2003 FORD Taurus

The air intake developed a hole that was melted thru, i replaced the plenum and air control parts that were melted. The car developed a stumble on acceleration and loss of power which continued even after the plenum and associated parts were replaced.
Please help me fix this problem.

As 03 Taurus was being driven on a busy suburban roadway the car would not move forward in drive as acceleration attempts failed , the car was coasted to make a right turn, as not to obstruct traffic and further pushed to a school entrance to avoid large dump truck traffic, further attempts to engage transmission were unsuccessful ,and the car was towed to our home till we can afford the transmission to be repaired. There was transmission fluid coming out of the trans dipstick at times prior to the failure .

Transmission failed while driving, without any warning whatsoever.

On 9/9/2013 I was driving at highway speed on a busy freeway and I had a sudden transmission failure . I had the car towed to a reapir shop and they thold me they suspected that the torque converter had failed after asking me if there were any warning signs of an issue . I did not have any issues prior to the failure. My research on the issue revealed that many others have reported the same failure with the same transmission and that some were is similar dangerous situations

Car driving fine, then one day starts to cut off while driving. The next day drove fine. Got up next morning and no movement whatsoever. Park works, but as if in neutral in other gears. Wrote Ford and said there is no recalls on the problem. I see there is over 130 complaints with the NHTSA for the same problem. Ford service techs know of the problem here, but said Ford hasn’t agreed to help with the problem.

While I was driving on my way to work the speed sensor in the tranny gave out, this caused the engine to overrev in every gear which caused the water pump bearing to overheat. This caused the engine, a 3.8L, to overheat blowing a head gasket to blow which cracked a pistion. This is the reason I needed to have the engine replaced. I was told that the main bearing on my A/C compressor went out at the same time but couldn\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’t aford to repair until June, 2002.

Transmission failed. Will not move when put into any drive or reverse gear. Not sure of problem as of yet. Looking for ideas

Transmissiion total failure with no notice.almost causing rear end accident in major intersection.All engine mounts were also replaced due to cracking of rubber.This vehicle has lived in arizona and has been well maintained by myself and never in accident.I have old parts to prove the transmission was not abused.

Three authorized Ford Repair facilities made 5 attempts to fix or repair an inaccurate fuel guage on a 2003 Taurus SE Sedan with no luck. All new parts were replaced from one end to the other to no avail. Ford Motor Company states there is no current fix, but they were working on one. This was as of 06/18/03.

The fan blower and switch do not work. We bought the 2003 car with 28000 miles. We are at 52000. I called Murrays Auto Supply and they couldn\’t believe it. They said they would not carry that part yet, that it should be on recall.

seatbelts fall apart,numerous attempts to pass emission tests,still gets real bad milage,won\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’t warm up.runs rich

Replaced torque converter due to splines being stripped out

No warning-no slippage-no nosie-zip-just went to accelerate to pass a car and NO TRANSMISSION!!

My Head gasket failed on my 3.8L engine. I hear from mechnics that this is a frequent problem. Some 3.8L model years were recalled but not this model year.

My car is a 1993 Ford Taurus SHO 3.2 v6.It will not shift out of first gear. It tries to shift to second gear but free wheels.

My air bags deployed for no reason, smashing my windshield and blowing my passenger window out of the track. My car filled with smoke which has affected my eyes. Ford Motor Company says they will not cover the cost of replacing the air bags at a cost of $2,300. Duthler Ford cannot guarantee that it will not happen again unless we put this amount into it. I feel that they should stand behind their prodruct!

I was informed by my Ford Dealer when I went to get my oil changed and tires rotated that my vehicle was pretty sludged up and that the engine needed to be flushed. I had it flushed. Now 6-7 months after they FLUSHED my engine I need a new engine because of sludge build up. It\’s going to cost me $6,000 for a new engine. (inc. labor)I have found out now after the fact, That flushing your engine can be very harmful to your engine. If the person that is doing the flushing does not get all of the debre that was flushed out, out of the engine, there\’s a 50/50 chance you could damage your engine. Why was I not told this? I would have never gotten it flushed. I know the Service manage must have know this. Why are they allowed to do this to people. You can ask, as I\’ve asked, too much sludge in the engine should not be flushed there are other ways to remove it, and a lot cheaper than $6,000. I believe there must be more people out there that this has happened to. What can I do. . . $220. 00 per month and can\’t even drive it.

failure of torque converter, cheaper for dealer to replace entire transmission. After 2 mos., car symptomatic again-rough shifting-esp. at 42 MPH. Should I sell this car quick??!!

Engine misfires & stalling. Engine revs on start after sitting for a few hours. Engine speeds up and surges. Took in for repairs on warranty told no codes found nothing wrong talked me into a trans flush while doing that found bad fuel pump replaced that and charged me 333.00 for trans flush Problem not solved, a week later took car back in told no codes found, told to drive car till a code popped and then they could fix it. Called a week later, same problem told by service manager, because I did not buy car from them, they couldn\’t help me any more. We complained that Ford states any dealer would fix factory warranty, and I would need a loaner car, they said they had no loaners available they would call when one came in. I haven\’t heard from Al Pemonte Ford of Melrose Park Illinois again. Took car to Willowbrook Ford/Kia and they took the car supplied a loaner, said PCV valve bad, replaced it and all was ok. Drove for about a week and check engine light came on, took back they said fuel cap loose , tightened that and reset computer. Drove home and original problems started all over again. Waited a week and took back, they had tech test drive with me he said this is how they car drives and if I wanted I could drive a model from their lot and show me my car was 100 percent ok. Went home drove sister

09/17/04 transmission was shuddering during acceleration and not shifting properly especially in school zones. vehicle would lurch forward while brakes applied at stop sign or stoplight. 10/04/04 transmission continued to jerk and did not shift properly, high rpms and jerked into gear. 10/08/04 third time in for same problem, engine would not accelerate and shift properly, when accelerating it felt like no power was produced and shifting was not taking place at the proper times. On the first attempt, Ford rebuilt the transmission, worn pump, interior clutches, direct and one way drums, and metal in fluid. they overhauled trans, and replaced convertor and all worn parts, flushed lines and road tested. Second attempt, found PCM needed to be reprogrammed which they did. Third attempt, a crack was located in vacuum nipple on the intake manifold, they replaced the intake manifold. We will keep you updated on the progress.

Transmission does not engage in any gears

Paint is completely peeling off of the hood of vehicle is large patches

Paint and body bubbling driver wheel well. Went in for an estimate and were sent to dealer, called dealer and they said it is not covered.
Cruise control stopped working, cannot find issue.

I have had my vehicle in 3 times for a fuel gauge problem was advised on 3rd reapir attempt that it is a problem with the fuel tank and not the gauge and that Ford does not know how to fix it. Have also had problems with a power steering leak I have not returned after the 1st attempt at repair, The brakes have vibrated since purchase they resurfaced the rotors twice, Had a problem with the coil wires being loose shortly after purchase which caused vehicle to stop running, and the bezel around the transmission shifter broke it took 3 trips to the shop to get it repaired so that I could change gears easily and I have since noticed the new part lights up in a different color which does not match all of the other features that light up on my car.

Driving through city today and transmission went without warning…car stopped moving while in traffic. Transmission is gone and was told to basically junk the car. There was no indication whatsoever that the transmission was about to go. This could have been deadly had we been on the highway with this piece of junk. I for one will never buy another Ford vehicle…absolute junk!!

2003 ford taurus has a bad torque converter and transmission. consumer states that the transmission and torque converter needs to be replace and the vehicle has less than 60,000 miles on it but ford will not do anything about it. *nj

Vehicle was in a collision while going 50 mph. consumer's vehicle hit another vehicle from the rear, and front air bags failed to deploy. *ak the consumer sustained injuries from the seat belt. *tc

I was driving and the car revved the engine which made it feel like the car was going to take off.the car did jerk forward. and another time, i was at a stop light and the car revved like it was trying to go, even though the brake was being held down. the gray cap that holds the throttle cable in has broken on one side and the cable is slipping out. is this a recall part?

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the vehicle failed to shift out of the park position. the failure occurred without warning. the vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. the contact stated that an independent mechanic diagnosed that the failure was a result of a stop lamp failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the contact referenced nhtsa campaign number: 04v106000 (exterior lighting); however, the vin was not included. the failure mileage was approximately 283,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while attempting to shift the vehicle out of park, the gear shifter failed to shift. on several occasions, the brake lights remained illuminated even after the vehicle was turned off causing the battery to discharge. the vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic. a dealer was not contacted. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired, but the contact spoke to an independent mechanic who advised that there was a recall on the likely issue. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the vin was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 04v106000 (exterior lighting). the approximate failure mileage was 3,000.

After driving for awhile and the car is still in motion, the pressing on the brake to slow down, the engine stall's out.

Driving in intermittent rain showers at 60-70mph i had the engine cut out and dropped out of cruise control. speedometer and tachometer bouncing up and down. theft and engine light were flashing on and off at the same time as engine was stalling. then the engine reengaged at 50-55 mph and continued on now responsive to gas pedal and acceleration. this repeated 5 - 8x in the span of 15 miles and several times pulling over. weather cleared and drove another 100 miles with no events. next morning driving kids to school after 10 minutes of running 25-40mph the same problem recurred but engine did not recover and completely stalled 3x in 1 mile. restarted immediately each time. reading through potential causes there were no less than 30 other individuals describing the exact same issue. theft light on and engine stalling while driving. various solutions proposed from electrical grounds, battery, alternator, fuse. mega fuse, dpfe (differential pressure fuel exhaust?) sensor, egr (exhaust gas recirculation) system, pcm, icr, and several others. not sure which it might be. given there are so many and that it occurs in potentially dangerous situations - at high speed and no warning - this seems to be worthy of an investigation or recall.

Tl* the contact owned a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving approximately 45 mph, the vehicle in front crashed into the vehicle in front of them. as a result, that vehicle moved backwards due to the impact and crashed into the contact’s vehicle. the air bags did not deploy. a police report was filed. there were no injuries reported. the vehicle was towed to an impound facility. the insurance company determined that the vehicle was destroyed. it was unknown if the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 145,000.

Leaking water on the passenger side floor, blower motor quit working floor is starting to mold multiple work bags saturated with moldy water. told to reference existing recall 03v087000 and complaint 10184014

While attempting to shift the vehicle out of park, the gear shifter will not work; specifically the vehicle stays "locked" in the park setting. this has occurred on several occasions and requires me to turn the vehicle off or attempt to "re-set" the brake by applying the brake several times. additionally, at times the brake lights remain lit after the vehicle has been placed in part and turned off with the driver locking the vehicle after exiting the vehicle. the brake lights remaining lit has caused the battery to completely discharge. to offset this i've had to remove the fuse for the rear brake lights to prevent the battery from discharging. i did have an independent mechanic examine the issue and the mechanic noted the vehicle recall for a 2003 ford taurus for this fault. when i contacted ford i was informed that my vehicle was not included in a lot identified as impacted by the vehicle recall. specifically the vin from my 2003 ford taurus was not included in the nhtsa campaign number 04v106000 (exterior lighting). this fault first occurred when i was stationed in japan (2004 - 2007) sometime in may of 2004 when the battery discharged to the point that i had to replace the battery; i couldn't jump start the vehicle with the original battery still in the vehicle. the approximate mileage of the vehicle at that time was 3,000 miles. as of today (august 10, 2017) the mileage on the 2003 ford taurus has reached 104,000. request nhtsa review the records for possible inclusion of the lot for my vehicle for inclusion in this recall. additionally, wish nhtsa to consider including the lot of my vehicle for inclusion in recall 03v087000 regarding the windshield on my vehicle. i have replaced the cabin air filter and the brake components since purchasing the vehicle, so the recalls addressing those issues are not applicable due to regular maintenance activity.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 10 mph, the contact attempted to pull down the visor and the vehicle crashed into the rear of the preceding vehicle. the passenger side air bag deployed, but the driver side air bag did not deploy. there was no warning indicator illuminated. a police report was filed. the contact sustained injuries that did not require medical attention. the vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the failure would be investigated. the failure mileage was 187,979.

While driving my car began to accelerate and the more i tried to put on my brakes it continues on a busy 4 lane street. i was able to turn at a turn in slamming in on my brakes and throwing my shaft into park. it was still shaking like it wanted to go. i got it towed to my mechanic. the cruise control throttle cable insert split and got caught on the throttle bracket. it could have killed me and hurt a lot of people. i can't sell this car like this. i want ford to recall and reimburse me for this terrible traumatic incident.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. after the vehicle was started, the gear failed to switch into the drive position without warning. in addition, the brake lamps failed to illuminate. the vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 88,000.

Car accelerated itself after releasing gas pedal on highway. engine rpm hit about 4000. it was very hard to stop the car by brake. i checked under the hood and found the cruise control cable had problem. a plastic part on the cable was broken and caused the throttle body to stuck. please see attached picture for reference.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 60 mph, the speed suddenly declined when the accelerator pedal was depressed. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the torque converter was faulty and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 76,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving 20 mph, the transmission failed without warning. the vehicle felt as if it were in neutral. the accelerator pedal was depressed, but the vehicle failed to respond. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. the contact was informed that the torque converter in the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 53,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while the vehicle was stopped, the rpms increased and the brake pedal had to be applied with force to ensure that the vehicle remained at a complete stop. in addition, the contact constantly had to apply the brake pedal to ensure that, when the vehicle was started, it did not independently accelerate without warning. the vin was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 02v266000 (service brakes, hydraulic). the manufacturer was not notified. the failure mileage was not available.

My car had caught on fire and the police officer and the firemen said it was a electric fire. my car was sitting in front of my apartment building at 8:30 p.m. and that between 3 and 4 a.m. a car that caught on fire and i was not even driving it was just sitting there park.

My break lights won't stay on and it's not wanting to shift from park there was a previous recall in 2004 for same issues but my vehicle does not show any recalls

All my lights work except my brake lights and nobody can figure it out. also know i have to start it in numeral only. it was stationary i think i just know it happen at the same time and no body knows why

Tl* the contact owned a 2003 ford taurus. while driving 35 mph, the contact's vehicle crashed into the side of another vehicle the air bags failed to deploy. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. a police report was filed. the contact sustained injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament, the tibia, and femur. medical attention was required. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 120,000. the vehicle was destroyed. the vin was not available. updated 05/10/17*lj *tr

Complaint air bags contact owns 2003 ford taurus sel with 40,000 miles at time of failure. while driving alone at est. 35 mph vehicle contact looked down momentarily and crashed into the rear of the preceding vehicle. the passenger side air bag deployed the drivers side did not. the empty passenger seat had a warning light illuminated that said airbag not on. a police report was filed. contact received injury to thumb and abdomen from contact with steering wheel. the manufacturer will be notified. *tr

2003 ford taurus accelerated unexpectedly when pulling into a parking spit. the car accelerated so fast rhe the passenger side front tire lifted off the ground and left a tire track on the building that the car crashed into. during the unexpected acceleration the car veered right and steering could not be controlled. the air bags did not deploy.

Throttle stuck while driving up a hill going into a turn nearly causing an accident. i released the throttle and the engine continued to rev, forcing the use of brakes to gain control. placed transmission in neutral and engine revved before turning ignition switch to off position. inspection revealed that the cruise control cable retaining clip broke and prevented the throttle from returning to neutral position. *tr

While getting off the freeway on the drive home from work (at 6:40pm on dec 1st, 2016) the transmission no longer engaged. i had to coast over to a field and park while avoiding on-going traffic. i lost all engagement with the gears (rd21), and it is like being in perpetual neutral. the splines of the torque converter are stripped. ford made them too small, so they strip. the car has 126,000 miles on it, and is only used to go to and from work. thousands upon thousands of people have had this exact problem, yet ford has done nothing to correct the situation.

There is a serious gas leak on my ford taurus. the mechanic lifted the vehicle and the gas was just dripping out of the gas tank. i was informed not to drive the car since it is a fire hazard.

The car was driving down the street and stopped. when i pressed to accel the transmission did'nt pull over 15 feet and stopped pulling. it was the torque converter that had gon out. and then i get a letter in the mail about other recalls but not on the transmissions. i worked for ford for 27 years as an engineer and built transmissions under recalls. i have no idea about these paople! but the 2004 has that recall.

My interior light stays on while i'm driving, and will stay on 2-3 hours after the engine has stopped.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while slowing down would not accelerate when pressing the accelerator pedal and while switching gears the vehicle would lunge forward. the cause of the failure was not determined. the manufacturer and the local dealer forsom lake ford(12755 folsom blvd, forsom lake ca.) was notified of the failure but no assistance was offered. the failure mileage was 175,000.

On october 23 2019, i retained mavis discount tire to inspect my new york state registered 2003 ford taurus. mavis discount tire passed the vehicle, determining the vehicles condition complied with ny state safety standard of roadworthiness. 12/12/2019, after repairing the transmission at gorilla auto works, i was informed of a serious structural situation, control arm assembly "severely deteriorated". on january 20th 2020, i again referred the vehicle to caskinete ford carthage new york for further evaluation, at ford motor company standards, as was informed, that the control arm assembly was not repairable, at the present condition, did not meet new york state or federal safety standards, contrary to the original status, and inspection , issued 10/23/2019 mavis discount tire arsenal st. watertown new york. further evaluations, study revealed, that failure of this condition, underway, at us interstate average speed of traffic, potentially catastrophic incident would result, eminent risk of loss of life. per us agency standards, i have made all reasonable efforts to resolve this complaint with relevant state agencies, dmv. etc. additional efforts included relevant new york state political representatives, to include new york state senate. *please note the, possibly intentional omission by mavis staff, of the vehicles mileage. obtained by other records.

While driving down the road, if i release the gas pedal, the vehicle will continue to increase in speed. when i am completely stopped at stop sign or stop light, i have to pressed on the brakes really hard to keep the vehicle from surging forward

I was backing out of my parking space at work and i heard a loud noise and then fthe air wwnt out of my tire on the front driver side real. once the tire was removed it revealed a large gash in the side wall of the tire as a result broken coil.

Ford taurus 2003 car safety problem was reported on july 01, 2007.ford taurus 2003, manufactured by ford motor company had a problem with electrical system: ignition:anti-theft controller. anti-theft system failing, causing vehicle to shut off while driving.

Driver's side front coil spring broke and punctured tire. vehicle was thankfully parked when this happened. there was a recall no. 04v332000, for 1999-2001 models - curious why it stopped there? multiple online forums indicate this issue continued past 2001. photos available if needed.

The accelerator cable gets stuck. which causes the car to rev at 2000 rpms even when the brakes are applied the car is trying to take off when waiting at a red light or in motion.

My battery light goes on a few seconds after the engine starts and i put the car in drive. the light stays on till i turn car off. replaced battery, replaced starter, had the alternator checked and was told its numbers were good but no one knows why the battery light goes on. upon further inspection found the wires are melting because of their position on and around the alternator. there is one, for example, that sits across on top of the alternator and appears to be melting as the unit gets hot. was told by several mechanics that this has been a manufacturing problem on these cars. ford has changed the positioning of their alternator wires on later models. it concerns me that this can cause a fire or can affect other connected components. the battery light refuses to turn off.

Since owning this auto from 2004 forward, i've been in a few front-end incidents and the air bag never activated.

My car suddenly, and without warning, accelerated and the brake peddle dropped to the floor. the car mat was not on the peddle.

My brake booster is causing oil to get in my hose causing my car problems like my engine cutting off while in drive and my car can barely stop when i press the brakes i have to press them literly all the way to the floor.

A strange grinding noise was coming from the passenger front tire area which was very noticable trying to back out of driveway, so pulled back in and looked to see what might be wrong. i noticed a burning rubber smell and that the wheel clearance was significantly less on passenger verse driver front tire. drove up onto ramps to look from beneath and could clearly see the end of the coil poking into the inside edge of the tire with a worn mark all the way around where it was pushing into the rubber. after carefully backing off ramps, it was jacked up and placed on jack stands, at which time it was clearly visible the coil spring was snapped in two. it is a miracle this was found before my sister drove 70mph on the highway she was about to. this would’ve certainly caused a blowout and potentially a fire, and at those speeds could’ve certainly been deadly.

I purchased the car 11/17/2018 from earls credit auto sales in portsmouth on airline blvd ; it rode well until 11/30/2018 when i drove to the barbershop in the greenbrier area of chesapeake va. i went to pull out the parking lot and my car started to shake real heavy and sloppy so i parked it and turnt it off , when i tried to start it up it would not start it kept stalling i called the dealerships auto shop they took the car and held it and claim they were working on it , i picked the car up when it was ready 12/04/2018. it rode fine until 12/14/2018 i went to the barbershop again and as i was leaving backing out my car started to shake heavily again than before i could put the car in drive to pull back in to the parking spot the car just cut off in the middle of the parking lot while a car was to the left of me trying to pull out . i had to get out and push the car in the spot and hurry and rush to push on the break and put the car in park. when i got a tow to the dealerships auto shop i explained this is my second time here under the same circumstances , i also called the dealership pleading to give the car back and to be refunded i barley got to enjoy or use the beguile without it being a problem . i was told they don’t allow refunds and there auto shop will fix the car , so when they said the car was ready on 12/15/2018 it drove well but it the check engine light came on i went to auto zone for a free test and i got a po430 code , i called the auto shop before they closed because they told me on the 14th all what was wrong was a fuel pump and they replaced it but it has something to do with the catalyst system i been smelling a buring smell coming through my vents for a while but never really knew what it was . the rep on the phone told me it was fine for me to still drive the car and i also i won’t be able to get my car worked on till 12/26/2018 . i need help!

Brake lights failed, has adjustable pedals, and when i bought a switch from ford, the insert mentioned a recall 04s12, local ford dealer denied the recall.

I was driving on the freeway at posted speeds when my car began to slow with the accelerator still pressed, almost getting rear ended i was able to get to the shoulder of the freeway. i realized the car was running but would not go forward or reverse. i had to call a tow truck. i waited three hours for the tow truck to show up and then had it towed 80 miles to my house. i did some research and found that the torque converter splines would fail with no warning. i also did some test to confirm it was the torque converter. there are so many complaints with the same issue and ford motor company has done nothing to recall and fix the problem. does it take someone getting killed first? ford needs to step up and recall to fix this problem before people are killed.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 70 mph, the throttle control cable became stuck. there were no warning indicators illuminated. the driver placed excessive pressure on the brake pedal, pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road, and shut off the engine. the contact assisted the driver with releasing the stuck cable. the vehicle was restarted. the contact called avis ford inc at 248-355-7500 (29200 telegraph rd, southfield, michigan 48034) and was informed that an unknown recall repair was previously performed on the vehicle and would not be done again. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was approximately 115,000.

I regret to report that my daughter-in-law experienced a catastrophic failure of 3 coil spring assemblies and a subsequent front driver side tire failure due to a puncture a few months ago while was driving at a low rate of speed in her parents’ neighborhood in winona. fortunately no one was injured and she was able to pull the car into the driveway. we are thankful she wasn’t driving at highway speeds on the interstate. the corrosion of the coil springs has been a known design problem for years. i have done some research and found that the 2003 model year is not on a recall at this time. however earlier model years of taurus have been recalled for this same issue in the past, so corrosion of the coils is a known problem. the car is a 2003 ford taurus, 73,663 actual miles, well-maintained, no visible external rust, garaged nightly. this car was purchased from the ford dealership in rochester, minnesota.

Had to replace my torque converter for $1,300 which is ridiculous considering there is only 87,000 miles. there has been thousands of complaints. ford needs to fix this! wouldn't leave park, had it towed out of my driveway.

Brake light came on after car was sitting for a month while i was ill. car shakes very badly when i put on the brakes. brake fluid is not low. car was parked in my driveway.

Keep shutting off randomly while during in the city sitting at a traffic stop. doesn't start all the time. there's rattling and clunking noise under the front of the vehicle

Brake lights came on would not turn off. brake switch needs to be replaced. battery died thanks .in motion on street

My ford taurus self accelorates when on the road.even after taking foot off the gas pedal it will drive itself faster.making using the brakes difficult it does not want to stop.it is very scary to drive .my husband has changed the cruise control cable,same and many sensors and nothing is fixing the problem. if ford doubts this can happen they are welcome to take my car for a drive.it happens every time we drive the car .

Dangerous situation transmission complete failure in intersection while turning left. stopped awaiting on-coming traffic at city street situation could have resulted in a serious accident with on-coming traffic resulting in serious injury! many complaints already filled however after speaking with ford the refuse to fix it

While my vehicle was in cruise control at 68 mph on a 3 lane highway, the vehicle without any warning began to quickly loose speed and the ability to keep pace with surrounding traffic. the transmission became unresponsive and the vehicle lost the ability to accelerate and function in a safe manner. i quickly and unknowingly dropped below the safe driving speed for the highway and posed a safety risk to myself and of the drivers on the road around me. in the course of rapid deceleration i was almost struck in the rear by a vehicle that was not made aware of my loss of speed, as i did not apply the brakes. as soon as possible and as to not further endanger those around me; i turned on my hazard lights and relied on evasive driving to coast the vehicle to the safety of the shoulder. once off the highway, motor responded but none of the gears (reverse, overdrive, 1st, or 2nd) would engage. the car had no warning lights, service lights, or check engine signals illuminate on the instrument panel and there are no fluid leaks or outward appearance of any broken components. this sudden malfunction has rendered my vehicle barely functional and not safely maneuverable.

Takata recall: car stops not accurately and makes sound whenever applied the brakes, feeling some suspension issues as well as transmission issue, car is fully maintain and have under car fax report system.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving 30 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. the vehicle was towed. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. the failure mileage was 36,000. the vin was not available.

Fuel filter retaining clips (white plastic/nylon) are not available. maintenance schedule requires replacement of fuel filter and instructions require replacement of r-clips/hairpin clips. ford does not sell proper retaining clip. this can/will result in a dangerous massive fuel leak when the parts separate.

After the driving my car on april 22 (a friday), i parked the car for the evening. on april 23, 2016 (a saturday morning), i came outside to find my 6-mo.-old left front tire flat after sitting overnight. a friend took off the tire and it was discovered that the strut spring was broken. i had the car towed to my mechanic on april 25, where it was determined that the strut spring was indeed broken, and i had it replaced. research and talking with others brought to light a recall for this exact issue on vehicle years 1998-2001, however, other drivers were reporting the same problem with newer models of the same vehicles. this claim is for reimbursement of the cost of replacing only the broken left strut spring (a quick strut) and the tow to the garage.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving 40 mph, another vehicle failed to yield at a stop sign and crashed into the contact's vehicle. the air bags failed to deploy. the contact sustained shoulder and head injuries that required medical attention. a police report was filed. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic lot where the body damage was repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 32,050. updated 08/16/16*lj updated 08/17/16.*jb

Car accelerates and/or maintains high rpms. this usually happens when driving at various times.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving at any speed, the blower motor emitted smoke from under the dashboard on the passenger side of the vehicle. the failure recurred three times. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the resister blower motor was getting damaged with water from the crow and under the air cabin filter where the installation of the cabin air filter. the technician informed the contact that the vehicle need to be taken to a dealer to have the installation replaced. the vehicle was repaired twice; however, the failure recurred. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 132,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving at various speeds, the anti-theft warning light illuminated and the vehicle stalled without warning. the vehicle had to be jumpstarted. the contact took the vehicle to a certified mechanic who diagnosed that the alarm system failed; however, was unable to identify the exact cause of the failure due to no failure codes. the alternator and starter were replaced, but the failure recurred. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 110,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. after the vehicle was started, the brake pedal was depressed and the vehicle failed to switch out of the park position. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the brake switch failed and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 100,000. updated 05/11/16*lj the consumer stated he had an accident when the brakes failed. the consumer injured his neck. updated 06/14/16.*jb

Put vehicle in shop vehicle had rough idle, misfiring on #2 cylinder. shop removed and replaced spark plug, air filter, fuel filter, and ignition coil. got vehicle from shop. vehicle idle too high-speeds up on its own. took back to shop shop removed and replaced idle air control valve got vehicle out of shop. vehicle still idle too high and still speeds up on its own. when stopped at stop light, when the breaks are released, car jumps forward. when backing up out of garage, car back-up too fast; must hold breaks at all times.

When backing up from being parked, the front drivers side tire exploded and the front left corner of the car dropped. the cause was a broken coil spring which punctured my new tire. 74k miles. i am upset that the nhtsa has investigated this problem that has been occurring for 15 years with ford taurus' vintage 2000 through 2005 and concluded its not a safety issue because there have been "no serious injuries or deaths". previously i had three spring failures on another (2001) taurus. i had a front spring break and had both front springs replaced. one of the replacement springs broke two years later. both failures caused tire failures. shortly before getting rid of the 2001taurus, i noticed a rear spring had failed, but did not damage the tire. i do expect a few "serious injuries or deaths" to occur in the future because of this serious safety issue. it's too bad some of us will have to sacrifice our lives or limbs for the good of the rest of us. if such a dreadful thing happens, i feel nhtsa may be equally liable with ford for wrongful death lawsuits for not requiring ford to address this safety issue. in their investigation, nhtsa also mentions the relatively small number of complaints on this topic. that is because consumers do not know about filing a complaint with the nhtsa. i advise the nhtsa to request the number of replacement parts from ford along with parts suppliers such as advance and autozone. i would estimate millions of springs have been replaced for just the 2002 and 2003 model years. i'd bet my craft beer money on it. btw, the true cause of failure is that road dirt and salt causes the ball bearings in the mount to bind which in turn restricts the springs free movement. the spring does not rust, the binding of the ball bearings against the spring surface causes the failure. poor design causing a very dangerous situation if driving at highway speed.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was being signaled by other drivers that the rear brake lights were illuminated all the time until the brake pedal was depressed. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection and the mechanic notified the contact of the failure. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the contact also stated that there was a recall issued in 2004 for the same type of failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 212,000. updated 05/10/16*lj *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 35 mph, the vehicle suddenly felt as if it were in neutral and would not engage in any gear. there were no warning indicators illuminated. an independent mechanic stated that the torque converter may have failed. the vehicle was towed to the independent mechanic who diagnosed and confirmed that the torque converter failed and needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that there was no recall. the failure mileage was 132,400.

We had several close calls where the car would not stop,and slide on dry pavement,and wet conditions . the car had new brakes, rotors, tires, but still would have trouble stopping, unfortunately my daughter was driving the car today,and hit another car. i just replaced the tires again a few months go, thinking the tires were the problem. i had several close calls myself, and i think there is a big problem with this car stopping. thank god nobody was hurt, but this could have been much worse. my daughter was going approximately 30 miles an hour, and she was on a city street, conditions were wet , but she had plenty of time to stop.

On about 15 jan 2016, the driver'side side front coil springs broke. when it broke it punctured through driver'side side front tire. luckily the car was sitting in the driveway at the time the coil springs broke and no further damage or injuries were sustained, just the broken coil spring and puncturedrives tire. from my research there was a previous recall for the exact same issue on earlier model years of the ford taurus but not for the 2003 model year and after talking to ford customer care there are no existing recalls for this suspension issue.

Driving 6am today both my headlights turned off while driving. they turned back on 5 second later but that is the second time it has happened within the last 30 days. also dashboard lights turned off and on random times for the last year even this morning but different time then headlight issue.

Transmission torque converter - stripped splines. just 49,334 miles. this car has very low mileage and is in immaculate condition. definitely a proven bad part that ford should cover. the car quit moving at my workplace parking lot. im grateful it wasn't in an intersection. had to replace converter.

My vehicle with [xxx]. i can not shift my car from park, or if i press on the brake a couple of times, and get the brake light to come on, they say on. even when foot is not on brake. my vehicle in not apart of a recall, it was manufactured in an atlanta plant. i am being out of money and time with repairs that i have had done, and its not solving the issue. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

Starter kept going out

I having so much trouble issues on this car i want refund money for this was $1,900 refund back to me...updated 11/13/15 *bf *js

I have an issues.

The transmission will not shift into any gear

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving 35 mph, the accelerator pedal was depressed but the vehicle failed to accelerate as it increased in engine rpms. the failure recurred on numerous occasions. the vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 61,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the vehicle was able to start after several attempts, but failed to shift out of park. in addition, the tail lights failed to function. the failure occurred on several occasions. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 180,000.

For the first 6 years this car was garaged, as soon as it was parked outside, exposed to the weather, a very bad water leak appeared. i constantly get water on the floor of the passenger side. this leak fried my blower motor, resulting in no heat. the blower motor was replaced, but the leak is still present. once again, i find myself with no heat. the blower motor works, but is not getting any power to it. the resistor has been replaced, and all fuses and relays are fine. driving in connecticut with no heat in the winter is a difficult task.

While driving on a very busy road, my transmission quit. i had nothing but neutral. there were no warning signs that it was going to fail, it went from working perfectly to having no gears (forward or reverse). luckily i was able to coast to a safe spot to park and wait for a tow. the transmission had to be replaced, it was not repairable. the car had approximately 45,000 miles on it.

I started constantly smelling gas outside the car then it started smelling in cabin then i located and replaced fuel filter then realized tank appeared to be leaking around seams.

Was driving down a hill.. went to press the gas all it did was rpms went up i went no where.. had to sit side of road for hours ford has over millions of complaints and no has done anything about this.. it needs to be recalled

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving at 30 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the torque converter failed and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 90,000.

Vehicle stalls at traffic light several times. strange sounds from engine.

Riding down route 539 at 5:00 pm when the theft alarm came on and car cut off and jerked and restarted at the time the truck almost hit me in the rear end which i could have been killed i made to the shopping center and had it taken to my auto repair shop were it still is. my repairman is running all kinds of test to find the problem and correct it. ford needs to recall the car before someone gets killed and car dealer should also be held accountable for selling a car that is unsafe.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving at approximately 35 mph and attempting to merge into traffic, the engine revved without warning and the vehicle failed to resume acceleration. the vehicle was towed to the contact’s residence but was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 54,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving at an unknown speed, the accelerator pedal became stuck without warning and there was a sudden increase of engine rpms. the vehicle was merged to the side of the road, where it was turned off and towed to a dealer. the technician diagnosed that the throttle cable was defective and needed to be replaced. the contact mentioned that there was a manufacturer service campaign directly related to the failure; however, the vehicle was not included. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 160,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving 35 mph, the contact stated that the vehicle felt as if it were in neutral. the accelerator pedal was depressed, but the vehicle would not move. the contact was able to maneuver the vehicle to the shoulder. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the transmission had become inoperable and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 68,000. ma 10/15/2015

Driving vehicle about 45mph when vehicle, without warning, slipped out of gear and would not reengage. car engine continued to run however, transmission would not engage in any gear. car was towed to mechanic where it was diagnosed as a failed transmission. car transmission was repaired and it was stated by repair facility that this is a common occurrence for this make, model, and year. transmission failed without any previous signs, symptoms, or warnings.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 65 mph with the cruise control engaged, the contact depressed the brake pedal and the vehicle's speed rapidly increased without warning. the contact lost control of the vehicle, drove into a grass field over a dip in the field which caused the vehicle to roll over and land upside down. while flipped upside down, the engine continued to rev until the vehicle was powered off. the air bags failed to deploy. a police report was filed. the vehicle was destroyed. the contact and two passengers sustained unknown injuries that required medical attention. the approximate failure mileage was 177,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. when the contact depressed the brake pedal, the brake lamp became inoperable intermittently. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 189,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while parked, the coil spring fractured without warning. the failure recurred on one other occasion. the vehicle was taken to a dealer, who diagnosed that the strut assembly needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 60,479.

