Transmission quit while driving.
2003 Ford Taurus transmission complaints
Page 8 of 12: complaints 191 to 220 of 316, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. While the contact was driving approximately 15 MPH, the transmission suddenly failed to respond. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing where the technician stated there was a faulty torque converter input shaft. The vehicle was in the process of being repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the defect. The failure mileage was 58,000. Updated 07/20/11*lj updated 02/27/12
I was driving down i24 with my daughter in the car during rush hour traffic. Out of the blue the transmission went out. I had to coast across 4 lanes of traffic to get to the emergency lane. I was stranded on the side of the interstate with my child for 2 1/2 hrs waiting on a tow truck. I have never been so scared of having an accident. Why is ford waiting on someone to die before they fix this problem????? This will be the last vehicle that I purchase from ford!!!! I will be going with a foreign made car from now on.
The torque converter on my 2003 taurus ses completely and immediately stopped working - the engine would rev but I was unable to engage any of the gears.
Driving down the road and transmission went out. It does not change or shift gears. Has not been reapired yet, transmission needs to be replaced.
I was driving home from work, everything worked fine until I slowed down for a turn, and when I tried to accelerate again...it wouldn't. The car is at around 83,000 miles, and besides this issue the car is in amazing shape.
2003 ford taurus transmission breaks going down the interstate at 75 MPH,we were stranded on the side of the road at 11 pm in the rain.!!! If you search the internet there are hundreds of complaints about this transmission failing it is the same transmission that was recalled in the windstar. But since no one has died yet nothing will change.
I own a 2003 ford taurus and was driving on a normal commute, while driving in the right lane the transmission just quit. I then had to coast through rush hour traffic across 4 lanes and sit in the emergency lane for an hour for rescue. There was no warning no signs just quit while driving. I have never been so afraid of being in an accident as that day. This is a serious concern that I have learned ford is aware of and has done nothing to fix or attempted a recall on the transmission components that fail. It cost nearly $2000 to repair, on a car that only has a blue book value of $3500 clearly this is a terrible waist just to get the car moving again. It is unfortunate that a large company like ford can allow such problems to occur in there cars, at least companies like toyota fix the problems they find.
I bought the car in march 2009 and had was extremely happy with it. On november 5, 2009 my husband and I left for the store. We had not even gotten 1 mile away from the house when the car stopped responding when you pressed on the gas. There was no warning, no loud noises and the car had been running fine. When we stopped to inspect what happened we found that the car would not go into gear. When you shifted out of park--nothing, literally nothing happened. We found out that the transmission had failed and forked over the $1000 to have a rebuilt transmission put in. Problem solved--or so we thought. Earlier this week (march 22, 2011) my husband left for work and it happened again. Same as last time- no warning and the car had been running fine. We are at our wits end with this car and although I love it we cannot afford to keep putting transmissions in it every few months.
April 5, 2008 started off like any other saturday,cleaning my house then going shopping at my local grocery, but this day was different. When I got in my 2003 ford taurus to go shopping, I turned the key to start my car and put the car in reverse, but the car would not move. I put the car in park and tried again by putting my car in reverse. Needless to say the car would not budge. No problems were indicated before that day. I called my local ford dealership to ask them about a possible solution to my problem, but they told me I would have to bring my car to their shop. I said 'how can I bring my car to your shop when I can't drive it anywhere since it won't go in reverse'? The person on the phone told me I could have it towed to their location and when I asked how much it would cost to replace the transmission, the guy told me $3500. You can imagine how shocked I was to hear this cost! In the meantime a neighbor came to my house and suggested I call one of my town's transmission shops. I did and was told the cost to replace my transmission would be about $1500. I was also asked how many miles I had on my car and I told him 35,000. He was shocked to hear a transmission was out w/only 35,000 miles on my car. Later that day my car was towed to a local transmission shop and a new transmission was placed in my car. For one week someone had to take me to work and back home and at the end of the week I paid $1500 and got my car back home. During that week I did some research on the internet and discovered other 2003 ford taurus owners were experiencing the same problem I had w/my car. Seems ford should do something to solve this problem.
