We bought our 2003 Taurus in March 2009. We had relatively no issues with it until about November 2010. While driving the car it just stopped responding. After checking it out we realized that the transmission had gone out. We spent $1000 to get a new transmission and were happy with the results...until. A few days ago my husband was on his way to work and it HAPPENED AGAIN!!!! The car will start but when you try to put it in gear nothing happens. I am at my wits end with this car. My husband searched online for similar problems and it seems that this happens to most owners of Taurus'. One interesting thing that he found was that the same year Windstar has the same transmission and problem. The only difference-- Ford recalled that transmission!! I don't know what we're going to do. We really can't afford to put in two transmissions in less than 6 months.

I was riding on I-95 and all of a sudden my car wouldn't accelerate. I was going about 60mph at that point so the car had enough momentum to make it to the next exit. When i got off at the exit, I pulled into a safe place and put the car in reverse, it didn't move. In drive, it didn't move. After being diagnosed the transmission guy told me that it was definitely a transmission problem and it probably need to be rebuilt. I'm awaiting the final diagnostic.

I don't know what to say, I am totally upset. Since I was small, I wanted an all American car. I really wanted a Ford. My second car was a Ford Contour in which I had to have the transmission rebuilt for ($2800). Now my Taurus may need a rebuilt transmission. Really,,,,,Really.....I think my Ford dreams are over.

i was about to leave to go to school one morning so i stepped into the car, placed the key in the slot, turned on the car shifted it into reverse and pressed the gas when suddenly..."what?" i press the gas again and the car did nothing but rev. none of the gears worked. all the car did was sit there. like some of the other people, i researched about transmission problems in a Taurus and as it turns out, its a very common problem amongst these cars! i don't mean to get sentimental, but my father passed away not too long ago so now its only my mother and i. can you imagine how hard this impacted my mother's economy!? she has to pay the bills, the rent, and NOW THIS!? I THOUGHT WE COULD RELY ON THIS CAR! i wish i could help my mother with the expenses but i cant get a job due to the rigorous school schedule that i have. FORD SHOULD RECALL THESE CARS JUST LIKE THEY DID TO THE 1998-2003 FORD WINDSTAR, AND FIX THE PROBLEM!

I bought my 03 ford taurus new no miles.I now have 75,000 miles on it.Guess what the transmission failed while my wife and 4 year old son were on the way from dadeville to auburn .This was terrible,stuck and miles from help.Now I am walking to work because I had to leave my truck for my wife and son. I never expected this would happen so soon ,at 75,000 come on!!!Over the last 6 years i have bought 3 ford products,never again.What I have learned is that this a common and well known problem.Ford should do something to help loyal customers,yea wright, it will be my fault, it had to be something I done.That is how it will be. It sucks I don't have the money to have it fixed.will have to save for at least a year.

Yesterday, as I was behind other vehicles at a stop sign, the car just stopped moving in gear. I had to wave other cars around me. When I turned it off and then restarted, it did the same thing. No warning__nothing ! Had to get it towed home (thank God for AAA). I went online and googled "car won't move in gear", and here I am. I believe if this has been a recurring problem with this Ford make, that it should be addressed by FORD MOTOR COMPANY. I have no doubt that it is a well known problem because when I called the transmission repair people, they said it is a common problem and that they can fix it but cannot guarantee that it won"t happen again.If I had know this before I bought it, I would have had a lot of second thoughts.

I thought I bought a reliable used American made car for my daughter to get to school & work in, she drove it for about 11 months with no problems then all of a sudden one morning it wouldn't engage into gear (forward or reverse). I thought maybe it was the linkage from the shifting lever but discovered no problem. I then searched for a solution online and ran into this website. After looking up this car i said HOLY SH*T! this car has a serious problem that should've been recalled by Ford. I just sold it on Craigslist & said goodbye to Ford forever!

sooo just like the many other complaints, my 2003 Ford Taurus as well decided to suddenly stop. Thankfully, I was turning into a parking lot when all of a sudden I go to accelerate, the engine does nothing but rev. I turned the car off then back on again only to find this fixed nothing. The only two gears that worked were Park and Neutral. The horrifying part is I just purchased the car exactly two weeks prior, with a mere 79,000 miles and a 3-day warranty. I had the car towed immediately back to the dealership, to which I demanded something be done about their lack of upkeep for the vehicles they sale each and every day. To my surprise, they offered to pay half of the $800 repair costs. Again, I was thankfully turning into a parking lot, and not on the highway filled with early morning commuters, as I would have been only 10 minutes later. After reading these complaints, there is definitely something Ford needs to do about this life-threatening situation.