My 2003 tauruses windshield leaks. i checked the recalls and it shows a recall #03c03 for my car, but when i enter my vin#[xxx] and it show zero for recalls. i'm not the first owner of the vehicle ,but that shouldn't matter in a this case. when my wife or i are driving the car in the rain the water is leaking into the car. i would appreciate it if someone could help me with this citation. thank you. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

My car randomly stopped moving when i was on the highway it was a major scene almost got rear ended by 5 cars had to veer off to the side to avoid a accident these transmissions/torque converters need to be recalled they were recalled in the ford winstar with the same tranny parts but not the ford taurus 2003 i was told the transmission and the torque converter went out and this is a more than common problem for this year of tauruses this is redicilious come on ford recall these trannys!!! i cant afford $1500

On the date above and then again on feb,2015 the transaxle quit working, it would not go anywhere. had it rollbacked to my house both times at a cost of $50 per tow. the cost to repair and or replace the transaxle was :2011: $1,400; 2015: $1,700. the car at the 2nd. rework/exchange (the trans shop replaced rather than rebuild mine) had only 125,000 miles. it is my understanding the transaxles in these generation ford tauruses were prone to transaxle failure, as were the ford windstars as both vehicles used the same transaxle. upon studying up on these problems it seems ford motor co. recalled the windstar and called it a bad torque converter causing the problems. why did they not recall the tauruses also, answer: amount of vehicles produced of each model and their feet were not "held to the fire" by ya'll and our gov.. now to get to the lighting problem: the most safety hazardous item which has been installed on vehicles in the last 15-20 years is those damned "plastic lensed headlights" that within 3 years will "fog over" to the extent they do not produce enough light to be usefull at night. oh they say you can clean them, of which i have tried on my taurus, to not much avail. i believe the auto manufacturers should be ordered thru a recall from you to replace them at no cost to us owners. if you will check, you will see a replacement of those "wunderfull" invention , known as bullcrap, lens will set an owner of the vehicles around $500 to $700 per pair installed. and must be adjusted by a dealers only equipment. i my self do not believe in todays world 125,000 - 129,000 miles is a lot. if the truth were known the "yellowed out" headlights have been the cause of a lot of nite time accidents. do your job and go after them and make them replace with new transaxles and torque converters and at the same time make them replace the yellowed out headlight lenses.

I was departing from parking lot and the car suddenly had some noise in the hood then lost all the power. after starting engine again, i can shift the gear into d or r, engine works ok but the car won't move at all. before it happened, the transmission works fine, no delayed engagement, no slips, no jolts, smooth gear-changing...the transmission just stopped with no warning signs at all. the car is regularly and well maintained. no check engine light on when it happened. later it turned out to be the stripped torque converter splines. it is a very common problem among ford early 2000's vehicles, the splines are only 0.16" thick by ford's defect designs, which can be easily stripped.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving at 30 mph, the vehicle failed to remain in position. the contact had to continuously maneuver the steering wheel in order to keep the vehicle in position. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the front cradle was corroded and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 93,000.

While driving 70 mph on interstate 35 my daughter completely lost power. the engine would rev but no power. in traffic, she had to coast to pull over. there was no warning prior to this incident and the car is otherwise in excellent condition. the car had to be towed and the local ford dealership diagnosed and are replacing the torque converter. *tr

The front strut spring broke and punctured the front tire causing $462.55 worth of damage, all other years of the same make and model but a few, including this one were covered by a recall or warranty. a serious accident or fatality could have occurred if this were to happen at highway speed. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving at approximately 65 mph, the brakes failed without warning. in order to stop the vehicle, the contact had to force the vehicle into park and no warning indicators illuminated. the failure recurred on several occasions. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic but was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. the failure mileage was 150,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while pulling out of the driveway at approximately 5 mph, a loud sound emitted from the front passenger side tire. the contact discovered that the front passenger side coil spring fractured and punctured the tire. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 130,000.

The park lamp switch seems to be failing and intermittently will stop working causing the brake lights to fail and the vehicle to not switch out of park. using the vin number the recall doesn't apply to my vehicle but obviously the recall needs to be expanded. your help with addressing this matter would be appreciated. thank you *tr

My wife was driving the car with one of our grandkids in the back seat. she pulled off a main road to a side street, she went about 50 yards and the car stopped going forward. the engine was running fine, but there was no drive from the transmission no mater which gear she put it into. evidently the transmission failed without any prior indication such as leaked transmission fluid, a trouble light indication and no sound.this is indeed a safety issue because if it had failed in the intersection there was a possibility of an accident.i am extremely upset and disappointed with ford's handling of this failure of there product. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving at 30 mph, the accelerator pedal was depressed but the vehicle did not accelerate. in addition, the vehicle failed to move forward or in reverse but increased in rpm’s. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. the mechanic diagnosed that the torque converter needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was unknown. the vin was unavailable.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that after igniting the vehicle, smoke was coming from the outside of the vehicle. in addition, the engine warning light illuminated. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was unknown. updated 04/14/15*lj updated 7/20/15*cn updated 7/29/15*cn updated 9/21/2017*cn

On tuesday, january 27th about 1:00pm, while driving on the interstate, the rear passenger tire exploded and was completely flat. i drove to a nearby by gas station to await my motor service to replace the tire. i photographed the damaged tire. on tuesday, january 27h, goodyear replaced the tire and stated aging was a factor in the tire failure. the tires were serviced by the same goodyear store on friday january 23rd and no mention of aging or replacing the tires was stated by goodyear. i still have to replace three (3) of the tires on my vehicle. *tr

On 1-23-2015 a friend was driving the car on a 4 land divided highway when the transmission quit pulling. he pulled over to the side of the road but could not get the car to move in any gear. he went on to a job interview and called me and i had the vehicle towed back to my residence. i checked and this is a common problem for this make, model and year car, as the torque converter goes out without any warning. *tr

Vehicle was traveling southbound in the outside lane of a 4 lane hwy. vehicle changed lanes abruptly and went left of the center of roadway entering into the nourthbound lanes of traffic, continuing in a southbound direction, the vehicle departed the east side and collided with the end portion of a guardrail. the inside portion of the right front tire caught the outside of gaurdrail causing the car to straddle the top of the rail until the undercarriage of the car caught on a post of the rail causing the car to slide sideways until the left side tires dug into the ground and flipped the car completely over where it continued to travel south, rolling over again, colliding with a wood post then finally coming to rest on it's tires facing northwest. no airbags deployed at any point of the collision. gearshift was between neutral and overdrive. *tr

Today a cold front moved in. i received the vehicle from my grandparents and it has spent its whole life in the garage.now it is always outside. multiple times this year the door latches have gotten stuck in the open position. this causes the doors not to shut, and me having to hold them closed as i drive. they eventually start working ( usually after 20-30 mins of driving). i have tried de-icer and grease but nothing works. my moms 2005 ford freestyle has the same issue, except it was recalled because of it. i find it extremely dangerous that i have to hold my doors closed or they fly open when i drive. *tr

While driving my 2003 ford taurus around a sharp turn the passenger front tire exploded . while trying to change tire to spare it was noticed that the cause of the explosion was a broken spring sticking in the sidewall . i had it replaced . a few months later i saw a piece of a spring in my driveway , when i looked at my car i found the piece of spring came from the drivers side of the taurus . then later that year at state inspection the mechanic found a rear spring broke . i had both rear springs replaced . all four springs replaced at my own cost. *tr

Transmission stopped working, it was replaced at my expense. *tr

I was coming home the car just lost.power and thank goodness. there. was no one behind me was able to.pull in middle lane and the car would.not.move it went into drive all gears but nothing i was terrified and once i gather myself i called for help.snd i had car towed to ford & they are saying i need new transmissions. are you.kidding me no warning no noise nothing just stopped.while driving i have read many complaints on the ford 2003 taurus and was in shock again how.many have same.problem this car.belongs to my dad who is 89 years.old.thank goodness he was.not driving. he or i could be killed.how many more have to die or get hurt by something ford is awarw of. please dp something. the ford place wants over $2800 for s transmissions ! this.is crazy i love ford.but not when they put lives in danger thank you *js

On the above date the transaxle in this car quit working. the torque converter broke a gear. it is my understanding this is prevalent in the 2003 ford taurus and the 2003 windstar vans. ford recalled the windstars but not the taurus'. i had it ,the transaxle,rebuilt and put only 3000 to 3200 miles from the date of this repair. about 5 weeks ago the same thing happened. it is my understanding this is a prevalent problem with these vehicles. now in regards to the lighting, the manufacturers should take the responsibility of replacing those damned "yellowed" out headlight lens on just about 99% of the cars that have them. this should be a major recall due to the hazard they can cause while driving at night. we the american people cannot afford the cost to replace this dangerous unsafe features on almost all vehicles produced by all auto manufacturers since the 90's. *tr

While driving back from shopping on a highway went to push the gas and my car had stopped and wouldn't accelerate after being stuck on the highway for an hour tow truck had to take my car to a garage they found out it was the transmission. going back to almost a year having this car we have never had any other problems we didn't hear nothing like our transmission going. just to get this fixed will be 2,000 or more. after a few mechanic we new looked they have said that alot of people have had this issue with this make and model or our car and that we should file a complaint. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the brake lights failed to illuminate and the transmission would not shift out of park. the vehicle was taken to a repair shop who replaced the brake light switch and the wire assembly. the vehicle was repaired. the contact was not included in recall nhtsa campaign id number: 04v106000 (exterior lighting). the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 128,000.

I was going approximately 50mph up a hill on a sharp turn. completely lost power unable to go forward or in reverse. luckily i was able to coast backward across the road into a driveway and almost caused a huge accident with a car coming around the corner. i had to go across so cars coming behind me wouldn't hit me. if i wasn't on a hill i would have caused a real accident for sure. the transmission was completely blown and i will now be using all of my christmas money to get another used transmission. after doing hours of research i have found hundreds and hundreds of other reports of owners of 2003 tauruses with the exact same descriptions. i am blown away with the large amount of complaints with this cars transmission yet nothing is being done by ford to fix this problem. this almost cost me my life and i will do everything in my power to get ford to help other owners and myself find a solution to this problem. *tr

The shifter changes to reverse, drive, neutral, but the car does not recognize the gears. the vehicle remains stationary. *tr

Failed torque converter, the shifter changes, but the vehicle does not recognize the reverse or drive option. it remains stationary. *tr

The floor board on passenger side is wet and heater blower only blows on setting 4. mechanic said water shorted out blower motor. did some searching and found i wasn't the only one. please see the following; reference recall number 03v087000 and other complaint 10184014. this will show a continuing trend. *tr

While driving on the expressway, pressed the gas pedal and the rpm's increased dramatically while the speed decreased. the engine power was not being transmitted to the wheels. i needed to cross traffic and get off of the road. luckily, the traffic was light and my cross was uneventful. had this happened earlier, i would have most likely been involved in a serious accident. the incident happened with no warning. the vehicle operated absolutely normally, up to that last second. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving approximately 50 mph, the vehicle overheated without warning. the vehicle was taken to a private mechanic, who stated that the radiator fluid container needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was unknown.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving at approximately 5 mph after making a u-turn, the vehicle suddenly failed to accelerate. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the transmission fluid bump needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the vin was not available. the failure mileage was 90,002.

Vehicle exhibits failure state as detailed in ford recall 04s12. vehicle has failed in the same manner multiple times in the past, however cannot document what exact days the vehicle has failed in such a manner. the stop light switch/wiring has failed in the closed position once, in the open position twice, including today, and the vehicle's vin was never entered as part of recall 04s12. *tr

My car will accelerate on its own when driving.and in the morning it will be in park but the rpm nozzle will go up like somebody's pushing on the gas pedal.when im pulling off i have to hold the brakes down hard because the car will try to take off before me.it has serious acceleration issues. *tr

Tl* the contact owned a 2003 ford taurus. while driving 65 mph, the contact crashed the vehicle into a median wall. the driver side air bag failed to deploy. there was one injury that required medical attention. a police report was filed. the vehicle was completely destroyed and was towed to an impound lot. the approximate failure mileage was 72,000. ..updated 10/06/14 *bf updated 3/11/2015*js

Sitting at a stop light. car would rev when light turned green but no acceleration. pushed it to the side of the road. no warning lights, no slipping of gears, no fluid leaking no sounds or jerky feelings. called ford and got a case number, but they are no help. contacted [xxx] , consumer advocate and he advised me to contact ford. found 299 complaints of the same problem on carcomplaints.com and same problems on autosafety.org. i was told by ford that the transmission is out of warranty. i said i would help with cost but feel ford should take responsibility. are they waiting for a fatality? information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

I was driving and all of a sudden my car would not go anywhere even though the engine was running. i took it to my mechanic who had the car towed to a reputable transmission shop in town. when i went to talk to the mechanic he said he already knew what it was. he said that he had a multitude of this make and model that had the same exact problem. he said it was a design flaw in the transmission that allows the torque convertor to "strip" without any warning. after taking the transmission apart he called and told me that it was the torque convertor and what it would cost to replace it including labor so i had the torque convertor replaced. all was going well with the transmission/torque convertor until august 30, 2014 when out of no where it happened again. so once again i will have it repaired. the car doesn't even have 80,000 miles on it. i am extremely grateful that i was not in an accident because of it. what is it going to take for someone to seriously address this issue so no one is killed? this is a dangerous car and many complaints have been made in regards to this issue as early as approximately 2007 so it is not the age of the vehicle but the design flaw. no telling how many people had this happen without reporting it. this is a serious issue that needs to be addressed for all who have owned or still own the 2003 ford taurus. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed up an incline, the accelerator pedal was depressed and failed to respond. the contact was able to restart vehicle but the failure persisted. the vehicle was towed but was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer had been notified. the approximate failure mileage was 98,322.

Tires on my 2003 ford tauruses wore down to steel belts with rubber separating from belts causing tire replacement under (2) 20,000 / (2) 28000 miles. called ford's hq cs an received a letter 01/27/2012 from hq cs was told by ford motor cs to take the letter sent to me to a dealer. showed the letter from ford motor hq cs to local dealer but was told we do not cover defected tires after they called an yelled at the cs rep. in front of me from ford's hq at which time i said but the letter ask the dealer to honor my reimbursement for parts & service complaint. the dealer's service manager firmly ask me to leave after bringing to their attention if i was the cs rep. i would not honor it either after being yelled at like. that's when the service manager ask me to leave firmly so i honor his request an left. also, my 2006 ford taurus had wear issues. sincerely, a very dissatisfied customer *tr

My 2003 ford taurus accelerates by itself to 35-45 mph without having to touch the accelerator (note: the car will also accelerate uphill without having to press the accelerator. also, the cruise control light works, but the cruise control itself is not engaging. *tr

I wanted to report those black covers that go over the brake lamps in tx almost had a collision lite is not visible when sun bright please do something of this after market crap. *tr

The 2003 taurus was being driven on a secondary road on 7/7/14 when it quite moving forward as it was in drive, upon acceleration and the car was steered to the right of the roadway and drifted to make a right turn off a busy roadway . although it was not in that roadway it was still obstructing the alternate road right lane traveled by dump trucks , until towed 2 hours later , vehicle fails to shift or otherwise go into any gear , the car is in front of our house, parked since that day,as obviously the transmission has failed and needs repair or rebuilding. i can not afford a transmission repair right now costing $3000. *tr

I woke up on 7/19/14 to find my 2003 ford tauruses battery dead. this seemed strange since the battery was new and the alternator was in great shape. not sure why my battery was dead, i jumped the car and drove somewhere. when i parked my car, i noticed the brake lights continued to illuminate after shutting the engine off. i tried tapping on the brakes, but the brake lights continued to illuminate. i researched the issue and found a ford recall (04s12) for 2003 ford taurus that said brake lights would stay on all the time. the recall covered the replacement of a brake light switch. the ford dealership said that my vin did not qualify under the recall. i had the dealership replace the switch anyways at my cost. the replacement brake light switch fixed the issue. the recall needs to be expanded to cover my vin. *tr

Went to cross a very busy intersection in our city (and intersection where there have been multiple fatalities), and the vehicle would not go. engine was running; transmission acted as if it were in neutral. i was stuck in the middle of the busiest road in desoto county. my friends and i had to get out of the vehicle and push it across the road to a safe place. it appears the transmission has failed and the local transmission shops want close to $1800.00 to replace. i have read numerous complaints of this same issue affecting others. why hasn't ford placed a recall on this issue and fix it? i am surprised someone has not been killed. *tr

Driving down long road, got up to 40 mph, car stayed on that speed as if it was in cruise control mode. i had the cruise control off. i even slowed down to 30, car stayed on thirty. had foot off the gas pedal. it surges forward. i read horror stories of other year taurus' doing same thing, causing crashes. my 16 yr old daughter drives this car. every other car around this years date was recalled, but not the 2003. i changed my hoses, so it's not that. the car is literally staying in cruise control mode even when it's off. when i turn my steering wheel slightly to the right, i can hear a ticking sound once or twice, not sure what that is, it's scary though. before something bad happens i want a recall for this year of taurus regarding the cruise control being engaged. *tr

Traveling in reverse at approximately 5 mph when front left (driver's side) suspension spring coil broke and punctured the tire. reference: investigation: #ea08018. *tr

The vehicle suffered a broken passenger side front suspension spring. it immediately cut through and deflated the front tire. it is luck that this happened at very slow speed, if it happened at highway speed, loss of control would have been likely. the broken coil spring "hooked" the tire and cut the tire on the inside sidewall a full 360 degree separating the inside of the tire from the tread surface. it was difficult to move the vehicle in a desired direction. it was easier to park the vehicle safely by backing up to the curb. i understand that earlier model year ford taurus' were recalled for the same type of spring failure. *js

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the vehicle jerked forward intermittently and the transmission failed to engage. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. the technician diagnosed that the filter and the transmission needed to be flushed. the vehicle was repaired and the failure recurred. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who diagnosed that the pumps needed to be replaced. the vehicle was schedule to be inspected and repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 82,000.

We were stopped at a stop light when the light turned green car would not go. it acted like it was in neutral. doesn't matter if it is in reverse,overdrive ,drive or 1st gear acts just like it is neutral. no warning of any issues. *tr

Stopped at stop sign and car wouldn't accelerate or go into any gear. trouble shot problem as being the torque converter. *tr

I was driving down a main highway when my rpm's dropped (as if car was going to stall), there was a loss of power and then the car would not accelerate. as i was in a area where there was a lot of traffic i had to ease my way over to be able to get the vehicle off of the road. the engine was still running, but as i tried to accelerate there was no power. the shifter on the column just goes up and down and does not engage in any gear. everyone that i have consulted seems to think that it is an issue with the transmission. i have since done research only to find out that this is a known problem with these cars. had i known that i would never have purchased it. on one website alone there were 293 cases reported of the same transmission failure and ford has refused to do anything about this known problem. my dad worked for ford for almost 40 years before retiring. we have always driven fords and have never had an issue like this with any of our vehicles. i am sure that my dad is turning over in his grave right now at the poor quality of the taurus and the known issues which ford is aware of, but has never done anything to rectify it with taurus owners. who can afford to go out and buy a brand new car in this day and age? even worse yet, who would want to sink the amount of money it would cost for a repair job on a transmission into a car that isn't worth much more value wise. i am very disappointed with ford! i am a single female in her 60's that can't afford the repairs or to go out and buy another vehicle at this time. i am still working and also drive a half hour one way to go to college 4 days a week. now what do i do? shame on you ford for not standing behind your products!

Car has/had been driving and shifting perfectly,(no slipping, no hesitation, nothing). after driving approximately 4 miles, turning car off for roughly 10 minutes, restarting and driving about 1 mile transmission acted as if it was shifted into neutral. after stopping, attempted shifting through all gears including reverse, same result. after further inspection found fluid level right at full mark, and fluid was as clean as the day it was new,(not burnt at all). was told by the local ford dealer that this was a common problem with this year taurus and that there is no service bulletins or recalls, (customer pay only). car has been parked since it broke down because we are waiting to see if ford may/will get forced to address this obvious issue. thank you. *tr

Started my 2003 ford taurus to go to work. my car was parked on a downward sloped driveway as it has been for several years. as i went to put it in reverse it rolled down the incline. tried several times to put the car in reverse but each time it rolled down the incline. after almost hitting my backyard fence i cut the car off and called in late for work. i realize all cars have things that might have to be replaced or worked on but given the number of complaints of this same issue among this make/model/year with transmission problems ford should make this right with people who trusted the company enough to buy their product. many complaints have caused near accidents. i could have ended up destroying my fence and entering the creek that runs along my backyard. my mechanic said this was a defect in the transmission involving the torque converter. ford please pay for the defect in your product so i can trust you again. *tr

My battery discharge light came on then the abs light, the brake light and others. i have taken it to a repair shop and neither he nor i can find the battery drain. the computer doesn't show anything. at times if its raining the wipers go as does the heat or air blower. i have also noticed the transmission not shifting correctly. my main concern is the engine stopping or the brakes not working and i have had my wipers not work in a rain storm . any advice? *js

Our daughter had planned to come home for a family gathering on easter sunday and indicated she was leaving dekalb, il and would be taking the interstate 88 toll way to dixon. shortly after she had called, she phoned again to say that her car suddenly went out of gear as she was driving to get on the toll way. the car engine raced has the car started to slow down. fortunately, she was able to coast off on to a side road and stop the car. according to the web site www.carcomplaint.com, 292 complaints have been submitted since 2012 for this same transmission failure. to my surprise, further research showed there has not been a recall. this appears to be a faulty transmission design issue which could easily result in personal injury or death. thankfully our daughter’s car had not lost the transmission while driving on the interstate. she could have easily been tail ended and seriously injured or killed. this transmission problem presents a serious safety problem and warrants a manufacturer recall. our daughter fears that if the transmission is replaced or requires a major part, it will likely contain the same flaw as the original transmission. she says she does not feel she can ever feel safe driving the car on the interstate or chicago freeways where she visits her friend. ford needs to furnish a reliable and safe replacement transmission by order of the national safety administration. the high potential for injury or death dictates immediate action. *tr

The car does not slow down (intermittent) sometimes. traveling at bout 55 or 60 i will take my foot off the pedal and the car will not slow down. when i finally come to a stop (which is hard on the brakes) my rpm's are 1000. if i put the transmission into neutral my rpm's will climb to 4000. dealer has not been able to fix the problem and has no idea what to do. *tt

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that when the vehicle was not warmed up he was unable to shift into any gear. the issue did not persist when the vehicle was running for a long period of time. the vehicle was not taken to a dealership or independent mechanic. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 70,000 miles and the current mileage was 100,000 miles.

Put car in reverse to move the strut assembly broke the spring went thru the tire multiple times.a 90,000 mile tire that only had 1900 miles on them. i am the one owner of this car with reg maintenance with no warning or prevention of this happening. *tr

When driving the car the car will accelerate on its own with out pushing the gas. even when you come to a complete stop the rpm will not go down to 0 it will stay above the 1. the car never comes to a complete stop the car is always accelerating even when at a complete stop. *tr

Had car in shop for a/c problems. mechanic (whitehill auto and body) they had another 2003 ford taurus with a frame (part of frame) that was being replaced because of rusting through. he said that our frame was also starting to rust. he said they had contacted ford and it was not listed on any recall. *tr

I was pulling into a gas station, going to a gas pump, when all of a sudden the rpms revved up and the car accelerated on its own. i was able to avoid the gas pump and instead went over a ramp which caused the car to go airborne. i went through a fence and hit a pole. the impact caused enough damage on the car for the car to come to an abrupt and complete stop. the car has been totaled. i have seen other reports on 2003 ford taurus regarding acceleration problems/issues. i would like for my incident to be part of the investigation. *tr

An on coming car lost control and swerved into my daughters lane of traffic. my daughter was unable to stop in time and t-boned the other car. upon impact, the other car was split in 2. my daughters airbags never deployed. all i want to know is why her airbags never deployed. when i call the ford motor company they told me because "no one was seriously injured or killed they would not look into the matter." thankfully everyone walked away. my daughter has a concussion and bruised ribs from the accident. ford motor company told me the only way they would consider looking at the vehicle is if i bought the vehicle from our insurance company (our insurance totaled the vehicle because of the excessive damage) and then had the vehicle towed to an authorized ford dealer. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 60 mph, the vehicle proceeded to accelerate after she had removed her foot from the accelerator pedal. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who was unable to diagnose the failure. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 159,000 and the current mileage was 159,100.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving approximately 30 mph, the transmission failed to respond. the vehicle was coasted into a nearby parking lot. the vehicle had not been towed or repaired. the manufacturer was notified, who informed that there was not a recall related to the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 111,000.

I have a 2003 ford taurus, with 66k that my daughter was driving. she was headed for home with my grand kids when the engine acceleration increased and the car stopped moving forward. lucky she wasn't on a busy highway and was able to coast to a wide spot in the road. the transmission quit working without warning which could have been disastrous had she been on the express way, in a major intersection or passing on a two lane road. the car had to be towed. after this happened i researched other complaints of this same year taurus and there have been many! i strongly feel this is a definite safety issue with this car and intend to report this to ford and the auto safety administration. i also intend to make a post on www.carcomplaints.com and suggest others with this problem do the same. this car should be recalled for this safety issue! *tr

After disengaging the cruise control by tapping the brake (the cruise control indication turned off), the vehicle continued to stay at the previously set speed. i then turned off the cruise control switch, which had no effect. i immediately started applying heavy braking until the vehicle slowed down to about 5 miles an hour and put the automatic transmission into park and turned off the engine ignition. all the while the car was attempting to accelerate back up to 55 mph (the previously set cruise control speed). this happened 2 more times and i was able to put the car in neutral and turn the car off and back on and that temporarily fixed the issue. i also later learned to briefly press and release the pedal to the floor which worked every time. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the speed throttle will sporadically become stuck. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer to be diagnosed. the dealer stated that the grommet would need to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacture was made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 110,000. the current mileage of the vehicle was 117,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while reversing from a garage, a loud abnormal noise was heard from under the front end of the vehicle. the contact discovered that the front passenger's side coil spring was fractured and punctured the front passenger's side tire. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who discovered that all four coil springs were damaged and needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the vin was not available. the failure mileage was 144,000. updated 04/02/14*lj *tr

Son was backing car down driveway and heard a noise and felt front end sag. he got out and noticed that the drivers front tire was flat. tire was a year old and cut on inside of sidewall. took tire off and had it replaced at my cost. when trying to put it back on the car i noticed the broken spring. this is what caused the tire to blow. very sharp edge on spring facing tire. glad it did not happen at highway speeds or in tight area so as to avoid injury or accident. very inconvenient and an obvious metal fatigue issue. rust not noticeable. bought this car used from a dealer and i wish they had corrected this ongoing problem before selling the car again. looks like i will have to look at other manufacturers as this is the second major expense on a ford for problems they knew about but did nothing to correct or to help compensate customers for their expense or inconvenience.. *tr

The heater blower motor has stopped working in my vehicle. i have had it replaced once and it worked for about 2 months before failing again. ford has issues a bulletin on this issue and it is a known problem, but they will not fix the problem if the car is no longer under warranty.

Automatic transmission stopped working in the middle of traffic. managed to get over to shoulder and car would nor move forward or in reverse

Oct 2012 bought my ford taurus 2003. in november as i drove home at 3 am at 55 mph the cars dashboard lights all flashed across my dash then the headlights went out as i pulled to the side of the road the car stalled. i sat for approx 15 restarted car and got it home. the next morn the battery was dead. purchased battery. car ran fine for a year then changed coils in october 2013. ion november i was driving 55 mph and all of a sudden dash and headlights went out. i was able to move the car into a driveway before gettin hit by 2 cars. car was towed to my house i charged battery check the alternator. next day car was started 3 times. the fourth time no go. car towed to mechanic. or shall i say dealership where car is under warranty. they called next day to tell me it was a dead battery they have charged it for an hour. i let the car sit there for a few days then called back, they then said my neg term to my battery wasn't connected.. and the car is now fixed, the car has sat at dealership for three weeks. im scared to drive it and don't want my four kids in that death trap. *tr

Just bought the car and doing some routine service , oil change , brake inspection etc. noticed that the rear body mounts on the subframe had rust rot. and looking over the rest of the subframe noticed that the lower control arms on the front mount of both left and right sides were rotted out completely. the repair work is more than what i paid for the car. i can't even put the car on the road. it will not pass inspection. for a car that is only 10 years old the subframe shouldn't be rotted out like this.ford should give some kind of assistance with this problem. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while having the tire changed at a local mechanic, she noticed that the sub-frame had become corroded. the contact called the manufacturer and was advised that there were no recalls for the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 117,000.

There is a recall on my car, but my vin was never entered and notice was ever sent out to recall the vehicle.i had problems with insurance because of the vin, maybe the vin should be [xxx]. ford randall reed and reynolds ford in oklahoma city refused to do the recall repair. the ford customer service rep confirmed my car came from the plant that had the recall and that there was never a repair/notice because the vin hadn't been entered. they gave another phone number, but that number only speaks to dealerships. my car will not shift out of park. my mechanic is [xxx]at midas on nw 23rd phone: [xxx]ford has been giving him the run-around, but he is trying to resolve the issue of my vin not being reported. the recall went out in april 2004 the campaign # 04v106000. this defect can cause a crash. recall id # 41871 - exterior lighting:brake lights:switch hide details recall date: mar 02, 2004 model affected: 2003 ford taurus summary: certain passenger vehicles are being recalled to correct a problem with a malfunctioning stop lamp switch and/or associated wiring. this malfunctioning could render the stop lamps inoperable or cause them to stay on all the time. this could cause confusion to a following driver, which could lead to a crash. consequences: in addition, if the switch and/or associated wiring fail in the open position, the brake lights will not actuate and the driver will not be able to shift the vehicle out of "park" if they fail in the closed position, the brake lights will remain on, which will not allow the speed control to be activated. this could also cause the battery to discharge. remedy: dealers will remove the stop lamp switch and associated wiring assembly and install a newly designed stop lamp switch and wire assembly. owner notification is expected to begin on april 5, 2004. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6), *tr

There is a recall on my car, but my vin was never entered. therefore a notice was never sent out to recall the vehicle. ford randall reed and reynolds ford in oklahoma city refused to do the recall repair. the ford customer service rep confirmed my car came from the plant that had the recall and that there was never a repair/notice because the vin hadn't been entered. they gave another phone number, but that number only speaks to dealerships. my car will not shift out of park. my mechanic is [xxx]at midas on nw 23rd phone: [xxx] ford has been giving him the run-around, but he is trying to resolve the issue of my vin not being reported. the recall went out in april 2004t he campaign # 04v106000. this defect can cause a crash. recall id # 41871 - exterior lighting:brake lights:switch hide details recall date: mar 02, 2004 model affected: 2003 ford taurus summary: certain passenger vehicles are being recalled to correct a problem with a malfunctioning stop lamp switch and/or associated wiring. this malfunctioning could render the stop lamps inoperable or cause them to stay on all the time. this could cause confusion to a following driver, which could lead to a crash. consequences: in addition, if the switch and/or associated wiring fail in the open position, the brake lights will not actuate and the driver will not be able to shift the vehicle out of "park" if they fail in the closed position, the brake lights will remain on, which will not allow the speed control to be activated. this could also cause the battery to discharge. remedy: dealers will remove the stop lamp switch and associated wiring assembly and install a newly designed stop lamp switch and wire assembly. owner notification is expected to begin on april 5, 2004. . information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while stopped, the engine rpms abnormally increased and the vehicle would not accelerate as the engine roared loudly. the contact was able to coast onto the road shoulder. the vehicle was towed to the dealer where a diagnostic was performed and the failure was located at the torque converter. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure and current mileage was 107, 000. updated 12/04/13*lj updated 12/6/2013 *js

Transmission failed while driving with no warning. attempting to accelerate from a stop light there was a 'shudder' felt throughout the car and the car failed to accelerate. park will work (no vehicle movement) but car will not move in any gear selection (r, od, d, d1). mechanic states that it is probably stripped splines to torque converter. this an apparent known issue with this car. had this occurred in heaver traffic or an intersection or interstate without the ability to pull over this is an accident (fatal) waiting to happen. why this hasn't been recalled yet is unexplainable as there are several complaints on this and is known to mechanics. *tr

Car would not stop it seem ads if the accelerator was stuck. *tr

I was driving about 45 mph after exiting the highway. it was about 6pm in heavy traffic. i made a left turn and engine revved as hit the gas and suddenly the car stalled. i coasted to the left turn median. the car would not move, i put in reverse then in drive and no response. i turn my hazards lights on. i was almost hit twice in the back by other turning cars who could see me until they completed their turn. i called the police and he pushed my car with his cruiser 4 lanes over to get to side the road. i had the car towed home. two mechanics advised me of a new/rebuilt transmission. a third mechanic advised me that it is likely the torque converter, which is a common complaint. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving approximately 55 mph, the engine rpms increased and the transmission responded as though the vehicle was engaged in neutral. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the contact was awaiting diagnosis of the failure. the mechanic informed the contact that the failure could possibly be related to the torque converter. the manufacturer was not notified of the problem. the approximate failure mileage was 71,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while attempting to accelerate from a stop sign, the vehicle failed to move forward. after several attempts to accelerate forward and in reverse, the vehicle still would not move. the vehicle was towed to the contact's residence and upon further investigation, the contact diagnosed that the torque converter would need to be replaced. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the vehicle had not been repaired. the failure and current mileage was 148,000..... updated 10-17-13 *bf updated 10/24/2013 *js

When accelerating to go up a slight incline, the vehicle "surged" and lost all gears. i let my vehicle coast to a stop and put it in park. the vehicle will go into and out of park, but when placed in any gear is motionless....will not move in reverse, or drive. this vehicle only has 52000 original miles on it! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the rear floorboards were rusted. the vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where the failure was confirmed. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was contacted about the failure. the failure mileage was 139,000. updated 11/19/13*lj

I was on my way to work and as made my turn the transmission would not engage. i was able to coast to a safe place, but was unable to move. i had no warning of any kind, the engine would just rev. thankfully i was alone in the car and i was not on the highway. i had to have it towed and am waiting to hear what the damage is. *ln

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving approximately 45 mph, there was a sudden loss of engine power without warning. the vehicle towed to the contact's residence and later taken to a private mechanic where it was diagnosed that the power transmission needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure and current mileage was 97,000. updated 10/30/2013 *js

My husband picked me up from school and he went in the store and the car while me and my 1 year old were in the car started smoking like from the air conditioner part the whole front part of the car, my husband ran out of store stating car was on fire he pulled car way from gas station, i got out of car and got my daughter out, fire was coming out of hood and bottom of car high we called fire department everything is on camera, than a police officer came out. the fire department put out the fire.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 20 mph, the vehicle suddenly stalled. in addition, the power train malfunctioned and caused the vehicle to roll downhill. the contact stated that the vehicle would not function in any gear other than park. the contact took the vehicle to a local mechanic for a diagnostic test. the mechanic stated that the transmission was defective. the contact did not have the transmission replaced. the failure mileage was 120,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while parked, she attempted to shift the gear into reverse but she was unable to move the gear shifter out of park. the contact was able to place the vehicle in reverse after applying excessive force to the brake pedal. additionally, the contact noticed the tail lights illuminated while the vehicle was shut off. there was a recall under nhtsa campaign number: 04v106000 (exterior lighting) that could have been related to the failure. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the vin was not included in the recall. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 46,000. *tr

The interior gauge lights have gone out. some remain on but it is very hard to see the speed, gasoline level, etc. due to the blown lights. this presents a hazard when driving as you cannot see the instrument cluster. *tr

The vinyl cover on all four of the doors have come loose, one falling completely off. *tr

The air bag has been sending code 2-4 upon starting the vehicle and then after a few times of blinking this code, it stays on constantly. this apparently renders the airbags non-operable & according to online posts, this is caused by corrosion in a component. *tr

2003 ford taurus. consumer writes in regards to transmission problems. *smd consumer sent additional correspondence. *smd the consumer stated the vehicle stopped forward movement, in the middle of the highway, and it felt as though the vehicle was in neutral. the engine continued to idle, and the vehicle had to be towed. the consumer stated the torque converter was defective. updated 11/20/13

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated the transmission failed. while driving out of a parking lot the transmission made a loud noise and the vehicle stopped moving. the contact had the vehicle towed to a mechanic who determined that there was an internal problem with the transmission and it needed to be replaced. the vin was not available. the failure and current mileage was 61,000.

