I previously had a 99 Ford Escort ZX2, which always had this annoying engine vibration to it. Then my brother was ready for his new car so he sold me his 2004 Ford Taurus for a great price, considering it was 4 years old and only had 14,000 miles on it! I was skeptical for another Ford, but couldn't pass this deal up. (He commutes to NYC, so he only used his car to drive to the subway station, that is why it had such low mileage for the years).

I purchased it from him in June 2008, and months later i found that if my car was in park for 3-5 minutes, it would just stall. One time i had my foot on the brake for a few minutes in a parking lot (luckily not on the road) in which it also stalled. It always started back up so i never took it in!

Mid March 2010, it began jolting while i was cruising along. Say i was going 70mph you could feel the car jolt (not a shifting jolt, but almost like the car stalled out for a split second, then resumed to normal) End of March, i got on the road and all of a sudden, in mid acceleration, the gas pedal stopped working!! I was able to get to the side of the road- turned the car off then back on- i put it in all different gears and still no movement! Had to have it towed ($120) only for the transmission guys to tell me it is the torque converter, a $350 part, yet $700 in labor since they have to take the transmission out and apart to replace it!!!! At this time my car had 37,500 miles on it!! WTF!! I was told by the transmission place that they see this problem a lot on the 04 Taurus! No one can say what they have to do with each other, but once the torque converter was replaced, the funny stalling stopped happening.

Now, December 2010, with 47,000 miles on it, the jolting in the middle of driving has started again. Also, i'm getting computer problems, the gas cap light and ABS brake light comes on and the digital screen in the middle is out. Then the fuel gauge does not register properly. After the car warms up, i restart it, and the warning lights go off, and fuel gauge slowing increases to where it properly should be. If this is another transmission problem....nine months after my last one i will be extremely pissed off! Even though the part is under warranty the labor is what will be detrimental! I didn't even want to begin a complaint w/Ford- the car was 4 years old (out of warranty) and i had a feeling they'd have a hard time believing there was that low of mileage on it.Seemed like a hassle to even begin the complaint process with them.

So, why all these torque converter problems and no recall!!?? Stupid Ford POS, Never Again, and i mean it this time. There is never a "deal" on a Ford vehicle, considering how much money i have and will have put into this car. I've learned my lesson with Ford.

I too had a very reliable 2004 Ford Taurus until all of a sudden my car coasted to a stop without any prior warning. I had it towed to a dealership and had it diagnosed for $91.50. They said the trasmission went out and it would cost $3,832.00 (new transmission, labor, & tax) to fix. I asked them why so much and they said that's the lowest price available. They said it would probably cost more with a shorted warrenty period if they tried to rebuild without knowing exactly what parts stripped out on the inside of the transmission.

So what is with Ford transissions going out without any warning? Why are there so many people having the same ford transmission issue as I? If there are so many ford transmissions failing at approximately the same then this is telling me that the Ford motor company has purposely engineered their transmissions to fail at a pre-determined time in order to force consumers to reinvest is either repair costs or even worse--the cost of a new or used vehicle.

I guess my story is the same as the rest. We own a 2004 Taurus, have since 2005. It has 118,000 miles. This morning my husband was on his way to work, car seemed to be running fine. Made a left turn, hit the gas NOTHING!!! He said it was as if someone put the car in neutral. Quotes to repair the transmission is between $2000.00 and $2500.00. I guess I am with the rest why is there no recall? If just on this sight so many have complained, you know there is more people out there, something needs to be done. Why should we as consumers have to pay for someone else's mistake? I loved my car until now, we expected this car to last us a while. Now we are weighing out options, is this fix going to even be worth it?

Traveling from Aiken, SC to Columbus, Ga. Left home got to the last exit in Thomson Ga and while on the interstate (I 20) the car started slowing. I placed my foot on the gas and nothing happened but the rpms went up but the car was not speeding up. Coasted to the side of the interstate and there you go. There was no warning at all that this was going to happen, it just did. I had to call my husband, waited 2 hrs for him to come, he brought his car so I could continue on my trip, he waited for stepson to come with trailer to haul car home and he waited for two hrs as the trailer had a flat. The car is still sitting up on the trailer. I am so angry. I had a 96 Limited Taurus that had close to 200,000 miles on it which I sold for what I bought it for used and never had any trouble other than normal things like brakes, water pump etc. This car is definitely not the quality the other car was. I wish I had not sold it but kept driving it. I really don't have the money to have it fixed right now and of course no more warranty. If ford knows this then they need to do a recall or something I think we outa sue but of course they would deny it. If anyone does count me in.

