One problem related to automatic transmission park/neutral start switch has been reported for the 2001 Ford Taurus. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2001 Ford Taurus based on all problems reported for the 2001 Taurus.
Problem #1: when the car is started and the transmission is put in reverse, the car "jumps" back approximately 1 foot, even though your foot is pressed firmly on the brake pedal. This was reported numerous times to the dealership who has been unable to locate the cause of the problem. The dealership replaced the transmission "in the hopes" that this would correct the problem but it did not. When I informed the dealership of this, they claimed that the "jumping back" problem was normal vehicle operation. This does not make any sense since they admitted it was a problem previously and tried to correct it by replacing the transmission. Problem #2: the driver-side seat belt tightens by itself around the lap while driving. This is resulting in a restriction of normal movement inside the car. The seatbelt has, on several occassions "locked-up" while the car was in motion, preventing me from turning to look over my shoulder for on-coming traffic to make a lane change on the highway. The dealership tried to fix this by replacing the seatbelt. When I informed them that the tightening problem still existed, they said that the seatbelt tension was normal. This again does not match what they had previously said and acted on by replacing the seatbelt in an attempt to correct the problem. Both of these problems pose, in my opinion, a significant safety hazard that the dealership is currently claiming are both beyond their capability to rectify.