Premature rusting of wheel wells. *tr

A water leak which dumped water onto the passenger floor board also caused my ac blower motor to short out. ford will not honor a recall but will fix it for $550 replacing the blower motor,blower motor resistor and the leak that they said was coming from a "rain cap" on the windshield. i looked online and have seen several complaints about the same problem. *tr

My 2003 ford taurus wagon rpm's rev up and down causing the car to sputter, hard lurches forward and die when stopping, usually if the air conditioner is running, also the gas pedal does not release at higher speeds. when first starting car up, it rev's to 2000 rpm and i have to wait for it to idle down to 1000 before shifting out of park to drive. if i am driving at speed of 30mph or more, i can take my foot off the gas pedal and it will maintain the exact speed on its own for miles, sometimes even speeding up 10 more mph. if i turn on the air conditioner, still not putting my foot on the gas pedal, the car will decrease its speed by about 10mph, consequently if i turn off the air conditioner the car will speed up about 10 more mph's. i have had the wagon in the mechanic's shop twice, one was an independent shop, the last was a ford dealership. between the two shops i have spent over a thousand dollars and neither one could diagnose or fix my problem. it is becoming increasingly hard to control the car at stops and i'm scared to drive it with my three children in the car but being a single mother with no outside help, our lives depend on the wagon and i have no more finances to try a shop again. has there been a recall or could you add my problem to your database to see if someone else has my problem, maybe they can tell me what fixed theirs, thank you! *tr

Calipers front right f reb caliper remove and inspect and overhaul caliper front one side. brakes were grinding again which required that inspection which i find out that the same area in the brake system needs replaced. recomd, tie rod inner remove and replace tie rod end one side inner, ball joints lower front left remove and replace f ball joint one side, 2 brake hoses front. brake rotors front both needed replaced. suggested tires due to mileage also rubber valve stem. system failure- required. recd, brake fluid exchange with abs, and bleed brakes. ceramic disc brake pads pd598 both front. 03/02/2013 mil 151213. 3rd repair shop, replaced all four tires with warranty brakes and pads along with discs needed replaced for the 4th time. transmission flush due to leaking fluid. qt dex 3 proline. brake drums and shoes replaced. replaced brake fluid, tie rod end one side inner along with replace of the shaft seal remove and install f axle shaft assembly one side. tran's seal cr. cv axle replacement. ball joint replacement along with wheel cylinder rear both, brake service with rear brake drum. engine light off/ runs poor diagnostic, replacement of pcv valve assembly, replaced upper and lower intake manifold gasket remove and replaced pcv valve along with tune up package. relearn engine idle, rear brakes basic pc pkg, dorman rear right wheel and left cylinders. during these 3-4 repair shops cannot fix the cruise control to get the car to stop driving it self when above 30mph along with acceleration, back tail light right side shorts out continually. it is very difficult and very unsafe to control a vehicle that has had more than three or four repair shops try their hardest to fix a problem that apparently has some of these problems. i am with the belief that the brake system along the electrical system within the 2003 ford taurus ses dohc is unsafe for street use in the u.s. due to our standards here of motor safety. when put into gear the transmission jumps loud. *tr

Ford taurus 2003 ses, engine 3.0l car was purchased on may 28, 2011. left side electrical along with components of the turn signal snap back when attempting to use this safety feature made for vehicles. on 06/15/2011 the front right brakes of the vehicle went out and required the vehicle to be towed to a local repair shop. during the drive home which was from a distance of about 20 miles i experienced uncontrollable steering and almost lost control of the vehicle. the replaced brake caliper bolt came loose and was lost along the highway. on 07/19/2011 after the vehicle was towed back to the repair shop the a/c compressor had failed again along with the transmission as the transmission was slipping roughly during normal driving conditions. the vehicle was towed and was blowing hot, brakes grinding, transmission flare shifting 2-3 shift. repair shop stated slipping at 30mph and stated rebuilt transmission. during a week period around 07/22/2011 the brakes were grinding again and the lower ball joints were installed. transmission slipping around 30mph and ac was still blowing hot. transmission was rebuilt during this time frame due to flare shift 2-3 shift. vehicle was towed back to the shop each time. 08/17/2011 check engine light on, transmission does not shift, grinding noise when accelerate and brake, a/c blows hot. on 08/31/2011 the transmission would not shift, stated need to replace all electronics in transmission, one or more solenoids are defect. 09/12/2011 odometer 112377 out o. on 09/20/2012 mil 140,768. balanced 55 series and above rear right wheels balanced parts for flat with plug. vehicle was inspected for power steering fluid and it was normal. the vehicle jumps when put in reverse and into gear and seems to want to stay on cruise control. i will post further comments to my complaint as there is not enough space for facts. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 5 mph in reverse, a loud bang was heard as the vehicle began shaking violently. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for diagnosis. the mechanic stated the front driver's side spring was fractured. the vehicle was repaired. the vin was not available. the approximate failure mileage was 95,000. *tr

Minnesota: transmission torque converter completely failed. car would not move from standing position. park is only gear that worked, all others were like neutral. no forward nor backward motion when in r or d. replaced transmission with rebuilt. cost: $2550.24. *tr

Minnesota: front drivers side coil spring broke and punctured tire while traveling at approx. 15 mph. replaced both front coil spring, strut assemblies. cost: $1183.20 included alignment + new tire install + balancing. about 4 months later right rear coil spring broke. $cost not known at this time. *tr

Was driving in traffic when throttle became stuck open. engine revved high. i put it into neutral, applied the brakes and pulled over. engine was revving at 4000 rpm's. open engine hood and noticed the throttle cable mount/harness had broken loose and came out of alignment. i then drove home and tried to call a service station, but it was after 5pm on saturday and could not find an open service station. will call ford on monday morning. *tr

Coil springs had snapped and ripped open inside of a brand new tire on the drivers side.our daughter noticed a flat tire so she went to change it and took to a local garage and they said they never saw anything like this. so we thought maybe the tires were on recall. i checked on the web and found that a lot of '03 ford taurus owners are having the same issues with the coils snapping but there is no recall on the '03's. but there was on '01-'02 taurus,apparently same problem but ford will not stand behind product.yet today i see a recall on the speed control cable for '03 taurus due to deadly accidents. another item i need to get fixed.thought we bought a reliable vehicle for a college kid that puts on tons of miles. so disappointed in ford but thankful this was not a tragedy. *tr

Was driving 50 mph when with no warning the car started slowing down and i almost crashed into a retention pond.cannot drive due to transmission failure! no money and still making payments on only s.s. *tr

As i was pulling away from the curb to go to work my car just suddenly stopped as if i had slammed on brakes and made a very loud noise. then the front drivers side tire went flat. i tried to back up back to the curb but it wouldn't move. a neighbor came to change the tire but couldn't get it off. then a piece of the coil spring fell onto the road and he discovered that the rest of the spring is in the side of the tire. there is no rust on the spring. i have owned the car for 5 years and it never gave me any indication that the spring was going to break such as bouncing, etc. what if i had been barreling down the interstate? now i'm scared to drive it even if i manage to afford to get it fixed! i've read hundreds of complaints for this same issue. maybe there is a product problem?? *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving approximately 65 mph, the vehicle accelerated independently. the contact was able to stop the vehicle on the shoulder of the roadway. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 157,493. *tr

Our ford taurus was driving just fine. we stopped at a stop sign and when we started to go and hit the gas pedal the car didn't go...the rpm's went to a high rate and then the car kicked into gear and drove but the rpms remained running high. a light on the dash lit up. it was a " ! " with a wrench type circle around lit up on the dash. we pulled into an autoparts store and they checked the car and they said it was a transmission issue. we have taken it to three different repair shops and they all say it needs a new transmission and they have seen several '03 tauruses with transmission issues and to check with ford to see if there has been a recall yet. as far as ford has told us they were unaware of the issue. *tr

Front spring broke and uncoiled ,stabbing front tire. vehicle was parked so no strain on spring. if moving tire sidewall would have ripped open. no containment at all. *tr

I was driving home from work doing 25 mph the car accelerate to 45 mph without my foot on the gas. the brakes would not stop the car, i had turned down a side street trying to push the brakes while putting the car into park. the car made a loud noise. this happen again the next day. it is very scary and very dangerous ford needs to fix this issue. i almost took the highway home thank god i didn't!! *tr

Numerous problems!!!car died in the middle of an intersection.has happened 3 separate times. have had car towed several times. car won't start after being run for afew miles;will start again after cool. mother has cancer and need this vehicle to get her to her chemotherapy and doctors appointments. mother also uses a walker and after getting chemo treatments which physically wear her out it is extremely dangerous, frustrating, and highly inconvenient to get her into a tow truck!!!!! hundreds of complaints all over the internet and still nothing. apparently someone(perhaps your department)needs to look into this very prevalent issue!!!!! *tr

We have replaced valves. cleaned throttles etc.. on our ford taurus and we continue to experience unintentional acceleration (revving) rpm's at over 2,000-3,000. at a stop light it will be at around 2000 rpms with your foot on the brake and then just drop down to .5. i have to keep my foot on the brake when it is revving so high. if the speed limit is 35 i ride the brake continually until it finally lowers. i am afraid of driving it or selling it, yet it is one of our primary vehicles. the shop doesn't know what to do. i seen there is an investigation on this and i am wondering what the current status is. if i continue to drive it, i am sure i will have to spend $ to replace all the brakes next. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 5 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. the vehicle was taken to the dealer. the technician diagnosed that the transmission was defective and needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the vehicle was repaired. the failure mileage was 96,866 and the current mileage was 97,000. *tr

Backing out of driveway heard loud noise like something hitting metal and a pop. upon removing tire noticed jagged edge of coil sticking down and broken piece laying on ground. also large gash on inside of tire wall. *tr

Water leaking in from cowl panel...causing heater motor to rust out...could cause a fire. *tr

Ac/heater blower only operates on high - speeds 1,2,3, no air blowing. blower resistor part (f6dz-19a706-aa) has been replaced three times in six years. obviously, there is a defect/known problem that ford should be addressing. *tr

Driving in city traffic at 30 mph, car began to accelerate on it's own, despite tapping on accelerator or brake pedal to stop. had to put car into neutral and hold brake to come to a complete stop while the car remained at 4000 rpm. even after turning the car off and on several times, it remained stuck at 4000 rpm (in both park and neutral). had to have car towed to mechanic because it was inoperable and a safety concern.

While driving the car noticed a clunking feeling in front end. after approx one mile saw smoke and smelled burning rubber. turned around to get car home, and while sitting at stop light, front driver side tire exploded like a gun shot. car was towed to ford dealership and found "front left coil spring broke causing it to rub on tire causing burning rubber smell, smoke and tire to blow out". repair bill is approx $925. owner is 83 year old woman, and this is a very costly expense. recall 04v332000 does not extend to this vin although it is clearly the same issue. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving approximately 20 mph, the transmission failed to operate without warning. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for diagnosis and they informed the contact that the transmission would need to be replaced. the vehicle had not been repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the malfunction. the approximate failure mileage was 110,000.

Transmission completely failed without warning. suddenly lost power to axles though rpms were up, as if car was in neutral. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the vehicle would not respond to acceleration while in drive. the contact took the vehicle to a local mechanic and was advised that the torque converter was defective and needed to be replaced. the contact did not have the torque converter replaced. the contact called the manufacturer but the manufacturer did not provide any assistance to the contact. the failure mileage was 83,000.

While driving for about 40 miles turned off li expressway came to a light when i stepped on gas pedal to hear engine revving up but the car not moving. had to call aaa to have it towed home and then had the ford dealership come pick it up. they told me i needed a new transmission and it was no longer under warranty so with my choices being 1- fix it at my own expense or 2- buy a new car. i had to have the ford dealership replace the transmission to the cost of $3066.24. this is usually when your just breaking in the engine on a car not replacing a transmission and at my cost. now fast forward 7 yrs dec 12 2012 with 18800 miles while driving on the li expressway i was driving 55 mph when all of a sudden the car speeds up tp 75 mph without warning i applied the brakes but could feel the engine fighting me all the way. the cars rpm needle starts to rise to 5500 to 6000 rpms this happened all the way home now its at the repair shop i can just imagine how much this is going to cost. never again will i buy a ford. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was driving into a parking space when the vehicle suddenly accelerated. the vehicle accelerated, crashed into the curb and stopped on the grassy area while the rpms continued to increase. the vehicle sustained damage to the front bumper, right passenger headlight and the right tire was flat. the tie rod was also broken due to the failure. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who repaired the damage. there were no injuries. the police and the dealer were not notified of the failure. the manufacturer also was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was unknown.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 45 mph uphill, the transmission failed. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection and they stated that the transmission needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified. the failure mileage was 100,000. the vin was unavailable.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving approximately 70 mph, the transmission suddenly failed to operate. the vehicle was maneuvered to the side of the road and then towed to the contact's residence. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the problem and was unable to provide assistance. the approximate failure mileage was 38,000. ...updated 05/29/13 *bf the consumer stated the torque converter was replaced. updated 06/04/2013 *js

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the vehicle failed to start. the vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where the ignition starter was replaced for the second time. the original starter that was installed by the manufacturer was replaced in august of 2011. the manufacturer was notified of the defect. the failure mileage and the vin were unavailable. *tr

I was driving to work going approximately 10 mph and my car just stopped moving, the engine continued to run, but i could not get the car to move in any gear. i also noticed transmission fluid leaking onto the road. i had the car towed to a service garage to have it checked out. the mechanic called me later that day and told me my transmission was shot. i was given 2 options, have a new transmission put into the car or have mine rebuilt. this would include replacing the torque converter and a chain in the transmission shaft that was showing signs of excessive wear. i choose to have it rebuilt. the mechanic informed me that there was a recall on ford windstar's for similar problems involving the transmission and the torque converter. he told me that the same transmission and torque converter were also in my ford taurus. i have owned and operated several vehicles produced by the ford motor co. with more than 100,000 miles on them and never experienced any problems with the transmission. the mechanic told me i should file a complaint with the national highway transportation safety board. *tr

The front driver's side coil broke. when it broke, it ruined my tire. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while reversing at approximately 3 mph, she heard a loud grinding noise and smoke emitted from the wheel well. the vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where it was diagnosed that both front struts and the front axle needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the approximate failure mileage and current mileage was 128,847.

Front coil spring broke and punctured tire. front of car dropped. very difficult to control and pull to side. i thought ford had fixed this problem as the previous recall was for earlier years. *tr

Drove car out of my driveway at low speed (less than 5 mph) when driver side front coil spring of my 2003 ford taurus broke and made approx. 8 inch tear in the tire. tire deflated instantly, could have been a very dangerous situation if it happened on the highway. *tr

My son proceeded to back out of driveway and the strut coil spring broke puncturing the tire. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus wagon. the contact stated that while driving 35 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. the vehicle was towed to the contact's residence and was inspected by a personal mechanic. the mechanic advised the contact that the failure could have been caused by the transmission or the torque converter. the manufacturer was notified who advised the contact that there were no recalls for the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 103,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while reversing, the front driver side strut coil spring failed and punctured the tire. the spare tire was installed and the vehicle was taken to a mechanic where the strut and coil spring was replaced. the manufacturer was not notified. the failure mileage was 152,000. the vin was not available.

Front drivers side spring broke & punctured tire. i am a single mother of three boys (9,5 & 6months) and had drove home on the highway going 65mph with all my boys in the car. i parked my car at home & went out later to retrieve some paperwork from my vehicle only to find out i had a flat tire. when the tire was removed to see what was wrong with it & hopefully just having the tire repaired, that is when we noticed that the spring had broke while the car was parked & punctured the tire. as you can imagine i was in shock, but was thankful that it had not happened while driving on the highway at 65mph shredding my tire & possibly causing a fatal accident. i have since researched on the internet only to find out that this has been an ongoing problem with a number of complaints that has been investigated and has still had no recall ! is it a matter of a certain number of deaths to occur before something is done ? it is a blessing that this has not happened yet & you would think that ford would want to keep in mind the safety of the people who buy their cars, by having a recall on the defective springs before someone is killed. there is no warning when this happens & i feel that it is unacceptable for ford to play with the lives of the people who buy their vehicles. i can tell you that this is a great financial set back for me & my 3 children & will think twice before ever buying a ford vehicle again knowing that the outcome could have been unforgivable. you can replace a defective part, but you cannot replace a life......! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the driver was traveling approximately 30 mph when the vehicle stalled without warning. the contact was able to coast to the road shoulder where the vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer to have a diagnostic or repairs performed. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the approximate failure and current mileage was 100,000. updated 01/29/13*lj the consumer stated the vehicle was repaired. the torque converter failed. updated 1/30/2013 *js

Brake light switch failed, at first the car wouldn't go out of park, after several tries it finally did. at that point it was noticed that the brake lights wouldn't turn off. i found an old recall that appeared to match the vehicle (04s12) but the ford dealer stated my car was not part of that recall and they would not state whether the car had already had it done or not. *tr

As i was driving on the exit ramp at approximately 65 mph december 14, 2012 my 2003 ford taurus began to decelerate at a fast rate. when i pushed down on the accelerator there was no power. as i pulled off to the side of the road and dropped it into a different gear there was no change in condition. after idling in park and moving the gear into drive again the rpms increased, but there was no acceleration. *tr

Went to my mothers for thanksgiving dinner. on the way home going 55 mile an hour the car stared excelling in speed. my husband was driving and knew to put the car in neutral to get the car to stop. he had to constantly stay on the brakes to slow it down. we got the car home, i looked on line and saw the complaints on your website. my husband then took the car to the local for dealership. he took a copy of the complaint with him. ford service dept. said they didn't want to see that article and wanted $80 to even look at the car. the car is not fixed, we plan on trying to get it fixed in the near future. if you would like to see what it is doing, that should take place in the next few weeks. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 35 mph, the transmission failed without warning. the vehicle was towed back to the contact's home. after searching the internet he surmised that the torque converter was the cause of the failure. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnosis. the contact was advised that the splines inside the torque converter were the cause of the failure. the entire transmission was overhauled. the manufacturer was notified but offered no assistance. the failure and current mileage was 113,000.

I bought the 2003 ford taurus used at the end of 2008. i did not start to experience the sudden acceleration problem until 2011. luckily, i'm a well-trained driver from the days of high school drivers ed. classes and my dad teaching me everything from driving in different weather conditions to what to do if your brakes fail, etc. the occurrences have gotten more frequent; i called in a complaint months ago to ford but the lady i spoke with acted like she didn't believe me. she stated that my car was an older model and that they were looking into things about a newer model, she also said if i were to fix it just keep the receipt. so in other words come up with the money yourself or have an accident. the cars rpm needle starts to rise and it's about 5500 to 6000 before i can get it to engage. i ride the brakes until i get to a red-light and then put it in park and rev the engine to get it back down to normal. other times i've had to pop it in neutral, push the accelerator until it starts to come down then back to drive. this is unnerving, especially when i have kids in the car, in heavy traffic or near a school at 3:00. ford needs to acknowledge this problem before someone gets hurt, if they haven't already. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving approximately 60 mph when the accelerator pedal became jammed, with speeds reaching 85 mph. the driver was able to stop after depressing the brakes. the vehicle was pulled over and later towed to an independent mechanic. after diagnosis they advised her that the cruise control cable started binding and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired with a new cruise control cable. the manufacturer was not contacted. the failure and current mileage was approximately 116,546. updated 05/23/13*lj updated 05/31/2013 *js

The car was being driven at 15 miles an hour, slowing down to prepare to turn left. suddenly the car sped up uncontrollably. the brakes would not slow the car down. the car had to be thrown into park to make it stop. we turned the engine off. turning the engine back on, the engine started revving up very high on its own. we turned the engine back off and towed the car to the mechanic, and he found that the cruise control malfunctioned. he disconnected the cruise control cable, and the problem went away. this is identical to the problem reported here: http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/03/13/feds-expand-ford-taurus-sticky-accelerator-probe-to-1-million-cars/ we were lucky there were no pedestrians on the road and that we were not driving very fast. if this problem happened on the highway, the results could be very different. this needs to be turned into a recall before it causes a fatal accident. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the vehicle accelerated to 45 mph without the accelerator pedal being depressed. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer where the air idle regulator was replaced but the failure recurred on three separate occasions. the failure mileage was 171,000 and the current mileage was 193,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving approximately 40 mph and releasing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle would remain at that speed and would not decelerate. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis where he was advised that they were unable to diagnose the failure. the manufacturer was contacted and stated that they were aware of the failure but there was no remedy available. the contact replaced the throttle body and speed sensor but the repair did not correct the failure. the failure and current mileages were approximately 125,000. the vin was unavailable.

While driving on speed control, my car started to accelerate like crazy. luckily, i was able to slam on the brakes, but this was a very scary issue! *tr

As i was driving on the highway on cruise control, the rpms suddenly increased and the car quickly slowed down (even though it was on cruise control!). luckily, there wasn't a ton of traffic, but i was forced to slowly exit from the left lane. the car just stopped on the service road, right in an area that i could have easily been hit. i've read a ton of complaints exactly like this, and this is pretty unsafe in my opinion. *tr

I was driving down state road 9 an as i started around a curve my rpm shot up an mph gauge went down envied revved up. i had no drive no neutral no reverse no nothing. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated while driving 15 mph she applied the brakes and the vehicle independently accelerated. the contact thought there was a brake problem and her son changed the master cylinder. six months later the failure recurred three more times. the contact was informed by the local news about nhtsa action number pe12033. the vehicle had not been repaired. the failure mileage was 80,000 and the current mileage was 90,000.

After driving approximately 3-miles without incident stopped for a red-light. when light changed, stepped on accelerator but car would no move in an gear selected. no prior noises or fluid leakage; just a dead transmission. appears to be a common (well documented) problem with vehicles of this year, make and model. *tr

Affected part: starter...car would not start. i got it jumped and drove to autozone to test. starter was dead. replaced starter. affected part: not sure what part but i am having problems with the headlights/dashlights and air, all weakening as i am driving. vehicles think i am flashing my headlights at them. *tr

Affected part: transmission i was accelerating after stopping at a light. the car lunged and made a pop sound then lost speed. i coasted to a shoulder and placed it in park. then tried reverse and drive and it would not move. it started but would not go anywhere. had it towed to a transmission shop for repair. *tr

The vehicle begins to throttle and then shut off at any time if your foot is not on the gas. the vehicle also stays or goes up in speed while you are driving. i had thought this was the fuel pump but learned it is not. im afraid that whatever the problem may be i could be driving the speed will go up on its own and then force the car to shut off and die leading to an accident. therefore i must say i do not drive this car often or far. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 45 mph, the contact removed his foot from the accelerator pedal but the vehicle continued to accelerate independently. the driver applied excessive force to the brake pedal and shifted into neutral in order to stop the vehicle. the contact inspected the vehicle and noticed a plastic clip on the throttle cable was fractured, which caused the cable to become stuck. there was a concurrent investigation under nhtsa action number: pe12005 (vehicle speed control:cables) that could have been related to the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 33,000.the vin was not available.

Entered highway on-ramp. as i merged onto highway at approximately 55 mph, i notice that the car was accelerating faster than usual for the amount of throttle i was using. i took my foot off the throttle completely and the car continued to slowly but steadily accelerate. without placing my foot on the throttle, i continued down the highway to the next exit. as i approached the light at the end of the exit, i began braking. feeling the engine fight the brakes, i moved the shift level into neutral and brought the car to a stop on the shoulder of the exit. as soon as i placed the shift lever into neutral, engine rpm shot up as if the accelerator was being depressed. repeatedly pressing and un-pressing the accelerator pedal did not nothing, nor was the pedal stuck on the floor mat. i turned the car off and place the shift lever into park. starting the car again resulted in the same behavior: engine rpm shot up even though the accelerator pedal was not depressed. i turned the car off and opened the hood. i identified the throttle body and notice that a plastic clip had become dislodged from the point where the throttle cable enters the throttle body. after several minutes of reinserting and wiggling the clip, i was able to get it to stay in its proper place, and thereafter, the throttle behaved normally. i carefully drove to the nearest ford dealership where they replaced the following part: yfiz*9a825*ca actuator asy. i have this invoice available if you need it. i have not experience any other issues with the throttle. *tr

When i was on my way to arbys the transmission went out on me with no warning. my car could not shift gears to go into reverse or forward. luckily i was able to coast to a stop and put the car in park. the employees at arbys assisted me with pushing the vehicle out of the drive-through. the car runs but cannot shift into any gears. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the faulty transmission was replaced with a transaxle assembly reconditioned transmission with reman torque converter. total cost of repair was $1,839.33. *tr

The transmission failed as the contact attempted to accelerated uphill in heavy traffic area. i was able to coast to a stop and put the car in park. started the ignition and attempted to shift into reverse but the vehicle would not respond. the vehicle would not operate in any gear which was selected. the vehicle was towed back to the mechanic where the transmission was replaced/repaired 18 months ago. the manufacturer was notified of the defect. total cost of repair was $710.00. *tr

I was driving about 40mph and the car started to accelerate without pressing the gas pedal. i pulled into a parking lot and was forced to press hard on my brakes to get the car to slow down and stop. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 45 mph, the contact depressed the brake pedal but the vehicle would not decelerate. the contact placed the vehicle in neutral and applied excessive pressure to the brake pedal in order to stop the vehicle and turned the engine off. the failure recurred twice. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. there was a recall under nhtsa action number: pe12033 (vehicle speed control:cruise control vehicle speed control:cables) that could have been related to the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 50,000.

3 occurrences of throttle sticking open when attempting to accelerate when either passing or merging onto express-way. the first occurrence was when passing a vehicle on a road shortly after a full stop going about 35-45 mph the vehicle continued to accelerate even when pumping the breaks. the 2nd time was not until about 6-8 months later while accelerating rather quickly to merge safely into traffic on an expressway and the car continued to accelerate. slowly at first and then after getting off at next exit i barely was able to apply the breaks to pull over. i was able to shut it down and after a few minutes attempted to start car and the accelerator raced so i immediately shut it down again. after waiting 10 min. or so i was able to restart the car and it performed like nothing had happened. i was in an area of detroit that i was not going to stay there unless i had to so i again drove making sure i slowly accelerated until getting up to expressway speed. the 3rd occurrence happened in much the same way the 1st one happened. i think my response was different this time in that i did not attempt to pump the accelerator to try and unstick. if memory serves me i went into a coast mode until i saw the tack come down to a normal rpm speed. after the 2nd occurrence i removed the floor mat from the drivers side, so i know that after it happened the 3rd time it definitely was not the result of a jammed floor mat. the weather on all 3 occasions was not wet. the 2nd and 3rd happened during this past summer. no repairs have been made although we were going to have this looked at before winter. *tr

In addition to previous complaint..confirmation # 10482482...... the repair shop i took it to said that it was the cruise control cable that was causing the problem with my engine speeding up like that. i was in the car with my son at the time. safe to say that me and him were scared out of our wits. i haven't had any problems with my engine speeding up since the repair shop replaced the cable. nevertheless, i just heard a couple days ago about an investigation into my model/year vehicle again about engines revving up on abc news. i don't know if there is a recall or not. however, on my way from church today, my engine light came on for the very first time this year. i stopped by an autozone to get a free engine check and the results said that it detected a higher than normal engine speed due to a possible engine vacuum leak or failed iac valve. i will take it to ford dealership this wednesday to get it checked out officially (if my car will make it) because i have to work monday and tuesday. i'm a little anxious, scared, and wondering if my engine will rev up like that again or stall out somewhere :( *tr

As i was driving, i noticed my car starting to accelerate. at first, i thought it was the cruise control, but when i went to slow down, the car just wanted to keep driving as if by itself; so, i had to make a sharp turn into the nearest parking lot in my attempt to get the car to stop. finally, it came to a stop and almost ran into another car, but when i put it in park, the engine was still running at a fast speed; none like i heard before and then i turned it off. *tr

I was taking my brother to the hospital. he was having a breathing problem. i saw the sign for quitman exit and veered in that direction. it was to soon, i went off an embankment and besides hitting some trees, debris, landed in a pond. the air bag did not deploy. i hit head on. my brother was hurt. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 40 mph he crashed into another vehicle and the air bags failed to deploy. the vehicle was destroyed and the contact sustained several injuries. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure who did not offer any assistance. the failure and current mileage was 111,000.

Cpsc# i1240221a. 2003 ford taurus. consumer stated the transmission failed unexpectedly and without warning while driving. *ln

Was driving down i-74 in the quad city area at approximately 50 mph, when my 2003 ford taurus quit moving - just stopped while driving down the interstate! would not move in either forward or reverse directions. i was very lucky i was not hit from behind. had it towed to my mechanic, and it was determined the pump drive splines inside the torque converter were defective. had to replace the torque converter at a cost to me of about $2,000. my mechanic said he's seen this exact same issue in about three dozen taurus' in his shop alone, in 2003 to 2007 models. he is wondering if all torque converters are made at same location and shipped to various plants for installation?? taurus' built at some plants are part of the recall, but mine isn't because it wasn't built at the "recall" plant. but my vehicle had the same problem as the other torque converter recalls! *tr

I just picked my four year old sun from daycare and the car suddenly stalled without any warning, i was on the left lane and had to steer the car to the side of the road. no forward no reverse. neighbor said same thing happened to his taurus and he changed the torque converter and now it drives fine, seems like a common problem. this is a disaster waiting to happen, imagine what would have happened if i was on the highway driving 60? *tr

Failure of blower motor. my research shows that water leaking into the blower motor compartment and shorting-out the blower motor/resistor is chronic in the 2003 ford taurus, evidenced by the presence of water on the floor passenger side-front, and necessitates replacement of the blower motor and/or ballast resistor from water damage, at owner expense! a recall is in order to compel ford to address this design issue, at their expense. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was driving 50 mph when the vehicle stalled without warning. the contact had the vehicle towed to a dealer who performed a diagnostic test and the located the failure as a defective transmission. the dealer advised the contact that the transmission needed to be replaced. the contact did not have the transmission replaced. the failure mileage was 145,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was driving 40 mph and applied the brakes but the vehicle did not respond. the contact shifted into park in an attempt to stop the vehicle. the vehicle did not stop and the vehicle crashed into the rear of another vehicle. during the crash both the driver and passenger side air bags deployed however, the contact was not injured. the driver of the second vehicle suffered a laceration above the eye. a police report was filed. the manufacturer was contacted and a complaint was filed. the failure mileage was 75,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that after turning off the vehicle the brake and the exterior light remained illuminated. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the failure and current mileage was 83,118.

Coming into town at highway speeds, slowed down to 30 mph and then nothing the splines in the torque converter stripped out and i lost power to the wheels. couldn't go forward or backward. ford does have a recall for newer vehicles but not on my model. my ford dealer says they have done a number of these repairs on older models as well. *tr

The latest incident was today. vehicle was started, idling, put into reverse with foot on the brake. engine suddenly increased speed and vehicle lurched backwards. vehicle was put in drive with foot on the brake, engine would periodically increase speed and vehicle would lurch forward. on several other occasions while driving, notably at speeds 20-40 mph, vehicle speed would start increasing on it's own. on those occasions, the increase was not rapid or extreme, these were thought to be flukes, but now it's lurching after the vehicle is put in drive or reverse. the frequency of these incidents with this vehicle are increasing and i believe this is a serious safety issue. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 35 mph, the vehicle suddenly accelerated up to 70 mph. the contact mentioned that after he was able to stop the vehicle, he realized that the cruise control cable became detached. he was able to correct that problem with electrical tape. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and did not offer any assistance. the manufacturer referred the contact to nhtsa. the vehicle was repaired. the failure and current mileages were 84,000. updated 08/28/12*lj

Driving 2003 ford taurus in heavy traffic on overpass champaign illinois. rpm's soared and drivetrain completely stopped moving car forward. we coasted to safe parking. had car towed to transmission mechanic and he stated that ford should be ashamed of themselves and to keep the receipt of what i had paid in excess of $1200 for new torque converter. i have exact dates in september 2011 to include full receipts in storage at this time. had i not been as skilled a driver, many could have died in such abrupt drivetrain failure, no warning!!!!!! we want a full refund for want we had to pay, to include towing. we have moved from illinois to florida, i am on disability and would appreciate some attention to such a large amount we had to pay for such a dangerous condition. please contact me if you need additional information and copies of our receipts from the reputable mechanic. thank you. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the vehicle stalled while driving. the contact stated that every light illuminated on the instrument panel. the vehicle was restarted but the failure recurred. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer for inspection where they stated that the fuse needed to be changed and the fuel pump needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired however, the failure recurred. the manufacturer was notified and stated that there was nothing that could be done because there was no recall. the failure mileage was 70,000. the vin was unavailable.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that as the gear was shifted from park to drive, the gears slipped. the failure recurred intermittently. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection or repair. the manufacturer and the dealer were made aware of failure. the dealer stated that the diagnostic of the failure was difficult because the failure was not present constantly. the current mileage was 60,650 and the failure mileage was 60,600. updated 08/29/12*lj updated 09/05/12

Total transmission failure out of no where. multiple other phantom engine failures/engine inexplicably dies. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 55 mph, the vehicle lost power without warning and the transmission would not engage in drive or reverse. a local mechanic inspected the vehicle and advised that the transmission would need to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure and the current mileage was 119,869.

The transmission went out and i had to replace it. i read about many other complaints about the transmission going out in a 2003 ford taurus, so i thought i would add this one. *tr

While attempting to pull through a very busy intersection in tulsa, oklahoma, my transmission started slipping without warning causing many (thankfully) alert drivers to take evasive action to miss me when my car wouldn't go. it has been brought to my attention that the transmissions, most notably 2003 model year, in the taurus' have a bad reputation for this yet ford refuses to recognize this. many just give out at highway speeds. i pray my children aren't with me if any such occurs again after i replace this transmission...no recall that i'm aware of. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while stopped at a stop light, the vehicle would not accelerate. the vehicle was towed to the contact’s home and was not taken to the dealer for a diagnostic test. the contact inspected the vehicle and noticed a transmission failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the vin was not available. the approximate failure mileage was 232,000.

The transmission is defective in this car. it has been flushed and is full of fluid. from the beginning i could actually put the column shift between gears. not what it's supposed to do. the salesman assured me that it was not a problem. the transmission overheats and shifts rough when hot. last month after driving on the highway for 1/2 hour to get to work, i got off the exit and had to wait at a light. the car refused to shift for several minutes after the light changed. i was almost rear-ended. two weeks ago the same thing happened. a car came around the corner and just missed me as i was stuck in the middle of the road. there have been numerous complaints about this transmission and it is so bad it even has its own facebook page. i work part-time and have a long commute. i now can only drive backroads at low speeds to make sure my car will shift. and i do not have money for a new transmission. i can't drive to other cities for job interviews. i understand ford was aware of the problems with this transmission and did nothing to rectify the problem. the car needs a recall. *js

On or about may 5th of 2012 the front passenger coil spring fractured. which then punctured a six month old tire. then not more than 50 days later, on aproximately june 20th of 2012 the drivers side front coil spring fractured and punctured the drivers tire which was aproximately seven months old. if this were to happen on the road on either occasion it could have easily led to one or more fatality. *jb

Driving on the interstate at around 65 miles per hour the car started to accelerate on its own. i was unable to brake, so i pulled the car over to the side and put the car in neutral. in neutral the cars rpm shot up to 4000. i turned the car off. upon examination of the throttle it has been discovered that the cruise control cable clip or adjuster that connects the cable to the throttle is cracked and not longer holds the cable in place. i have been able to manually adjust the cable back into position and drive the car, but it continues to fall out and accelerate on its own. has happened several times and is very dangerous. i have been unable to locate this "clip" to have the problem fixed. *jb

We were driving uphill on an interstate highway at the speed limit when all of a sudden the engine speed went up and the vehicle speed started falling. some smoke appeared in back of the car. we barely made it over to a very narrow shoulder (against a guard rail) before we stopped. the engine was running but the car would not move. traffic was very fast and heavy and only a foot or two from the driver's door. we were stuck there for over an hour. a mechanic who subsequently looked at it said that the transmission had burned out. repairs, now under way, are estimated at $2200. *tt

I was driving my car to the store,came to a traffic light and accelerated and it shifted fine until i pressed the gas pedal and nothing besides high rpms... also it happened with no signs or warnings and transmission wasn't slipping or acting up...had it towed to a mechanic and he said it was my torque converter that ruined the splines that engage.! something needs to be done! *tr

I had just pulled out from a stop sign when, without warning, the rpms suddenly went really high and the car stopped accelerating. i was in congested traffic. i tried to coast my car off the road but i didn't have enough speed. i was stuck half way in the road. thankfully, i broke down in front of a garage. i got out of the car and a mechanic pushed car to safety. the garage inspected my car and said the transmission went out and it needed to be replaced/rebuilt. i'm really glad i wasn't going fast or else i could have been seriously injured or killed! my mother had asked earlier if she could use my car to take my sick father out of state to a dr. appt.(bc the car's gas mileage is better than her suv). i'm glad i had class that day and couldn't let her take it. numerous people have reported having this same transmission problem. ford needs to issue a recall. this is a serious safety issue! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 35 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. the contact had to have the vehicle pushed to their residence because it could not be restarted. the dealer was notified of the issue who advised the contact that there were no recalls. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified. the failure mileage was 32,000.

