10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
42,131 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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problem #14

Apr 042012

Taurus

  • miles
At 6:30 a.M. on 4/4/2012 I was driving home from work when I fell asleep, crossed the center line, hit a semi head on & my driver side airbag didn't deploy. The 2002 Ford Taurus was a vehicle I purchased new. The passenger side with no one in that seat did deploy.

- Preston, IA, USA

problem #13

May 242010

Taurus 6-cyl

  • 117,000 miles
Own a 2002 Ford Taurus. Car parked in parking garage while at work. After work went to car, started it, put into reverse, moved not even three inches, sound like gunshot, front spring blew through front tire on driver side. My son said I had guardian angel...would have been killed if car had actually made it to the road. I have only had car three years. Towed to repair shop, mechanic said looks just like recall situation on 2001 Taurus, same spring incident..mine naturally not covered, but this is wrong. I was not aware of recalls on 2001 vehicles. I have no money, this repair will set me back quite a bit. I am thankful that nobody was hurt by flying parts!

- Columbus Grove, OH, USA

problem #12

Mar 262010

Taurus

  • 99,700 miles
I have a 2002 Ford Taurus sel. Yesterday my cruise control cable got stuck in the open position while driving on interstate 45 in houston during the early evening. Braking helped slow the car down, but it would accelarate back up again as soon as the brake was released. My son was able to get off the highway safely, but only by putting the car in neutral with it still revving up past 5000 RPM. He turned off the car when on the service road and it came to a safe stop. When the car was started up again, it would rev back up. My oldest son and I met up with him, and when we opened the hood of the car, the cruise control cable was stuck in the open position. There is a small nick and crack in the outside housing of the cable that it got hung up on. My son disabled the cruise control so that we could drive the vehicle home. I have a picture of the housing and have put a call in to my dealer, champion Ford in houston, this morning. I am waiting for the service department there to call me back now.

- Friendswood, TX, USA

problem #11

May 282009

Taurus

  • miles
Problems with noise front passenger side shuddering sound while driving comes and goes. Problem with car running rough engine power decreased, seam like fuel is poor, some malfunction causing problems in traffic. This malfunction always happens on start up and during regular operating during driving. We have to keep letting off the gas and giving gas to try make it run right a hope to have a smooth ride. The popping noise from the front end always happen daily during driving with normal speeds. The front rotors has been changed three times since I owned this vehicle, continuing to have problem with the front end. Brake pads always have been changed during these problems.

- Sanford, NC, USA

problem #10

Sep 102009

Taurus

  • 69,000 miles
Water leak into passenger side of passenger compartment, resulting in failure of multiple electrical components, including blower motor. Reference ntsb item # 10011149 / service bulletin nbr 031506.

- Gladstone, MO, USA

problem #9

Jul 132008

Taurus

  • 55,000 miles
Bought 2002 Ford Taurus sel from used car lot, had about 43,000+ miles in excellent condition. I have had this car less than a year. It presently has 68,000 miles (700 miles driven weekly), all highway driving. At about 55,000 miles ( I am guessing), I started hearing a clunk. Today I went to change the brakes and found the drivers side rear suspension low to the tire. I carry no weight in the car. I took the tire off to find the spring had snapped and coiled around the strut perch. The car has not been abused or mistreated. I find it strange that this car would snap a spring so easily in such a sort time. Luckily it didn't pop a tire while driving. I have read up on the internet to find this is a known problem for this year and make car. I have also read, that I should expect the front struts to collapse. I feel Ford should be held accountable for selling a car with known dangerous and potential problems. There should be a recall on these vehicles for a potentially dangerous and faulty suspension. I have also been forced to replace the blower motor to the cars HVAC system. The system has been working intermittently. I have read on the net that this also is a known Ford problem. I am fortunate that I am a federally licensed airplane mechanic, therefore I do my own repairs. The parts in question are not cheap, nor is my time. Ford needs to be forced to reimburse all expenditures to repair these known problems. Ford needs to recall and address these known problems.

