general problems of the 2003 Ford Taurus

Windshield.

I purchased the car 11/17/2018 from earls credit auto sales in portsmouth on airline blvd ; it rode well until 11/30/2018 when I drove to the barbershop in the greenbrier area of chesapeake va. I went to pull out the parking lot and my car started to shake real heavy and sloppy so I parked it and turnt it off , when I tried to start it up it would not start it kept stalling I called the dealerships auto shop they took the car and held it and claim they were working on it , I picked the car up when it was ready 12/04/2018. It rode fine until 12/14/2018 I went to the barbershop again and as I was leaving backing out my car started to shake heavily again than before I could put the car in drive to pull back in to the parking spot the car just cut off in the middle of the parking lot while a car was to the left of me trying to pull out . I had to get out and push the car in the spot and hurry and rush to push on the break and put the car in park. When I got a tow to the dealerships auto shop I explained this is my second time here under the same circumstances , I also called the dealership pleading to give the car back and to be refunded I barley got to enjoy or use the beguile without it being a problem . I was told they don't allow refunds and there auto shop will fix the car , so when they said the car was ready on 12/15/2018 it drove well but it the check engine light came on I went to auto zone for a free test and I got a po430 code , I called the auto shop before they closed because they told me on the 14th all what was wrong was a fuel pump and they replaced it but it has something to do with the catalyst system I been smelling a buring smell coming through my vents for a while but never really knew what it was . The rep on the phone told me it was fine for me to still drive the car and I also I won't be able to get my car worked on till 12/26/2018 . I need help!.

Keep shutting off randomly while during in the city sitting at a traffic stop. Doesn't start all the time. There's rattling and clunking noise under the front of the vehicle.

My Ford Taurus self accelorates when on the road. Even after taking foot off the gas pedal it will drive itself faster. Making using the brakes difficult it does not want to stop. It is very scary to drive . My husband has changed the cruise control cable,same and many sensors and nothing is fixing the problem. If Ford doubts this can happen they are welcome to take my car for a drive. It happens every time we drive the car .

The transmission will not shift into any gear.

Was driving down a hill. . Went to press the gas all it did was rpms went up I went no where. . Had to sit side of road for hours Ford has over millions of complaints and no has done anything about this. . It needs to be recalled.

My break lights won't stay on and it's not wanting to shift from park there was a previous recall in 2004 for same issues but my vehicle does not show any recalls.

Starter kept going out.

While driving to work on a freeway in az, doing approx 70 in the left lane my vehicle stopped moving forward and the rpm's went from normal to revving. I immediately put the car in neutral and went into the right lane and took the off ramp and coasted into a strip mall. The vehicle would not go into anything but park. Drive or reverse didn't work. I left the car there. That evening I read a lot of information about this same think happening to many Ford owners. All theses incidents were the same, torque converter, it stated that the torque converter was manufactured with "too small splines" and were an inferior Ford part. It also stated that a company named dacco had made a new updated converter with larger splines that would hold up better and they are sold at autozone for $120. My car is now being looked at and they told me I would have to have my transmission rebuilt (anywhere from $2000 - $3000). This is ridiculous, why hasn't this been placed on the manufacturer (Ford) for the inferior part.

Today a cold front moved in. I recived the vehicle from my grandparents and it has spent its whole life in the garage. Now it is always outside. Multiple times this year the door latches have gotten stuck in the open posistion. This causes the doors not to shut, and me having to hold them closed as I drive. They eventually start working ( usually after 20-30 mins of driving). I have tried DE-icer and grease but nothing works. My moms 2005 Ford freestyle has the same issue, except it was recalled beacuse of it. I find it extremley dangerous that I have to hold my doors closed or they fly open when I drive.

I was coming home the car just lost. Power and thank goodness. There. Was no one behind me was able to. Pull in middle lane and the car would. Not. Move it went into drive all gears but nothing I was terrified and once I gather myself I called for help. Snd I had car towed to Ford & they are saying I need new transmissions. Are you. Kidding me no waring no nouse nothing just stopped. While driving I have read many complaints on the Ford 2003 Taurus and was in shock again how. Many have same. Problem this car. Belongs to my dad who is 89 years. Old. Thank goodness he was. Not driving. He or I could be killed. How many more have to die or get hurt by something Ford is awarw of. Please dp something. The Ford place wants over $2800 for s transmissions ! this. Is crazy I love Ford. But not when they put lives in danger thank you.

The shifter changes to reverse, drive, neutral, but the car does not recognize the gears. The vehicle remains stationary.

The floor board on passenger side is wet and heater blower only blows on setting 4. Mechanic said water shorted out blower motor. Did some searching and found I wasn't the only one. Please see the following; reference recall number 03v087000 and other complaint 10184014. This will show a continuing trend. .