On january 5, 2011 my eldest daughter was driving our car in a residential area near our home. as she drove over a manhole she heard a noise and the bottom of the car scrape the pavement. she stopped to inspect, but not noticing anything unusual she continued on. a mile later she got a flat tire on the front left side. after calling for help she pulled into a parking lot. i helped change the tire, but i noticed that the car was riding low. when i went to get a new tire i was told that there was a greater problem. a broken spring! that is what had punctured the tire. the next day(s) we got the front end repaired and a new tire mounted. i understand that there was a recall of this problem on earlier taurus models. apparently the problem still exists for 2003 models! although you have closed your investigation (ea0818) please add this complaint to your file. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 35 mph, the transmission failed and the vehicle would not further accelerate. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who inspected the vehicle and stated that the transmission needed to be replaced. the contact stated that the transmission was replaced one year ago by another mechanic after experiencing the same failure. the manufacturer was notified and a complaint was filed. the failure mileage was 69,304 and the current mileage was 89,000.

Car was slowly approaching red signal at major busy traffic intersection. while car was still moving, signal turned green. but, with neither unusual sounds nor other advance warnings, the engine lost all ability to transmit power to the transmission, creating an urgent emergency situation for safely transiting the intersection as well as bringing the car to a full controlled stop out of way of considerable fast moving traffic. then had to deal with my visually-handicapped wife and significant foodstuffs just purchased, plus tow arrangements to our ford dealer. ford service determined cause clearly resulted from catastrophic failure of faulty torque converter because of stripped splines. repairs cost over $1,300 just for torque converter replacement. however, transmission could still fail suddenly from undiscovered internal damage caused by broken torque converter, requiring significant additional cost for rebuilt transmission. now, it's like a "russian roulette" experience each time we get in the car, something two elderly seniors really are not well-equipped to deal with!

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the vehicle stalled without warning. a local mechanic diagnosed that the vehicle would need a new transmission. the manufacturer was notified, but denied any assistance with repairs to the failure. the dealer was not notified. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileage was 77,000.

The car was being driven on a major highway between 40-50 mph and the transmission just dropped. had to coast to the side of the road to avoid an accident. no warnings, lights, winding, etc. the car was just in for a tune up and oil change the weekend prior and there was nothing detected. there are hundreds of complaints regarding the same issue with an average mileage under 100,000 miles. we called ford to explain that there was a systemic problem, they offered no assistance. *js

I was driving down the road doing 45 mph and without warning i lost all power. no gears will work. it seems as if all gears are like neutral. engine starts and runs fine but no gears will work. transmission wont work. *tr

Transmission failed unexpectedly while driving and without any warning whatsoever. *tr

I was driving down a side street when the car quit moving forward. i coasted to a stop and tried reverse, and it would not go in that direction either. the engine was running when this occurred. i had a baby in the car and a trunk full of groceries. i got out and checked all the fluids. they were full. the transmission fluid was clear. the maintenance book said not to change the transmission fluid until 100,000. my car has only 73,000 miles. this car is well maintained. i paid to have it towed to the nearest car repair shop. they determined it was a transmission problem and could not fix it. i then had to pay to tow it to another shop that informed me that this was a characteristic problem of a 2003 ford taurus. if this defect is known by ford's and they chose to ignore it and not fix our cars, i hope you will do the right thing and make ford's fix it without me having to pay a huge bill which is hard on a limited income. i saw this address on a facebook page. the address is: http://www.facebook.com/pages/fight-for-recall-of-2003-ford-taurus-transmission-problems/156915101017448. please check out this page. you will see the many people are having this happen. i just stumbled upon the page by accident. i wonder how many more there are out there not knowing that there are a lot of us driving ford's defective cars. please make them accountable. they did not hesitate to take car payments for years. they should not hesitate to fix a car that they built. i was from detroit and always believed in buying american, but my opinion has changed. that is a shame. thank you very much. i hope you can do something to help me. *tr

As i accelerated after stopping at a stop sign , there was a noise, the car coasted a short distance and stopped. i could not put the car in drive or reverse. i had no warning of this failure, no slippage or noises, and had i been in traffic, i would surely have been hit in the rear by any car behind me. i understand this is a common problem with the taurus and shudder to think how many accidents may have been caused by similar failures. i am the original owner of this vehicle and have religiously followed ford's recommendations for service. i realize this is a 2003 vehicle, but with only 52,000 miles i did not expect this failure. i received estimates up to $2600 to repair, but was told by one knowledgeable and honest mechanic, that the torque converter is usually the cause of transmission failure in a car with low mileage, dismantling proved the converter to be the problem. by rebuilding my transmission i saved a substantial sum, but this information is not easily available to consumers; leading many to spend more money than necessary to repair. although well past any warranty, i do feel the transmission was inferior. this repair might have been covered if i were a high mileage driver. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was driving 25 mph with the defroster activated when she smelled an abnormal odor. the contact then discovered that the rear window had become discolored. the defroster was turned off and the odor diminished. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer. the manufacturer was not contacted. the failure and the current mileage was 120,000.

I got this car in 2009 around about november. by march 2010, the transmission went out on me with no warning. got another transmission now march 2012 i just found out to have my transmission rebuilt again and i cannot afford to have it rebuilt again. how long do a transmission suppose to last in a ford taurus anyway. i mean will i have to have my transmission rebuilt every two years as long as i own this car? *js

From a parked position in my driveway put the car in reverse. heard a loud hiss and left side of vehicle dropped down. upon further investigation found coil spring had failed and cut sidewall of tire. if this had happened at highway speed results could have been disastrous have had this happen on 2 ford vehicles why hasn't ford issued a recall for this issue very unsafe. *js

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 15 mph the transmission failed and he was unable to shift into any gear. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer and the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the vin was not available. the failure and current mileage was 95,000.

On wednesday, november 25, 2009, i was driving my parents 2003 ford taurus sel around town, doing last minute shopping for thanksgiving, when all of a sudden the car took off, as if the gas pedal had gotten stuck. my mother was in the front passenger seat and i told her what was happening. i tried stepping on the gas pedal to see if it had gotten stuck, but that did not help and i was getting very concerned. i kept my foot on the brake and then put the car into a lower gear and then into neutral, all the while, the engine continued racing, and turned off the engine. it took me almost two blocks to get the car stopped. i immediately called the auto club for a tow truck, as there was no way i was going to turn the engine back on. i then called my father and told him what happened and he proceeded to come down to where we were. the tow truck came and the driver was the one who found that the plastic housing that holds the cruise control cable had broken and the cable slipped back and was wedged-up against the side of the broken housing. i took photos of this. the car was taken up to our mechanic. the cruise control has never been used. we contacted the ford customer service who took all the information and gave us case number 0436723349. they told us to take the car to the dealership to have the part replaced. my parents took the car to the dealer, but they only offered to replace the part; however, we wanted someone to witness it and see what it looked like before the part was taken off and discarded and we would have had no way to prove it even happened. they just wanted my parents to leave the car all day to have it checked out, but my father opted to take it back to our mechanic who would save the part and give it to my father.

I turned my car on and reversed out of my driveway. when i hit the street my car would not budge. the car turned on but would not move leaving me stranded in the middle of the street with my two small children in the car. i believe these cars are dangerous and have found a large community online that has had the same problem or worse with these cars. i contacted ford and they told me that they don't care and will not recall these cars. someone with a similar experience on a forum directed me here to file a complaint. my car had less than 65,000 miles on it and was well maintained. this should not have happened. *tr *js

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was unable to shift from park into drive unless the brake pedal was engaged repeatedly. in addition, the rear brake light failed to illuminate when applying the brake pedal. the failure recurred intermittently. the contact referenced nhtsa campaign id number: 04v106000 (exterior lighting: brake lights: switch) however the contact's vin was not included in the recall campaign. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the problem. the failure mileage was 128,000. updated 6/4/12 *cn updated 06/07/12 *js

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact started the ignition and attempted to shift into reverse but the vehicle would not respond. the vehicle would not operate in any gear which was selected. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the faulty transmission was replaced with a new manufacturer's transmission. one week later, the transmission failed as the contact attempted to enter a driveway. the vehicle was towed back to the mechanic where the transmission was being replaced with another manufacturer's transmission. the manufacturer was notified of the defect. the approximate failure mileage was 82,000. updated 5/12/11 *cn

On this sunday, i had made three previous stops, without incident. i was turning into an intersection, when, without warning, i had no power. the transmission had failed! i coasted to the side of the street and called aaa. i had the car towed to a firestone dealer. the verdict on monday was an internal transmission failure. i then had the vehicle towed to a local ford dealer. i was subsequently informed that i would need a new transmission. the new transmission cost $3287.51; towing costs were $122.00! i am the original owner of this vehicle, and the transmission was always maintained properly. there should be no reason for this transmission failure. there is a website that lists several hundred complaints about the 2003 ford taurus automatic transmission. i have also registered this complaint with the ford motor company. ford should recall this vehicle, considering the hundreds of transmission failures reported for the 2003 taurus, and fully compensate owners, who, in cases like mine, have spent thousands of dollars. *tr

I am disabled and my son and i had the same type of car a 2003 ford taurus. about a year ago my sons car just suddenly had its transmission stop working he said there was no signs before it happened, but i thought he was just not paying attention. well today 03/31/12 my 2003 taurus did the exact same thing and there was no warning it just was like it was kicked out of gear. i depend on my car because of my physical condition. however being left stranded at the side of the road without any help was a big problem. *js

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the vehicle was parked when he heard a loud popping noise. the contact examined the vehicle and noticed that the front driver's tire was flat because a fractured coil spring pierced through the sidewall. the contact replaced the coil spring and noticed that the front passenger side coil spring was also fractured. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 150,000.

Automatic transmission quit working with no warning. could have caused serious damage. luckly car was already parked. ford motor company should have a recall on all 2003 ford taurus transmissions, someone is seriously going to be hurt by this problem. *tr

Cruise control was set at 70 when the car all-of-the-sudden accelerated out of my control to the highest possible rpm and then snapped at about 90, rendering my car completely useless. i found myself coasting w/ very little control, out in the middle of nowhere, 5 miles from the nearest exit. cost over $2000 out-of-pocket to completely replace 200 transmission-related parts. *js

I purchased a new ford taurus se in 2003. after only 30,000. miles on the odometer my transmission failed on the freeway. i had it towed to goodyear and a mechanic confirmed that the transmission failed and referred me to transmission specialist. my quote to have the transmission rebuilt was $3,000. i believe that this falls under "catastrophic mechanical failure" and i should not have to pay to get this situation rectified. i contacted ford customer relationship center and requested that the car be replaced with a new taurus or a new transmission with warranty and the repair of any collateral damage as a result of the car sitting in my garage since 2008, i was told that nothing could be done because the warranty expired two months before the transmission failed. i was nearly killed as i tried to navigate from the freeway to the shoulder. in essence i paid $1,000. per mile for the life of this car. 2003 was one of ford's worst year for transmission failure. this transmission should have been recalled. to have such a major component fail after owning the car 5-years and just 30,000. miles is a travesty. in conclusion, i would like to know how many owners died as a result of this transmission failure and hope that we can receive assistance for this travesty by an american auto company's lack of responsibility. this is not right and i don't know how a company can get away with this , to me, is an illegal act that should not be tolerated! *tr updated ivoq 07/09/12 the consumer also reported transmission failures experienced by other consumers. updated ivoq 07/23/12

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the vehicle would lose power without warning. the vehicle was towed to a local mechanic and a diagnostic was performed. the failure was located as the transmission torque converted having failed due to defective material. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not contacted. the vin was not available. the approximate failure and current mileage was 69,000.

I have a 2003 ford taurus. in the past, i've had the pedal stick and the car will accelerate on it's own. when i pushed on the brakes, it takes me about 3 times as long to stop the car and once it's stop it is still trying to go and the rpm was above 3. i was also pushing the brakes as hard as i could and the car was still trying to go. the first time this happened was in the winter of 2010. it happened roughly 5 times in the winter of 2010 and 3-4 times in the winter of 2011. it did not happen in 2012 due to the warm winter climate, at least that is my guess. i also remember it happening when it was very cold outside. the one time it was around 0 degrees. it felt like the pedal would get stuck. the only way i could get it to stop would be to aggressively keep pushing the pedal and then it would get unstuck. one time i let it go to see how far it could speed up on it's own i got it to 50 mph without pushing the pedal before i got nervous and was able to get it to stop. i've also noticed in the past that the pedal sometimes will feel like it will get stuck but in those cases the car won't accelerate on it's own like i explained above. i brought all of this to the dealer's attention but they wrote me off and said it could have been due to the cold. i never thought to report it till i heard about other incidents similar to mine recently in the news. *tr

When driving down a public road the front driver spring broke before i could safely stop this in turn cut the tire ,this is a long standing problem with ford taurus, prior recalls, yet not corrected in latter model years this could have resulted in a fatal accident at higher speeds. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 55 mph, the vehicle accelerated up to 75 mph without warning. the brakes were applied, but the vehicle continued to accelerate. the contact was able to maneuver the vehicle onto the shoulder and stop. the vehicle was then towed to the dealer. the dealer inspected the vehicle and found that the cruise control throttle cable was fractured. the dealer replaced the throttle cable. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 94,000 and the current mileage was 112,000. the vin information was not available.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 50 mph, the driver of the vehicle suffered a minor seizure causing her to crash into a telephone pole. the front driver's side air bag did not deploy. the driver sustained two ruptured discs in her back and severe chest pain. the driver sought medical attention after the accident. the vehicle was towed to the dealer. the insurance company inspected the vehicle and deemed it as being destroyed. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 110,000. updated 05/21/12 *bf the consumer stated there was no police report. updated 06/22/12

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 15 mph, the vehicle began to decelerate abnormally. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for diagnostics where the mechanic stated that the transmission would have to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 53,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the accelerator pedal stuck while driving 30 to 35 mph. there would be an increase in engine rpms up to 4,000 unless the vehicle was shifted into neutral while applying the brakes. the vehicle was taken to a mechanic, who inspected the engine and found that the plastic clip that held the vehicle speed control cable to its bracket was fractured. the mechanic took a piece of wire and wrapped it around the cable and bracket to remedy the failure. the dealer was not notified. the manufacturer was not notified. the failure mileage was 87,000 and the current mileage 93,000.

While driving my daughter experienced a sudden acceleration and braking did not stop the engine from accelerating. she placed the vehicle in neutral and while still having difficulty braking was able to stop the vehicle and turn off the engine. car was towed to service location and cruise control was disabled to remedy the issue. fortunately no damage or injuries resulted. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus sedan ses. the contact stated that while the brakes were depressed the engine revved and the vehicle accelerated unexpectedly. the vehicle was taken to the dealer and the manufacturer was notified. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 100,000 and the current mileage was 119,000. the vin was unknown.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the vehicle would accelerate even when his foot was not engaging the accelerator pedal. the contact also stated that he was able to maintain control of the vehicle by engaging the brakes. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the current mileage is 184,341. ..updated 04/16/12 *bf the consumer stated the engine did not slow down normally when the accelerator was released. the vehicle would maintain speed for 15-20 seconds after the accelerator was released. the engine idle was set too fast. updated

Brought my car in for an oil change and the mechanic informed me that both of my rear coil springs are broken. not sure when this happened but notice a couple of weeks earlier that the back end of the car was sagging. *tr

Pulled into traffic just before stop light, car continued to accelerate, at stop light put car in to neutral, engine continued to race, turned car off and back on still continued to accelerate, pulled into traffic as i could not pull out of traffic continue to shift to neutral, in and out till could pull over and call tow truck. breaks were able to control car but engine over heated. took to local dealership where was told it was a broken/stuck cruise control cable and that engine overheating had cracked radiator cap. *tr

First time we noticed it i was accelerating to get on the freeway and the throttle pedal felt like it was sticking at a point about 1/4 throttle then it would work normally past that point. this occurred on several occasions that day. after that occurrence two days later we were on our way home and while cruising at 70mph on i-40, with the cruise control on, i accelerated to pass another vehicle and i felt the same incident as before. the feeling on the throttle is as follows: hard to press until the pedal reaches the 1/4 point then a snap and the pedal moves down freely. by coincidence two days after arriving home i came upon the msn report of ford taurus throttle problems. i will now be taking my car to the local dealer to report this problem. thank you *tr

My son was driving along when the radio stopped working and than the car would not accelerate. he pulled over and it stalled and he saw fire under the hood. the police officer suspects an electrical problem. the car burnt from front to rear..a total loss. *tr

Car starts to accelerate by itself without pushing on the gas pedal and doesn't stop till it is shut off. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was driving 20 mph when the vehicle became resistant to acceleration attempts. the vehicle was towed to an automotive shop where it was diagnosed that the torque converter failed. the vehicle was repaired with a new torque converter and input shaft. the failure mileage was 78,000 and the current mileage was 85,000. updated 03/28/12 *bf updated 04/09/12

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 75 mph with the curse control engaged, the vehicle would not decelerate while braking. the contact had to shift the vehicle into neutral in order for the vehicle to slow down. the contact then shut the vehicle off. the contact did not call the manufacturer or take the vehicle to a dealer. the failure mileage was 160,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 65 mph, the vehicle began to decelerate independently. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostics where the mechanic advised that the transmission would have to be rebuilt. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 179,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that when starting the vehicle, the rpms would fluctuate rapidly. the vehicle had not accelerated but the contact stated that when the failure occurred, it seemed as if the vehicle was attempting to surge forward. the contact would then firmly apply the brakes as a precaution. the vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who stated that the failure was most likely caused by a cruise control cable failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 140,000 and the current mileage was 150,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was driving 40 mph when the vehicle suddenly accelerated. the contact depressed the brake and was able to decrease speed. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 185,000 and the current mileage was 202,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was driving 40 mph and merging into traffic, but when the accelerator pedal was engaged the vehicle did not respond. there was and increase in the engine rpms, but the vehicle then stalled instead of accelerate. the vehicle was taken to a local mechanic, who diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileages were 50,000. the vin was not available.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 10 mph, the transmission failed without warning. the vehicle was towed to the contact’s residence and had not been diagnosed or repaired. the contact planned to notify the manufacturer of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 107,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while stopped, there was an increase in the engine rpms. the contact had to apply heavy pressure to the brake pedal to keep the vehicle stopped. the failure ceased after a few moments. the failure also occurred while driving at various speeds. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer on three occasions and they were unable to diagnose a failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 130,000.

Vehicle made noise while driving on flat ground. asked passenger if they heard the noise and they did not. car continued to drive approximately 2 more miles. car started to fail while driving uphill. the car made a revving sound and then stopped moving. turned flashers on and pulled over to the side of the road. scared that car would not park. tried to change gears and vehicle went into park. still scared so hand brake was applied. called father and uncle to move car. car had to be pushed backwards down the hill into a parking space at a secondary school. next day, car was towed to residence. vehicle will be towed to transmission specialist in february for diagnosis. had to worry about getting to work to even pay for repair. scared to imagine the cost. *kb

Car sitting in driveway and we noticed a flat tire. upon further inspection the drivers side coil spring broke and was stuck in the tire. *tr

Car began making noise while driving. local garage found broken rear spring and replaced both rear struts and rear springs. *tr

Front spring broke while in garage,puncturing front tire.local garage replaced both front struts,springs,and tire {1]. contacted local dealer to inquire about recall or warranty.they where not helpful. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 15 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. the vehicle would not respond to the contact's attempts to accelerate or reverse. the vehicle was then taken to a private mechanic where the vehicle was diagnosed and the failure was located in the transmission pump.the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and the current mileage was 87,000.

Pulling out of driveway at work onto delhi pike a 4 lane highway to make a left turn (rush hours traffic) got out to lane started down road, engine just revved car quite running, rush hour traffic 35 mile hr zone. called ford, no recalls (was told not enough complaints filed). ford really did not even seem concerned or act like they cared about it. i guess since the vehicle is 2003 and it is now 2011. sorry about my luck, was how ford approached it. it cost $2231 to repair. thank god i am alive if this would have quit in middle of the left turn i could have been killed. is it going to take deaths to make this a recall, it is quite obvious there is a problem. my car had 52520 miles on it, most vehicles this is just broke in. car complaints.com there are over 200 complaints about the same thing. imagine going 70 on highway semi behind you all of a sudden you slow up have no way to get off highway, i guess the semi runs over top of you killing you and how many other people, either in your car or chain reaction. ford and the nhtsa need to step up, and help out. how many people out there did not file a complaint, or know this is a known problem with the ford taurus. *tr

Sudden transmission failure. car went from drive to neutral without warning, and then won't enter any gear. fortunately we weren't on a busy freeway at the time. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated while driving 10 mph in reverse, the front drivers side coil spring broke and damaged the tire. the vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where they diagnosed the failure and stated that was a common problem with the coil springs. the vehicle was repaired at the owners expense. the failure and current mileage was 78,000.

Came home on my 03 ford taurus working great the next day turned on the car to go to work started great put it in gear to leave and no go will not go forward or back. friends and family told me transmission might have gone bad but the strange thing is no warning signs lucky for me it failed outside my house. explored the internet and found out that the 03 ford taurus has a faulty transmission. *tr

While accelerating from a stop at a red light, vehicle shuddered a little as if transmission shifter was bumped out of gear. vehicle coasted to a stop through the intersection. no motion was found by selecting other gears. vehicle was towed to transmission shop and trans failure confirmed. torque converter failure, tc bearing failure, boost pump failing and check valves out of specification. $1,800 in repair costs. i know of many people with failed ford transaxle failures before 75k miles.... *tr

Sudden unintended acceleration occurred while driving at 50 mph. after applying brakes, i shifted into neutral, stopped the car and shut off the engine. the car was towed to a ford dealer for service. the dealer found that the cruise control cable had broken and caused the throttle to stay fully open. *tr

2003 ford taurus station wagon. consumer states while backing out of the garage the left coil spring broke sending a piece of broken coil into the tire causing it to rupture *tgw the consumer stated the entire coil and strut assembly had to be replaced. *jb

While backing up in my 2003 ford taurus ses, front driver side coil snapped and slashed tire. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the gear shifter would not shift into drive or reverse. the vehicle was not repaired. the vin was not available. the failure and the current mileage was 100,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus station wagon. the contact was entering a parking space when the vehicle stalled on without warning. the vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who diagnosed that the torque converter and pump shaft failed. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the vehicle was in the process of being repaired. the failure and the current mileage was approximately 159,000. the vin was unavailable.

I was just driving along and all of a sudden the rpms just went up and i started to slow down,pulled over to the side of the road and tried shifting in reverse and then drive and would not move,rpms just went up when i stepped on the gas. *tr

Was pulling out of the car garage and put in reverse the car started back and the engines rpm roared up and crashed in to neighbor tree went across the street and crashed in the other neighbor tree and house all of this in reverse. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that both the blower motor and the interior lights experienced failures. as a result, hot air would not blow from the vents and the windshield could not be defrosted. the interior lights illuminated constantly and drained the battery prematurely. the dealer reprogrammed the electrical system computer and corrected the interior light failure. the blower motor failure was not corrected. the failure mileage was 82,555 and the current mileage 85,754. updated 03/05/12*lj updated 03/06/12

Left front spring cracked/broke, shredded front left tire.

The transmission just stopped working with no prior indications of any problems. i have been told that it was the torque linkage that needs to be replaced. when i looked this up i line i saw many people who have had the same problem. *kb

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated while driving approximately 5 mph in reverse out of his driveway he heard a loud banging noise. after inspecting his vehicle he noticed that the front drivers side coil springs fractured and punctured the tire. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who advised him that the shocks, struts, the stabilizer links for the front driver and passenger side had all been damaged as well and needed to be replaced. the coils springs were repaired. the manufacturer was contacted and offered no assistance. the failure and current mileage was approximately 109,800.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while accelerating from a red light, the engine rpms increased but the vehicle would not move. the vehicle was towed to a local mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission was defective and needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and the current mileage was 138,000.

Driver's side coil spring snapped while sitting in the cold. thinking tire was flat moved car over a few feet in driveway and shard of metal from coil spring shredded inside of tire. this is our third taurus (also have an '01 and '02) that the same thing has happened to. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was driving 65 mph, the vehicle would stall without warning at any time. the contact would have to restart the vehicle for the vehicle to perform normally. the dealer was not contacted. the manufacturer stated that the symptoms were similar to the nhtsa campaign id number: 12v006000 (power train:automatic transmission:torque converter) recall, but the vin was not associated. the manufacturer denied any assistance with repair to the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 80,000 and the current mileage was 82,000. the vin was unavailable.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was driving 30 mph when the vehicle stalled without warning. the vehicle was towed to the dealer to have a diagnostic performed but the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and the current mileage was 38,000. updated 02/09/12*lj the consumer stated when he pulled onto a street, the vehicle lost all its gears. the torque converter had to be replaced. updated 02/28/12

2003 ford taurus. we were driving down the road and the engine revved up like it was in neutral. no power at all. the car started slowing down in traffic and there wasn't anything that we could do about it. we coasted over to the shoulder of the roadway. we put the car in reverse - nothing, put the car in drive - nothing. we had the car towed to the mechanic. it will cost $2,500.00 to fix. the car only has 53,000 miles on it. ford knows about the defective transmissions on these cars but fails to do any recalls. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 55 mph, the vehicle decelerated abnormally with an increase in engines rpms. the contact mentioned that the failure was encountered once before. the vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who diagnosed that there was a transmission failure and that the transmission needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure and the vehicle was repaired. the failure mileage was 75,000 and the current mileage was 98,000. the vin was not available.

Coil spring busted, went into my tire. *tr

In the middle of a busy intersection, the transmission suddenly quit. the motor continued to run fine, but i had no forward power. i had to coast through the intersection. i was on a slight uphill incline and was able to put the transmission in park. cars were passing me on both sides. fortunately someone stopped and helped me push the vehicle to the side of the road. a very scary situation for a while. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while parked, the contact moved the gear shifter into reverse but the vehicle would not respond. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing where the mechanic advised the contact that the transmission would have to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 65,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact started the vehicle, but was unable to shift into any gear. the vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the failure and current mileages were 82,000. the vin was unavailable.

Water leak on passenger floor,shorted blower motor. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the windshield separated from the vehicle, causing water leaks and increased wind noise. the dealer and the manufacturer were notified of the failure and advised the contact that the vehicle was not included in the recall associated with nhtsa campaign id number: 03v087000 (visibility:windshield). the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 114,000 and the current mileage was 114,200.

Driving down the highway on nov. 24, 2011 and all of a sudden car lost driving power. coasted to the side of the road and can not drive car. will not drive, reverse, nothing. car turns on but will not drive. transmission fluid is red and does not appear to be leaking. *tr

Was going to work on 11/13/2011 at 5a.m., warmed up car , jumped in said car put it in reverse ...nothing; put it in drive....again nothing= blown transmission...no warning at all!! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated the transmission failed on the vehicle without warning. the contact stated there was no slippage or leaks coming from the transmission. the vehicle was inspected by the dealer and it was determined the torque converter failed and needed to be replaced. the contact stated the failure was a manufacturers defect. the failure and current mileage was 93,400. updated 01/18/12*lj the consumer stated the vehicle would not going into any gear, except park. updated 01/27/12

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that when first starting the vehicle, the transmission would not engage. the contact mentioned that she tried shifting into reverse to drive but the vehicle did not respond. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection or repairs. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure and the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and the current mileage was 118,000.

A water leak which dumped water onto the passenger floor board also caused my ac blower motor to short out. i am not sure if this is related to recall 03v087000 but i know it is the same problem as complaint #10184014. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that whenever it would rain, water would leak from the front passenger side of the vehicle and into the engine causing a short circuit to the blower motor. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated he had to replace the blower motor and the resistor. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure and the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 22,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was driving 55 mph when the transmission failed. the vehicle was inspected by a local mechanic who advised that the transmission needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 51,175.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that there was a water leak on the front passenger side floorboard. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where they advised him that they were unable to diagnose the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was contacted and they offered no assistance. the failure mileage was approximately 98,000. the vin was unavailable.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the defroster was inoperable. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where they advised him that the blower motor had failed and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was contacted and they offered no assistance. the failure and the current mileages were approximately 58,000.

I was driving on a major highway with my children and all of a sudden my car's transmission light came on, my car started bucking, and soon lost power and i was forced to put my car in park in heavy traffic and restart it. *kb

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that when shifting into drive and depressing the accelerator, the vehicle would lunge forward violently. he vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who repaired the failure, but the defect recurred. the manufacturer was not contacted. the vehicle was not further repaired. the failure mileage was 64,000 and the current mileage was 76,000. the vin was unavailable.

A water leak, possibly from a faulty seal, onto the passenger interior floor board also caused my ac/heater blower motor to short out. my heater switch will only work in the maximum position. from what i have read it is due to a heater motor resistor, which has caused similar problems for other taurus owners. i could not get ford to act even though a related recall existed under 03v087000. *tr

My 2003 ford taurus has 39,464. i got in it to go to work, started it, put it in reverse and car would not move. i tried drive and nothing. i have been doing research on this problem, and find this issue is very common in the 03 taurus, and other ford vehicles with this transmission. i was lucky enough not to be driving when this happened, as a lot of the people i have read about. the problem being a defective torque converter. i understand that you opened an investigation in july of 2009, with aprrox. 3000 reports of this part failing. ford needs to have a recall on these parts, before someone is killed. this is my first step in complaining about this matter, but it is not my last. *tr

At approximately 126000 miles first of two coil springs broke in the front driver's side of the car. had both front coil springs replaced. three weeks later was backing out of parking space at work only to have the transmission pump fail. car acted exactly as described in many other complaints here, sudden loss of power, high engine rev and an inability of the car to work in any gear. had the car towed to my mechanic and was then told that not only did the transmission need to be rebuilt but i also had a rear coil spring that now was broken. have purchased many ford vehicles but this is enough to make you look at a different manufacturer. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the vehicle was leaking water under the front passenger seat. the contact was unaware of where the water was coming from. the contact did not take the vehicle to the dealer or a local mechanic. the contact believed that the air conditioner blower resister malfunctioned and caused the water leak. the contact vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 106,349.

I own a 2003 ford taurus with 85,172 miles on it. on a recent trip out of town, the transmission went out with no warning,and we had to be towed home over 100 miles. after some research ,i have found that many owners of 2003 ford taurus' have had the same problem with no warning of the transmission going out. it appears to be an internal problem in the transmission itself. i found 164 complaints on the car complaints/ford website concerning this transmission problem. it cost me over $3600 to have the transmission replaced. that is over half what the blue book value is on my car! i want to know if ford has looked into this problem on the transmissions? with that many 2003 ford taurus transmissions going out, seems to me there should be an investigation or a recall on them. i would appreciate someone checking into this problem. i really love my taurus, but am very upset that the transmission went out on a car that has been taken care of by ford dealerships for everything from oil changes to brakes, air conditioner, etc. always had the service done at the intervals that ford motor company determined needed to be done. the ford dealership is the only ones that have done any service on my car other than tires.i feel that i have done everything to keep my car in perfect condition and am terribly disappointed that this problem happened. please would you check into this problem and see if there should be a recall on these transmissions?? this is a safety issue to me! if the car had stopped while we were driving 70 mph on the freeway, it could have been deadly to us and others! thank you! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was driving 5 mph, when the front driver side tire blew. the vehicle was stopped and the contact noticed that the front driver side coil spring was fractured and had pierced the tire. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the coil spring was repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure but offered no assistance. the failure and current mileages were 68,250.

I stopped at a signal light waiting to make a left hand turn. the light turned green so i pushed the accelerator and thankfully just cleared the busy intersection. i was in the outside lane of traffic and the car just stopped. i drifted to the curb. the motor still running. put the car in park and then in gear. pressed the gas. nothing happened. i could tell by the sound the car was not going into gear. i turned the engine off then restarted the car. put into gear, pressed gas nothing happened. it just sat there. i had no problems or prior symptoms with this car. no warning signs! this problem could result in some very serious accidents. after talking to a local mechanic he told me that the problem i had was a very common problem with the ford taurus esp. the 2003 model. he had replaced several torque converters on ford taurus' lately. *kb

Power windows will not roll up or down, mirrors do not work, inside lights are out. ford replaced gem module a couple of years before for the same problem costing me money at that time. when the windows would not roll up or down, ford would replace fuse and in a few minutes the fuse would blow, again and again they did this and now they are not interested in fixing the problems since the vehicle is older and not under warranty and they claim fixing it would cost more than the vehicle is worth. i have a very good vehicle and would like to use the windows and mirrors and especially the lights inside and i feel this is definitely a safety hazard to me since i travel alone a lot each year. i have contacted ford and they repeatly state that they do not have any recalls and are not aware of such problems. i even sent them websites from people who are having these problems with the windows. all you have to do is goggle: taurus window problems and there are numerous owners with this problem. hope you can help with this matter as ford is not listening to us..... *tt

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was driving 60 mph when the vehicle would not accelerate. the contact merged the vehicle to the shoulder. the engine was still running but the vehicle would not shift into gear. the vehicle was towed and a mechanic informed the contact that the torque converter would need replacing. the dealer was not contacted and the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 70,000.

2003 ford taurus. consumer writes in regards to a road hazard concerning plastic lens *tgw the consumer stated the plastic headlight lenses turn yellow, not allowing light to be radiated through them. *jb

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while stopped a loud noise emitted near the drivers side front tire. the vehicle was taken to a private mechanic, who confirmed that the coil spring fractured in half. the mechanic replaced the coil spring. the contact also stated that the vehicle failed to accelerate while driving in reverse. this failure was diagnosed by a second private mechanic, who stated that the transmission needed to be rebuilt. the manufacturer was notified; however, the transmission was not repaired. the failure mileage was 65,000 and the current mileage was 80,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated after coming to a complete stop and preparing to move the vehicle, the rpms increased and the vehicle did not move. the vehicle was towed to her residence and will be towed to a mechanic shop. the dealer stated the repair cost was $3000 to replace the transmission. the manufacturer was contacted and stated no recalls were issued for the failure, and offered no assistance. the failure mileage was 75,000.

It should be a transmission problem. when i was driving at 65mph the car lost dragging force suddenly and i had to push the car to the emergency zone. then i cannot move the car anymore with any shift (r, d, od, 1). i found many 03 taurus had the same problems from some other websites. the model should be recalled because it has nothing warning sound or damage clue. *tr

2003 ford taurus ses, automatic-transmission. was driving the car and had just made a right hand turn. the engine started to over-rev and there was no power being trnasmitted to the wheels. the engine runs fine but no matter what gear is selected from reverse to drive there is no power being transmitted to the wheels. this is a safety risk as had this happend while at highway speed or crossing an intersection could easliy have resulted in serious injuires or death. there are numerous complaints of this problem with ford taking no responsibility. *tt

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was driving approximately 15 mph in a parking lot and upon depressing the accelerator pedal, the transmission unexpectedly failed to respond. the vehicle was being towed to an independent mechanic for diagnosis. the contact stated the failure was related to the torque converter which was a common issue. the manufacturer was not made aware of the defect. the approximate failure mileage was 55,000. the vin was unavailable.