I, like the other complaints, had no idea why the transmission would fail with only 86,000 miles on it. After reading the last 2 nights all of the similarities it has become very clear Ford has a problem that they are ignoring. Just driving down the road and all of the sudden engine revs but no go. Actually thought i was on ice. Coasted into a parking spot at the local high school where I had it towed to the local transmission specialist. As soon as I started talking and told him what year and make I had he told me it was the torque converter. At first i thought this guys a genius but then realized he sees a lot of the Taurus's He also said he sees almost as many Windstars from the same years 2003 and 04. Sorry Windstar owners. From the sounds of it they all will go bad it's not just a few unlucky ones. Looks to be most prevalent in the 85000 mile range from what I've seen. I don't think me never buying a Ford again will hurt them and I suppose if enough people think that way it won't make much difference, the Government will just bail their butts out. Probably Form a new company like NEW FORD and spin off Old FORD. I can't imagine calling Ford and complaining will make much difference. I believe they all know about these issues and know right away what the problem is but will act like that is the first time they've heard of one of their transmissions going out with only 86000 miles on it. Good luck all. I'll let you know how it turns out.

It is ridiculous the amount of complaints I have been finding pertaining to failed transmissions around the internet. One day the tranny just stopped.... I replaced the transmission myself in 6 hours but I have all the right tools to do the job and know what I am doing. $2500.00 was the cheapest bid I could get to make the repair / replace for the car. There is no reason for a car to fail at such low mileage and I would not recommend the car to anyone since this is not the only problem I have had.

Unbelievable now that I've read all the other complaints that are the same as mine. I was driving to my company picnic (with food!) and my family on a busy Sunday afternoon in construction when my car just stopped driving. Car was still running but certainly stopped moving and we were lucky not to have been rear ended. We got it pushed into a parking lot and had to have it towed. We got to walk home with our food and bags, oh what fun! T

hey want around $3000 to put in a rebuilt tranny!!! It only has 55,000 miles on it!! I drive to and from work (less than 7 miles one way) each day and what little driving I do around town for groceries and stuff. Why the heck would this happen at 55,000 miles??? Needless to say we missed our picnic and now I don't know how I'm going to get the money to get it fixed.

This was my first and only new car and I certainly thought it would last longer than 6 years!!. It's not the first time a Ford did this to me. I owned a used Tempo back in the 90's and the transmission went out on me while I was driving. Needless to say I will never buy another Ford. The mechanic at the shop told me that this seems to be a problem with these cars so he obviously knows about the issues with these Fords too. Do you think anybody at Ford reads these complaints? Probably not. This little complaint I've added doesn't get across my anger and rage. I don't want to sound like a raving lunatic so I've kept it on the down low but this is bleeping ridiculous!!!!!!!!! Ford needs to do the right thing and fix these problems.

I am so pissed with the ford company. On Saturday my 2004 Ford Taurus lx.just stopped moving, next thing I find someone saying the torque converter is gone in my car. I called my dealer today only to find out my coverage is over. I spent 12 grand on this car thinking it was a really good vehicle. Now the ford dealer tells me he is sorry, I am sure he is. Not half as sorry as I am for buying the piece of crap. I really liked my car and friends keep telling me that I was nuts to buy a Ford. I even purchased a protection plan and can't seem to find out what it covers on the vehicle.

Next time I will definitely listen

Carl P.

My Taurus has 77,000 miles on it. Started having problems at 75,000. At 75k I had the transmission fliud flushed and had a new filter installed. The car started "stuttering" when under acceleration. Then the "check transmission" light came on every 15min or so. AAMCO said the transmission needs to be rebuilt and quoted $2600. My local garage suggested a rebuilt Jasper with a better warranty for $3000. My question is: why is the transmission going on a car with such low miles? And why isn't Ford taking care of its customers with all the complaints regarding 2004 and 2003 Taurus'?

We've had the same problem as the others with it just stopping without any warning. Drove fine one day and wouldn't go at all the next. We had just paid $2000 towards the payments to get a little bit ahead and still have been paying on it without being able to afford to fix it to drive it. We still owe close to $2000 on it and its been sitting since March now! Ford really needs to recall these seeing the problems so many people have had with it. Its been such a struggle being without transportation, it has really put our family through a lot. I'll never buy a Ford again!!!

I bought this car used with 96,000 miles on it, thankfully with a 24,000 mile warranty, 02/14/09. By June of 2009, a mere 4 months later everytime the engine got warm, the trans would jerk and feel like you were being rear ended. The dealer finally replaced the trans after trying a few other things. Then, not even a year later, the car is doing the same thing again! I took it back to the dealer as I still have about 1,000 miles left on my warranty. Wouldn't you know that when the tech is in the car, it won't act up! So, the dealer says everything is fine. I guess I'm looking at a $2,000.00 repair bill sometime in the near future.

As I am searching the website to see what might have happened for the car to quit on me. I see all the complaints!! This is horrible. I just drove my vehicle yesterday with no problems, and today in the HOTT sun, with my kids, the car just stopped while driving.I was horrified. It could have caused a major accident. Something needs to be done. Who has $1300 in this economy just laying around. I say we petition and go to the attorney general about this and make Ford come forward and recall before someone gets seriously hurt!!!