Vehicle exhibits failure state as detailed in Ford recall 04s12. Vehicle has failed in the same manner multiple times in the past, however cannot document what exact days the vehicle has failed in such a manner. The stop light switch/wiring has failed in the closed position once, in the open position twice, including today, and the vehicle's VIN was never entered as part of recall 04s12.

Driving down long road, got up to 40 mph, car stayed on that speed as if it was in cruise control mode. I had the cruise control off. I even slowed down to 30, car stayed on thirty. Had foot off the gas pedal. It surges forward. I read horror stories of other year Taurus' doing same thing, causing crashes. My 16 yr old daughter drives this car. Every other car around this years date was recalled, but not the 2003. I changed my hoses, so it's not that. The car is literally staying in cruise control mode even when it's off. When I turn my steering wheel slightly to the right, I can hear a ticking sound once or twice, not sure what that is, it's scary though. Before something bad happens I want a recall for this year of Taurus regarding the cruise control being engaged.

The vehicle suffered a broken passenger side front suspension spring. It immediately cut through and deflated the front tire. It is luck that this happened at very slow speed, if it happened at highway speed, loss of control would have been likely. The broken coil spring "hooked" the tire and cut the tire on the inside sidewall a full 360 degree separating the inside of the tire from the tread surface. It was difficult to move the vehicle in a desired direction. It was easier to park the vehicle safely by backing up to the curb. I understand that earlier model year Ford Taurus' were recalled for the same type of spring failure.

We were stopped at a stop light when the light turned green car would not go. It acted like it was in neutral. Doesn't matter if it is in reverse,overdrive ,drive or 1st gear acts just like it is neutral. No warning of any issues.

When driving the car the car will accelerate on its own with out pushing the gas. Even when you come to a complete stop the rpm will not go down to 0 it will stay above the 1. The car never comes to a complete stop the car is always accelerating even when at a complete stop.

Had car in shop for a/c problems. Mechanic (whitehill auto and body) they had another 2003 Ford tauras with a frame (part of frame) that was being replaced because of rusting through. He said that our frame was also starting to rust. He said they had contacted Ford and it was not listed on any recall.

While driving my 2003 Ford Taurus around a sharp turn the passenger front tire exploded . While trying to change tire to spare it was noticed that the cause of the explosion was a broken spring sticking in the sidewall . I had it replaced . A few months later I saw a piece of a spring in my driveway , when I looked at my car I found the piece of spring came from the drivers side of the Taurus . Then later that year at state inspection the mechanic found a rear spring broke . I had both rear springs replaced . All four springs replaced at my own cost.

Put car in reverse to move the strut assembly broke the spring went thru the tire multiple times. A 90,000 mile tire that only had 1900 miles on them. I am the one owner of this car with reg maintenance with no warning or prevention of this happening.

When accelerating to go up a slight incline, the vehicle "surged" and lost all gears. I let my vehicle coast to a stop and put it in park. The vehicle will go into and out of park, but when placed in any gear is motionless. . . . Will not move in reverse, or drive. This vehicle only has 52000 original miles on it!.

Car has/had been driving and shifting perfectly,(no slipping, no hesitation, nothing). After driving approximately 4 miles, turning car off for roughly 10 minutes, restarting and driving about 1 mile transmission acted as if it was shifted into neutral. After stopping, attempted shifting through all gears including reverse, same result. After further inspection found fluid level right at full mark, and fluid was as clean as the day it was new,(not burnt at all). Was told by the local Ford dealer that this was a common problem with this year Taurus and that there is no service bulletins or recalls, (customer pay only). Car has been parked since it broke down because we are waiting to see if Ford may/will get forced to address this obvious issue. Thank you.

A water leak which dumped water onto the passenger floor board also caused my ac blower motor to short out. Ford will not honor a recall but will fix it for $550 replacing the blower motor,blower motor resistor and the leak that they said was coming from a "rain cap" on the windshield. I looked online and have seen several complaints about the same problem.

Coil springs had snapped and ripped open inside of a brand new tire on the drivers side. Our daughter noticed a flat tire so she went to change it and took to a local garage and they said they never saw anything like this. So we thought maybe the tires were on recall. I checked on the web and found that a lot of '03 Ford Taurus owners are having the same issues with the coils snapping but there is no recall on the '03's. But there was on '01-'02 Taurus,apparently same problem but Ford will not stand behind product. Yet today I see a recall on the speed control cable for '03 Taurus due to deadly accidents. Another item I need to get fixed. Thought we bought a reliable vehicle for a college kid that puts on tons of miles. So disappointed in Ford but thankful this was not a tradegy.