Was driving down highway with my 2 children in the car, going speed limit 65, when car failed to engage, engine revved but car would not go forwards or backwards, almost hit by on coming traffic while stuck in road. rest of car is like new......... wtf? *tr

Driving along on my way to work, on major highway (rt. 95, ewing, nj) slightly over 65 mph speed limit and all of a sudden engine starts racing. no bang, clang or boom sounds. i reduced pressure on gas pedal to stop racing engine. tried to press again to resume speed, but no reaction but racing engine again. pulled over to right shoulder through 2 lanes of traffic in morning rush hour and stopped. tried car in all gears (including reverse), only reaction was like car was in neutral, no gears worked. called for a tow. mechanic said it was major transmission failure (torque converter broke and a pump?) in my 2003 ford taurus with 102k miles. i was lucky i had enough speed to maneuver my way across the highway to the shoulder. *tr

My wife was driving our car, when the engine revved up and the would not move in drive gear. at the time she was crossing a four lane highway. the car will start and run, but will not move. i have even replaced the neutral safety switch, and that did not solve the problem.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated while driving at low speeds out of his driveway, the front driver and passenger tires became flat. after inspecting the vehicle he noticed that the coil springs fractured causing the tires to flatten. the vehicle was towed to a dealer who advised him that the coil springs fractured and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired for the front driver and passenger side coil springs and stabilizer links. the manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. the failure mileage was approximately 58,100. updated 10/27/11*lj updated 12/06/2011 *ln

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving at approximately 40 mph the steering wheel became difficult maneuver and control. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. the mechanic stated the front sub frame was corroded, causing the lower control arm to detach from the subframe. the vehicle had not been repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 131,000. updated 9/13/11 *cn updated 09/28/11

Drove home from work...no problems...went out on 8/25/2011..stopped at a red light...everything was fine...went about 50 feet...transmission dis-engaged and coasted to the side of the road...got towed home . transmission shifts fine but wont engage . *tr

Left front spring broke while driving 25 mph. spring contacted tire and shredded sidewall. control affected but no crash. mechanic estimates $525 for repair/ replacement of both front spring/shock units and alignment.+ *tr

I was driving eastbound on i-90 (mass. pike) in massachusetts, about 60 miles outside of boston, with my fiancee in the passenger seat. road conditions were ideal. temperature was in the high 80s. sun was out, about 4 p.m. in the afternoon. suddenly, the rpms went through the roof, but the car did not slow or speed. i tested again and same thing happened. i signaled right and was able to move over one lane and again onto the shoulder. once parked, the car would not go into gear. i just got revving in park, drive, reverse, lower gears, etc. transmission failure. no power to the ground. repair costs came to $2,000. i would consider this a safety problem since i was not able to control the speed of my car on a busy highway. i was lucky enough to have space to my rear and right when the incident occured, but had i been boxed in, there certainly would have been an accident. it appears this is a common problem with the '03 taurus.

I was driving my 2003 ford taurus ses to work on 8/4/11 and without warning the car stopped going! my car currently has +/- 126,000 miles on it. it still was running, just none of the gears worked. i was lucky that i go to work at 7:00am and traffic was very light! i was also lucky to coast to a nearby parking lot out of the flow of traffic. this all happened without warning and the car had been running fine leading up to this! i have researched online and found many others with the same issue, hopefully ford will do something about it! i will at least call the local ford dealership to get their opinion, but will probably take it somewhere else as i am pretty sure the price will be better! it sounds like ford needs to step up to the plate and make this right! *tr

While driving on a city street the transmission of the car went out without any warnings. the car was recently serviced and only had 65'k miles. after some searching this seems like a very common problem even at low miles. *tr

2003 taurus 3.0l v6 - transmission failed while driving, could only coast to stop. was fortunate that was able to get side of road without being rear-ended by following cars. *tt

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated while driving 65 mph the vehicle stalled and the contact was able to shift the vehicle into neutral then back to drive gear. the vehicle stalled; however, the contact was able to drive onto the emergency lane. after the vehicle cooled down, the contact attempted to restart the vehicle and it failed to start. the vehicle was towed to a local mechanic who informed the contact that the transmission needed to be replaced. the manufacturer advised the contact that there were no related recalls. the contact stated the vehicle was unsafe to drive. the failure mileage was 62,000.

2003 ford taurus, unit 1 was eastbound on the ohio turnpike when the tread came off of the left rear tire and damaged the left side of the vehicle. *bf (ohio traffic crash report # 10-0208-89)*jb

2003 fordtaurus ses 3.0l v6 55000 miles, setting traffic light, light turned green went 50ft. transmission dis-engaged could not get it to re-engage (no r or d) had car towed to transmission shop. writing this complaint due to the large number of people who have had the same problem. ford should do a recall for the number complaints for this problem. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus ses. the contact stated that while driving at low speeds, the vehicle would no longer accelerate. after trying to restart it to no avail, it was undrivable and had to be towed. the vehicle has not been inspected nor repaired. the dealer was contacted and they advised him that the trans axle had possibly failed and needed to be replaced. the failure and current mileages were approximately 113,000. updated 08/05/11*lj the consumer also stated head light lenses turned yellow, not allowing much light to radiate out of them and it was very difficult to drive at night. updated 09/14/11. *jb updated 01/30/12. *jb

My daughter was driving a 2003 ford taurus on july 7, 2011. the vehicle stopped moving. the engine was working, but the car would not move. car was towed to a repair facility where it was diagnosed that the transmission was torn up and would have to be replace or rebuilt. this transmission failure happened without any previous indications of the car having transmission trouble. i understand that other 2003 ford taurus vehicles have also had this problem. if this failure had happened on a busy interstate during rush hour, it could have been a major safety issue. as it was, she almost had a wreck, because the car was driving down the road and then suddenly the transmission failed, causing the vehicle to not have any power to the wheels to move. she was nearly rear-ended by a car behind her due to this product failure. ford needs to rectify this defect. i am having to come out of pocket for a lot of money to fix a problem that apparently is inherent to this model. i would like for ford to reimburse my expenses. *tr

I heard from an acquaintance that there were several issues posted on the nhtsa website regarding the failure of coil springs on the ford taurus. i too experienced the complete loss of control of my 2003 taurus while driving in heavy traffic due to coil spring failure. with the initial jolt and subsequent dragging of the car to bring it to a safe area to bring the car to a stop, i actually thought i had hit a person or large object. when i got out of my car i found the the front end of the car sitting on top of my tire. my mechanic actually took pictures of the car as he could not believe the amount of damage that had occurred. i had to replace the struts, springs, sway bar links, lower ball joint and axle shaft. all of this at 61k miles!! for a cost of $1300.00. in closing, my 2003 ford taurus has been involved in 2 serious malfunctions posted to the nhtsa website which could have easily resulted in serious injury or death to myself or fellow motorists if i was not able to react quickly and control the car with a complete collapse of the front end or complete loss of power with the transmission failure (ref #fbn24-10467). both of these issues occurred within 4 months (5k miles) of each other (66k - 71k) and cost in excess of $4,000.0 to repair. given the number of coil spring complaints received by the nhtsa and the open investigation (nhtsa action number: ea08018) , i would think either ford or the national highway transportation safety administration take responsibility and issue a notification of these serious issues with this car (and the other year/models listed in nhsta action # ea08018)) and the steps to remediate those issues before the issue causes serious injury or death.

I was looking on the nhtsa website with regard to another issue that i had heard about with the 2003 taurus (front end collapse) when i came across this transmission issue. driving in highway passing lane, the car suddenly began to lose momentum. speedometer rapidly began to drop while rpm's went ballistic, then dropped. i was fortunate that i quickly realized the car was coming to a stop that i could not control regardless of how hard i pressed the accelerator. i was barely able to pull over 3 lanes of traffic to make it into the breakdown lane, where it came to a complete halt and could not be moved. not only did i have an issue with my 2003 taurus at 71k miles, we also had to replace the transmission on our 2001 ford f-150 at 110k miles & 2005 ford focus at 80k miles, at a cost of $8300.00. all of these vehicles were purchased new and driven by the same driver. given the number of complaints posted on the nhtsa website, i would think either ford or the national highway transportation safety administration would take responsibility and perform an in depth investigation why so many ford transmissions are failing and issue a notification of these serious issues with this car and the steps to remediate those issues before the issue causes serious injury or death.

As i was driving down a busy freeway heading to work at 70 mph my car just stopped accelerating... it scared me so bad i almost sideswiped a car next to me just in reaction to get off the road because there was a semi behind me. my cruise had tried to keep up with the 70 mph i set it at but it couldn't so the rpms went sky high and my gas pedal went straight to the floor. it left me stranded on the side of a busy freeway while speeding cars were flying by me, so i also could have gotten sideswiped there, i've seen it many times on tv with parked cars on the side of a freeway. im not going to have a car for a long time until the transmission is fixed. and how im going to get the money for it i have no clue. i cant get to work i don't make money to get it fixed. ford should recall because its happened to so many people and its not our fault, its theirs for building a faulty car. my car barely has 87,000 miles on it, a cars transmission should not go out at 87,000 miles. my old car had 180,000 miles and never had an issue like that. i may be going to a new car company next car if ford doesn't fix this issue. im lucky i had quick reaction time and i knew how to handle the car or i would be done for, this is absolutely a safety issue and ford wont admit that. *tr

Without warning my 2003 ford taurus won't run in any gear, transmission failure. i had to walk in 105 weather with 5 kids in order to get help for a tow. this was on a busy four lane road where i had to narrowly avoid being rear ended going 50 miles an hour. is someone waiting for a death to occur to require ford to recall this faulty product? *tr

Transmission quit while driving. *tr

Front drivers side coil spring broke and punctured the front drivers side tire.

My 2003 ford taurus broke down on the road-upon investigating it, the front springs broke and grease spread throughout the front part of the car. i cannot afford to have it fixed, so it was towed to my home garage. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while the contact was driving approximately 15 mph, the transmission suddenly failed to respond. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing where the technician stated there was a faulty torque converter input shaft. the vehicle was in the process of being repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the defect. the failure mileage was 58,000. updated 07/20/11*lj updated 02/27/12

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the front driver side coil spring fractured and punctured the front driver side tire. the contact had the vehicle towed to their mechanic who confirmed the failure. the vehicle was repaired. the current mileage is 112,000. updated 08/31/11 *bf updated 09/09/11

2003 ford taurus. consumer states coil spring snapped from the strut assembly while the vehicle was parked in the driveway. *tgw updated 10/06/11. *jb updated 01/05/12. *jb the consumer stated the strut was replaced at a considerable cost. updated 02/07/12. *jb

I was driving down i24 with my daughter in the car during rush hour traffic. out of the blue the transmission went out. i had to coast across 4 lanes of traffic to get to the emergency lane. i was stranded on the side of the interstate with my child for 2 1/2 hrs waiting on a tow truck. i have never been so scared of having an accident. why is ford waiting on someone to die before they fix this problem????? this will be the last vehicle that i purchase from ford!!!! i will be going with a foreign made car from now on. *tr

I own a 2003 ford taurus that began having water leaks that kept shorting out the vehicles blower motor resistor. these events occurred between 12/10/2010 to 05/24/2011 during which at my expense two resistors were installed. after a short period they continued to fail as did the blower motor. i took the vehicle to a ford dealership and was told that i had water damage that caused the blower motor to fail. a new blower motor plus new cowl insulation was in stalled at a cost of $468.42.the two resistors i previously had installed cost $80.00 parts and labor. i did an internet search and found this to be a common problem with my automotive model and ford should had a recall and fixed this factory defect. i feel i should be reimbursed by ford motor company. i have heard that this repair should fall under ford recall 03v087000 but the dealership says no. it is my understanding that another complaint is on file with you concerning this matter (10184014). i would appreciate your investigation in this matter. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact started the vehicle and when shifting into reverse, a loud noise emitted from the outside of the vehicle. the contact noticed the front driver's side tire exploded due to a severe puncture. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the front drivers side shock and strut module assembly were replaced. the tire and front sway bars were also replaced. the failure mileage was 45,708. updated 06/01/11*lj updated 07/01/11

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated while driving approximately 1 mph and leaving his driveway he noticed he had a flat tire. when he inspected the tire he noticed that the front drivers side coil spring had punctured the tire. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where they are waiting for the results of the diagnostic test. the manufacturer advised him that there were no recalls. the failure and current mileage was approximately 59,845 updated 6/8/11 *cn updated 06/23/11

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that after having the vehicle inspected, the contact was advised that both rear coil springs were fractured. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was contacted and they advised that that there were no related recalls on the vehicle. the failure and current mileage was approximately 133,000.

The torque converter on my 2003 taurus ses completely and immediately stopped working - the engine would rev but i was unable to engage any of the gears. *tr

Driving car, heard a load crash from front end like someone had dropped a tray of socket wrenches. load popping noise followed. pulled over to inspect. found a large portion of front spring drivers side wrapped around the strut. the piece was the shape of a "c". i am glad that the sharp end did not puncture through the tire as it was within 1/8" of the tire. i guess quick reactions prevented an accident. spring will have to be replaced and front end inspected for additional damage. old spring and broken off part are available. *tr

Driving down the road and transmission went out. it does not change or shift gears. has not been reapired yet, transmission needs to be replaced. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated while reversing from a residential driveway, the front driver side coil spring failed and punctured the tire. the vehicle was not repaired for the failure. the manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. the failure and the current mileage was 95,000. updated 09/15/14*lj

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was driving approximately 20 mph, attempting to park the vehicle when the brake pedal was engaged; yet, there was an unintended acceleration. the vehicle failed to stop and crashed into four unoccupied vehicles and small trees. the contact sustained no personal injuries; however, there were three bystanders that sustained minor injuries. a police report was filed. the front end of the vehicle was severely damaged. the vehicle was towed to a collision center. the failure mileage was unknown. the vin was unavailable.

Put my 2003 ford taurus in reverse, backed up about a foot , tire blew out and the front drivers side suspension spring was broken. *tr

Was told by ford dealer both front and rear coil springs on drivers side were broke on my 2003 ford taurus. found out this is a ongoing problem that ford has with no recall. bought this car new and now i have only 71,000 miles .paid 1354.12 to have car repaired and im very unhappy with ford over this. ford should make good for this repair. *tr

2003 ford taurus sec wagon with a leaky windshield. water got into my a/c blower fan housing and shorted out the a/c blower fan, caused the blower fan to fail, the automatic temperature resister switch and the 40 amp fuse in the same system due to water entering into the car from the windshield and cowl design flaw. the result is a loss of defroster and anti-fog capability resulting in a severe loss of visibility due to a loss of said capability and/or functionality. *tr

2003 taurus s/w left front and right rear coil springs broken at 103,000 miles. found under routine inspection. no tire damage, no crash fortunately. *tr

I was driving home from work, everything worked fine until i slowed down for a turn, and when i tried to accelerate again...it wouldn't. the car is at around 83,000 miles, and besides this issue the car is in amazing shape. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 20 mph the contact heard a loud noise and drove the vehicle onto the emergency lane. upon examining the vehicle, the contact noticed that the front passenger side coil spring fractured and pierced the tire. a spare tire was installed and the vehicle was taken to a local repair shop where it was repaired. the failure and current mileages were 133,050.

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while attempting to drive out of a parking space, the contact smelled rubber burning when he noticed the front drivers side coil spring had fractured the side wall of the tire, causing the tire to deflate. the failure was similar to nhtsa campaign id number: 04v332000 (suspension front springs:coil springs). the dealer advised the contact that his vehicle was not included in the previous recall. the manufacturer confirmed that there were no recalls associated with his vin and offered no further assistance. the current and failure mileages were 74,900.

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while the driver was traveling approximately 20 mph, she heard a loud ping sound followed by a clanking sound as if metal was bouncing on the ground. the driver stopped the vehicle and noticed a piece of unknown metal had fractured from the vehicle. the vehicle was able to be driven home and was not taken for inspection or repairs. the contact inspected the vehicle and noticed that the front passenger side coil spring had broken. there was an open investigation for the failure nhtsa action number: ea08018 (suspension: front: springs: coil springs). the vin was not available. the approximate failure mileage was 75,000.

I own a 2003 ford taurus and was driving on a normal commute, while driving in the right lane the transmission just quit. i then had to coast through rush hour traffic across 4 lanes and sit in the emergency lane for an hour for rescue. there was no warning no signs just quit while driving. i have never been so afraid of being in an accident as that day. this is a serious concern that i have learned ford is aware of and has done nothing to fix or attempted a recall on the transmission components that fail. it cost nearly $2000 to repair, on a car that only has a blue book value of $3500 clearly this is a terrible waist just to get the car moving again. it is unfortunate that a large company like ford can allow such problems to occur in there cars, at least companies like toyota fix the problems they find. *tr

I bought the car in march 2009 and had was extremely happy with it. on november 5, 2009 my husband and i left for the store. we had not even gotten 1 mile away from the house when the car stopped responding when you pressed on the gas. there was no warning, no loud noises and the car had been running fine. when we stopped to inspect what happened we found that the car would not go into gear. when you shifted out of park--nothing, literally nothing happened. we found out that the transmission had failed and forked over the $1000 to have a rebuilt transmission put in. problem solved--or so we thought. earlier this week (march 22, 2011) my husband left for work and it happened again. same as last time- no warning and the car had been running fine. we are at our wits end with this car and although i love it we cannot afford to keep putting transmissions in it every few months. *tr

When my car is parked in the rain, water will leak into the passenger side floorboard of the passenger compartment. on approximately february 1, 2011, it shorted out the blower motor that cools/heats the passenger compartment after sitting in the rain at the airport parking lot. since then, i have experienced several instances of water in the passenger floorboard. i had experienced the same water leak in 2006, but the short of the blower did not occur until this year.

2nd broken coil , 1st passenger rear, now front driver springs. on each occurrence fractured and punctured tire - similar to complaint ea08-018. 2003 ford taurus - 102,864 miles. date of latest occurrence. january 2011. *tr

Toyo versado lx for 2003 ford taurus. i bought these tires and have had nothing but problems since i had them installed. the shake started off slight, and over time has progressed to dangerous levels where i can no longer drive the car. i have taken the car to 5 different front end shops searching for what i thought was a problem with my car. the fourth finally pin pointed the tires. i went back to where i purchased the tires, and neither the shop or toyo want to do anything to fix the safety problem with my car. the shake is now so extensive i can not drive the car due to fear of damaging the steering or suspension components. each time i have been in, a road force balance is performed, but does not completely remedy the problem. even the so call front end "expert" said it was the tires. the car can not be driven until i save enough money to buy new tires. *tr

2003 ford taurus transmission breaks going down the interstate at 75 mph,we were stranded on the side of the road at 11 pm in the rain.!!! if you search the internet there are hundreds of complaints about this transmission failing it is the same transmission that was recalled in the windstar. but since no one has died yet nothing will change. *tr

I have a 2003 ford taurus since new. at about 70,000 miles it started having acceleration without touching the gas. no codes showed up. every mechanic has a different opinion. basically trial and error, none of which works. i have had the cruise checked, changed the throttle position sensor and the idle air valve. it still does this at 111,000. i am concerned for my wife's safety since it is her car. i read that ford has not recognized this as a problem, but there are hundreds of similar online complaints. *tr

2003 ford taurus sel. 78k miles in great overall condition and no history of serious problems. while driving on the highway at 60 mph the car's transmission suddenly disengaged like it was in neutral. i coasted towards the right shoulder and tried cycling the shifter from neutral to drive. no success. the transmission would shift through the gears but the gears were not engaging. this happened without warning. no noises, no bucking, no indication that anything was wrong. was a very dangerous situation to have happen on a major highway. had the car towed 80 miles to my house for a cost of 400.00. the trans needs a new torque converter. estimate at 1850.00. don't have old parts. have hundreds of exactly the same issue with the same year and model car. ford really needs to pony up and make this right. *tr

While parked in my garage the front end of my 2003 ford taurus collapsed. upon inspection the tire was fully deflated. i put the small spare on the vehicle and drove it to a local repair service. upon inspection it was determined the front coil spring fractured causing a sharp shard to penetrate the tire. the spring broke into two extremely sharp pieces. the same exact thing happened with my 1993 ford taurus a number of years back. i also filed a complaint with the nhtsa. i can only think what might have happened if i was driving my car on the highway when the piece broke and cut through my tire. i was again fortunate that nothing happened when i was driving on the small spare to the repair ship. i contacted ford motor company who responded with a general "brush off" letter and not recognizing any of the safety concerns i expressed!!! on both cars!!!! i had the car repaired at my own expense including a replacement tire. i have saved the part (spring/coil) if further inspection is required by nhtsa. *tr

April 5, 2008 started off like any other saturday,cleaning my house then going shopping at my local grocery, but this day was different. when i got in my 2003 ford taurus to go shopping, i turned the key to start my car and put the car in reverse, but the car would not move. i put the car in park and tried again by putting my car in reverse. needless to say the car would not budge. no problems were indicated before that day. i called my local ford dealership to ask them about a possible solution to my problem, but they told me i would have to bring my car to their shop. i said 'how can i bring my car to your shop when i can't drive it anywhere since it won't go in reverse'? the person on the phone told me i could have it towed to their location and when i asked how much it would cost to replace the transmission, the guy told me $3500. you can imagine how shocked i was to hear this cost! in the meantime a neighbor came to my house and suggested i call one of my town's transmission shops. i did and was told the cost to replace my transmission would be about $1500. i was also asked how many miles i had on my car and i told him 35,000. he was shocked to hear a transmission was out w/only 35,000 miles on my car. later that day my car was towed to a local transmission shop and a new transmission was placed in my car. for one week someone had to take me to work and back home and at the end of the week i paid $1500 and got my car back home. during that week i did some research on the internet and discovered other 2003 ford taurus owners were experiencing the same problem i had w/my car. seems ford should do something to solve this problem. *tr

Oil change was performed on my 2003 ford taurus (mileage was 73,200) 8 am the morning of march 8, 2011 at a ford dealership. when the dealership was finished w/my car, i drove to work, less than 5 miles away. i parked my car at my office and it sat in the parking lot until 5 pm that day when i drove my car home. the afternoon of march 8, 2011 we had a thunderstorm pass over w/1-2 inches of rain. when i got in my car to drive home i noticed a spot on the passenger side floor mat but didn't check it until i arrived home. when i opened the passenger side door and removed the floor mat, i could see the carpet was soaking wet. i immediately used several towels to soak up the water. the morning of march 9, 2011, i drove my car back to the dealership where i had the oil change. i asked the service manager to look at my car, showing him the damp passenger side carpet. i asked him if someone bumped something under my hood when they changed my oil the day before. i asked him if they knocked something loose that would have caused the leak on the floor. he said 'no' but asked me to return to the dealership the following morning march 10, 2011. i did return to the dealership, they looked at my car and told me i had a cowl leak and it would cost approximately $400 to fix. i have not had it fixed but i've noticed from reading about other 2003 ford taurus owners, they've had this same problem.. is there not some way ford motor company should be held responsible and pay for these repairs? *tr

Complete transmission failure on a 2003 ford taurus while driving. *tr

Pulled out of garage and heard a loud pop. front strut broke puncturing tire on drivers side. we just purchased the vehicle 3 wks ago it has a little over 90k on it. vehicle is in good shape other wise. previous owner had already replaced passenger side strut a few weeks before we purchased it. very disappointing. was hoping that there was a recall on this part. and judging by the numerous complaints about the suspension issues, there certainly should be. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated while driving 20 mph, the exterior lights and the instrument panel lights failed simutaneously. the light would remain off for approximatley five to ten seconds before re-illuminating. neither the dealer nor the manufacturer were contacted to report the failure. the failure mileage was 55,000.

I have a 2003 ford taurus ses with 67,000 miles on it. the transmission just stopped. park and neutral only. fortunately i was not in traffic when it happened. over the last year a couple minor slips, but this time total failure. having it towed to a dealer monday. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while in reverse, the left front strut spring broke and punctured the tire. a month before, the right front strut spring had broken and punctured the tire. the vehicle was repaired. the contact called the manufacturer who offered no assistance. the failure mileage was 68,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 10 mph, the contact heard a popping sound coming from the driver side front tire. the contact stopped the vehicle and noticed front driver side tire was flat. the contact stated the coil spring had broken. the vehicle was not inspected or repaired. the dealer was contacted and stated in order to diagnose the failure, the vehicle needed to be towed to the dealer. there was an open investigation nhtsa action number: ea08018 (suspension: front: springs: coil springs). the approximate failure mileage was 110,000.

Purchased 2003 ford taurus with 49k miles 8 months ago. blower motor and resistor have failed twice. water is coming into the blower housing through the air intake. recent failure at 60k happened in cold weather while on the road, causing fan to stop working and windshield rapidly fogged over, making it impossible to see. failure was accompanied by strong electrical burning smell. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that as the vehicle was started, he attempted to activate the defroster but the blower fan failed to operate. in addition, the front passenger floorboard would periodically exhibit water retention. the failure occurred more frequently in rainy and snowy weather conditions. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnosis and they informed the contact that there was water within the blower fan motor relay. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was approximately 28,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the heater blower had malfunctioned. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer to have a the blower resistor replaced yet the repair did not correct the failure. the vehicle was taken back to the dealer where the dealer discovered water damage around the heater blower. the dealer created a shield around and replaced the heater blower. the failure mileage was 49,152.

The car is my daughters. i maintain and service the car. the car is a 2003 ford taurus. a week ago both front springs failed at once, and subsequently cut the insides of both front tires causing them to blow out. fortunately the tires failed in the driveway and not while she was on the highway commuting to or from work. i called the ford dealer and asked if there was a recall on this failure. the person said that the 'oasis' system did not show any recalls on the specific vin. i then arranged for the car to be towed to my local mechanic (who previously worked at the local ford dealer for over 15 years), since the ford dealer is excessively expensive. he said that the broken springs (both) twisted in such a way as to cut both the front tires on the inside side wall. he also had to replace a sway bar link (broken in the spring failure), and both front struts blown out when the broken springs allowed all the cars weight to bottom out on the struts. the car is currently at the tire shop getting two replacement tires (the blown out ones had 70% tread remaining) and a front end alignment. this failure could have been catastrophic had it happened at higher speed or on the highway. this is an extreme safety hazard and should be investigated by the nhtsa. i'm aware that the failure of springs on ford's taurus/sable, escort/tracer, and other ford models is not uncommon and has been a problem over the years. this specific type of failure, where the tires are cut and blowout is extremely dangerous and should be investigated asap. i have notified fomoco as well. *tr

We had a small hail storm pea size hail and called geico to look at the roof, trunk and hood of the car. the roof had large area's of paint missing and bubbled with large area's of rust under it. the adjuster told us this was a defect that ford was have with cars and trucks between 2000 - 2006 and denied the claim. after several months of research and body shops telling me this is a ford defect, calling ford and them telling me it's not there problem, looking at web-sites with 100's of complaints, lemon laws, facebook pages against ford, frustration because people were loosing their cars due to rust, and ford telling us oh well even after the tsa report ford posted stating they knew they had a problem with the paint adhering to the aluminum to make the car weigh less and a good possible fix would be to replace the panels with steal and good primer and painted, the ford 800 number stated we are sorry but unless we get enough complaints and nhtsa sees enough complaints to do a recall we won't help. even the denver police department has issued complaints of paint peeling off the car like an orange. *tr

2003 ford taurus. consumer states defective front coil spring *tgw the consumer stated the coil springs failed twice. *jb

Sub frame rusted out on this 2003 ford taurus. 91,000 miles on car. will not pass state inspection. *tr

I was returning home from a gas station and came down the steep hill to my house and when i went to back into my parking space the transmission completely failed . i thought my tires were just spinning due to some ice . when i put the car in drive to try to find another space i discovered the only gears i had were park and neutral. the car then coasted to the middle of the intersection and stopped, i then had to get my neighbor to help push the car around the corner and into a parking spot. there was no warning at all the transmission never slipped and there were no indicator lights . nothing at all just total failure. i'm just glad it didn't happen with my family in the car along the highway on our way to cub scouts.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the plastic headlight was turning yellow abnormally and causing the lights to illuminate extremely faint. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer but the vehicle was not repaired. the contact stated that he would have to utilize the high beam lights for adequate illumination of the roadway at night. the failure mileage was 85,000 and the current mileage is 110,000 updated 3/14/11 *cn updated 04/28/11

I was driving i-75n, got off at my exit and switched lanes as the light was turning from red to green. just as i got under the light, my car would not accelerate. it was in gear, but the engine would only rev (as if it were in neutral). i put on my hazards, restarted the car to no avail. called 911 and reported what had happened. a kind (and brave) stranger was able to push my car safely through the intersection and to the shoulder where i parked and waited for a tow-truck and friend to pick me up. had it towed to pepboys (they don't work on transmissions) had it towed to aamco and subsequently cottman transmissions where it sits now. parts and labor are estimated at $2331. many, many other similar accounts from other 2003 ford taurus owners. should be a recall on the failing torque converters. and the stickler is, i just had an oil change at my local ford dealership and they told me my car was in great condition. there was nothing to worry about. you can only imagine how relieved i was hearing that from the manufacturer.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while the vehicle was being inspected for regular maintenance, the mechanic discovered that the sub frame was severely corroded. the dealer advised the contact not to drive the vehicle and to have the sub frame replaced immediately before doing so. the manufacturer was contacted who did not offer any assistance. the vehicle was not repaired. the vin was not available. the failure and current mileage was 94,000.

2003 ford taurus driving along and engine runs but it feel like i am in neutral transmission gone. 2 time in 2 1/2 years and ford fixed it the first time. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the front drivers side coil spring punctured a hole in the tire, causing it to deflate similar to nhtsa campaign number 04v332000 (suspension:front:springs:coil springs). the dealer was notified and informed the contact that his vin was not included in the recall. the vehicle was not repaired. the current and failure mileages were 98,000. updated 4/4/11 *cn updated 04/28/11*jb

Backing out of garage and heard a loud noise and left front tire went flat. found left front coil spring had broken and punched a hole in a new tire (less than a week old). could not get the flat off because the spring was inside the tire so could not put on the spacesaver spare had to tow. this is a 2003 ford taurus with less than 80,000 miles. not covered under any warranty or policy. *tr

1st occurrence: driving on freeway, all electrical power lost except antitheft light on dash on. turn signals not functioning, was lucky to get to shoulder, no hazards worked while on shoulder. stranded for approx 1 hr when all power came back and car functioned normally. 2nd occurrence; car was parked at work, antitheft light on and all electrical dead leaving driver stranded. will be towing to ford dealership if it doesn't start tomorrow. *ln

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 10 mph, the contact noticed that the front coil spring fractured and ruptured the tire, causing it to deflate. the failure was similar to nhtsa campaign id 04v332000 suspension front:springs:coil springs. the manufacturer was notified and informed the contact that her vin was not included in the previous recall. the vehicle was not repaired. the current and failure mileage was approximately 110,000.

While waiting at stoplight, heard a popping noise and front drivers side of car went down. was able to pull into gas station parking lot about 50 feet away. upon inspection could see inside sidewall was torn up. called for tow. a series of bad events had taken place, could have been fatal at high speed. spring had broken and twisted out to side shredding tire. tore open pvc boot. spring also damaged axle. also destroyed another large plastic part. all these parts had to be replace at great expense. also replaced spring and strut on passenger side for safety s sake. ford has recalled and replaced other model year springs, but not 2002 or 2003. this should never have happened, especially with fords past acknowledgment of this problem. *tr

Driving about 35 mph car started shaking then loud bang, pulled over and found drivers side front tire flat had car towed to service center and was told that the coil spring broke and flattened the tire. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving approximately 50 mph, he heard a loud noise and the vehicle suddenly lost control. he coasted to the side of the road and noticed that the front passenger side had exploded. the vehicle was inspected by a independent mechanic who informed the contact that the coil springs had punctured the tire causing it to blow out. the vehicle has been repaired for the front passenger coil springs and tire. the manufacturer was also contacted and informed him that there were no recalls for the coil springs and they could not offer any assistance. the failure mileage was approximately 120,000. updated 03/17/11*lj updated 12/20/11 *cn

I'm adding my complaint to an open investigation #ea08018. my 2003 taurus suffered a broken coil spring today which punctured my passenger side tire and apparently damaged upper and lower mounts in the process. estimated cost of repair (including addressing the yet to be broken opposite side), is 1800 dollars. there was no accident as i was traveling a slow rate of speed. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 45 mph the contact noticed one of the tires was flat. the vehicle was pulled over and the contact noticed the front drivers side tire was pierced by a fractured coil spring. the fractured portion of the coil spring was cut off and a new tire was installed. the vehicle was driven home where the contact installed new coil springs. the failure mileage was 100,000 and the current mileage was 100,203.

Was driving my 2003 taurus when i got a flat tire drivers side..called aaa they put my spare on. i took car to my mechanic who told me a coil broke and ruptured the tire..it is going to cost $950..i was told how lucky i was not to have had a major accident!!! only have 49,000 miles on my taurus. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated while the vehicle was parked in the drive way the drivers side front tire became flat and the front end of the vehicle fell down. the vehicle was towed to the dealer who stated that the failure was caused by the drivers side front coil spring which also damaged the tire. the dealer replaced the driver and passengers front coil springs, struts, and the front tire. the failure mileage was 225,000 and the current mileage was 230,000. updated 2/28/11 *cn updated 05/19/11

My car hadn't given any warning of transmission problems. it was serviced regularly, and we had bought it new, so we knew its history. i turned off the highway, onto my street (up a hill) and the car suddenly acted as if it were in neutral. would not accelerate. i managed to back it to the left side of the street, so it would be out of traffic. called the tow truck. if this had happened while on the highway, i could have easily been killed. i have found that many people have had this experience with ford taurus. the transmission on 2003s has given out with no warning, in the middle of traffic. this is a serious problem that should be investigated.

Front suspension spring broke suddenly, causing front corner of vehicle to drop, vehicle pulled abruptly to the left, and broken spring pierced tire on 2003 ford taurus. luckily nobody was killed, potentially very deadly quality defect with these vehicles. ford acknowledges problem with 1999-2001 taurus coil springs, but will not repair later models, even though they apparently haven't fixed the problem. *tr

Front springs breaking on 2003 taurus. loud boom in front of car. result is a broken spring damaging front tire also. car was backing out of garage when it happened. had to tow vehicle as it could not be moved without further damage to vehicle. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving in reverse 2 mph, the front coil spring broke and punctured the driver side front tire. the contact exchanged the tire with the spare. the vehicle was taken to a discount tire company to replace the tire where the contact was informed that the coil spring broke and advised him to have it replaced. the vehicle was taken to a local repair shop where the two front coil springs and the strut assembly were replaced. the failure mileage was 112,300 and the current mileageias 112,310. updated 04/15/11*lj updated 10/12/11

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while the vehicle was parked the right front coil spring broke and punctured the passenger side front tire. the contact stated that he cut a section of the coil spring out in order to change the tire. the vehicle was taken a local mechanic who stated that the left front coil spring also broke and punctured the drivers side front tire. the dealer replaced the two front coil springs and both front tires. the failure and current mileages were 130,632.

