Problems with 2003 Ford Taurus STRUCTURE

On october 23 2019, i retained mavis discount tire to inspect my new york state registered 2003 ford taurus. mavis discount tire passed the vehicle, determining the vehicles condition complied with ny state safety standard of roadworthiness. 12/12/2019, after repairing the transmission at gorilla auto works, i was informed of a serious structural situation, control arm assembly "severely deteriorated". on january 20th 2020, i again referred the vehicle to caskinete ford carthage new york for further evaluation, at ford motor company standards, as was informed, that the control arm assembly was not repairable, at the present condition, did not meet new york state or federal safety standards, contrary to the original status, and inspection , issued 10/23/2019 mavis discount tire arsenal st. watertown new york. further evaluations, study revealed, that failure of this condition, underway, at us interstate average speed of traffic, potentially catastrophic incident would result, eminent risk of loss of life. per us agency standards, i have made all reasonable efforts to resolve this complaint with relevant state agencies, dmv. etc. additional efforts included relevant new york state political representatives, to include new york state senate. *please note the, possibly intentional omission by mavis staff, of the vehicles mileage. obtained by other records.

We had several close calls where the car would not stop,and slide on dry pavement,and wet conditions . the car had new brakes, rotors, tires, but still would have trouble stopping, unfortunately my daughter was driving the car today,and hit another car. i just replaced the tires again a few months go, thinking the tires were the problem. i had several close calls myself, and i think there is a big problem with this car stopping. thank god nobody was hurt, but this could have been much worse. my daughter was going approximately 30 miles an hour, and she was on a city street, conditions were wet , but she had plenty of time to stop.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving at 30 mph, the vehicle failed to remain in position. the contact had to continuously maneuver the steering wheel in order to keep the vehicle in position. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the front cradle was corroded and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 93,000.

Today a cold front moved in. i received 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 position. 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 because of it. i find it extremely dangerous that i have to hold my doors closed or they fly open when i drive. *tr

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. *tr

Had car in shop for a/c problems. mechanic (whitehill auto and body) they had another 2003 ford taurus 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. *tr

An on coming car lost control and swerved into my daughters lane of traffic. my daughter was unable to stop in time and t-boned the other car. upon impact, the other car was split in 2. my daughters airbags never deployed. all i want to know is why her airbags never deployed. when i call the ford motor company they told me because "no one was seriously injured or killed they would not look into the matter." thankfully everyone walked away. my daughter has a concussion and bruised ribs from the accident. ford motor company told me the only way they would consider looking at the vehicle is if i bought the vehicle from our insurance company (our insurance totaled the vehicle because of the excessive damage) and then had the vehicle towed to an authorized ford dealer. *tr

Just bought the car and doing some routine service , oil change , brake inspection etc. noticed that the rear body mounts on the subframe had rust rot. and looking over the rest of the subframe noticed that the lower control arms on the front mount of both left and right sides were rotted out completely. the repair work is more than what i paid for the car. i can't even put the car on the road. it will not pass inspection. for a car that is only 10 years old the subframe shouldn't be rotted out like this.ford should give some kind of assistance with this problem. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while having the tire changed at a local mechanic, she noticed that the sub-frame had become corroded. the contact called the manufacturer and was advised that there were no recalls for the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 117,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that the rear floorboards were rusted. the vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where the failure was confirmed. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was contacted about the failure. the failure mileage was 139,000. updated 11/19/13*lj

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. *tr

Water leaking in from cowl panel...causing heater motor to rust out...could cause a fire. *tr

My husband picked me up from school and he went in the store and the car while me and my 1 year old were in the car started smoking like from the air conditioner part the whole front part of the car, my husband ran out of store stating car was on fire he pulled car way from gas station, i got out of car and got my daughter out, fire was coming out of hood and bottom of car high we called fire department everything is on camera, than a police officer came out. the fire department put out the fire.

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

Water leak on passenger floor,shorted blower motor. *tr

A water leak which dumped water onto the passenger floor board also caused my ac blower motor to short out. i am not sure if this is related to recall 03v087000 but i know it is the same problem as complaint #10184014. *tr

A water leak, possibly from a faulty seal, onto the passenger interior floor board also caused my ac/heater blower motor to short out. my heater switch will only work in the maximum position. from what i have read it is due to a heater motor resistor, which has caused similar problems for other taurus owners. i could not get ford to act even though a related recall existed under 03v087000. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that whenever it would rain, water would leak from the front passenger side of the vehicle and into the engine causing a short circuit to the blower motor. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated he had to replace the blower motor and the resistor. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure and the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 22,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that there was a water leak on the front passenger side floorboard. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where they advised him that they were unable to diagnose the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was contacted and they offered no assistance. the failure mileage was approximately 98,000. the vin was unavailable.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving at approximately 40 mph the steering wheel became difficult maneuver and control. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. the mechanic stated the front sub frame was corroded, causing the lower control arm to detach from the subframe. the vehicle had not been repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 131,000. updated 9/13/11 *cn updated 09/28/11

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while the vehicle was being inspected for regular maintenance, the mechanic discovered that the sub frame was severely corroded. the dealer advised the contact not to drive the vehicle and to have the sub frame replaced immediately before doing so. the manufacturer was contacted who did not offer any assistance. the vehicle was not repaired. the vin was not available. the failure and current mileage was 94,000.

