The front strut was damaged when the front spring broke cutting the tire. The consumer was leaving out of his driveway when the front tire blewout. The tire looked as if I were cut on the inside with a knife. The consumer was informed that the driver front spring had broken and cut the tire. The consumer was later told that the front strut had been damaged when the spring broke. The consumer requested to be compensated.

- Coraopolis, PA, USA

While backing out of driveway front struts snapped. As a result, the spring punctured the driver's side tire. Consumer replaced tire and strut.

- Swanton, OH, USA

Duplicate report. See ODI reference number 10061264 for correspondence information. Ltr fm robert babcock, sr. (NY) enclosed is a copy of his article urging a recall of the 2000 Ford Taurus after his wife's 2000 Taurus collapsed due to defective front spring coils, reply to the canadaigua office, dot/I# 2004-5061. Consumer also spoke with several other Ford Taurus vehicle owners who have experienced the same difficulty.

- Honeoye, NY, USA

Ltr fm robert babcock, sr. (NY) encl a copy of his article urging a recall of the 2000 Ford Taurus after his wife's 2000 Taurus collapsed due to defective front spring coils, reply to the canadaigua ofc, dot/I# 2004-5061.

- Honeoye, NY, USA

Front drivers side coils spring broke, puncturing tire. This happened when vehicle was parked! had it happened when driving, could have been an accident.

- Grand Rapids , MI, USA

While backing out of the driveway consumer heard a loud noise. Front coil spring broke, puncturing the tire. The consumer had to replace the springs, struts, sway bar and alignment at 29965 miles. Also replaced tires for safety sake.

- Northville, MI, USA

The car was just filled with gas and car washed the night before our planned trip. Yes a highway trip was planned! we got into the car in the morning and went to back up and we heard a noise after only moving around a foot. The car felt funning in the steering. So I got out of the car and found that the front driver side tire was flat. So I went to the garage to get the air compressor to fill the tire. When trying to fill the tire I found that it would not hold any air. After further inspection I found the tire's inside wall was slit wide open. Great! so then proceeded to remove the tire to have it replaced. The Goodyear tire was just purchased this summer and only had 13000 miles on it. That's when I found the spring around the strut had broken and cut the tire. What would of happen if we were on the highway and crashed. Would they say that the tire just blew and that's what caused the accident. How many 2000 Taurus crashes have happened and the true root cause of the spring was never identified" or has it? this is the first broken spring I have ever had on a vehical and this one only has 45,000 miles on it. I have driven vehicals over 150,000 miles without this ever happening. There has to be a design or manufacturing issue here for that to happen. The springs fracture looked clean and new! I plan to retain the parts but feel someone needs to cover the cost and time to have everything repaired. Will it happen again? should we get rid of the car" please advise. What a valentines day present!

- Niles, MI, USA

This complaint concerns a 2000 Ford Taurus.N Monday, 2/9/04, my wife, carol, was leaving a parking space at work and the front wheels spun on the ice a little. She heard a pop and got out to look. The drivers front tire was flat. Aaa came to change the tire and the mechanic had to use the tow lift to raise the car enough to get the jack under it. He replaced the tire with the spare and she drove home. When I looked at the tire, it had been cut all the way around on the inside just below where the tread meets the sidewall. On Tuesday, 2/10/04, I took the car to bj's wholesale club on route 20 in auburn, MA, to purchase a new tire, and when they removed the spare they could see that the large spring that goes around the strut had broken and had cut the tire. They said that they have seen a considerable number of these broken springs on Ford tauruses. I had the car towed to harr Ford in worcester, MA to be repaired. The service manager I spoke to there said he has not noticed a significant number of these failures. I feel that this could be a serious problem with the Ford Taurus because it caused an explosive blowout of the tire and had it occured at highway speed would likely have resulted in a serious crash. I think that this should be looked into as a possible design flaw that could require a recall of these vehicles to prevent the deaths that are bound to occure if these springs are indeed faulty.

- Millbury, MA, USA

While driving 50 mph consumer heard a loud noise. Consumer pulled over to the side to examine the vehicle. Consumer nearly lost control of the vehicle because the right (passenger) front dropped dangerously low. Consumer determined that the right tire blew out, and the coil spring broke. The broken end of the spring went in the inside of the sidewall, which damaged the tire. Also, vehicle was running on a smooth road when incident occurred.

- Streator, IL, USA

Defective coil spring. While driving 70 mph the front coil spring failed and broke causing the vehicle's tire to rub and product smoke. Both struts, cv axle, and tire had to be replaced as well as an alignment performed. The service manager agreed that this was not a normal repair for a vehicle less than 4 years old with 56,000 miles.