In october of 2008, my 2003 ford taurus ses suddenly lost the ability to move while i was driving in heavy traffic. the torque converter had to be replaced - the vehicle had 41,086 miles on it at the time. cost of repair was $1260.96. *tr

2003 ford taurus transmission went out with no warning on busy street, was like it was in neutral. was able to coast to almost off of roadway. two people came to aid and pushed the car completely out of roadway. car has just 62,000 miles. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was exiting a driveway when the vehicle exhibited an abnormal pop. the contact then noticed that the coil spring on the driver side was fractured and had punctured and deflated the tire. the contact did not inform the dealer or the manufacturer of the failure. a private mechanic repaired the tire as well as the front coil spring. the current mileage was approximately 79,000 and the failure mileage was approximately 77,000.

While exiting my driveway the left front spring coil let go puncturing the tire and rendering the vehicle inoperable. had to have vehicle towed to repair facility for replacement. ford motor company had a recall on this component on some other of its vehicles, but i was informed my vehicle was not in the recall. it seems to be an ongoing problem. when are they going to admit the problem and fix it, when someone has a serious crash or dies?

Transmission failed at just under 95,000 miles with no warning. *tr

Minor driving car, without any previous signs of trouble,no warning lights, etc., after turning corner, car acted like it was in neutral. could not engage car in gear after that. had to get help pushing into nearby park and have it towed in for repair. thankfully, noone was hurt, and park was nearby. if this had happened at highway speeds i don't want to imagine the outcome. there were absolutely no signs of trouble previously that indicated any transmission problem. *tr

About 4 months ago as i was backing my car out of the garage, the front left coil spring broke which prevented me from driving the vehicle. i had to replace both of the front struts and coil springs which cost me several hundred dollars. today, as i was backing out of my garage once again, the left rear coil spring broke. again, i will need to spend several hundred dollars, this time to replace the rear struts and coil springs in order to assure my vehicle is safe to drive. my vehicle is only used to drive a few miles every day on smooth, paved roads so there should be no reason why i am having to replace these parts due to their breaking. i feel fortunate that the parts broke as i was exiting my garage, and not driving down the road at 50 mph. i believe this ongoing issue is a safety concern and should be addressed. i hope some type of financial compensation can be agreed upon to cover the costs associated with this ongoing safety issue. *tr

My husband and i along with our 2 yr old were driving home one evening and stopped at stopped sign and my husband hit the gas to go and it took off slowly, than just wouldn't go we had to coast off to the side of the road with traffic around us. no warning light or anything the transmission just went out. the car wont go forward or reverse, it shifts but wont move. we need the transmission rebuilt, we got an estimate of 2100. i lost my job, im pregnant with my 2nd child and we just purchased the 2003 ford taurus about 10 months ago. we don't have the money to be repairing a car we just got. *tr

On 12/20/2010 left front coil spring broke and punctured tire while driving on state highway. incident occurred just 2 miles after departure from home. thought it was just a flat tire. the shoulder was narrow and the road was snow covered. when pulling off the road the car got stuck in the snow. upon retrieval from the ditch and subsequent tow to the tire store we discovered the broken spring issue. we have not yet repaired the spring/strut problem as the tire store does not perform that type of repair. we are planning to replace both front springs and struts as well as rear springs to have some peace of mind. we purchased four new tires and will have it towed to the full-service repair shop on 12/21/2010. the tire store could not mount the new tire on the left front because of the broken spring. the tire store mounted the "mini" spare that could clear the broken spring. we feel ford should reimburse us for the cost of repairs. we are fortunate that there were no injuries! *tr

Drivers side front coil spring in the strut broke and slashed the adjacent tire. this was noticed when the car was beginning to be backed out of a parking spot. we had to replace both strut assemblies for safety sake, replace the damaged tire as well. we opted to replace the other three tires due to wear. also, the garage recommended we replace the ball joints and lh side tie rod end. the front end was aligned as well. total cost $1871. i am outraged that there is a recall for 1999 thru 2001 taurus cars but nothing covering up to and including 2003's. i also think it is ridiculous that the cutoff to repair this problem occurs when a car exceeds 100000 miles. this is a known design defect and all ford taurus cars should have been recalled and repaired. my daughter was lucky this failure occurred in a parking lot and not when going 65mph! severe injury and death could have been the result and other people may have been involved! i implore nhtsa to force ford to engage in a retroactive recall for all affected taurus cars. it is inexcusable to have a design defect of this magnitude on the public highways. i can understand a broken spring can occur, but the complaints clearly show that the spring then slashes the tire, causing an immediate blowout and potential loss of control of the vehicle.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 30 mph, the front coil spring fractured causing the vehicle to mount the sidewalk. the coil spring caused the front driver side tire to burst as well. the contact had the vehicle towed to his place of residence and called the manufacturer. the manufacturer informed the contact there were no recalls for the vehicle and would not provide any further assistance. the contact stated the front coil spring malfunctioning could have caused a serious crash. the failure mileage was 101,000.

2003 ford taurus, pulling out of parking space, front right coil spring broke and damaged tire. *tr

Without any warning my gas pedal of my vehicle stopped working. i was driving down the road - the car jerked and then nothing. the car would not go into gear. i had to roll and then push my vehicle to the side of the road. thank god there was no one behind me or i would of been hit - it was very scary. turns out it was the torque converter. had to wait for aaa and then get my car towed to transmission place. they replaced and it cost me $1,133.58. *tr

The suspension coil spring fractured and punctured the tire next to it, causing the tire to explode.

When coming home from picking up my daughter from work, my car could not shift gears and luckily i was able to coast to a stop and put the car in park. the car runs but i cannot shift into any gears. and it had to be towed to a gas station. i was advised that the problem is with the transmission and i see by your website that there are quite a few complaints regarding this issue with the transmission on the 2003 ford taurus. who is going to be held responsible for this problem as it could have been far worse and someone could have gotten killed. *tr

Repeated stalling of my 2003 ford taurus upon deceleration. rpm's drop to around 500 and then the engine either surges to approximately 1200 rpms (3 times in a row) and then idles normally or stalls. oddly if i shut off the blower fan, and shut off the radio i can prevent the stall but i still get the rpm bounce. there are no codes recorded in the onboard computer when this occurs. this happens very frequently and is very dangerous as i loose all power while operating the vehicle in traffic. *tr

Tue 28dec2010 outside temp = 21f i entered driver's seat & immediately heard loud "bong!" sound of lf coil spring breaking. i am familiar w/ ford recall# 04v332000 (nhtsa reference #04v332000) and have been waiting similar recall for newer models during nhtsa action number: ea08018, ongoing for over two years now. i tried to drive off slowly to avoid tire damage but could not, as within the first tire rotation the broken spring slashed the entire inside sidewall of the lf tire. repairs will cost $300 for strut/spring replacement + $60 tow + $150 for tire, total = $510, and i expect rf to break identically at any moment. it is outrageous that the investigation of a safety hazard identical to vehicles two years older has taken two years! *tr

Was backing out of the driveway and heard a loud thump and then my tire deflated like a balloon. had a tire guy come to fix it and he said it was due to a broken strut/spring. it had broken and slashed the tire. i am just thankful this did not happen on the interstate driving at a high rate of speed. could have been deadly. *tr

My 2003 ford taurus was simply sitting in my driveway and all of a sudden there was a huge pop. we looked to see the tire had gone flat! when i took the tire we discovered the flat was a result from the coil spring breaking and puncturing the tire. so now not only do i have to pay to fix the spring, but also a new tire. obviously ford has not resolved the issue with the 2001 cut off model on a recall and they need to make right with their customers. i have been a loyal ford owner. they should be as loyal to their customers!!! *tr

On my 2003 ford taurus, the drivers side front coil spring assembly broke. this sliced my tire sidewall and caused my car front end to drop to the ground. luckily this happened when parked in my garage. the bad thing is that it is minnesota and winter. i thank god i was not driving down the road. this would have been very, very bad. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was driving approximately 5 mph in reverse when the vehicle exhibited a loud noise from the front end of the vehicle. suddenly, the front driver side of the vehicle collapsed to the ground causing the tire to flatten. the damaged tire was replaced with a spare tire and the vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where they informed the contact that the failure could possibly be related to the coil spring. the mechanic advised that the vehicle be repaired at another repair shop because they were unable to provide any type of suspension repairs. the vehicle was in the process of being diagnosed and repaired by a second mechanic. the failure mileage was approximately 277,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus ses (na). while driving approximately 15 mph, the driver side front coil spring broke and punctured the driver side front tire. the contact lost control of the vehicle but was able to avoid a crash by applying the brakes. the vehicle was towed to a local repair shop where the mechanic stated that the front coil spring broke and the entire strut assembly and the tire needed to be replaced. the vehicle had not been repaired. the vin was unavailable. the current and failure mileages were 84,523.

I pulled out of my driveway and realized i had a very flat tire. i called the service station up the street. he told me to drive it down slowly & he'd put the donut on it and order me a new tire. when he looked at my car at his shop, he said the driver's side, front coil spring had snapped and sliced through my tire. he said i was lucky it didn't happen on the freeway or i could have had a bad accident. he said i was also lucky i hadn't just put the donut on it myself and driven it over the weekend, because it would have snapped the donut while i was on the road. i looked up the problem online and realized many, many 2003 ford tauruses have had this problem. ford has had to recall several makes & years, but the 2003 ford taurus has not so far been included. i had taken my car out 2 days earlier with no problems. it must have snapped while sitting in my driveway. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the driver side coil spring broke and punctured the driver side tire. the vehicle was taken to a mechanic shop who replaced two struts assembly and a tire at the contact's expense. neither the dealer nor the manufacturer were notified. the failure mileage was 113,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus se (na). the contact stated that the front coil springs broke while the vehicle was being reversed at 5 mph and punctured the tires. the vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where the coil springs and tire were replaced. the contact called the manufacturer who offered no assistance. the failure mileage was approximately 125,000 and the current mileage was approximately 132,000.

Came back from vacation (was not driving the car on vacation), backed up car in driveway and heard a loud snap. looked and the tire was flat. called a tow truck and when tow truck operator removed the tire to replace it, he found a broken front left coil spring, when we looked at the back side of the tire, it had numerous tears and punctures. we will need to replace the coil and the tire. *tr

I had to have my transmission rebuilt last dec and now am experiencing electrical problems, my signal lights/hazard lights do not work and was told the wires and harness need to be replaced. hinges that hold rear window in have snapped off, window held in place by lock. *tr

I was stuck in the middle of an intersection. i just broke my neck about 2 years ago so it was hard for me alone to push the card to safe area. the transmission on my 2003 ford taurus without any warning signs would not go further like it was in neutral. i tried putting it into drive, reverse and the only thing that would happen is the motor would rev up like it was in park. i understand that this is a common problem with this model ford. ford needs to recall this model or at least pay to fix all these transmission problems i am reading about. the amount that it cost to fix the transmission is the same amount the car is worth if that. what can we do to get ford involved with this problem and stand behind their product. this really leaves a bad taste in my mouth about ford. one unhappy customer tells the whole world 100 happy customers barley get the word out about a company, but i believe if ford would do a recall on these 2003 taurus transmissions everybody would change their mind about how ford does not stand behind their product. all these transmission compliant sound the same. so it must be the product not the driver. *tr

Front left coil spring broke while driving 20 mph on a smooth paved village highway causing a puncture and resulting in a blow out of that tire. *tr

Heat/ac fan blows only on high. replaced cowl panel and installed rain hat and blower resistor 11/08; blower motor resistor found defective 7/10 and replaced. heat/ac fan blows only on high today 12/10. *tr

Transmission just died like this website states. *tr http://bit.ly/vil7

The 2003 ford taurus while stopped at a light or applying brakes will surge and lunge forward. very dangerous, because it surges with people walking in front of it and cars in front of the car. the car then feels like it is hit from the rear end and smells like it is about to catch on fire. very scary situation, my children are very scared and we already have an evacuation plan if the car catches on fire. it is defintely not safe. a similar problem has been addressed with the 2006 ford freestyle. it also goes dead while backing up. even when brakes are applied to the floor, it surges and moves forward. the enginge jerking is a very hard jolt. we hope this will be addressed. *tr

I have a complaint about my 2003 ford taurus ses. my wife was driving my car yesterday getting ready to pull onto a heavily traveled highway when the transmission suddenly went out without any warning or previous indication. this car only has 72,210 miles on it and from what i've discovered on other complaint websites this seems to be a very common thing especially with the 2003 years. this really concerns me being a loyal ford customer that nothing has been done to resolve this. it has clearly been exposed as an issue with ford and they are taking no responsibility?!? the worst part of this issue is that not only did my wife, and five month old child stall out half on, half off of the highway, but a loaded rock truck almost took her and an oncoming vehicle out in the process of trying to avoid an almost certain incident. thank god my family is safe and no harm was done, but something has to be done about ford's ignorance of quality and more importantly safety! *tr

I own a 2003 ford taurus lx and the transmission failed with no warning whatsoever on 11/23. mileage is 71,000. i was driving on a rather busy road and all of a sudden i hear a noise and the car no longer responded even though my foot was on the accelerator. fortunately, it was early in the afternoon and the road was not heavily traveled at the time. i am thankful for that. i was able to drift into the post office driveway and a kind gentleman pushed me because i was blocking the access road to the parking lot. i could go no further. car was towed to repair shop but an estimate is not available at this time. *tr

The front driver side spring broke on my 2003 ford taurus and blew out the tire. making the car undriveable. *tr

While exiting highway auto lost power to drive axles. had to push car 1/4 mile to parking lot,walk 5 miles home,arrange tow and get auto checked out. talked to 5 different mechanics and all agreed that it was transmission. cost to repair or replace transmission 900-1500 dollars depending on problem. will know more latter but costs keep rising. this is bs as ford knows about this problem.i know this is true as i know several ford mechanics. *tr

Vehicle speed control: linkage 2003 ford taurus station wagon; 3.0l dohc a black plastic connector along the throttle cable under the hood became disconnected from a gray plastic piece. the black plastic piece became stuck against the edge of the gray piece, causing the throttle to stay wide open & undesired acceleration & some panic. it appears that this could be repaired by simply inserting 2 screws to secure the 2 plastic pieces together. *tr

I was on highway 89s coming off of the ramp when i hit the stop sign at the end of the ramp the ford taurus just stopped. i noticed that it was revving up a lot on the highway then nothing. it is now sitting in the driveway after being towed from clinton st. *tr

I was driving my 2003 ford taurus on nb 23 highway at 70 miles ph and all of a sudden my vehicle was like it was put in neutral. had to coast from the left lane over to the right edge of the road, during rush hour traffic. the transmission would not engage. there had been no warnings prior to this event. just all of a sudden you have no transmission. *tr

Driving a 2003 ford taurus sel down the interstate at about 65 mph, the car just stops. luckily, i was able to pull off the highway with no mishaps. i had no warning lights showing, no check engine light on, no engine noises or slippage. after my 300.00 tow back home, i had it checked out and was told the transmission was gone. the car has 108, 000 miles on it. after checking on the internet, it seems this is indicative of the 2003 taurus - the transmission just goes without warning. it could have very easily caused an accident, and seems that with the number of complaints i found, ford should have issued a recall. *tr

Traveling in a busy area, driver attempted to pull out at a traffic light and the transmission lost all drive. all of a sudden, with no warning, the car would not go into any drive gear or reverse. the car had to be towed to a mechanic who looked to see if the filter had fallen causing no fluid to get to the pump. no such luck. appears the pump or pump shaft has failed. a friend of his that does transmission work for ford admitted to this being an issue. it is a shame we have not heard anything from ford about this. i am so grateful that my wife, who normally drives the car, was not stuck in heavy traffic with no way to get off the road. *tr

I was driving my 2003 ford taurus down i88.. i was doing about 65 mph. all of the sudden my car revs all the way up while i had my foot on the gas. i pull over and try to shift it does not move in any gear. turns out my tranny went.. thanks alot ford. my car only had 118,000 miles on and i had general maintenance on it regularly. this is ridiculous. *tr

Parked car overnight, started next morning- car would not move. park worked, all other gears acted as if in neutral. *tr

Spark plug ejection 2003 ford taurus ses 24v. *tr

Transmission failed on my 2003 taurus with my son driving in heavy rain at night. after almost being hit from behind, he had to push the car off the road & wait for the tow truck, still dangerous on a busy street in any condition or situation. this seems to be a ford issue with no solution. worse yet, there was no warning signs & the fluid smells normal. *tr

My husband was driving in the city late saturday night, and without any previous warning, the transmission completely died. the car was just coasting on it's own momentum. he tried restarting the car, tried reverse-none of the gears worked. our mechanic verified what we feared- we need a new transmission. we are now trying to decide how to handle this. we can not afford thousands of dollars for a new transmission, yet we still owe money on the car. *tr

2003 ford taurus ses, stops on busy highway without warning. transmission failure! car won't move forward or backwards! very dangerous! ford and dealer says it's not their problem! i hope my problem becomes their problem!! they sell us this junk and then don't have to stand behind it...no wonder everyone is buying foreign! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was decelerating to approximately 30 mph when the vehicle stalled without warning. the contact was able to restart the vehicle as it resumed normal operation. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where they were unable to diagnose the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure recurred intermittently when decelerating to approximately 30 mph and under. the failure mileage was 170,000 and the current mileage was 182,000.

Loss of forward motion on a dangerous highway intersection due to transmission failure. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that water was leaking into the passenger side of the vehicle when it rained. because of the leakage, the heating and air conditioning system stopped functioning. she was also concerned about mold forming when there was water on the floorboard. the contact called the manufacturer who took a complaint but offered no further assistance. the vehicle had not been repaired. the vin was unavailable. the current mileage was 34,346. the failure mileage was approximately 30,000.

2003 ford taurus transmission quit in middle of my wife driving home from work. no warning light, noise, indication of an issue. after she got the car to the side of the road, and parked, she tried to engage the car in "reverse" and there was not a sound of engagement and the same when she tried to engage the car in "drive". this morning i looked at the car and everything she said is true. the transmission failing in the middle of her merging across the main road could have created a devastating accident if people didn't allow her to merge to a safe location at the side of the road. *tr

Transmission failure. vehicle has approximately 60,000 miles. was pulling out into busy traffic. the engine revved but stopped moving. the vehicle had to be pushed to the side of the road. this is a one time event. there were no signs, symptoms or warning lights prior to failure. there has been nothing done to repair or correct the problem due to the repair costs. *tr

My wife turned right from a two lane county road onto a four lane us hwy. the car went into neutral as trucks and cars flew past her. she thankfully got off the road and walked back to the nearest store for help. the car was towed to a transmission shop where we were told it was the torque converter and input shaft. the estimate was $1800. the car has over 80k miles and the transmission fluid and filter had been changed at 30k and 60k miles as factory recommended. due to the severity of the intersection where northbound us hwys 441 & 301 split, the speed where traffic changes lanes due to their inability to read signs and then a car stranded in the middle of traffic death easily could have been the outcome. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the rpms suddenly increased and the transmission surged violently. the contact referenced a related tsb (tsb 018746, engine and engine cooling) but no related recalls. the contact called the manufacturer who stated that repairs would have to be repaired at the owner's expense. the vehicle had not been repaired as the parts were on back order. the current and failure mileages were approximately 68,100.

There are no events leading up to failure!! my 17 year old daughter was getting onto the highway 45 minutes away from home and the car just stopped suddenly, she was in an area where her cell phone had no service, she had to accept help from a stranger that stopped to help! her and her 15 year old sister were terrified!! after finally getting in touch with me i had to have the car towed in which they had to ride with a tow truck driver which was just as scary to them!! since then i have done a small amount of research and my findings are astonishing!!! the 2003 ford taurus has hundreds of complaints about the same problem! transmission failure... i am the only owner of this car and she was driving it to chapel hill because it was safer (in my eyes) that her 1998 mercury marquis, i am very upset that no one has told us owners of this vehicle that there is a known problem with the transmission. i really expect to hear something from someone in reference to fixing this problem or i will be contacting the state attorney general's office. i have documentation of all the other owners and problems. the car has been taken to a local mechanic because there is no way i'm letting ford touch my car again... and will be getting the results later next week, i should not have to be out of a vehicle because of a known problem that could of been fixed sooner! thank you and know i will be hearing from someone soon! *tr

Transmission slipped out of gear while traveling about 30 m.p.h. pulled over , put in park, shut off and restarted vehicle. cycled through gears, no engagement. free wheels in any gear but park. no symptoms prior to this. will update when it is replaced. *tr

While backing out of driveway, heard a pop sound. vehicle was immediately stopped and the right front coil spring had snapped into several pieces. some damage to other components, tire appears to be undamaged. repairs are pending. vehicle was originally from the western new york state area. *tr

Rear springs were found broken when having the oil changed. broken spring could puncture rear tires, causing loss of control of vehicle. had to replace broken rear springs, old parts are available. *tr

Transmission failure while driving down highway. no warnings or signs of malfunction prior to. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. when the contact drove the vehicle into the garage he noticed that the brake lights remained illuminated. the contact also noticed that he was not able to engage the cruise control at any speed. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed the failure and confirmed that it was the brake light switch. the vehicle wasnt repaired because the brake light switch was on back order. the manufacturer advised the contact that the vin wasn't included in recall 04v106000 exterior lighting: brake lights: switch; therefore they will not assist with the repair. the failure and the current mileages were 133,000.

I was on i-95 n speed 65 mph. my car revved to 4-5 rpm and i noticed that even as i was pressing on the accelerator that the car was not gaining speed but decelerating. i pulled over on the shoulder an coasted to a stop. the car wasn't/didn't over heat, there was no dashboard lights that came on to warn me. i had no warning of any transmission problems before. i turned off the car and turn the car back on which worked just fine i went to put the car in drive and it wouldn't go anywhere. i put the car in overdrive and reverse an the same thing it was like it was stuck in a constant neutral. the car just hit the 60k mile a few days ago. while i waited on family members to come assist me i checked all fluid levels including the transmission and fluid was correct. from reading on the forums there has been many complaints about this same problem from more than a few thousand people. i will have to go to a shop and the average price for fixing this problem on average is 2 grand. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that there was a water leak in the cowling that caused the blower motor to rust; therefore, it needed to be replaced. the contact noticed the failure when the fan was no longer blowing air. the vehicle was not inspected or repaired at the time of the complaint. the contact called the manufacturer who stated that there was no warranty or recall for the failure. the current mileage was approximately 120,000. the failure mileage was approximately 115,000.

2003 ford taurus transmission just stopped pulling. no slipping no problems what so ever then nothing. it only has 43k miles and i'm nearly 80 yrs old. i cannot afford to spend $2000 on a repair that should be repaired at no cost because there should be a recall with all of the complaints i have read for the same problem. it is odd to me that most recalls are for something stupid like a taillight may be prone to leaking but when it comes to life threatening problems it is overlooked. it is just a good thing that she wasn't hit by someone since she had pulled out onto the highway and made it to her lane before the transmission just stopped pulling not noise, pop or anything!! will someone with a backbone please stand up!!! *tr

Vehicle was parked at residence. at about 6 am i unlocked the driver's door with my keyfob. i entered into vehicle. started vehicle, shifted from park to drive. as i moved forward approximately a car length while turning the steering wheel to make right turn out of parking space, the drivers air bag deployed. vehicle@ repair shop waiting for new parts. *tr

Recently while driving my 2003 ford taurus down a busy highway my transmission quit working almost causing a major pile up it cost me around 2500 dollars to repair the problem here is a link of other consumer complaint http://www.carcomplaints.com/ford/taurus/2003/transmission/transmission_failed.shtml. *tr

2003 ford taurus fails at highway speeds to a dead stop. many reports noted on carcomplaints.com - in line with toyota failures. endangers the public. all related to known transmission failure. *tr

In line with numerous other reports about the 2003 ford taurus, my blower motor and resister have failed due to a water leak on the front passenger side. as a consequence, i cannot defog the windshield while driving. the result lack of visibility is dangerous for my passengers and for nearby cars. correcting this problem is not a simple matter of replacing the blower motor, but also requires a complicated repair of the causative leak. i request nhtsa to look into the numerous complaints like mine and work with ford in issuing a recall for this issue. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that whenever the air conditioner was activated, the front passenger side floorboard would become wet. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that motor blower would need to be replaced. there were no prior warnings of the failure. the failure mileage was 84,000 and the current mileage was 86,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while attempting to use the air conditioner or heating system the contact noticed that no air blow out of the vehicles vents. the vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where the resistor was replaced, however the failure recurred. the vehicle was taken back to the local mechanic where the resistor was replaced for the second. there were no prior warnings. the failure mileage was 51000 and the current mileage was 59000. updated 12/10/10. *lj the consumer stated he replaced three resistor units and a protective bonnet for the outside air vent and a new blower unit. updated 12/17/10*jb

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the vehicle was in the driveway where the left front spring broke and punctured the tire. the vehicle was towed to the dealer where who replaced both front springs and four new tires at her expense for $1405. the manufacturer was contacted and stated that there was a recall but it did not include her year, make or model vehicle. the failure mileage was 159,280.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact started the ignition and activated the air condition. there was an unusual knocking noise and a musty odor emitting through the vents. the failure occurred intermittently. the contact stated during rainy conditions water would leak through the defective front windshield that resulted to an accumulation of water over a period of time in the air condition blower motor. there was a recall associated with the nhtsa campaign id number: 003v087000 (visibility: windshield); the vehicle had not been repaired under the recall. the contact had spoken with a technician that stated the failure was related to the air condition blower motor however, the vehicle had not been diagnosed. the failure mileage was approximately 38,000.

Car was going approximately 45 miles per hour when the "check engine" light came on. car was taken to the car repair shop and it was discovered that the entire computer had to be replaced. a remanufactured computer was installed into the car and the cost was still over $600. mileage of the car was approximately 155,000. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was stated that the vehicle stalled without warning. the contact was unable to restart the vehicle and it was towed to her residence. the vehicle was inspected by her personal mechanic who stated that the transmission would need replacing. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not contacted. the current and failure mileage was 58,506. updated 12/21/10*bf updated 12/30/10*jb

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that recall 03v087000, visibility windshield was related to the failure. the contact stated that he experienced the identical failure related to the recall. ford advised him that his vin was not included in the recall. the contact was filing a safety complaint due to the water entering into the vehicle causing corrosion that shorts out the air conditioner. the vehicle was previously repaired but the failure recurred. the failure mileage was approximately 47,000. the current mileage was 66,000. updated 12/22/10*lj

Son was driving car, stopped at an intersection to make sure no cars were approaching, took foot off the brake and nothing, stepped on the gas pedal and it would not move. he shut the car off, started it back up, tried all the gears and it would not move. i had driven the car earlier in the day and did not have any problems, there was not any indications anything was wrong. from what i understand this is a huge, common problem with the 2003 fords. i am a student and i had just paid off this car. it has just over 89,000 miles on it. i don't have the amount of money it is going to take to fix this problem. someone needs to tell ford that they have a defect in their vehicles and do something about it. i called ford and all they said they could do was take down my information and told me to take it to the dealer and have it checked out. they know what the problem is and they are ignoring those who have a ford vehicle and refuse to do anything. i am very frustrated since i now have no car and can't buy another one. please do something about this problem so many people are having. *tr

I was driving 55 mgh down the highway, when without warning, the engine started to rev, but my car wound not go forward. coasted to a stop and tried all gears but it just would not move. it was a very hot day, and i was in an area without cell service to call for a tow. it was the torque converter. $1400 to replace. my car only has 76354 miles on it. i have learned that this is a very common problem with 2003 taurus'. *tr

Both rear springs on vehicle broke and caused springs to slip off of lower spring perch. sharp broken end of left rear spring came within 0.25 inches of contacting tire. sharp end of spring came very close to puncturing tire. no particular event caused this failure. don't know exactly when it happened. i just noticed the rear end of the car was sitting lower than usual. car still drove fine. took car to local ford dealer. they replaced both rear springs and struts at my cost of approximately $700. old parts kept by ford dealer. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while merging onto the highway at 70 mph, the speedometer began rapidly decreasing. the vehicle stalled. the vehicle was towed to the contacts place of residence. the vehicle was inspected by the an independent mechanic who advised that the torque converter was defective. the manufacturer advised the contact that the vehicle was not under recall and did not provide any further assistance. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileages were 61,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus se. the contact stated the vehicle was having a routine oil change performed when he was advised by the mechanic that the rear coil spring had fractured. the coil spring was repaired. the manufacturer would not provide any assistance. the current and failure mileages were approximately 21,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated while driving at 70 mph, the driver side coil spring fractured and caused the vehicle suspension to drop. the tire and axle were damaged as a result. the vehicle was towed to the dealer where the contact was awaiting repairs. the contact also stated that prior to the failure, he noticed the rear spring exhibited signs of rust. the manufacturer would not provide any assistance. the failure mileage was approximately 110,000 and the current mileage was approximately 120,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while reversing from a parking space at 2 mph, he heard a loud pop and the front driver tire went flat. he attempted to change the tire and noticed the coil spring was fractured in three parts. the coil spring punctured the tire and caused it to become flat. there was not a recall for the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileages were 80,156.

I was driving south on two lane highway. car went out of gear as though it were in neutral. would not go back into gear. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 4 mph and making a turn, the contact heard a loud grinding and popping noise. the front end of the vehicle dropped down and the contact observed that the front drivers side tire blew out because the coil spring pierced it. the vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where the front coil springs were replaced. the failure and current mileages were 71,300.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated while traveling at 10 mph, the transmission failed without warning. the contact stated there was never any prior indication that the transmission was failing. the dealer referred the contact to the manufacturer. the manufacturer did not provide any assistance. the vehicle was not repaired. the vin was not available. the failure and current mileages were 101,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 55 mph the engine began make a knocking noise and a check engine service light illuminated on the instrument panel. the vehicle was driven onto the emergency lane and would not restart. the vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that a valve spring head broke off inside of the engine causing engine failure. the authorized dealer replaced the engine with a remanufactured engine. within a few days, the failure recurred and the vehicle was taken back to the authorized dealer who stated that they did not know what was wrong with the engine. the vehicle was not repaired and the failure continued to occur intermittently. the failure mileage was 73,887 and the current mileage was 80,000.

My wife's 2003 ford taurus with 58,000 miles had the torque converter spline gear,that was not heat treated properly. fail.just out of nowhere.it happened at an intersection.no forward or reverse. this could have been deadly.this is a very common problem, and we feel a recall is in order.thank you. *tr

2003 ford taurus front and back coil springs broke and the front punctured the tires which also had to be replaced. the front suspension coil problems happened on march 1, 2010 costing $1149.01 which included the two new tires we had to buy that got punctured by the coils. the back suspension problems happened on may 10, 2010 costing $142.75. i have read many times that this is a problem and feel that ford should be held responsible for the costs of these repairs and it should be recalled. *tr

I own a 2003 ford taurus ses with 123k miles on it. never had a moments trouble out of it till july 1 2010. while driving to work the car just stopped pulling. upon further investigation, i found out that the transmission had failed. i researched the problem and found out that alot of people with the same car have the exact same problem. if i had been on a busy highway this could have ended in a totally different way. this is a very bad safety issue that ford needs to address. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the check engine light illuminated on the dashboard.the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the cam sensor was replaced. approximately 5 months later the failure recurred and the vehicle was taken back to an independent mechanic where the cam sensor was again replaced. the failure recurred again and the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the cam sensor was reset. the failure has not recurred. approximately 1 year later while driving at approximately 20 mph the front passenger side tire blew out. upon examining the vehicle the contact noticed the coil spring was broken and pierced the tire. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the front passenger side coil spring was replaced. the contact also stated that approximately 2 months later while attempting to operate the vehicle it would not shift into gear and would not move. the vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where it was in the process of being diagnosed. the failure mileage was 77,000 and the current mileage was 90,600.

Front and rear springs on 2003 ford taurus fractured. the front spring fractured while sitting in the driveway and wrapped itself around the brake lines and hit the tire. had this happened while driving, the result would have been a catastrophic accident caused by total loss of control and braking. both rear springs fractured on an unknown date but fractured at the bottom without total failure. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving in reverse at a very low speed there was a loud noise near the front driver side tire. upon examining the vehicle, the contact noticed that the front driver side coil spring broke and pierced the tire. the coil spring was replaced by an independent mechanic. after the vehicle was repaired, the contact stated that he drove approximately 2 miles when the front passenger side coil spring broke and pierced the tire. the vehicle was not repaired for the second failure. the failure and current mileages were 64,000.

2003 ford taurus with less than 40,000 miles. complete transmission failure, automatic overdrive transmission. the car was driving fine earlier in the day, then my was going to my daughters home, when she stopped for a stop sign by my daughters home, the car pulled away and stopped accelerating in the middle of the intersection. she was almost hit by another vehicle coming from adifferent direction. this could have been worse if she had been on an interstate or open road in heavy traffic. there were no warnings of any type that a problem was forthcoming. the car has not been repaired due to lack of funds. rough estimates $2000 +/-. ford acknowledges problems with the transmissions, but will not discount any repair or help customer in any way. there are numerous complaints all throughout the internet on this same problem with the same result. no help from ford. this needs to be investigated, because accidents could have been caused from this condition. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 5 mph, the front driver side coil spring broke. the contact replaced the front coil spring and noticed that the passenger side front coil spring was corroded. the contact had not called the manufacturer regarding the front coil spring. the contact stated that the coil spring could have caused a major crash if the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed. the failure mileage was 142,000.

2003 ford taurus transmission failure without warning! on i-44 in oklahoma, driving with cruise control at 75 mph, engine revved to 4500 rpm and only stopped climbing because i turned off cruise control. it was as if the transmission suddenly went into neutral. we were very fortunate that we were able to get out of very heavy traffic and coast to the shoulder of the highway. the transmission would not allow forward or reverse in any of the gear ranges. we had no prior occurrences of this problem, it came without warning! the vehicle had to be towed to a ford dealership and the transmission was replaced with a rebuilt ford transmission. the dealer told me it was an internal transmission failure. it cost $3171 to replace and $350 for a rental car to use to continue our vacation. we were over 750 miles from home and on the second day of vacation when it occurred. *tr

2003 ford taurus. car was running okay. i was stopped at a red light and when the light changed. i put my foot on the gas pedal and the car would not move. a few days earlier during a heavy rainfall i noticed the rpms meter go up while the speed dipped. i panicked but he car made it home and drove fine for several days thereafter. i was told the transmission was shot. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was driving approximately 15 mph, approaching a traffic light when suddenly, the rpms increased and the transmission failed to function. the vehicle was towed to her residence, and two days later the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. the technician replaced the transmission. the failure mileage was 110,000.