Sub frame rusted out on this 2003 ford taurus. 91,000 miles on car. will not pass state inspection. *tr

We had a small hail storm pea size hail and called geico to look at the roof, trunk and hood of the car. the roof had large area's of paint missing and bubbled with large area's of rust under it. the adjuster told us this was a defect that ford was have with cars and trucks between 2000 - 2006 and denied the claim. after several months of research and body shops telling me this is a ford defect, calling ford and them telling me it's not there problem, looking at web-sites with 100's of complaints, lemon laws, facebook pages against ford, frustration because people were loosing their cars due to rust, and ford telling us oh well even after the tsa report ford posted stating they knew they had a problem with the paint adhering to the aluminum to make the car weigh less and a good possible fix would be to replace the panels with steal and good primer and painted, the ford 800 number stated we are sorry but unless we get enough complaints and nhtsa sees enough complaints to do a recall we won't help. even the denver police department has issued complaints of paint peeling off the car like an orange. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that there was a water leak in the cowling that caused the blower motor to rust; therefore, it needed to be replaced. the contact noticed the failure when the fan was no longer blowing air. the vehicle was not inspected or repaired at the time of the complaint. the contact called the manufacturer who stated that there was no warranty or recall for the failure. the current mileage was approximately 120,000. the failure mileage was approximately 115,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that water was leaking into the passenger side of the vehicle when it rained. because of the leakage, the heating and air conditioning system stopped functioning. she was also concerned about mold forming when there was water on the floorboard. the contact called the manufacturer who took a complaint but offered no further assistance. the vehicle had not been repaired. the vin was unavailable. the current mileage was 34,346. the failure mileage was approximately 30,000.

The front driver side spring coil broke causing a large gash in the tire and instant deflation. had been parked in the driveway and shifted into reverse. pressed the gas pedal and the tire seemed to explode with a loud sound and debris. i understand that earlier models of the ford taurus have been recalled (breaking coil springs recall no. 04v332000) and fixed but the recall has not been extended to newer models. the problem still exists, the danger still exists and the cost to fix the problem still exists. *tr

I have a 2003 ford taurus and every time it's setting out in a moderate to heavy rain the right front floorboard gets saturated with water. i've had to replace the blower resistor twice and the blower motor once and the motor in it now is going out. why isn't ford being held responsible for the repairs and costs affiliated with this manufacturing defect and the costs incurred on those of us unfortunate enough to have purchased one of them? due to this issue i nearly had an accident on 03/08/10 when my windshield fogged during a rainstorm and i lost almost all visibility. if i hadn't known the area very well plus 25 years of law enforcement driving i very well could have been seriously injured or killed. nhtsa needs to act on this asap before someone is killed. my name is [xxx] and i can be contacted at [xxx], in mesa, arizona. my car is usually under cover and it flooded with water also in feb. 2009 &feb. 2010, when it was standing out in the rain, not being operated but just out in the rain. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that when it rained, water made its way into the vehicle from the instrument panel and flooded the front passenger side. furthermore, the defroster did not work. the steering wheel vibrated and, interior light was always illuminated and the door locks did not engage automatically. the contact called the dealership and was advised to take the vehicle in for repair at his expense. the current and failure mileages were 140,586.

Due to a water leak problem, the ac blower motor failed (shorted out) and was unable to blow defrost air onto the windshield, causing poor visibility while driving. water soaked the passenger floorboard. there was a previous recall #03v087000. another person with the same problem has filed complaint #10184014. *tr

My taurus's blower motor stopped functioning in december 2009. i believe the cause is a water leak or blown a/c heater blower motor. i think the leak dumped water onto the passenger floor board also caused my ac blower motor to short out, needing a replacement. after browsing the internet to see if other ford taurus owners had the same or a similar problem, this seems to be a recurring issue with the 2003 ford taurus. *tr

