Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. The contact stated that when first starting the vehicle, the transmission would not engage. The contact mentioned that she tried shifting into reverse to drive but the vehicle did not respond. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection or repairs. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure and the vehicle was not repaired. The failure and the current mileage was 118,000.
2003 Ford Taurus transmission complaints
Page 7 of 12: complaints 161 to 190 of 316, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Was going to work on 11/13/2011 at 5a.m., warmed up car , jumped in said car put it in reverse ...nothing; put it in drive....again nothing= blown transmission...no warning at all!!
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. The contact was driving 55 MPH when the transmission failed. The vehicle was inspected by a local mechanic who advised that the transmission needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 51,175.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. The contact stated that when shifting into drive and depressing the accelerator, the vehicle would lunge forward violently. He vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who repaired the failure, but the defect recurred. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not further repaired. The failure mileage was 64,000 and the current mileage was 76,000. The VIN was unavailable.
My 2003 ford taurus has 39,464. I got in it to go to work, started it, put it in reverse and car would not move. I tried drive and nothing. I have been doing research on this problem, and find this issue is very common in the 03 taurus, and other ford vehicles with this transmission. I was lucky enough not to be driving when this happened, as a lot of the people I have read about. The problem being a defective torque converter. I understand that you opened an investigation in july of 2009, with aprrox. 3000 reports of this part failing. Ford needs to have a recall on these parts, before someone is killed. This is my first step in complaining about this matter, but it is not my last.
I was driving on a major highway with my children and all of a sudden my car's transmission light came on, my car started bucking, and soon lost power and I was forced to put my car in park in heavy traffic and restart it.
At approximately 126000 miles first of two coil springs broke in the front driver's side of the car. Had both front coil springs replaced. Three weeks later was backing out of parking space at work only to have the transmission pump fail. Car acted exactly as described in many other complaints here, sudden loss of power, high engine rev and an inability of the car to work in any gear. Had the car towed to my mechanic and was then told that not only did the transmission need to be rebuilt but I also had a rear coil spring that now was broken. Have purchased many ford vehicles but this is enough to make you look at a different manufacturer.
I own a 2003 ford taurus with 85,172 miles on it. On a recent trip out of town, the transmission went out with no warning,and we had to be towed home over 100 miles. After some research ,I have found that many owners of 2003 ford taurus' have had the same problem with no warning of the transmission going out. It appears to be an internal problem in the transmission itself. I found 164 complaints on the car complaints/ford website concerning this transmission problem. It cost me over $3600 to have the transmission replaced. That is over half what the blue book value is on my car! I want to know if ford has looked into this problem on the transmissions? With that many 2003 ford taurus transmissions going out, seems to me there should be an investigation or a recall on them. I would appreciate someone checking into this problem. I really love my taurus, but am very upset that the transmission went out on a car that has been taken care of by ford dealerships for everything from oil changes to brakes, air conditioner, etc. Always had the service done at the intervals that ford motor company determined needed to be done. The ford dealership is the only ones that have done any service on my car other than tires.I feel that I have done everything to keep my car in perfect condition and am terribly disappointed that this problem happened. Please would you check into this problem and see if there should be a recall on these transmissions?? This is a safety issue to me! If the car had stopped while we were driving 70 MPH on the freeway, it could have been deadly to us and others! Thank you!
I stopped at a signal light waiting to make a left hand turn. The light turned green so I pushed the accelerator and thankfully just cleared the busy intersection. I was in the outside lane of traffic and the car just stopped. I drifted to the curb. The motor still running. Put the car in park and then in gear. Pressed the gas. Nothing happened. I could tell by the sound the car was not going into gear. I turned the engine off then restarted the car. Put into gear, pressed gas nothing happened. It just sat there. I had no problems or prior symptoms with this car. No warning signs! This problem could result in some very serious accidents. After talking to a local mechanic he told me that the problem I had was a very common problem with the ford taurus esp. The 2003 model. He had replaced several torque converters on ford taurus' lately.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. The contact was driving approximately 15 MPH in a parking lot and upon depressing the accelerator pedal, the transmission unexpectedly failed to respond. The vehicle was being towed to an independent mechanic for diagnosis. The contact stated the failure was related to the torque converter which was a common issue. The manufacturer was not made aware of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 55,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Was driving down highway with my 2 children in the car, going speed limit 65, when car failed to engage, engine revved but car would not go forwards or backwards, almost hit by on coming traffic while stuck in road. Rest of car is like new......... Wtf?