Ford taurus 2003 rear coil spring broken. caused rubbing on tire on same side which wore a deep groove in the side wall. also caused tire on opposite side to wear unevenly. had to replace both tires as well as replace coil springs both sides. live in maine (salt- belt state). bought as used vehicle. don't know if front springs were replaced. date of incident was when the defect was found on regular inspection. *tr

Right front spring broke and blew out right front tire. luckily, my wife was not at highway speed when it happened. we had to replace the tire,and the front right spring and strut assembly. *tr

Transmission failure. while driving on an expressway, i felt the gears slip as the transmission was automatically shifting from drive to overdrive. after the gear change, i attempted to accelerate, however, power did not transfer from the engine to the wheels. i coasted to a stop. the transmission was rebuilt at my own expense. *tr

I have just purchased a 03 taurus which leaked water onto the passenger floor board also causing my ac blower motor to short out. when it is raining, humid or later when it gets cold there will be no way to keep the windshield clear of interior condensation or frost. this will make driving dangerous if caught in a storm. i have been able to get ford to act even though a related recall existed under 03v087000. i have found many others with this problem. i have read the descriptions related to recall number 03v087000 and ford tsb 04-15-3. i also see there is an existing complaint number to nhtsa: 10184014. the water leaks during storms regardless of whether the car is driving or sitting still. the fan first would only run on high speed and now won't run at all. this is an known design defect and i am frustrated that i can't get it remedied by ford. *tr

I was driving my 2003 ford taurus down a state highway, in arkansas, and the transmission went out while driving it. i went to pass a vehicle, and instead of the vehicle kicking into passing gear, it was as if the vehicle went into neutral instead. the engine just revved up and the vehicle started to slow. i barely made it to the side of the road, without being struck by another vehicle. the vehicle gave no indication of any transmission problems and has approximately 132,000 miles on it. there were no shifting issues, sounds, or warning lights. i have read where many other ford taurus owners have experienced nearly the same issue. this could have been much worse than it was, since i was in the middle of a main highway and traveling at approximately 55 miles per hour at the time of the incident. the vehicle will not shift into any forward gear or reverse. *tr

When backing a 2003 ford taurus from its winter storage place in april of this year, a strange noise was heard coming from the left front of the vehicle and it took more power than it should have to back out. upon stopping the car after a few feet to see if something was under the car, it was noticed the left front tire was completely flat. after completely backing out of the close quartered garage and a better inspection of the tire and its removal, it was discovered the whole inside sidewall of the tire was torn and the tire was in two pieces. it was later discovered the left front coil spring was broken and the broken portion's point was responsible for ripping the tire. inquiries to the local ford dealer confirmed ford wouldn't do any sort of compensation for fixing this problem but did say he thought there was a recall some time ago but given the vin this vehicle he said it was not covered. after a $700+ fix at an independent garage the car was on the road for approximately six weeks when the rightside coil spring broke and did the same thing only this time it was being driven by it's 79 year old owner who fortunately was all most stopped to make left turn when it broke and she was able to get off on the shoulder of the road and called assistance. this vehicle has not yet been fixed a second time and the parts are available. the ford motor co. has not been called yet for any kind of financial help or service on this second incident yet. i would like to find out a little more about their responsibility, if any, before calling to them or ny state level consumer protection agencies. it is my belief this is an old and known problem to ford as many mechanics i have talked to know of many such identical incidents and it is not so uncommon that. there should be a permanent recall for something like this. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

2003 ford taurus v6 3.0 se the transmission failed without warning on a busy san francisco street while making a turn and accelerating slightly out of the turn. had to push the car out of the street at some peril to myself. i have investigated and there have been numerous complaints about transmission failures on the 2003 taurus. transmission has to be replaced with a rebuild. the cost is $1300.00 plus towing fee. *tr

I was coming home from work and had just started up an incline after stopping at a stoplight at one of the busiest intersections in st.louis (hwy 64 & lindbergh). as i tried to accelerate, i heard an awful noise and realized i didn't have any power. there were no warning signs....just gone! luckily, i was able to immediately pull off/coast into a nearby mall's parking lot (plaza frontenac). when i got to a stop, i put the car in park, then proceeded to try all the gears on the gearshift. no difference between them....they all seemed like neutral. i kept the car running, checked the transmission fluid, and noticed some grey/black in with the pink (just on the edges). once my husband got there, he verified he thought the grey was from metal shavings from the transmission. i had this happen to my 1997 dodge avenger (transmission gave out at 37k on busy highway at rush hour), so i knew the signs. after having aaa tow my car to a transmission repair shop, we waited for the verdict. it will be at least $1600 to rebuild the transmission. this will include the torque converter. the shop says they will also replace some of the other weak parts the taurus is known for in their transmissions. the car is a 2003 ford taurus ses with 115k on it. i've had it since brand new and can't believe all of the complaints online, especially in regards to the 2003 taurus. why hasn't there been a recall?!? i don't currently have the car or my insurance info.on me to supply the vin number.... *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving the vehicle at any speed and any road condition, the contact would observe an unusual screeching noise from the engine. the dealer performed a diagnostic on the vehicle and advised that the cam shaft synchronizer sensor had failed. the vehicle was left at the dealer where the contact was awaiting repairs. there were no recalls and she was advised the repairs would be at her expense. the manufacturer would not provide any assistance. the failure mileage was 87,000 and the current mileage 87,200.

My husband was driving my 2003 ford taurus to the corner store and the transmission failed in the middle of the road. there were no warning lights or signs leading up to the failure. luckily my husband was able to get to the end of our quarter mile driveway were we then pushed it to the house. i am very thankful this did not happen to my three children and i when we were out shopping earlier that day. this a potentially deadly failure that i have found many cases of online. *tr

2003 ford taurus, 120,000 miles no warning car just stopped going moving, transmission seems to not be working, goes in every gear just no movement, have had nothing but trouble with this car since i bought it 3 yrs ago. *tr

Driving at approx. 30mph and my car acted like i just threw it into neutral. any gear i tried to put it into acted like i was in neutral. my transmission had to be repaired. i am reading the message boards and seeing that this is happening alot in the ford taurus. some were driving down the interstate when this happens and that could be very dangerous going from 65mph to 0. i think there needs to be a recall on these taurus transmissions. my mechanic stated that he's fixed around 20 of them in the past year, there's obviously a problem with them. *tr

Without warning the car lost power and would not go into any gear except park. the transmission has failed and will cost $2200 for a rebuilt one to be installed. this occurred once before, the same day our state inspection was completed, but we were able to get the car into drive again. *tr

My 2003 ford taurus transmission just gave out while driving. fortunately i was able to coast off road and get car towed to dealership. i have only 83,000 miles on car and transmission gave no warning it was going! now i have to pay 2650 dollars to fix tranny ford knew was bad! *tr

Traveling on highway, all of a sudden when i was trying to accelerate the car would just increase the rpms. the car wouldn't move in any gears. repair shop told me transmission failed. *tr

Driving car to the store and came out our car would not move. ran fine but would not go into gear. mechanic said our torque converter went out. they see about 2-3 taurus's a month with the same problem. cost around $800.00 to fix. needs recalled considering all the complaints i've been reading with the same problem. *tr

2003 ford taurus. consumer states problems with coil springs *tgw the consumer questioned the lack of a recall for an obvious safety problem and perhaps defective material. the front and rear coil springs ruptured on the consumers vehicle. the ball joints, front stabilizer and serpentine belt all had to be replaced on different occasions. the caliper froze, and the rotors were warped. *jb updated consumer letter 10/27/10.*jb

While backing my 2003 ford taurus out of the garage, the front driver side tire blew up. it was a loud noise. my husband was standing in front of the car and thought i ran over something that made the tire blow. when he took the tire off he found that the spring had snapped and punctured the tire and it cannot be repaired. we feel so lucky no one was driving the car at the time. it very easily would have lost control and could have injured or killed someone. we have properly maintained the car and now i see many other ford taurus drivers have the same problem. ford had a recall for 1999-2001 cars with the same problem. *tr

1) the events leading up to the failure, none, car was riding smooth, no noises, bouncing, etc... 2) the failure, how often it occurs, its consequences. the drivers side front strut spring broke, puncturing through the tire. this is a huge known problem with these cars. luckily i was driving at a slow speed (30 mph) when the spring let go. however, i do take the express way to and from work and travel often. had this happened on the expressway i most definitely would have lost control when the spring punctured through the tire. 3) what was done to correct the failure? struts, springs, and two front tires were replaced. luckily my dad, a former mechanic, was able to do the struts and springs for me. total cost ended up being $600. *tr

1) events leading up to the failure, none. car had no problems, transmission made no noise, was not slipping, etc... car was well maintained. 2) the failure, how often it occurs, the consequences. the transmission failed on the car at 107,000 miles, no warning, was on the freeway coming home from work, depressed the gas pedal to pass another car and then rpms maxed out. car did nothing in any gears. luckily i was able to merge over 3 lanes and arrive safely to the shoulder. however, had i not had enough speed this most definitely could have cause an accident. 3) what was done to correct the failure? the transmission needed to be replaced. luckily my dad, a former mechanic, was able to put in a used (16,000 miles) transmission for me. this cost me about $700 dollars. while this transmission is still doing fine, car now has 135,000 miles, this gives me no assurance as these transmissions tend to go without warning at low mileage. *tr

While driving to work, stopped at red light, when i accelerated through the intersection...no power. there was no warning. luckily i was able to get off to the side of the road and call for tow truck. thank god i wasn't involved in an accident also, considering the transmission just goes out and how impatient drivers are. *tr

2003 ford taurus se - vin# [xxx] - i had just taken a right turn onto a street and the vehicle stopped in the middle of the road. there were people behind me. i pulled off the road and it would crank but not switch gears. all fluids were in correct order with no issues. there were neither dashboard warning lights nor any unusual auto noises. this car only has 102,000 miles on it. it costed $1600 to fix. thankfully i was not on a very busy road or i could have been severly injured. ford needs to be aware of these problems and initiate a recall on these faulty transmissions. i was told by a certified mechanic that this particular ford has 6 different transmissions...meaning there is a significant safety issue that is being covered up! information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

Transmission failure on 2003 ford taurus. car would not go forward or reverse after pulling out into traffic although the engine was running fine. on-coming traffic had to stop or swerve to avoid my stopped car. this happened with absolutely no warning or previous problems. i found 68 other documented cases identical to this incident. tow truck driver said he has towed 68 cases himself and was aware of the problem. i called ford and was assigned case#[xxx] but was told there is no re-call for this problem. this is definitely a "life-threatening" situation. please read the other incident reports at http://www.carcomplaints.com/ford/taurus/2003/transmission/transmission_failed.shtm police were on site but don't know if a report was generated. they pushed car out of traffic. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

Backing out of driveway in am, the driver's side coil spring broke and ruptured the tire. vehicle lowered until frame was one inch from ground. had to be towed to local service station for repair. *tr

I own a 2003 ford taurus station wagon. i had just completed a vacation 1000+ mile trip at highway speeds. several days later, while in a parking lot driving at a slow speed there occurred a loud metallic grinding sound, following immediately by a hiss noise with an instant collapse of my left front tire. i had the car towed into a local ford dealer, and the diagnosis was the left front spring had broken, slashing the inside of the left front tire. needless to say if this had occurred at highway speeds, the likelihood is that i would not be around to be entering this complaint. my repair cost was $1456.80, not covered by warranty. this raises a question: why not? an internet check showed this ford coil spring problem to be happening for years, despite it's obvious threat to lives! *tr updated ivoq 12/29/10*jb

The hood latch begin to not close properly. the hood flew up while driving on the freeway smashing the windshield and costing over $2000 to repair even without the occurrence of a collision. the latch had to be replaced. it could have been a very bad accident if there had been more people on the road as the hood eliminated visibility. *tr

2003 ford taurus was backing out of driveway when front driverside spring snap and punctured the tire. *tr

I was driving down the road and with no warning at all, my 2003 ford taurus starts to rev as if it was in neutral. i pull off to the side of the road, i try putting it gear with negative results. not even a little jerk. get it towed to a shop, they tell me i need a new transmission. tranny just stopped with no warning. i tried googling the defect and i found a web site called www.topix.com and i find out that this is a very common problem with the ford taurus. the one thing for sure is, is that i will never, ever buy a ford vehicle again. i wouldn't even take one if i won it in a drawing. this is my 3rd one and each of them had major problems. 3 times, shame on me. i believe ford needs to fix this transmission problem and stop making shoddy products. i had a tempo, the engine went at 88,000. i had a ford windstar, the tranny went. got it rebuilt 3 times in a 6 month period and finally just junked it. and then when i already told myself that i would never buy another ford, i get a good deal on a taurus. what a mistake. i know that i'm rambling on, but i do believe that ford could do something about this transmission problem. i've googled this problem on the web and there are many people just like me that feel the same way. that the taurus is junk. *tr

My wife backed out of the driveway in our 2003 ford taurus, the left front spring broke and punctured the tire. i replaced the strut, spring and tire. i checked with ford to see if there was a recall. the spring recall only covered 2002 taurus. i still have the spring, strut and maybe the tire. i reported this with ford, even gave them the serial # off the spring and strut. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated the exterior brake lights would remain illuminated despite if the vehicle was on or off. the contact was able to locate a recall and when contacting the dealer, was informed his vin was not included with the recall (nhtsa campaign id number 04v106000 (exterior lighting: brake lights: switch). the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileages were unknown.

Driver side front coil spring broke, broken spring ripped the side of the tire. stabilizer bar also broken. *tr

I was driving my 2003 taurus ses and was following a truck going over a railroad track and was going like less than 5mph since the truck in front of me was going so slow and when i went to press on the gas pedal to move forward after passing the tracks the car was making a noise when i tried to press on it more. and all of a sudden it just stopped at first than started moving again so i pulled over off the main road. the next thing i know the car just stopped and would not move whatsoever. i turned the car off and turned it back on again trying to move forward by pressing on the gas and it didn't budge. the car didn't even move at all nor in reverse. everything else was running fine and there was no technical lights on in the car. eventually i had it towed back home and found out the transmission was out the next day resulting that i have to get a new transmission. i've also found out that it was common apparently for 2003 taurus cars to be defects for transmissions. this is highly a hazard on the road where a car just stops out of nowhere when who knows you can be crossing a light, railroad track or in mid-traffic where accidents can occur! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated he started the engine and accelerated approximately one foot before hearing an unusually loud bang. when exiting the vehicle he found both the driver and passengers side front tires were flat. upon further inspection, he found that the front coil springs had fractured and punctured the tires. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for repairs. the failure and current mileages were 51,228.

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that when it rained, water made its way into the vehicle from the instrument panel and flooded the front passenger side. furthermore, the defroster did not work. the steering wheel vibrated and, interior light was always illuminated and the door locks did not engage automatically. the contact called the dealership and was advised to take the vehicle in for repair at his expense. the current and failure mileages were 140,586.

With no warning or problems of any kind my transmission went out in the middle of traffic. my car was stuck in the middle of the road. nothing i could do. buses were coming at me from the left, cars from behind and in front. this is a huge safety hazard. had to replace with another transmission costing over 1500.00. we will never purchase a ford vehicle again unless this is made right by the company. we have talked to several mechanics and this is common amongst ford taurus'. wish we would have known about this ongoing problem before we purchased. we also wonder why there hasn't been a recall. is this the purpose of recalls. how many people need to complain before something is done. no wonder people are buying from toyota. at least they own their problems and offer a solution. *tr

Transmission failed with 63,000 miles on it! *tr

The front driver side spring coil broke causing a large gash in the tire and instant deflation. had been parked in the driveway and shifted into reverse. pressed the gas pedal and the tire seemed to explode with a loud sound and debris. i understand that earlier models of the ford taurus have been recalled (breaking coil springs recall no. 04v332000) and fixed but the recall has not been extended to newer models. the problem still exists, the danger still exists and the cost to fix the problem still exists. *tr

Vehicle: 2003 ford taurus wagon, 95,000 miles, all in michigan by original owner. friday morning (frost warning), april 9, 2010. moved the car 6 inches, when the front driver side tire blew out, corner of car dropped. following day, took tire (16,000 miles) to place of purchase, where they hoisted the car and discovered ruptured coil spring had punctured tire. had it ruptured ten miles later, i would have been on interstate 696 going 70 mph in rush hour, putting me, my passenger and adjacent vehicles at risk of deadly crash. 20 miles after repair of suspension, my teenage son, brand new driver, was driving on another interstate; it could have been him (and me) injured. i'm furious at ford and at nhtsa, as neither have taken action to remedy well established, know defect. how many deaths will it take? do something now!! total cost of two new springs with struts, and new tire: $850.00. property damage: punctured tire, broken spring. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated when turning on the air conditioner, heater, defroster or any one or combination of these components, the vehicle would stall. the failure would occur only when the vehicle was in the drive position. when the vehicle was parked with the engine running, the failure would not occur. the vehicle had not yet been repaired. the failure mileage was approximately 75,000 and the current was 100,000. the vin was not available.

Driving to work lost power in car. rpm went up pulled over i had no drive no reverse nothing the transmission was gone no warning no lights, no noise just stopped. i had it towed to shop they told me the pump was out. i have been only owner and always maintained my car. it has 65,000 miles on it. *tr

2006 ford taurus. started decelerating in the middle of traffic. engine starts and check engine light goes off and stays off so probably no dpc code. transmission does not work at all. ford shop said it's not their problem because it's out of warranty. it has 107,000 miles on it. it was by the grace of god that i didn't cause an accident. *tr

Blower fan failure to operate and when it did work, it made a loud squeaking noise. finally complete failure. system evaluatlion, fuses, circuit breakers, harnesses all good. removed fan motor housing and fan motor. both showed evidence of water collecting in the housing and motor itself. to correct the problem i purchased a fan motor , installed and reassembled everything. my question, is this going to happen again? *tr

Coil spring broke while backing out of my garage - which blew out my front tire. i had to purchase a new tire and then have my car towed to my mechanic. he replaced coil springs on both sides and as a result of broken coil spring it broke another part which cost an additiona $69.00.

On 3/31/10 i was driving my 2003 ford taurus southbound on i-5 in the sacramento, ca area at about 7:20 pm. just north of richards boulevard my auto began slowing down for no apparent reason. no dashboard emergency lights came on and there was no unusual sounds. as i depressed my accelerator my rpm indicator would increase but my car continued to lose speed. i was able to safely exit the freeway and my auto coasted to a stop on a side street. i then placed my car in reverse, drive, 1 and 2 and depressed the accelerator and the car did not advance forward or backward. car was towed to a ford dealership on 4/1/10. on 4/3/10 a customer service manager called to tell me that they need to remove the transmission in order to diagnose problem further. the car has less than 59,000 miles on it and i had purchased it used in 2007 with approximately 23,000 miles on it. i have searched the internet for similar complaints and have come to the conclusion that it is a possible transmission failure which could cost me approximately $2500.00 to fix. i bought the car for $8,900.00! i've owned a 1989 mazda 323 and a 1998 toyota corolla which each had over 110,000 miles on them and i never encountered a transmission problem. *tr

I had just pulled out of the parking lot of my local ymca and was driving on a suburban road when all of the sudden my rpms went up and my speed went down. i was able to bring the car to a stop but loss all control of the ability to accelerate my vehicle. i brought the vehicle to a stop and called for a tow truck. the result was that the transmission had broken down. the approximate mileage on my car at the time is 70,900 miles. this complaint has been documented over 58 times on the web at: http://www.carcomplaints.com/ford/taurus/2003/transmission/transmission_failed.shtml

Front coil spring snapped and punctured the passenger tire. *tr

We were at a school event and at the end of the day got in our 2003 ford taurus and put in gear to leave the parking lot heard a loud bang. got out and noticed front right tire was completely flat. got the jack and spare tire out of trunk, lifted car, loosened lugs and tried to pull off tire - wouldn't come off. reached behind tire and fount the suspension spring was sticking in the back of the tire. reached in further and pulled out a section of the spring that was completely broken off and tossed it on the ground. put tire back on and had a flat bed truck come to tow to their repair shop. i am not looking forward to getting this repair bill. *tr

Tl * the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving at speeds of 30 mph, the vehicle made an unusually loud noise. the weather was not a factor. upon further investigation, the contact found the front coil spring had fractured and punctured the tire. the stabilizer bar was also fractured. the vin was not available. the failure and current mileages were 66,000.

2003 ford taurus - started car morning of 2 18 10 heard a loud noise car sagged to the left got out of car and saw that left front tire was completely flat there was a blow out and there was a big piece of coil spring that was broken lying next to it on the garage floor. the mileage on the car was 89,700 miles. car was towed to dealer. mechanic put in whole new suspension system on the left and right side front. the cost was $856.00. i would like to see a recall for the 2003 ford taurus to replace all 4 springs front and rear. i would also like to have my $856.00 refunded to me since i understand this same type of occurrence has occurred to hundreds of 2003 ford taurus owners. my vehicle identification # is [xxx] . information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

2003 ford taurus front suspension coil fracture, resulting in a adjacent tire rapidly losing air. *tr

I have a 2003 ford taurus and every time it's setting out in a moderate to heavy rain the right front floorboard gets saturated with water. i've had to replace the blower resistor twice and the blower motor once and the motor in it now is going out. why isn't ford being held responsible for the repairs and costs affiliated with this manufacturing defect and the costs incurred on those of us unfortunate enough to have purchased one of them? due to this issue i nearly had an accident on 03/08/10 when my windshield fogged during a rainstorm and i lost almost all visibility. if i hadn't known the area very well plus 25 years of law enforcement driving i very well could have been seriously injured or killed. nhtsa needs to act on this asap before someone is killed. my name is [xxx] and i can be contacted at [xxx], in mesa, arizona. my car is usually under cover and it flooded with water also in feb. 2009 &feb. 2010, when it was standing out in the rain, not being operated but just out in the rain. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

My wife and i got in the car to go home, i started the car and went to leave when we heard a loud bang and car dropped several inches. the right front spring had broken and one of the pieces punctured the tire causing it to deflate immediately. we would have been on the highway in a matter of minutes, had it happened then it could have been catastrophic. i spoke with the dealer and also contacted the manufacturer via e-mail and both basically said sorry for your luck. i know this is a common problem on these vehicles and i actually know someone personally that had the same thing occur with his 2002 ford taurus. i am in the process of having repaired now, i am replacing both front springs as a safety precaution and will try to keep the broken spring but there may be a core deposit involved. this defect in my opinion is potentially very serious and widespread and should be addressed by someone. unfortunately until an entire family gets killed on the highway probably nothing will be done. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact started the ignition and the gear shifter was placed in the "reverse" position. immediately, there was a loud explosion outside of the vehicle. the driver inspected the vehicle and observed the front driver side tire was completely flattened to the rim surface and that the coil spring was broken. the failure mileage was 62,000. updated 9/13/10 *cn updated 09/15/10*jb

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was driving 45 mph when the tire became flat. the vehicle was towed to a local dealer. the dealer informed her that it was a faulty coil spring. the dealer stated that the contact was lucky and that it was very dangerous to drive the vehicle with a faulty coil spring. the dealer also stated that this could have caused suspension failure and that the coil spring damaged the tire. the contact asked has the dealer if he had seen this type of failure before and he stated that he had just not to a vehicle that was so young. the manufacturer stated that the vin was not on the recall list. the contact feels that her defects are identical to the recall. the vehicle was repaired at the owners expense. there have not been any additional failures at this time. the approximate failure mileage was 90,000 and the current mileage was 100,000.

2003 ford taurus steering wheel vibrates when applying brakes on the freeway. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the coil spring snapped while the contact was backing out of a parking space at 3 mph. the contact called the dealer and had the vehicle repaired. the contact did call the manufacturer and they informed him that he could file a complaint through nhtsa. the manufacturer then offered the contact coupons via email. the vin was not available. the failure mileage was 72000 and the current mileage was 72,025. updated 3/30/2010 updated 06/01/10.*jb

Front coil spring exploded, 2003 ford taurus. car was stopped in traffic lane. front tire rubbed on wheel well. inability to steer the vehicle. very dangerous. $900 to repair. i read of issues with 2003 and 2001 models. ford recalled 2001 models and apparently ford didn't fix this problem in time. where is the 2003 recall? *tr

With the car parked in my driveway, started the car, placed it in reverse, the front left strut coil spring broke and punctured the tire. complete strut assembly and tire need to be replaced. potentially deadly crash if it happened on a freeway. google search (2003 ford taurus front suspension complaints) reveals many have had a similar incident and there was a recall for this same issue for prior year vehicles. makes you wonder if ford ever fixed the problem before the 2003 model year, or like many other recalls the recall will be extended to cover through the 2003 model year. research shows the manufacturer's try to achieve this to minimize the cost of the repairs as fewer cars will be in service when the recall is extended. it appears the problem is currently being investigated by nhtsa: nhtsa action number : ea08018 nhtsa recall campaign number : n/a make / models : model/build years: ford / taurus 2002-2003 mercury / sable 2002-2003 manufacturer : ford motor company component : suspension:front:springs:coil springs date investigation opened : august 28, 2008 date investigation closed : open why do more people have to die before action is taken? *tr

2003 ford taurus station wagon with 25000 miles. the front coil spring snapped. it happened in the driveway. the front tire was ruined and a stabilizer arm was also ruined. my daughter and son-in-law experienced the same exact problem with a 2001 mercury sable. *tr

On february 5, 2010 my 2003 ford taurus caught fire at 1:00 p.m. parked under our car porch and there was no one in the car and no one had driven the car for 5 hours on saturday morning. the shreveport fire department was call to keep the house from burning down with the car. the city fire marshall said the fire was caused by the cruise control switch. i told him no one uses the cruise control in that car because we just go in town and there is a red light at every corner. he stated that he had been to many other fires just like this one and it was always the cruise control switch. my husband is emotionally disabled and i nearly had a nervous breakdown just the sight that our investment was burning up and there was nothing we could do. i have call the fire marshall for a written copy of his report. i have taken pictures of the vehicle and their is some minor damages and lots of smoke damage to done to the house. *tr

On my wife's 2003 ford taurus, the front spring broke and caused multiple damages to the vehicle. first of all the tire was completely blown out due to the spring breaking and secondly, a sway link was damaged to the point of repair along with another part that i need to ask the mechanic the name of. this same model car had a recall in the years of 1999 and 2001 for just this reason. the mechanic sees this constantly from this model car. the recall was for a "boot" to be applied to the vehicle in order to prevent the spring from penetrating the tire while driving. fortunately, i was driving the car out of my driveway and down the alley, therefore no accident happened. i have contacted ford directly and they say that there is no recall on my vehicle for this and referred me to you. the car has 43,473 miles on it. of course it is out of warranty but this is uncalled for. i can understand the spring breaking on an automobile, but to completely shred the tire and cause all of this is their responsibility for not addressing a concern that had occurred on an earlier model and correcting it. they need to be held responsible for the damage that has been caused to my vehicle and they should be happy that this did not cause an accident. ford motor company needs to address this issue on this car. i sincerely thank you for your time and concern. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that when pulling out the driveway at 5 mph, he heard a crunching noise. he pulled over and noticed that the noise heightened. he saw that the left front tire was completely flat. the coil spring had broken and there was a sharp edge that punctured the tire which caused it to become flat. he took the vehicle to the dealership but the dealer did not have parts for the repair. he had the vehicle repaired at a local repair shop. he called the manufacturer and was told that there was no recall and they could not assist him. the current and failure mileages were approximately 80,000.

While pulling out of a parking space in front of my home, the front left strut coil spring broke and punctured the tire. complete strut assembly and tire had to be replaced. *tr

2003 taurus 25k miles. as the car was being backed out of garage a popping sound came from the left front tire. during the removal of the flat left front tire we found that the coil spring had broken at the bottom first coil and rotated into the tire sidewall destroying the tire. looking at the broken spring it looks like the crack started at a rusted area and fractured across the coil. it appears to be the same as ford safety recall 04s17. i called ford to see if this applied to this car and they said no. in order to fix this the strut, spring, sway bar link, and tire need to be replaced. the right side spring needs to be replaced before it brakes and causes an accident. *tr

My taurus's blower motor stopped functioning in december 2009. i believe the cause is a water leak or blown a/c heater blower motor. i think the leak dumped water onto the passenger floor board also caused my ac blower motor to short out, needing a replacement. after browsing the internet to see if other ford taurus owners had the same or a similar problem, this seems to be a recurring issue with the 2003 ford taurus. *tr

Spring fracture 2003 ford taurus

Front coil spring broke causing the spring to cut a hole in the tire making the tire flat and the car to drop down making it extremely hard to handle and renders it no longer drivable and must be towed if it doesn't create a crash first. *tr

Due to a water leak problem, the ac blower motor failed (shorted out) and was unable to blow defrost air onto the windshield, causing poor visibility while driving. water soaked the passenger floorboard. there was a previous recall #03v087000. another person with the same problem has filed complaint #10184014. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 20 mph on normal road conditions there was a loud clanking noise and a strong rubber burning odor inside and outside of the vehicle. the driver pulled over to the side of the road with caution. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. the failures were contributed to a broken strut on the front driver side. the front passenger side strut was also severely damaged. the technician replaced both front struts. the failure mileage was 76,300. *cn updated 02/18/10.*jb

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving 5 mph in reverse he heard a loud noise and he found that the driver side front tire lost air. he attempted to replace the tire with the spare, but was not able to get the tire off of the vehicle since the coil spring was stuck in the tire. he took the vehicle to a local mechanic who replaced the coil spring, bearing plate, strut, and the tire. the total repair cost was $300. he contacted the dealer; however, a report was not taken for the failure. the dealer advised him that they would not assist with the repair. the vehicle was repaired. the failure mileage was 73,200 and the current mileage is 73,250. updated 02/02/10 *bf updated 02/05/10.*jb

2003 ford taurus front spring failure resulting in destruction of front tire. left front spring catastrophically failed in driveway while driver was entering car, spring punctured left front tire resulting in instant deflation. temperature at time of failure was approximately 25f. with 116,688 miles, last passed nh state safety inspection in june 2009 which included close inspection of front end due to tie rod replacement & subsequent wheel alignment. car owned and operated in the salt belt states of ri, ma and nh. carfax report in 2007 showed good maintenance history and no history of any damage to the vehicle. cost to repair was $750 including spring replacement, front stabilizer link replacement, front end alignment, and tire replacement. parts are not available, but contact info to repairing service person is available upon request. *tr

My blower in my 2003 ford taurus has been intermittently failing for a month or so. on friday jan. 8 it quit and will not go. the heat is fine and trickles out, but the blower will not come on at all. it was fine at 8:30pm when i picked a friend up at the airport, but was dead at 10:30pm when i picked up my granddaughter at a friends house. it appears that there has been water in the housing that has shorted out the motor. i understand that ford knows this is a problem with these cars but is reluctant to do a recall to fix it. *tr

I sat in the driver's seat of my 2003 ford taurus and the driver's side front spring sheared and slashed my tire. i had to tow the car and replace both front struts, springs and the ruined tire. i saw this was common in 2001-2003 tauruses in northern states but a recall has only been issued on the 2001 models. i could have been killed if this happened while i was driving. *tr

I heard a rubbing noise in the rear of the car thinking it was my brakes, when checking the brakes which was not the problem. i discovered that the noise was coming from the left rear coil spring which broke. thanks goodness that i seen this problem and the spring did not puncture the tire it is about a 1/4 of an inch from puncturing the tire. the car has a 78,000 miles on it 2003 ford taurus. *tr

Mid december i noticed my alignment was turning towards the right, about a week maybe less, later i noticed my car was starting to wobble. i took it to firestone and they said my ball joints were seriously worn and because of the wobble the inside of my tires were worn out. ball joints and tires now need replaced. *tr

As i began to drive my 2003 ford taurus, i heard and felt a loud noise in the front end. the front end of the car dropped suddenly. i put the car in park, turned on the hazard lights, and got out to inspect it. i found the passenger-side front tire not only flat, but nearly dragged off the rim. it had been speared by the coil spring, which was broken and had run through the (almost new) tire like a hook. two-thirds of the tire sidewall is torn open. luckily i was not driving at any great speed when this occurred. when i inquired about any recall or tsb that may apply at my local ford dealer, the woman at the desk told me this type of failure "tends to happen", and did not seem at all concerned, or even surprised, at the problem. i was quoted roughly $400 to replace both front springs and have the car aligned. this is a vehicle that has only been back from my usual repair shop for less than 3 weeks, due to the repair of other equipment failures. *tr

Owner was pulling out of driveway (in reverse) when loud noise occurred and left front portion of car dropped down towards pavement. all tires were fully inflated prior to operating vehicle. driver exited vehicle to find tire punctured/shredded and a ring of the spring coil on the ground. vehicle was put on jacks at which time it was detected that tire had been shredded by broken spring coil with possible damage to strut. vehicle is to be towed to ford authorized service center for evaluation and replacement of tire, coil spring and possibly strut depending on damages to be detected. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus purchased in 2003. when attempting to put the vehicle in reverse he heard a loud bang coming from the front driver's side of the vehicle. the front driver's side tire became flat. her roadside assistance attempted to change the flat tire, but noticed that the front coil springs had broken and punctured the front tire through the sidewall. the vehicle was taken to the dealer and was awaiting repairs to date. there were no recalls. the failure and current mileages were under 43,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus se. while driving approximately 5 mph out of a parking space the front driver's side tire blew out. roadside assistance changed the tire which made it possible for him to drive to his residence. when the contact was replacing the spare with a new tire, he noticed that the front left coil spring was fractured. the coil spring also punctured the spare tire and caused tread wear. there were no recalls for his year, make and model vehicle. the failure and current mileages were under 51,348.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 15 mph on a road surface covered with gravel ice she heard a noise outside of the vehicle. next, the front end of the vehicle began to shimmy. she pulled to the side of the road, and noticed that the front driver side tire was deflated. she exchanged the tire with a spare tire. the vehicle was taken to an independent and the coil spring was in the process of being replaced. the failure and current mileages were 153,000 updated 2/1/10 *cn the front coil spring broke in half. updated 02/02/10.*jb

2003 ford taurus left front coil spring broke and severed tire. *tr

On dec 26, 2009 my wife was backing out of the driveway to head to work, and the pass front tire blew out due to the coil spring rupturing. the car has about 80,000 miles on it. researching this, there are thousands of cases where this has occurred, a small sampling can be found here: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/ford_springs.html it is a widely documented issue, with no recall action by ford motor company. i am currently deployed, serving our country... why has there been no action to force ford to fix this issue before somebody gets seriously hurt or killed? the property damaged by this failure was my car, which involves the spring, strut and tire (just purchased earlier this year). my wife lost a day of work because of this issue. how long does it really take for an investigation of faulty manufacturing, with the potential of ending lives, have to take with the thousands of cases that are already documented, and occurring continuously? *tr

While backing my 2003 ford taurus out of my garage, the drivers side front coil spring broke and punctured the front tire causing severe damage and destroying the tire. *tr

Front left coil spring fractured on my 2003 ford taurus, puncturing the adjacent tire. this happened in my driveway as my wife was leaving for work and the tire instantly went flat. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving she heard a clinging noise from the front end of the vehicle. upon further inspection he noticed that the coil spring on the driver-side front of the vehicle fractured, and then punctured a hole inside of the tire. a technician from the dealer stated that new springs and a tire needed to be installed. the vehicle was in the process of being repaired. the manufacturer was notified, and he was not provided with any assistance. the current and failure mileages were 83,000.

Backing up 2003 ford taurus front driver side coil snapped and punctured tire. the whole assembly for both sides had to be replaced. *tr

Was making a turn onto a street when i noticed loud noise coming from the front of the vehicle and smell of burning rubber. stopped and noticed front left tire was flat. after removal of tire, noticed that inside of tired had been ripped open as a result of the breaking of the front left spring that encompasses the shock. *tr

Rear coil spring failed on 2003 ford taurus october 2009 - both rear tires and coil springs had to be replaced due to failure.. front coil spring failed on same vehicle jan 4 2003, punctured right front tire which then blew out. *tr

1. normal driving condition. 2. front left coil spring failure resulting in a punctured tire, broken sway bar end link and possibly ruptured brake hose. 3. vehicle not drivable, towed to repair facility. will need to replace spring, strut, sway bar end link, possibly brake line. failed coil spring is available. *tr

2003 ford taurus, noise from left front, hard to steer, found left front tire flat, after swapping tire with spare found noise still present and hard to steer, towed to repair shop found left front coil spring broken, replaced both front springs, struts and ball joint had play in them. *tr

The left front coil spring on my mothers 2003 ford taurus broke as she was nearing home. it destroyed the tire. i called ford & they said there was a recall, but only for tauruses up to 2001. my mother drives on a lot of highways & i feel this could be very unsafe. a local auto shop replaced it & told her the springs break as easily on the '03's as the older tauruses. *tr

Went to back out of driveway in my 2003 ford taurus and a loud gush of air was heard and the front left tire went flat. removed tire and found front spring was broken and had punctured tire. have gotten the vehicle to repair shop and am awaiting repair estimate. *tr

Water in the blower case or on the passenger side floor, and the blower motor only works on high speed. contacted dealer and was told that it was a service bulletin. asked if it was covered under recall number 03v087000 and was told no. *tr

Taurus with a water leak or blown a/c heater blower motor. the blower on my 2003 ford taurus quit working all together. i have water draining onto the passenger side floor in rain storms. the blower would only work on high speed before it stop working completely. refer to ford recall number: 03v087000. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the dealer replaced the fan motor resistor four times. after the fourth repair, the dealer realized that water was leaking into the fan motor which caused the resistor to fail. the dealer also replaced the fan motor and the windshield for $500. he notified the manufacturer; however, they will not admit that the part was defected and they didn't offer to assist with the repair cost. the vin was not available. the failure and the current mileages were 26,000.