I have a 2003 ford taurus ses with 67,000 miles on it. The transmission just stopped. Park and neutral only. Fortunately I was not in traffic when it happened. Over the last year a couple minor slips, but this time total failure. Having it towed to a dealer monday.
2003 ford taurus sel. 78k miles in great overall condition and no history of serious problems. While driving on the highway at 60 MPH the car's transmission suddenly disengaged like it was in neutral. I coasted towards the right shoulder and tried cycling the shifter from neutral to drive. No success. The transmission would shift through the gears but the gears were not engaging. This happened without warning. No noises, no bucking, no indication that anything was wrong. Was a very dangerous situation to have happen on a major highway. Had the car towed 80 miles to my house for a cost of 400.00. The trans needs a new torque converter. Estimate at 1850.00. Don't have old parts. Have hundreds of exactly the same issue with the same year and model car. Ford really needs to pony up and make this right.
Complete transmission failure on a 2003 ford taurus while driving.
2003 ford taurus driving along and engine runs but it feel like I am in neutral transmission gone. 2 time in 2 1/2 years and ford fixed it the first time.
I was driving I-75n, got off at my exit and switched lanes as the light was turning from red to green. Just as I got under the light, my car would not accelerate. It was in gear, but the engine would only rev (as if it were in neutral). I put on my hazards, restarted the car to no avail. Called 911 and reported what had happened. A kind (and brave) stranger was able to push my car safely through the intersection and to the shoulder where I parked and waited for a tow-truck and friend to pick me up. Had it towed to pepboys (they don't work on transmissions) had it towed to aamco and subsequently cottman transmissions where it sits now. Parts and labor are estimated at $2331. Many, many other similar accounts from other 2003 ford taurus owners. Should be a recall on the failing torque converters. And the stickler is, I just had an oil change at my local ford dealership and they told me my car was in great condition. There was nothing to worry about. You can only imagine how relieved I was hearing that from the manufacturer.
I was returning home from a gas station and came down the steep hill to my house and when I went to back into my parking space the transmission completely failed . I thought my tires were just spinning due to some ice . When I put the car in drive to try to find another space I discovered the only gears I had were park and neutral. The car then coasted to the middle of the intersection and stopped, I then had to get my neighbor to help push the car around the corner and into a parking spot. There was no warning at all the transmission never slipped and there were no indicator lights . Nothing at all just total failure. I'm just glad it didn't happen with my family in the car along the highway on our way to cub scouts.
In october of 2008, my 2003 ford taurus ses suddenly lost the ability to move while I was driving in heavy traffic. The torque converter had to be replaced - the vehicle had 41,086 miles on it at the time. Cost of repair was $1260.96.
Minor driving car, without any previous signs of trouble,no warning lights, etc., after turning corner, car acted like it was in neutral. Could not engage car in gear after that. Had to get help pushing into nearby park and have it towed in for repair. Thankfully, noone was hurt, and park was nearby. If this had happened at highway speeds I don't want to imagine the outcome. There were absolutely no signs of trouble previously that indicated any transmission problem.
2003 ford taurus transmission went out with no warning on busy street, was like it was in neutral. Was able to coast to almost off of roadway. Two people came to aid and pushed the car completely out of roadway. Car has just 62,000 miles.
Transmission failed at just under 95,000 miles with no warning.
When coming home from picking up my daughter from work, my car could not shift gears and luckily I was able to coast to a stop and put the car in park. The car runs but I cannot shift into any gears. And it had to be towed to a gas station. I was advised that the problem is with the transmission and I see by your website that there are quite a few complaints regarding this issue with the transmission on the 2003 ford taurus. Who is going to be held responsible for this problem as it could have been far worse and someone could have gotten killed.