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. The contact was driving 60 MPH when the vehicle would not accelerate. The contact merged the vehicle to the shoulder. The engine was still running but the vehicle would not shift into gear. The vehicle was towed and a mechanic informed the contact that the torque converter would need replacing. The dealer was not contacted and the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 70,000.
It should be a transmission problem. When I was driving at 65mph the car lost dragging force suddenly and I had to push the car to the emergency zone. Then I cannot move the car anymore with any shift (r, d, od, 1). I found many 03 taurus had the same problems from some other websites. The model should be recalled because it has nothing warning sound or damage clue.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. The contact stated that while stopped a loud noise emitted near the drivers side front tire. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic, who confirmed that the coil spring fractured in half. The mechanic replaced the coil spring. The contact also stated that the vehicle failed to accelerate while driving in reverse. This failure was diagnosed by a second private mechanic, who stated that the transmission needed to be rebuilt. The manufacturer was notified; however, the transmission was not repaired. The failure mileage was 65,000 and the current mileage was 80,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. The contact stated after coming to a complete stop and preparing to move the vehicle, the rpms increased and the vehicle did not move. The vehicle was towed to her residence and will be towed to a mechanic shop. The dealer stated the repair cost was $3000 to replace the transmission. The manufacturer was contacted and stated no recalls were issued for the failure, and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 75,000.
2003 ford taurus ses, automatic-transmission. Was driving the car and had just made a right hand turn. The engine started to over-rev and there was no power being trnasmitted to the wheels. The engine runs fine but no matter what gear is selected from reverse to drive there is no power being transmitted to the wheels. This is a safety risk as had this happend while at highway speed or crossing an intersection could easliy have resulted in serious injuires or death. There are numerous complaints of this problem with ford taking no responsibility.
Drove home from work...no problems...went out on 8/25/2011..stopped at a red light...everything was fine...went about 50 feet...transmission dis-engaged and coasted to the side of the road...got towed home . Transmission shifts fine but wont engage .
Driving along on my way to work, on major highway (rt. 95, ewing, nj) slightly over 65 MPH speed limit and all of a sudden engine starts racing. No bang, clang or boom sounds. I reduced pressure on gas pedal to stop racing engine. Tried to press again to resume speed, but no reaction but racing engine again. Pulled over to right shoulder through 2 lanes of traffic in morning rush hour and stopped. Tried car in all gears (including reverse), only reaction was like car was in neutral, no gears worked. Called for a tow. Mechanic said it was major transmission failure (torque converter broke and a pump?) in my 2003 ford taurus with 102k miles. I was lucky I had enough speed to maneuver my way across the highway to the shoulder.
My wife was driving our car, when the engine revved up and the would not move in drive gear. At the time she was crossing a four lane highway. The car will start and run, but will not move. I have even replaced the neutral safety switch, and that did not solve the problem.
I was driving my 2003 ford taurus ses to work on 8/4/11 and without warning the car stopped going! My car currently has +/- 126,000 miles on it. It still was running, just none of the gears worked. I was lucky that I go to work at 7:00am and traffic was very light! I was also lucky to coast to a nearby parking lot out of the flow of traffic. This all happened without warning and the car had been running fine leading up to this! I have researched online and found many others with the same issue, hopefully ford will do something about it! I will at least call the local ford dealership to get their opinion, but will probably take it somewhere else as I am pretty sure the price will be better! It sounds like ford needs to step up to the plate and make this right!
While driving on a city street the transmission of the car went out without any warnings. The car was recently serviced and only had 65'k miles. After some searching this seems like a very common problem even at low miles.
I was driving eastbound on I-90 (mass. Pike) in massachusetts, about 60 miles outside of boston, with my fiancee in the passenger seat. Road conditions were ideal. Temperature was in the high 80s. Sun was out, about 4 p.m. In the afternoon. Suddenly, the rpms went through the roof, but the car did not slow or speed. I tested again and same thing happened. I signaled right and was able to move over one lane and again onto the shoulder. Once parked, the car would not go into gear. I just got revving in park, drive, reverse, lower gears, etc. Transmission failure. No power to the ground. Repair costs came to $2,000. I would consider this a safety problem since I was not able to control the speed of my car on a busy highway. I was lucky enough to have space to my rear and right when the incident occured, but had I been boxed in, there certainly would have been an accident. It appears this is a common problem with the '03 taurus.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH the vehicle stalled and the contact was able to shift the vehicle into neutral then back to drive gear. The vehicle stalled; however, the contact was able to drive onto the emergency lane. After the vehicle cooled down, the contact attempted to restart the vehicle and it failed to start. The vehicle was towed to a local mechanic who informed the contact that the transmission needed to be replaced. The manufacturer advised the contact that there were no related recalls. The contact stated the vehicle was unsafe to drive. The failure mileage was 62,000.
