won't fix. Same transmission is used in several Chrysler and they are having the same troubles. This is very dangerous and the dealers, warranty company, and Ford keep playing the blame game and passing the buck. This can be as big as the toyato's that kept accelerating and killed a bunch of people.

- Enterprise, KS, USA

problem #15

Oct 122014

Taurus X 6-cyl

  • miles
I have a 2008 Ford Taurus X, it jerks intermittently, but there is never a specific speed - it jerks at take off, at low speeds, high speeds, there were 2 incidents and it was just for a moment that the vehicle seemed to have lost power no brake, no gas, no steering and I almost went out into traffic ( I was coming out of a parking lot). I called the dealer I bought it from because I thought it was the brakes and took it in they checked the brakes and found nothing wrong. The second "loss" of power was again in a parking lot at an incline I started rolling back and a couple of jerks the vehicle regained power, the check engine light would never come one, as the jerking kept happening and the 2 incidents of loss of power, I took it to a Ford dealer and they said they will charge me $100 but if the check engine light is has not on, they will not find anything because the computer records mishaps and will indicate a record by lighting up. Then my transmission clutch fell apart and had to have that replaced on 9/22/14. I thought that must have been the issue with the jerking but was going out of town yesterday 10/12/14 and accelerated to pass an 18 wheeler and my vehicle jerked really hard and continue a couple more times after that. I had to drive 65mph on a 75 mph, and not accelerate to much to fast.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #14

Aug 152014

Taurus X 6-cyl

  • 94,095 miles
When U put the car in reverse or in drive it hesitates to move and it jerks.

- Philadelphia , PA, USA

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