My husband and I along with our 2 yr old were driving home one evening and stopped at stopped sign and my husband hit the gas to go and it took off slowly, than just wouldn't go we had to coast off to the side of the road with traffic around us. No warning light or anything the transmission just went out. The car wont go forward or reverse, it shifts but wont move. We need the transmission rebuilt, we got an estimate of 2100. I lost my job, im pregnant with my 2nd child and we just purchased the 2003 ford taurus about 10 months ago. We don't have the money to be repairing a car we just got.
Without any warning my gas pedal of my vehicle stopped working. I was driving down the road - the car jerked and then nothing. The car would not go into gear. I had to roll and then push my vehicle to the side of the road. Thank god there was no one behind me or I would of been hit - it was very scary. Turns out it was the torque converter. Had to wait for aaa and then get my car towed to transmission place. They replaced and it cost me $1,133.58.
I had to have my transmission rebuilt last dec and now am experiencing electrical problems, my signal lights/hazard lights do not work and was told the wires and harness need to be replaced. Hinges that hold rear window in have snapped off, window held in place by lock.
I was stuck in the middle of an intersection. I just broke my neck about 2 years ago so it was hard for me alone to push the card to safe area. The transmission on my 2003 ford taurus without any warning signs would not go further like it was in neutral. I tried putting it into drive, reverse and the only thing that would happen is the motor would rev up like it was in park. I understand that this is a common problem with this model ford. Ford needs to recall this model or at least pay to fix all these transmission problems I am reading about. The amount that it cost to fix the transmission is the same amount the car is worth if that. What can we do to get ford involved with this problem and stand behind their product. This really leaves a bad taste in my mouth about ford. One unhappy customer tells the whole world 100 happy customers barley get the word out about a company, but I believe if ford would do a recall on these 2003 taurus transmissions everybody would change their mind about how ford does not stand behind their product. All these transmission compliant sound the same. So it must be the product not the driver.
Transmission just died like this website states. *tr http://bit.ly/vil7
I own a 2003 ford taurus lx and the transmission failed with no warning whatsoever on 11/23. Mileage is 71,000. I was driving on a rather busy road and all of a sudden I hear a noise and the car no longer responded even though my foot was on the accelerator. Fortunately, it was early in the afternoon and the road was not heavily traveled at the time. I am thankful for that. I was able to drift into the post office driveway and a kind gentleman pushed me because I was blocking the access road to the parking lot. I could go no further. Car was towed to repair shop but an estimate is not available at this time.
While exiting highway auto lost power to drive axles. Had to push car 1/4 mile to parking lot,walk 5 miles home,arrange tow and get auto checked out. Talked to 5 different mechanics and all agreed that it was transmission. Cost to repair or replace transmission 900-1500 dollars depending on problem. Will know more latter but costs keep rising. This is bs as ford knows about this problem.I know this is true as I know several ford mechanics.
I have a complaint about my 2003 ford taurus ses. My wife was driving my car yesterday getting ready to pull onto a heavily traveled highway when the transmission suddenly went out without any warning or previous indication. This car only has 72,210 miles on it and from what I've discovered on other complaint websites this seems to be a very common thing especially with the 2003 years. This really concerns me being a loyal ford customer that nothing has been done to resolve this. It has clearly been exposed as an issue with ford and they are taking no responsibility?!? The worst part of this issue is that not only did my wife, and five month old child stall out half on, half off of the highway, but a loaded rock truck almost took her and an oncoming vehicle out in the process of trying to avoid an almost certain incident. Thank god my family is safe and no harm was done, but something has to be done about ford's ignorance of quality and more importantly safety!
The 2003 ford taurus while stopped at a light or applying brakes will surge and lunge forward. Very dangerous, because it surges with people walking in front of it and cars in front of the car. The car then feels like it is hit from the rear end and smells like it is about to catch on fire. Very scary situation, my children are very scared and we already have an evacuation plan if the car catches on fire. It is defintely not safe. A similar problem has been addressed with the 2006 ford freestyle. It also goes dead while backing up. Even when brakes are applied to the floor, it surges and moves forward. The enginge jerking is a very hard jolt. We hope this will be addressed.
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