2003 taurus 3.0l v6 - transmission failed while driving, could only coast to stop. Was fortunate that was able to get side of road without being rear-ended by following cars.
2003 fordtaurus ses 3.0l v6 55000 miles, setting traffic light, light turned green went 50ft. Transmission dis-engaged could not get it to re-engage (no r or d) had car towed to transmission shop. Writing this complaint due to the large number of people who have had the same problem. Ford should do a recall for the number complaints for this problem.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus ses. The contact stated that while driving at low speeds, the vehicle would no longer accelerate. After trying to restart it to no avail, it was undrivable and had to be towed. The vehicle has not been inspected nor repaired. The dealer was contacted and they advised him that the trans axle had possibly failed and needed to be replaced. The failure and current mileages were approximately 113,000. Updated 08/05/11*lj the consumer also stated head light lenses turned yellow, not allowing much light to radiate out of them and it was very difficult to drive at night. Updated 09/14/11. *jb updated 01/30/12.
My daughter was driving a 2003 ford taurus on july 7, 2011. The vehicle stopped moving. The engine was working, but the car would not move. Car was towed to a repair facility where it was diagnosed that the transmission was torn up and would have to be replace or rebuilt. This transmission failure happened without any previous indications of the car having transmission trouble. I understand that other 2003 ford taurus vehicles have also had this problem. If this failure had happened on a busy interstate during rush hour, it could have been a major safety issue. As it was, she almost had a wreck, because the car was driving down the road and then suddenly the transmission failed, causing the vehicle to not have any power to the wheels to move. She was nearly rear-ended by a car behind her due to this product failure. Ford needs to rectify this defect. I am having to come out of pocket for a lot of money to fix a problem that apparently is inherent to this model. I would like for ford to reimburse my expenses.
I was looking on the federal safety agency website with regard to another issue that I had heard about with the 2003 taurus (front end collapse) when I came across this transmission issue. Driving in highway passing lane, the car suddenly began to lose momentum. Speedometer rapidly began to drop while RPM's went ballistic, then dropped. I was fortunate that I quickly realized the car was coming to a stop that I could not control regardless of how hard I pressed the accelerator. I was barely able to pull over 3 lanes of traffic to make it into the breakdown lane, where it came to a complete halt and could not be moved. Not only did I have an issue with my 2003 taurus at 71k miles, we also had to replace the transmission on our 2001 ford f-150 at 110k miles & 2005 ford focus at 80k miles, at a cost of $8300.00. All of these vehicles were purchased new and driven by the same driver. Given the number of complaints posted on the federal safety agency website, I would think either ford or the national highway transportation safety administration would take responsibility and perform an in depth investigation why so many ford transmissions are failing and issue a notification of these serious issues with this car and the steps to remediate those issues before the issue causes serious injury or death.
As I was driving down a busy freeway heading to work at 70 MPH my car just stopped accelerating... It scared me so bad I almost sideswiped a car next to me just in reaction to get off the road because there was a semi behind me. My cruise had tried to keep up with the 70 MPH I set it at but it couldn't so the rpms went sky high and my gas pedal went straight to the floor. It left me stranded on the side of a busy freeway while speeding cars were flying by me, so I also could have gotten sideswiped there, I've seen it many times on tv with parked cars on the side of a freeway. Im not going to have a car for a long time until the transmission is fixed. And how im going to get the money for it I have no clue. I cant get to work I don't make money to get it fixed. Ford should recall because its happened to so many people and its not our fault, its theirs for building a faulty car. My car barely has 87,000 miles on it, a cars transmission should not go out at 87,000 miles. My old car had 180,000 miles and never had an issue like that. I may be going to a new car company next car if ford doesn't fix this issue. Im lucky I had quick reaction time and I knew how to handle the car or I would be done for, this is absolutely a safety issue and ford wont admit that.
Without warning my 2003 ford taurus won't run in any gear, transmission failure. I had to walk in 105 weather with 5 kids in order to get help for a tow. This was on a busy four lane road where I had to narrowly avoid being rear ended going 50 miles an hour. Is someone waiting for a death to occur to require ford to recall this faulty product?
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