- Albertville, MN, USA

I am the original owner of a 2000 Taurus with 83,000 kilometers on Jan 6th when I sat in my vehicle I heard a loud noise in the left front of my car and the front end dropped onto to the tire. It was towed to the garage where they discovered the front coil spring had broken and put a slash in the tire rendering it unusable. I got my car back on Jan 9th. Several days later and about 270 additional kilometers the car was now making a strange noise on the right front side of the vehicle. I managed to drive it back to the garage carefully and upon investigation it was discovered the right front coil spring was now broken. This is a concern to me firstly because it could have caused a accident especially on the left had side by dragging us into oncoming traffic and after an investigation no one would know for sure the spring was the original cause of the accident, maybe it would be blamed on the tire. Secondly with the cost of the tire this has cost me out of pocket roughly $500 us for something that in my opinion was defective from right from the date of manufacture. Additional concerns are that not everyone will report these incidents and there are more of these vehicles out there and the metal fatigue isn't going away it will only get worse. Ra.

- Bridgewater, 00, USA

While backing out of the driveway front right coil spring broke and punctured the front passenger's side tire. This was an issue for the 1993 Ford Taurus. The consumer felt that Ford never fixed the problem original.

- Frewsburg, NY, USA

I have a 2000 Ford Taurus station wagon with 62,000 miles. I had a blow out on my front passenger tire. The coil spring had broken and rubed against the tire and caused the blow out. Fortunately it happened 5 min before I was going on to the interstate. From doing some research I have found that Ford notoriously has had problems with the coil springs on many makes. I am aslo hearing that the rear springs are a problem also from different garages. The first issue is the safety of the individuals. The other issue is this is costing me about $400 to $500. Which I can not afford being single.

- Laconia, NH, USA

Mechanical failure of substandard equipment. The driver side front coil spring on my 2000 Ford Taurus ses snapped and punctured my tire. I was in my driveway, thank goodness. Had this happened at highway speed, I am certain I would have been killed. Ford told me they could not help with repair and were not under obligation as no recall had been issued for that year, though there have been large recalls for other model years.

- Chicopee, MA, USA

My two children and I got into my 2000 Ford tauras on December 27, 2003. We were going to my daughters doctor's appointment. I started my car and put it in reverse. The car barely moved, it seemed stuck. Then we heard an explosion from the front end and the front drivers side lowered. I got out of the car and saw my driver side front tire was flat. Upon trying to change the tire it was discovered that the front coil spring had broken and was embedded in the tire, explaining the explosion we heard. The coil spring put a 4 to 6 inch gash in my tire. Thank god we were in the driveway and not going down the road!!!

- Darien Center, NY, USA

Front suspension spring on the driver's side broke in half and punctured the tire, resulting in a blowout. This occurred while reversing.

- Honeoye Falls, NY, USA

Left front coil spring broke while driving 55800 miles on vehicle. Failure caused destruction of two struts, cv axle, a tire, and possibly an ABS sensor. Driver heard a lound clunking noise while the vehicle was in motion on interstate at 70 mph. Easily could have caused the vehicle to crash.

- Albertville, MN, USA

2003 Ford Taurus the front spring broke and punctured the tire while driving. Lucky for me it was just outside my home. If this had been the highway who knows what would happen. This is a serious matter! no car 4 years old should do this. The tire was completely shredded! I see a number of these complaints starting to grow in 2003 as these cars become stressed. This is not safe for any Ford owner! please do something to warn people this could happen!

- Oxford, MA, USA

I own a 2000 Taurus wagon with 80,000 miles and in excellent condition. About 2 months ago while parked in my driveway I put the shifter in drive, I accelerated gently, but the car would not move forward. I reached down to release the emergency brake, but it was already released. I accelerated hard and within moving forward 6 inches I heard a big bang and the right front end dropped. The coil spring had broken while parked. Within 1 month the car was parked in the driveway, I put the shifter in reverse, accelerating gently, the car would not move, and again I thought I had forgotten to release the emergency brake. No such luck. I accelerated more heavily and within 6 inches of backing up, I heard a big bang and the left front dropped. The exact same thing happened to the left front as happened on the right front. The springs had broken while parked. The spear like broken end was against the tire. When I moved the car the spring pierced the tire. I still have the spring and tire from the right front. Since the left front broke I still have not moved the car.

- Mine Hill, NJ, USA

Left front coil spring broke and punctured the left front tire. The vehicle was sitting in the parking lot, when spring broke.

- Dundee, MI, USA