Sway Bar problems of the 2001 Ford Taurus

The caller received recall on the front springs, but he was having a problem with the rear springs. The caller said the rear spring failed, and it put a groove in the passenger rear tire. The caller found it before the tire blew out. The caller replaced both rear springs at his own expense with another brand. Dealer said they would not replace the rear springs for free. Manufacturer has not responded to the caller on the rear springs. The sway bar bushings were replaced three times, the rear bushings were replaced twice. Updated 01/19/06.

The anti-sway bars on my Ford Taurus ses have come loose on three separate occasions. The bars came loose at 10,000 miles, 16,000 miles, and most recently at 50,000 miles. Since the latest repair (at 50,000 miles) is now allegedly out of warranty the dealer want $140 to fix the problem again. And there is no guarantee that this problem will not continue to resurface. I argued with the dealer and the manufacturer (Ford customer relations) that this is an ongoing problem and a defect, not a new problem. The bars should not be coming loose on their own. It is important to note that on the second repair attempt (at 16,000 miles) the dealer installed a special kit that they received from Ford to fix this problem. This is evidence that the manufacturer and the dealer are aware of a generalized problem and that sway bars are coming loose on this car model (2001 Taurus ses) and perhaps on many others that share the same sway bar design. Nhtsa should investigate the safety issue involved in loose sway bars on the Ford Taurus. Nhtsa should also investigate the attempt by Ford and the Ford dealers to make customers pay for repairs that never resolve the problem. If Ford and the dealers are allowed to claim that this repair is out of warranty then all they have to do is sit and wait until the warranties expire and all defects become a customer-paid repair.