All of a sudden the transmission starts behaving badly.. will not shift. Took to the Ford dealer in Charlottesville. They charged $69 to tell me that it is a common problem in Ford Taurus, funny they did not tell me that when I bought the car from them. On top of that, they could not commit to a total cost of repair until they open up transmission. The repair cost can be between $1,600 to $2,700. I was leaning towards buying 2011 Ford Fusion and with this Taurus incident, Fusion is out of questions and most likely all Fords are out of the question. They certainly know how NOT build and earn long term customers loyalty.

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.

Please, anyone else with this problem, please submit your complaints to safercar.gov. While this website is really awesome and I'm so glad for others who have posted here, we need to band together in order to get Ford's attention. And after talking to their customer service rep, the only way they will make a move to correct this in any way is if the government forces their hand. We have a collective power and the ability to make our voices heard. Please, take the 20 or so minutes to go through this process.

Some of our stories of survival are awesome, miraculous even.. but how much longer will that last. This "faulty converter issue" we all seem to be experiencing could cause a great deal of pain, suffering or loss if not addressed.

Another Taurus Transmission bites the dust. The service rep at Ford told me the splines on the torque converter were completely stripped. I thought that was the reason for having splines on a shaft so it wouldn't strip under heavy torque. It just cost 1500.00 dollars to fix. This is the second Ford I've owned that suffered a premature catastrophic failure of an engine component. The last one was the head gasket fiasco on the V-6 motor at 58,000 miles on my 1992 T-bird. This will probably be my last Ford purchase, that's what I call a "BETTER IDEA"

This car is my sister's she bought it new in 2003. 46K on it, meticulously cared for and garaged. She went to go to the store and it wouldn't move in any gear,no warning at all, just like it was in neutral. I checked the trans fluid and it was way over full. Called two mechanic friends and they both said that the torc converter was wiped out. the cost is about 1100 to 1400 to repair. This is unacceptable.... I have a 02 taurus ses with 130k and never had a problem with the transmission, I hope I didnt jinx myself...

Today my wife called and told me that her car just stopped going, that the engine would rev up but the car would fail to move. I thought surely its not the trans it's been babied and only has 66,000 miles on it. So after getting towed to the shop they tell me that its a total rebuild for almost 3000.00 dollars. How could this be ? it didn't make a hint of a problem and now its finished? What the Hell Ford? do you think you have a problem? I really hope that it don't take a Toyota problem on your hands before you wake up and admit there's a problem. I'm pissed after reading all the post that are identical. I want in on a class action on Ford. mahkvn@yahoo.com

my son-in-law and I were going home to pa for thanksgiving and i was driving my car on I-70 going north and at exit 91 in the state of indiana , just got out of down town indinanopolis , going 55 mph ,went to giving a little more gas because of all the traffic behind me my car just died and wouldn't move any more. I didn't know what to do there was cars coming from everywhere.I don't know how i did it but i manage to slide my car over into the medium on exit 91. my son-in-law could have been killed i don't know how we were not. i spent 14 hrs in pep boys parking lot waited, for my daughter to come and get us and take us the rest of the way to pa. a tow truck towed us to pep boys where they couldn't help us and it being thanksgiving the next day couldn't get any help.,until that friday. My husband came from pa and on thanksgiving and tow my car to pa, where it still sits as i speak at a garage.I had no warning at all it just die and i almost did too. It was the thanksgiving from hell. i still had 3 years to pay for it i call the place where i got my loan and told them they could have their car and where to get it. i loved my car.

Update from Apr 19, 2013: i never got the car fixed didn't have the money to do it . my husband bought a van so i could get back to ok so i could get to work and it was i ford also . i drove it for awhile and then traded it in and i now own a kia optima 2004. it is a great car. the loan company is still wanting me to pay for the car and still harass us about it. i told them where the car was and i don't know if they went and got it or not. that thanksgiving was the last time i ever saw my mom in good health. she died on april 3, 2012. i took my kia up to pa when she died.

The car was running like a top, that is before the transmission totally failed without warning. I was driving down a busy road the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, with a trunk load of perishables and the transmission totally went out. I had been fearing this because of other reports that I keep up with and sure enough, my worse fears were realized. Fortunately, I was off work that day and out earlier in the afternoon so the traffic was very light on that busy road. I am happy that I was not driving home from work as this particular part of central Florida is very busy. Car was towed to a transmission shop and the repair was estimated to cost between $1850 and $2850. Since I had gotten good service out of the car, I decided not to put that much money into it and replaced the vehicle. Everything else was in good shape as I took good care of the car - regular oil changes and other recommended maintenance. My problem is with Ford and their knowledge of the shoddy transmissions that they put into the cars for that year. Judging by the complaints I've read, this problem is pretty common for the 2003 models, and I am sure Ford is well aware of it. This failure could have caused a terrible traffic accident with possible loss of life.