We have replaced valves. Cleaned throttles etc. . On our Ford Taurus and we continue to experience unintentional acceleration (revving) rpm's at over 2,000-3,000. At a stop light it will be at around 2000 rpms with your foot on the brake and then just drop down to . 5. I have to keep my foot on the brake when it is revving so high. If the speed limit is 35 I ride the brake continually until it finally lowers. I am afraid of driving it or selling it, yet it is one of our primary vehicles. The shop doesn't know what to do. I seen there is an investigation on this and I am wondering what the current status is. If I continue to drive it, I am sure I will have to spend $ to replace all the brakes next.

My 2003 Taurus's windshield leak's. I checked the recalls and it show's a recall #03c03 for my car, but when I enter my VIN#1fafp55u83a271164 and it show zero for recalls. I'm not the first owner of the vehicle ,but that shouldn't matter in a this case. When my wife or I are driving the car in the rain the water is leaking into the car. I would appreciate it if someone could help me with this cituation. Thank you.

The vinyl cover on all four of the doors have come loose, one falling completely off.

I was driving about 40mph and the car started to accelerate without pressing the gas pedal. I pulled into a parking lot and was forced to press hard on my brakes to get the car to slow down and stop.

Vehicle was traveling southbound in the outside lane of a 4 lane hwy. Vehicle changed lanes abruptly and went left of the center of roadway entering into the nourthbound lanes of traffic, continuing in a southbound direction, the vehicle departed the east side and collided with the end portion of a guardrail. The inside portion of the right front tire caught the outside of gaurdrail causing the car to straddle the top of the rail until the undercarriage of the car caught on a post of the rail causing the car to slide sideways until the left side tires dug into the ground and flipped the car completely over where it continued to travel south, rolling over again, colliding with a wood post then finally coming to rest on it's tires facing northwest. No airbags deployed at any point of the collision. Gearshift was between neutral and overdrive.

Oil change was performed on my 2003 Ford Taurus (mileage was 73,200) 8 am the morning of March 8, 2011 at a Ford dealership. When the dealership was finished w/my car, I drove to work, less than 5 miles away. I parked my car at my office and it sat in the parking lot until 5 pm that day when I drove my car home. The afternoon of March 8, 2011 we had a thunderstorm pass over w/1-2 inches of rain. When I got in my car to drive home I noticed a spot on the passenger side floor mat but didn't check it until I arrived home. When I opened the passenger side door and removed the floor mat, I could see the carpet was soaking wet. I immediatelly used several towels to soak up the water. The morning of March 9, 2011, I drove my car back to the dealership where I had the oil change. I asked the service manager to look at my car, showing him the damp passenger side carpet. I asked him if someone bumped something under my hood when they changed my oil the day before. I asked him if they knocked something loose that would have caused the leak on the floor. He said 'no' but asked me to return to the dealership the following morning March 10, 2011. I did return to the dealership, they looked at my car and told me I had a cowl leak and it would cost approximately $400 to fix. I have not had it fixed but I've noticed from reading about other 2003 Ford Taurus owners, they've had this same problem. . Is there not some way Ford motor company should be held responsible and pay for these repairs?.

I was driving and all of a sudden my car would not go anywhere even though the engine was running. I took it to my mechanic who had the car towed to a reputable transmission shop in town. When I went to talk to the mechanic he said he already knew what it was. He said that he had a multitude of this make and model that had the same exact problem. He said it was a design flaw in the transmission that allows the torque convertor to "strip" without any warning. After taking the transmission apart he called and told me that it was the torque convertor and what it would cost to replace it including labor so I had the torque convertor replaced. All was going well with the transmission/torque convertor until August 30, 2014 when out of no where it happened again. So once again I will have it repaired. The car doesn't even have 80,000 miles on it. I am extremely grateful that I was not in an accident because of it. What is it going to take for someone to seriously address this issue so no one is killed? this is a dangerous car and many complaints have been made in regards to this issue as early as approximately 2007 so it is not the age of the vehicle but the design flaw. No telling how many people had this happen without reporting it. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed for all who have owned or still own the 2003 Ford Taurus.

2003 Ford Taurus, cowl leak. Water leaks into heater and a/c blower motor causing corrosion. Blower motor is inoperable. Inherent problem, but never corrected. Postings of this condition all over the internet. The Ford dealer wants almost $600. 00 to repair. The is a TSB 03-15-6 on this problem.

Failed torque converter, the shifter changes, but the vehicle does not recognize the reverse or drive option. It remains stationary.

Water was noticed in the floor board on passenger side. A few days later, 2/20/2007, my blower motor went out. I called local Ford dealership and was told to bring it in. Turned out to be a well known water leak problem stemming from a design defect leaks at the base of the windshield. It allows water to get into the blower motor and the rest is history. I paid $324 for the repairs and the replacement cowl still bows so the water can continue to enter with the same results. I returned my car this morning 2 23 07, (the day after picked it up in the dark) to express my dissatisfaction and was told to come back Monday. How can a car manufacturer of 100 years not know what it is going to leak. . . At the base of the windshield??!! Ford needs to correct this problem. Thanks.