- Newburgh, NY, USA

problem #8

Jan 032008

Taurus 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 74,000 miles
I took my 2002 Ford Taurus to the repair shop because I did not have any heat. I was told it was the heater core and they proceeded to replace it. After I picked my vehicle up, by the time I got home I had no heat again. The technicians at the repair shop said they do not know why it is not heating. Ford technicians do not know either.

- Covington, GA, USA

problem #7

Nov 032007

Taurus 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 89,000 miles
When it rains, water enters the vehicle on the passenger side near the blower motor. Rugs and mats on right side of car are saturated. All attempts at stopping water entry are futile.

- Sicklerville, NJ, USA

problem #6

Jul 212007

Taurus

  • miles
2002 Ford Taurus SE front drivers side spring snapped. This was recalled in 1999-2001 Ford Taurus's with the same problem but not the 2002. I have seen many complaints about this when I googled the problem. Please help!! couldn't find Ford on the manufacture section, so I selected Chrysler to proceed.

- Attleboro, MA, USA

problem #5

Mar 052006

Taurus 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
I have owned this car since July of 2005 (3/10/06). My brother went to use the cigarette lighter and when it was done heating up it popped completely out and fell under the passenger seat after bouncing off the center console. This happens every time the cigarette lighter is used. I see another complaint for this and I truly believe that this is a safety hazard for two reasons, 1 being that it could easily cause a fire in the car (especially if there are papers under the seat) which on top of that could cause a crash, and 2 if the driver went to find the lighter so it didn't cause a fire not only would he/she get burned while driving but it could also cause a crash which almost happened to me. And just so Ford knows, I am holding them responsible for my burned finger.

- Sagamore Hills , OH, USA

problem #4

Aug 232005

Taurus 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 9,000 miles
I have a 2002 Ford Taurus.. starting shaking while driving at 8,500 miles. Took it to Ford and they stated rotors were warped and replaced them. At approx 18,000 miles they warped again. Ford would not cover the warrant so I ended up paying to have them resurfaced. I filed a complaint with the attorney generals office and ended up getting reimbursed for the repair. I'm now at 28,000 miles and they are shot, unable to be resurfaced and must be replaced. Needless to say I'm not going to deal with Ford any longer and will replace with a higher quality after market product. I have found and exorbanent ammount of other Taurus owners online that are having the same problems. I was wondering if you could look into it and the feasability of issueing a recall. The warping is pretty common from what I can see and causes the vehicle to shake violently when attempting to stop, and is extremely bad when stopping from highway speeds

- Reading, PA, USA

problem #3

Dec 112004

Taurus 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 35,340 miles
Saturday night Dec 11, 2004, while driving on route 91 in ct, the car lost steering. The car started to veer right and when my daughter (and 2 small children) tried to steer the wheel just turned and turned with no results. She ended up next to a cement wall, with no damage to the car, after pumping the brakes. They had to crawl out of the window, because of the position of the car, when the tow truck came. A police cruiser stayed behind her until the tow truck got there. I had it towed to the Ford dealer that I bought it from. They found it was with the linkage and repaired it. I hate to say it, but I still have a strange feeling when I drive now. I guess that they found a bolt was loose, removed it, checked the threads and reinstalled it. I am so discouraged with this car compared to other Ford that I have had.

- Ludlow, MA, USA

problem #2

Oct 282004

Taurus 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 41,799 miles
Water leakage on the front passenger side. Heater failure.

- Worcester, MA, USA

problem #1

Mar 212004

Taurus

  • miles
I own a 2002 Taurus with 40000 miles and twice know I've had work done on my blower unit. The first time I lost all settings except high. The dealer stated that it was a bad resistor and replaced the resistor. Two weeks later the same problem happened. The dealer stated that there was a problem with water getting into the blower unit. He will put in a modification and replaced the blower unit. A week later we had bad rain in new england and there was an inch of water on the passenger side of the car. The car will be going in for service again for this problem.

- Attleboro, MA, USA