[regarding taurus/sable for water leak and ac blower defect; silent recall; tsb 03-15-6; related recall existing under 03v087000, & possibly also compliance recall 03c03] - also see complaint #10184014 certified car, 2003 ford taurus ses, 47,000 miles have recently (11/7/09) gotten water on passenger floor, & now see that this is a common problem & design defect. now my blower mower has started an unusual sound as well, & this is obviously related. i was told that this sound is water sloshing around & will rust my blower motor, making that yet another repair. have been told that ford will not pay for repair - but have found many instances online where ford did indeed pay 80% of this exact same repair. this is a defect & there are hundreds of complaints about the taurus water problem all over online, yet ford chooses to ignore. *tr

Driving @ approx 30mph and heard loud pop...immediately pulled over to discover front end driver side lower than rest of car. ended up front spring cracked. both front springs/strut assemblies replaced. *tr

My 2003 ford taurus se has been cutting out while i am driving. all power goes out and the lights flash on the dash like a christmas tree. this problem has been occurring for about 9 months now and i have had it to the dealership 3 times only to have them tell me that there is nothing wrong with the car. everything locks up on the car, including the steering column and the brakes, and i am unable to do anything. after 3-8 seconds it will start itself back up again and i regain full control of the car. i have no idea why, but when i was trying to figure it out, i came across this website of people who have experienced the same thing and gotten no answers: http://www.ford-forums.com/ford-taurus/10048-taurus-shuts-off-starts-itself-while-driving.html if you can help me, please do! it's just not safe for my 1-year-old and i to be driving around unsure of when the car will do this again!! it's a horrible accident waiting to happen!*tr

Front coil spring broke causing blow-out. car repaired at heritage ford burlington vt. s/o 454663 at a cost to me of $660.27.the part is the exact part that was recalled before. the exact part was again put on. *tr

2003 ford taurus, blower motor failing and leaking water onto the floorboard. from the looks of it i am not the only one with this problem. i think there should be a recall from ford to take care of this problem. *tr

2003 ford taurus has had 3 coil spring failures in the last 2 months, resulting in 2 tire punctures. no accidents, no injuries. this vehicle is driven daily by a 71 year old man. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the rear brake lights remain on even after the vehicle was turned off. the vehicle was taken to the dealership and a technician concluded that the entire rear braking electrical system needed to be replaced. no repairs were made. the current and failure mileages were 72000.

2 transmission in my 2003 ford taurus. the first transmission went out in 2005 at 68,000 mile and the second transmission went out at 121,000 miles. had to pay to have fixed and when i contacted ford they said they are sorry but there is nothing they can help me with. is it traditional for a transmission to go out every 60,000 + miles? i was driving down the highway at 70 miles a hour when the second transmission went and the car revved up and wouldn't go no where and almost go rearended because there was construction on highway and no where's to pull over. i also had my grandson and daughter in the car and we all were scared that we where going to get hit. *tr

The transmission quit working while i was driving down the road at 55mph with kids in the car. i have searched this and have found many people having this problem. *tr

Have driven a 2003 ford taurus - new never wrecked. had a car wreck - head on collision and air bag did not deploy. the passenger side did deploy but had no passenger. car was totaled but kept pictures of this. never received any recall notice so i don't think that was the problem. *tr

Coil spring snapped off went through tire and popped tire - fortunately happened in driveway backing out - if this happened on the road someone could have been killed. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while the contact was examining his vehicle he noticed that the floor of the vehicle was covered with water. the vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where the contact was informed that the ac blower motor needed to be replaced. the contact noticed that the blower motor would only operate if it were on high. the current and failure mileages were 82351.

I was driving on the freeway when the car started to overheat. i exited the freeway, when i came to a complete stop the oil light came on. i drove the car slowly and i started to smell burning oil and the engine started to make a knocking sound when i accelerated. i stopped the car and oil smoke was coming out of the hood. *tr

Driving the car for about 10 minutes when the ac shut off and the overheated and suddenly the engine died in the middle of the street. every time i tried to start it, it made a knocking sound. the car was towed to a ford dealership. they could not find out why it overheated. *tr

2003 ford taurus- broken left front spring. turning around in my driveway, the left front spring broke, puncturing the tire, and causing the car to collapse nearly to the ground. my car has about 78,000 miles of normal road driving. the ford dealer said that there was a recall for this but it ended with 2001 vehicles. my research indicates that the problem did not end with the 2001 vehicles and certainly was not corrected through at least 2003, perhaps longer. the repair expense should be on ford. it is obviously a defective design and not my fault or because of wear. more importantly, what if i had been doing 55 mph or 65 mph. this could have resulted in a very serious accident, perhaps even death. when will the other side break? research indicates that it may very well happen again. i'm very, very concerned and constantly worried when i drive. *tr

2003 ford taurus lx -without any warning the automatic transmission ceased to function. this car had 40,500 miles on it. i stepped on the gas and the car felt like it was in neutral. i have since found that this is a common problem with this car and that some people were traveling at 70 mph on a busy highway when this occured. this could have been a deadly accident on a busy highway or anywhere in heavy traffic. my mechanic told me that the torque converter splines were totally worn out. this at just over 40,000 miles! my car is in for oil change and safety check every 3,000 miles and this is something that cannot be detected. however, ford motor company, from what i understand, is aware of this problem and there has been no recall or publicity regarding this. this was a $1300 fix. *tr

I had my 2003 ford taurus inspected by a local garage on friday, july 31st. 2009 in ambler, pa. i was informed that i needed to have my sway bars replaced to pass inspection. the work was performed and my car passed its state inspection. on wednesday august 5th, 2009 as my wife backed out of our driveway with my 1-year old and 2-year old daughters in the car, the front, driverside tire suddenly, and without warning failed. thinking it was just a flat, i prepared to put the spare tire on the car. upon removing the lugnuts, i realized the problem was much more serious. the coil spring had snapped and punctured the tire, rendering it useless. (the tires were brand new, i had just purchased them in order to pass my state inspection.) i was forced to have my car towed back to the garage that performed the inspection. this was the first time this happened. my local repair shop fixed the problem, but i was forced to pay out of pocket. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. water was leaking from the air conditioner vent on the right front passenger side of the vehicle. the floor was also wet each time it rained. the vehicle was purchased three days ago. the vehicle will be diagnosed by the dealer. the failure mileage was 43,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the plastic covers for the headlights were turning yellow. when he cleans them, they return to yellow within six days. the failure causes poor visibility while driving at night. the dealer and manufacturer were not notified. the failure mileage was 92,180.

In my 2003 ford taurus sel (24v dohc 3.0l) i experienced a failure of the driver side coil spring on the front assembly. at the time the vehicle was not in motion. i still have the old spring (it has been cut into several pieces to facilitate removing it from the vehicle). in addition to the coil spring destroyed was a goodyear eagle gt p215/60r16 95v. this tire has been replace by my tire dealer at no cost to me. *tr

Left front coil spring failure. making left hand turn when coil spring broke causing momentary loss of steering control. replaced both front coil springs. front left coil spring is available for inspection / research. *tr

My 2003 ford taurus ses was parked in my driveway, when i noticed my front driver side tire had gone flat. behind the tire, i noticed the coil spring was broken and the broken end of it was fully gouged into the side of my tire. with the coil broken, the vehicle was not drivable and i had to have it towed to a repair shop, and will have to get both coils replaced (can't replace just one) as well as the plastic arms/ struts, and the tire (approx $700 repair). the tire was almost new and the car is in good condition with less than 120,000 miles and a clean history, with regular, scheduled maintenance. *tr

I was stopped at a red light. when the light turned green i began to proceed into the intersection (approx. 5 mph) when i heard a loud explosion. luckily because i had just begun to accelerate (thankfully i wasn't on the highway), i was able to somewhat maneuver the vehicle into a parking lot. the front passenger side tire was completely flat from being sliced open by a broken coil spring. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving 65 mph in rainy conditions, there was excessive condensation on the windows. the air conditioner was activated, but then suddenly failed without warning. the windshield was unable to defrost, which resulted in reduced visibility. the driver pulled over to the side of the road and cleared off the windows. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and they stated that the blower motor possibly failed due to water leakage as rust was present. the vehicle was repaired. the failure was mileage 127,600 and current mileage was 127,800. updated 08/21/09. *lj updated 08/26/09. *jb

Was moving car into garage and coil spring snapped and punctured tire on drivers side front. *tr

A/c heater blower motor shortout. *tr

A water leak from the firewall was discovered when the carpet became soaked after driving in a rain storm. the problem has existed for some time because there is mold under the carpet. *tr

My 2003 ford taurus had been parked in my driveway when i heard a very loud bang and then air leaking. i discovered that the left front spring had broken causing damage to the spring, stabilizer link, strut and tire. we had to replace both springs, both stabilizer links, both struts and the left front tire. *tr

The transmission failed completely, without warning while driving. all gear settings, with the exception of park, responded in the same manner as neutral. there was no warning of any type. the transmission simply failed. all recommended services have been performed on or ahead of schedule for this vehicle. a cursory search of internet auto message boards revealed at least several hundred failures of the same type in 2003 ford taurus automobiles. *tr

June 12, 2009 drive time 7300 e. hampton ave. mesa, az 85209 to whom this may concern: my name is andrea m. love. may 14, 2009 was the happiest day of my life because i purchased my first new car, a 2003 ford taurus ses from drive time at 11247 e. colonial drive, orlando, fl 32817. the color is a beautiful dark cherry red, the interior and exterior looks magnificent; it¿s roomy for my family and best of all it¿s my first new car. i¿ve seen the many advertisements on television and thought to myself everyone can¿t get approved like they say. i went online and filled out the application and to my surprise the next day i received an email and a telephone call that i was approved and needed to come into the office to speak with a sales person. i called my entire family and all my friends and told them the great news i had just received because a week prior i had a very traumatic experience. on may 19, 2009 it rained from sun up to sun down and it was forecasted to rain the rest of the week, so my children asked me to drive them to school the next day. when my daughter opened the passenger side door to get in, she stepped into a three inch puddle of water. at the same time the battery light was flashing on and off. on wednesday the 20th i called the drive time service center to make an appointment to have the leak looked at and repaired. the next day i took off work to take my car in to aamco transmissions and was told they could not find where the leak was coming from and that the alternator was bad, but the battery was okay. they replaced the alternator and said i needed to call the service center back to find another repair center to have the water leak checked out. i had to go another day cleaning water out of the car and buying air fresheners to rid the car of a nasty mildew smell. thursday, may 21st i called the service center again and told them what repairs i had received. *tr

In regards to complaint # ea08018, i experienced the same problem with my 2003 ford taurus. i was backing out of my driveway when the front drivers side tire blew. after removing the tire it was discovered the front suspension coil spring was the underlying issue. the fractured coil spring punctured the adjacent front tire. i am aware that this is a recurring problem with tauruses, particularly in the salt belt states-- i reside in michigan. given the holiday weekend i have not been able to get it repaired, i will be contacting my local ford dealer monday july 6th to see what he can do for me. *tr

As i was backing my 2003 ford taurus (55,000 miles) out of my driveway i heard a loud bang, i stopped the car. i found my left front tire had blown. i called aaa to change the tire that is when i found out the spring broke puncturing the tire. i was very fortunate to be in my driveway. the mechanic i took the car to was not surprised. this is very dangerous. lives could be lost . please look into this. *tr

Ac fan only blows on high. was driving home in pouring down rain, and ac blower quit working on 2nd notch. when contacting ford, they told me i didn't have a warranty and just the diagnostic test would be 70 dollars. i'm a single mom of three and from searching the internet i see i'm not the only one with this problem. as you know you need either heat or air to defrost the windshield while driving in the rain. this is very much a safety hazard, especially if ford knows about it and does nothing to correct the problem. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while backing out of the garage, the front coil spring failed and punctured the front driver's side tire. the current and failure mileages were 99,432.

While driving at highway speeds (65-70) when accelerating to pass, car bucks violently (at 70k miles on odometer). also, random rough idling since date of purchase of vehicle in july 2003. after taking car in numerous times to dealership while under warranty and they were unable to diagnose even after hooking up recorder. did my own research on line and discovered a faulty camshaft synchronizer was the problem. this is a $400 repair that ford is aware of as there is a service bulletin on it. however, the failure rate is usually after the warranty expires making it the responsibility of the consumer. i have also personally spoken with a dozen taurus owners who have experienced the same problem. lodged a complaint with ford motor company who did not respond or follow through. very disappointed as this could pose a serious safety problem for consumers not to mention catastrophic engine failure if the synchronizer fails completely. if your taurus has a rough idle that is intermittent and the diagnostic says there is no code, it is probably this problem as the service bulletin from ford indicates that the cam synchronizer does not throw a code to the computer system. also, if your car bucks or hesitates on hard acceleration or there is a high pitched chirping sound, it is the cam synchronizer. if you take it to the dealer tell them what it is so they don't charge you an additional diagnostic fee that will show no problems! it's bad enough to have to pay $400 for a part that shouldn't fail, but does after the warranty expires. ford should have issued a recall on this and other vehicles that had the same problems (know to occur in the f150 as well). *tr

Windshield of 2003 taurus exhibits leaks, wind noise, squeaks and rattles and may reduce protection in the event of a crash or accident. *tr

Heater a/c fan on my 2003 for taurus has stopped working seems ford knows there is a problem but has not issued a recall. this is a safety issue since this particular car will fog up front window unless defroster is run. problem is leaking water into fan area, funny ford has a repair kit for this problem. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while backing the vehicle out of the garage at 5 mph, the contact heard a loud sound coming from the front end of the vehicle. the noise was followed by another loud banging noise coming from the front passenger side of the vehicle. he stopped the vehicle and noticed that the front driver's side tire was completely flat. the coil spring was wrapped inside the tire. through research, he found an open investigation (ea08018 (suspension:front:springs:coil springs)). the contact lives in a state that is high in salt, but he found no corrosion underneath the vehicle. the vehicle is currently at the shop being repaired. the manufacturer would not assist because there were no recalls. the current and failure mileages were 99,000. updated 07/24/09. *lj

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 20 mph, the contact noticed that she had a flat tire and pulled the vehicle into a service station. while the tire was being replaced, the mechanic noticed that the coil spring punctured the front driver's side tire. the spring and struts were replaced at the cost of $600 on april 12, 2008. in addition, the contact was involved in a rear end crash due to a stabilizer failure. there were no injuries. on june 25, 2009, the radiator hose corroded and caused coolant to leak. a report was filed with the manufacturer and they stated that there was no recall; therefore, they would not assist. the contact was advised to call nhtsa. the failure mileage was 104,000 and current mileage was 105,424. updated 9/1/09 *cn updated 09/02/09.*jb

I own a 2003 ford taurus with defective front coil springs. on 6/22/09, the spring on the front driver's side broke while sitting in my garage and punctured the tire. according to ford, and my mechanic, these springs were recalled, but only up to the 2001 taurus. the spring showed no signs of rust or corrosion, and basically just cracked and broke. if the break had occurred while the car was being driven it would have had the potential of serious injury/death. as the springs appear to be the same as in the 2001 model, i am curious why the 2003 springs were also not recalled. i now have to pay to have both springs replaced, as well as the tire, which was nearly new. *tr

While parked in my driveway, my 2003 ford taurus snapped left front coil spring and stabbed the tire. while breaking, it also broke the strut and torsion bar. total cost was $810.00. i went to the ford dealer where i bought the car and the service manager said " water got up in there and rotted it." *tr

I own a 03 ford taurus se, and on my car, and every other taurus i have seen on the roads around here, all have the same body defect leading to rust on both rear quarter-panels. *tr

The rear spring on our 2003 ford taurus broke overnight. as we tried to drive it in the morning we heard a grinding noise coming out of the wheel well and pulled the car into the driveway. we removed the tire and discovered the spring had snapped and the jagged tip was grooving the inside sidewall of the tire. had this happened on the highway, it would surely have blown the tire. replacing both rear springs cost $590.07, and replacing the tire under a road hazard warranty cost another $86.78. the car has only 76,200 miles on it. in researching the problem on the internet we discovered this is a very common problem with front and rear springs on the ford taurus, all the way up through the 2004 models. for recent complaints, see: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/ford_springs.html does it take someone to die before something is done about this? these spring breaks often destroy the tires. my ford mechanic tells me they see these failures quite often, and admitted ford has a problem with their springs. why is nhtsa allowing this to continue? it would be a simple matter to ask all ford service departments how may of these failures they have seen. the website i gave you above should give you a sense of how bad this problem has become. *tr

I own a 2003 ford taurus that the blower is bad and apparently due to water damage through the vent area, i see where on the internet this may be a recurring issue that ford has not issued a recall on. what course of action should i take to get this resolved so i don't have to continue to buy blower motors. the car is very reliable other than this. *tr

2003 ford taurus - rear spring broke and slashed tire. vehicle was sitting still when this happened but if moving could have caused a serious accident. had to replace rear struts and springs and new tire. $582. *tr

I just discovered water in my blower motor on my 2003 ford taurus. recently my blower stopped working all together and it will not work at all now. i am currently going to replace the blower motor resistor and see if this repairs the problem. it seems several people have had this issue. *tr

Front drivers side coil spring fractured and punctured brand new tire while reversing out of a parking space, instantly deflating tire. was on a road trip out of state at the time and had it happened on any of the 65 mph highways we traveled, it would've caused a serious crash. had to have the vehicle towed 90 miles back home and am being told i will need to replace both front coil springs and struts as well as replace the brand new tire that was damaged. *tr

Blower motor in my 2003 taurus only runs on high. this has been an ongoing issue with year and model. water leaks in and burns the blower out. recently had to drive with no defroster ond ue to no blower. had the blower replaced now it only runs on high,it apparently needs a new resistor. there have been many complaints and nothing has been done about it. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving 5 mph, the contact heard a loud explosion. she inspected the vehicle and noticed that the front passenger side tire blew out. the tire was removed and she noticed that the coil spring was fractured, which punctured the tire. the contact is in the process of taking the vehicle to the dealer for repair. the manufacturer stated that no compensation would be provided because there were no recalls. the failure and current mileages were 65,000.

Right front strut/spring mount broke looks like from corrosion these models were recalled on earlier models for this same thing seems like its not on your site for the 2003's. *tr

2003 ford taurus - water leakage through the heater box caused a failure of the ventilation fan, resulting in inability to defrost/defog the windshield for safe operation of the vehicle. *tr

2003 taurus, front drivers side coil spring failed, punctured tire. 50,000 miles on vehicle. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the driver side front coil spring broke and cut the tire in half. the vehicle was towed to a mechanic who stated that there was a recall related to the coil spring. the front and rear coil springs were repaired at the owners expense. the contact was advised that you cannot repair one coil spring without repairing the other. the ford dealer stated that there was nothing they could do for him. the failure and current mileages were 70,000.

Left front coil spring broke while pulling out of parking spot, puncturing the side wall of tire( 30k mi left on tire) now have to replace both coil spring(only come in pairs, by new tire. dam lucky i wasn't on express way doing 65. my car is a 2003 ford taurus 98k mi. *tr

My 2003 ford taurus ses broke a front lh side strut coil spring when i was backing out of my garage. i only moved the car about a foot, the spring broke and punctured the tire. the tire will need to be replaced also because there is a large hole in the side wall. i have not had the car fixed yet. i am trying to decide what all i should replace including the other side spring. ford said they would not do anything and there is no recall on this car. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while the vehicle was parked, the passenger side floorboard became filled with water during a rainstorm. the manufacturer could not assist with any repairs since the vehicle was not under warranty. through online research, the contact found numerous complaints regarding the windshield and water filling up in the vehicle. the contact feels that the water entered through the windshield and is a safety hazard. the current and failure mileages were 129,500.

2003 taurus wagon - front left coil spring broke and punctured/ destroyed tire. started car in am, placed into reverse and heard noise/ air pressure whoosh and lf sank. learned coils spring had failed when removed tire to put on spare. told by both dealer service manager and tow truck operator this is a common problem. checked on-line and it does seem to be a problem addressed for 99-01 but not 02-03 yet. nhtsa investigation open. although ford argues failure such as this not life threatening, i feel if roads are slick with snow/ ice, loss of control could be very dangerous. in any event, it appears there is a history of this problem with 02 - 03 model years that sounds exactly like the 99-01's based on my search of the net. *tr

The passenger side front carpet, padding and floorboards become soaking wet every time it rains and it rains every 3 days in the chicago area. we have to wet vacuum the water out to try and keep the carpet & padding from molding and stinking up the interior. the dealer thinks that they can fix this problem, but will not guarantee any repair for this expensive problem. we and have heard of, and the dealers know of multitudes of ford taurus owners with this same problem and there does not seem to be a known cause and good fix to this problem and as wide spread of a major problem this is, especially for allergy sufferers like my wife, there should be a factory recall on this issue and ford should accept responsibility for this major design problem and fix this problem under warranty. *tr

I was driving my 2003 ford taurus at 30 mph, suddenly, there was a loud series of cracking noises,followed by a bang as the nose of the car dropped and it veered to the right. i brought the car under control, and had it towed to a repair shop. the driver's side front coil spring had shattered - pieces of it tore the cv joint boot, broke the plastic sway bar and the strut itself was damaged. the sidewall of the tire was cut, but it did not lose air pressure. the cv joint, strut, spring and sway bar needed to be replaced, and i felt it prudent to take the shop's advice and have the passenger side done also (they told me that they have seen a number of these failures) total cost was $1380. my ford dealer told me that there is not a recall for this problem on the 2003 model years (yet). he also told me that ford was not responsible because they didn't make the spring! yes, but they put it in their cars that they made! i was told by the repair shop that my rear springs need replacing as well, but i will get a second opinion on that. the car has 140,000 miles on it, but i still don't feel that these springs should break like this. *tr thanks,

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving 45 mph, the contact heard a clanking noise coming from the front passenger side of the vehicle. instantly, the tires blew out and she noticed a foot long gash in her tires. she began losing control of her vehicle while pulling over to the side of the road. the vehicle was towed to the dealer and they stated that the front coil spring failed. the dealer replaced both coil springs and installed coil spring shields.. there are recalls on the 1999-2001 vehicles, but not for her year and model vehicle. ford stated that they would not cover the repair expenses on her vehicle. the failure mileage was 148,000. updated 4/23/09 *cn the consumer was informed his vehicle was not a part of the recall. updated 04/27/09.*jb

I was driving the saturday after thanksgiving 2007, was stopped at a stop sign went to pull away and make a turn then car stopped moving. i was on a two lane road, with cars coming behind me. i started car back up and put into gear, would not move. had towed to work (subaru, lincoln, mercury of beechmont). our tech looked at on monday and told needed a transmission. ford l/m would not help with any cover of the repair. the car had 83,412 miles at that time. i had to put a used transmission in, which is bad and put another transmission in and that one is bad but drivable.... i ford knows there is a problem they should fix it before someone gets hurt or killed. i did call ford co and the rep was not pleasant and really did not want to take me information, they did and nothing was done.. *tr

Gas tank had to be replaced...gas leaking...tank full of holes.. heat shield also replaced. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the front passenger side coil spring snaps. without the retainer, the springs dropped and punctured the tires. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer stated that the vin was not included in a recall and advised the contact to call nhtsa. the failure mileage was 140,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while reversing out of the driveway at an unknown speed, the front driver's side tire flattened. the contact noticed that the springs failed and punctured the tire. he took the vehicle to a repair shop and the mechanic found that the stabilizer bars were made of plastic. both stabilizers were replaced with metal stabilizers and both springs were also replaced. the manufacturer informed him to take his receipt to the ford dealer for a reimbursement of $500. currently, the manufacturer is denying reimbursement because the repair was not performed by an authorized ford dealer. the failure mileage was 64,000 and current mileage was 66,000. updated 05/27/09 *bf updated 05/29/09.*jb

2003 ford taurus. fan blower motor (for heat and air system) failed due to cowl leak on passenger side of vehicle. known issue for ford. can create hazardous driving conditions if failure occurs during rain or cold weather. (lack of heat or ac to clear windshield). *tr

The front driver-side door does not shut correctly, never has. it leaks rain water, and is loud do to air whisping through the weak seal while driving. i investigated the situation and found this to be a common defect in this make, year and model. i would have submitted this complaint in previous years but i was not aware of this website. *tr

Ford taurus 2003 failure front coil spring fractured and punctured tire resulting in a flat tire. front suspension needs coil spring struts and wheel speed sensor and sway bars. ford refuses to help even though there is a recall nhtsa action number ' ea08018' recall # 04v-332. *tr

Went out to car in the morning, thought i had a flat tire when in fact the coil spring was broken & punctured the tire. the tow company driver had mentioned that it was a common occurrence for that type of vehicle. contacted local ford dealer who regularly works on the vehicle and said the recall did not include 2003 ford taurus. *tr

No events, the rear coil spring on my 2003 taurus 4 door sedan simply broke. i hear from the ford dealer mechanics and the tire store people that broken coil springs on a taurus and sable are as common as flat tires. *tr

About 3 months ago, my windshield wipers began turning themselves on and off for various lengths of time, while switched off. now they run almost non stop. dealer suggests multifunction switch (i changed it -didn't work), or a gem module. a search at taurus car club sites shows this to be a common problem. consumer reports identifies overall electrical problems in all taurus' to be a common issue. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that water was pouring into the passenger side window of the vehicle and leaking into the heater blower. currently, the blower only works on the high switch and shorting out the wiring switch. the dealer has not been notified, but the contact will call the dealer soon. the vin was unknown. the failure mileage was 81,699.

2003 ford taurus wagon. there are serious safety issues that need to be addressed by a recall: water leaking through the cabin air filter area into cabin compartment and seizing and overheating heating resistor and heater blower motor. my ford dealer told me there were no recalls for these problems on my car which is no longer under warranty the water leaking through the cabin air filter area into the cabin compartment in many 2001-3 taurus¿s have caused their heater blower motors to bind or seize which also burns out the blower resistor. it also eventually causes mold to form in the heater area and under the dampened carpeting. after noting a burning smell several times in my car¿s cabin after starting my heater fan, my heater defroster blower at first would not work- only to work a bit later-until it finally ceased to work completely. on at least 3 occasions when this happened my vision while driving was severely impeded due to the windshield fogging or icing up, as the dead blower could not defrost it. when i pulled the heater motor and resistor out (still wired) i discovered the cause of the burning smell. when i turned the ignition and fan switch on, the motor seized which caused the resistor to overheat to the point that literally flames were shooting out of the resistor! luckily i shut the fan off completely when i smelled the burning resistor but it is fortunate the car did not catch on fire. ford is well are of this problem and has issued a technical service bulletin # 04-15-3 to resolve it. the heater blower motor and resistor must be replaced along with the passenger side windshield cowl (which apparently warps from the sun and heat) and an additional piece of rubber molding installed on the rain hat over the cabin air filter. additionally an area near the over the cabin air filter must be silicone caulked and some foam insulation removed for proper drainage. i repeat the above are serious safety issues that need to be addressed by a recall. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while reversing out of the driveway at less than 5 mph, the vehicle suddenly stopped and the contact heard the tire flatten. she attempted to move the vehicle back into the parking space, but it would not move. after jacking the vehicle, she realized that the coil spring failed and punctured the tire. the mechanic came to the site and replaced the front passenger side coil springs, struts, and tire. the manufacturer stated that they were not responsible for the repair since her vehicle year was not included in the nhtsa campaign for the 2001 taurus (suspension:front:springs:coil springs). the contact believes that her vehicle should have been included since the failures were identical. the current and failure mileages were 80,000.

The vehicle was stationary and unoccupied in our attached garage when a loud noise was heard from within the house. we did not find the cause of the noise at that time. a short while later when attempting to drive the car out of the garage, there was a rubbing noise and it was noticed that the front end of the car was sitting lower. the finding was that the left front coil spring had fractured. the broken spring did not damage the left front tire. the vehicle was towed to the local ford dealer for repair. both front springs were replaced. fortunately, the spring did not break while someone was driving the car. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while backing out of the driveway at an unknown speed, the contact heard a loud heavy metal sound. she noticed that the right side of her vehicle was very low to the ground. the vehicle was towed to a dealer and they confirmed the coil spring failure. the vehicle is currently in the shop being repaired at the contact's expense. the failure and current mileages were 82,000. updated 04-14-09 *bf updated 04/16/09.*jb

My 2003 ford taurus was hit by a 1973 gmc truck on 3.04.09 at about 35 mph. my driver's front side of the vehicle was destroyed with all electrical components impaired. my driver's side airbag did not deploy. however, the taurus' passenger's side airbag deployed. *tr

Heater blower failed to start. *tr

Failure of the a/c, heater, defroster fan. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while backing out of the driveway, the contact heard a grinding sound coming from the rear of the vehicle. he drove to a local repair shop and the mechanic stated that the rear driver's side coil spring was cracked and puncturing the rear driver's side tire. the vehicle was not repaired and the dealer and manufacturer were not notified. the current and failure mileages were 35,896.

I currently own a 2003 ford taurus sedan. twice in the last 2 or 3 years i noticed water on the carpet on the front passenger side of the vehicle. well, over the last few weeks the blower motor started acting abnormally. finally, on february 23, 2009, i had to take the car to a local dealer to have the blower motor, a resistor bank, a piece of cowl top plastic and some weatherproof gasket replaced. i learned just prior to taking the vehicle in that there was a "tsb" about this same problem for a range of vehicles built between 2001 and 2003. the cost of these repairs was $237.00 in labor and approximately $200.00 in parts. i am annoyed and irritated that ford motor company still can't learn how to make cars, test them as long as they do, build them and then i experience this particular problem that they already knew about, six years after purchasing the vehicle brand new. it was also a potential safety hazard that the blower failed during extremely cold weather operations. i had to park the vehicle at home because there was no heat or any way to defrost the inside of the windshield. *tr

1. driving 60 mph on a dry expressway, light traffic, shortly after dark. car lightly loaded (one person, no luggage), tires properly inflated 2. left rear tire exploded, destroying a good part of the sidewall; able to pull to a safe stop and change tire. 3. tire company (goodyear) has been contacted, but no replacement has been made. *tr

I went out to take my daughter to school and noticed i had a flat tire. i tried adding air but no go, so i got the spare out and tried to change it and could not get the tire off it was stuck here the dam coil spring broke and was stuck thorough the tire i had to replace the spring and all parts attached and a brand new tire . and the tires i just purchased a few months before. ford needs to issue a recall on this right away .what if my daughter and i if the had been moving, it could have pulled us into the ditch, a tree , on-coming traffic, who knows hurting or killing us or someone else . but i guess ford doesn't care about our safety looked it up online found a place where 355 people had the same complaint .ford wants $400.00 dollars to repair . this car only has a little over 47,000 miles on it, i've had it with fords 3rd ford car 4th problem all with low miles just out side warranty range. but when my children's safety come in to play sorry chevy here i come....... *tr

I own a 2003 ford taurus with 40,000 miles on it. i have found out on the internet there is a design defect, water can get into the heater system and blows out the blower motor and resister. i am very upset about this and have read that many people that own ford's have the same problem. i should not be having any trouble with a car that has only 40,000 miles on it. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving 10 mph, the contact heard a loud banging noise and pulled the vehicle off the road. he noticed that the front coil spring punctured the front driver's side tire. the vehicle was towed to a ford dealer and will be repaired at the owner's expense. the dealer also stated that there was no open recall for that component; therefore, they will not assume responsibility for the repair. the failure and current mileages were 57,000. 4/01/09 *nj updated 04/07/09.*jb

Transmission failed at 52774 miles. had it serviced twice in this short of milage. had transmission repaired at a cost of 1,897.69. *tr

I have a 2003 ford taurus. was leaving my parking lot the other day when suddenly i heard a loud clunk and felt the car lower in the front driver's side. luckily, i was only about a block from home so i immediately turned around and parked it. upon inspection, i noticed the spring had completely snapped off the strut and took off a good chunk of my tire. i'm going to attempt to change it but should i take pictures just in case? i've had springs crack before on other cars but never anything like this. last time i purchase a ford. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while backing out of the driveway at an unknown speed, the contact heard an extremely loud noise coming from outside of the vehicle. she stopped the vehicle and noticed that the front driver's side tire exploded without warning. roadside assistance was called to the scene. in addition, the tire exhibited uneven wear. the front suspension and coil spring were damaged, which could have possibly caused the failure. the vehicle has not been repaired. the failure and current mileages were 129,959.

The left front spring broke on my 2003 ford taurus while sitting in the garage. when my wife started to back out the tire blew because the spring was rubbing it. *tr

Once in april 2008 and again in february 2009, i have had to change the heater blower/motor in my 2003 ford taurus. both times, i had a puddle of water form on the floor on the passenger side of my car before the motor went out. both times the blower/motor was replaced with a used part. *tr

Started to leave work. when i put my car in drive there was a loud bag from the front drivers side. pulled tire off and found broken front coil spring. *tr

Rain water leaks onto the passenger side floorboard. this shorted out the heater/ac blower motor. parts have not been replaced yet. other complaints have been filed re:10184014. there is also a recall to replace the windshield which is the source of the leakage (03v087000). *tr

1. purchased car in april 2003; 2. noticed water leaking into passenger side (on floorboard) of car during heavy rains after purchase. problem occurs only during heavy rain and has caused a bad smell inside car. the fire retardant insulation is saturated and is cause of odor. 3. received recall in june 2006 regarding stop lamp switch assembly and air filter. not certain if recall related to leaking water problem, however problem continued after dealership performed recall repairs. 2. *tr

I found water in the passenger side of the floor board after a rain storm in the summer of 2005. this began happening after most heavy rains. after several occurrences the blower motor of the heat / ac would only work on high. after taking it to a mechanic the blower resistor was changed. i have had this completed twice now. i have also had to have the blower motor replaced once (they found evidence of water in the motor). there is also a musty smell when i run the heater so i assume there is some mold growing in there now. this problem has been occurring for several years. the ford dealer said it would cost about $300 to fix. through my internet search this appears to be a leaky cowl problem on taurus's and not unique to my car. *tr

Passenger floor board leak in my 2003 ford taurus. took car in last quarter of 2008. could not find cause of leak. was told there was mold under the carpet. lovely. blower motor not working on 1/17/09. took it in and was told i needed a new one. had it installed and heat/exhaust is not working at full capacity the very next day. it sounds like it is going to short out again. *tr

Upon attempt to back out of garage, front driver's side spring broke and punctured brand new tire beyond repair. coil spring and tire need to be replaced. *tr

Right front coil spring failure while car was parked. shredded tire upon movement. *tr

2003 ford taurus wagon driverside fornt coil spring snapped and punchured tire luckly it was in my garage overnight, i hoeard a boom and checked tire was flat, took tire of and there was the broken coil. lucky i wasnt on the road going highway speeds. im leery of getting another taurus, after having 3 of them. *tr

My car began making a high-pitched squeal. i took my vehicle to a local ford dealer. upon hearing the noise the tech knew that it was the result of a bad camshaft position sensor, camshaft synchronizer. he stated that it is a common occurrence with fords. the camshaft position sensor would function intermittently resulting in an engine stall without warning. sometimes i was unable to restart the vehicle for quite some time. the engine has stalled when backing out of the driveway, when proceeding to make turns in traffic, and other not so ideal locations. thankfully oncoming traffic stopped their vehicles before impacting my own. *tr

While backing out of my parking spot i noticed that my right front tire didn't seem right. it appeared to be a simple flat but after it was removed and inspected by the mechanics they noticed that the front right suspension coil spring fractured. the broken coil spring punctured the adjacent tire and sliced it nearly completely off. the fractured spring also cut the wiring of the abs rendering it inoperative. the coil spring was fractured in 2 places. the mechanics mentioned that it was lucky that i had as much left on as i did or it would have been a serious accident had it gone out while i was on the road. 43,000 miles on the car. *tr