[regarding taurus/sable for water leak and ac blower defect; silent recall; tsb 03-15-6; related recall existing under 03v087000, & possibly also compliance recall 03c03] - also see complaint #10184014 certified car, 2003 ford taurus ses, 47,000 miles have recently (11/7/09) gotten water on passenger floor, & now see that this is a common problem & design defect. now my blower mower has started an unusual sound as well, & this is obviously related. i was told that this sound is water sloshing around & will rust my blower motor, making that yet another repair. have been told that ford will not pay for repair - but have found many instances online where ford did indeed pay 80% of this exact same repair. this is a defect & there are hundreds of complaints about the taurus water problem all over online, yet ford chooses to ignore. *tr

2003 ford taurus, blower motor failing and leaking water onto the floorboard. from the looks of it i am not the only one with this problem. i think there should be a recall from ford to take care of this problem. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. water was leaking from the air conditioner vent on the right front passenger side of the vehicle. the floor was also wet each time it rained. the vehicle was purchased three days ago. the vehicle will be diagnosed by the dealer. the failure mileage was 43,000.

A water leak from the firewall was discovered when the carpet became soaked after driving in a rain storm. the problem has existed for some time because there is mold under the carpet. *tr

I own a 03 ford taurus se, and on my car, and every other taurus i have seen on the roads around here, all have the same body defect leading to rust on both rear quarter-panels. *tr

The passenger side front carpet, padding and floorboards become soaking wet every time it rains and it rains every 3 days in the chicago area. we have to wet vacuum the water out to try and keep the carpet & padding from molding and stinking up the interior. the dealer thinks that they can fix this problem, but will not guarantee any repair for this expensive problem. we and have heard of, and the dealers know of multitudes of ford taurus owners with this same problem and there does not seem to be a known cause and good fix to this problem and as wide spread of a major problem this is, especially for allergy sufferers like my wife, there should be a factory recall on this issue and ford should accept responsibility for this major design problem and fix this problem under warranty. *tr

I own a 2003 ford taurus with 40,000 miles on it. i have found out on the internet there is a design defect, water can get into the heater system and blows out the blower motor and resister. i am very upset about this and have read that many people that own ford's have the same problem. i should not be having any trouble with a car that has only 40,000 miles on it. *tr

2003 ford taurus has water leaking in to blower motor. *tr

Water leak at front passenger side, replaced blower motor, resistor and cowl, still leaks. reference recall 03v087000 and many additional complaints from owners, specifically 10184014. there was water leaking at passenger dash area on and off since 07. it hadn't leaked in quite a while so i didn't worry about it. the dealer said it would cost about $250.00 to fix and i was waiting to see if it kept up or got worse. then the blower quit working. i spent $373.14 for a new blower motor, resistor assy, weatherstrip, cowl panel and sealant. on the 28th of december, 2008 my front passenger floor was again, full of water. note, this had not happened for many months and should have been fixed with the new cowl put on on december 9th. i asked the dealer if the previous water problem caused the blower motor to go bad. he said it was hard to say. evidently it was "hard to say" because it says right on the receipt "water in blower case". i bought the car in october of 03 (as a used vehicle but still under warranty with only 18,408 miles on it) but was never notified of a recall for this problem. i understand there is a service bulletin out for this problem now. i have been going to the same dealer since april 9th, 04. can you tell me if the recall was in effect at this time or how long the recall was in effect? this is very discouraging. where are the ethics from ford for taking ownership of this problem? maybe i should file for my own "bail out", with the amount of water leakage i've had, i'll probably need it. thank you for your consideration in this matter. jeanne acheson *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact noticed a leakage in the dashboard during rainy conditions. the floor would become wet and the blower motor stopped functioning. she only noticed the failure when it rained and it only occurred on the passenger side of the vehicle. the manufacturer has not been notified. the current mileage was 64,724 and failure mileage was approximately 63,000.

Failure of the a/c, heater, defroster fan. *tr

The fan on my heater has gone out on me three times since i purchased this care in august on 2006 - just a little over 2 years. i understand it has to do with a leak under the hood that ford is well aware of (recall 03v087000? - see complaint #10184014). i don't feel i should have to replace this blower every 8 months. *tr

Passenger side floor full of water after it rains, air only blow on high until it recently went completely out. worse this time radio and wiper blades were affected. a recall is needed to fix this problem. *tr

Water leaks into the passenger side front floor board. water also accumulates in the blower motor housing, causing it and the control resistor to short out. *tr

Poor vehicle design allowed water to leak into hvac system causing damage to blower resistor and blower motor. now unable to defrost / defog front windshield. *tr

2003 ford taurus, water leaking in cabin on passenger side and flooded a/c unit. ac only works on high. repair of leak will cost $579 from dealer. ford is aware of problem in vehicles but will not repair. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. whenever it rains on the vehicle, the passenger side floorboard becomes wet. as a result, the engine shorts out. the contact did not notice any differences in the vehicle prior to the failure. the vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer. the current and failure mileages were 48,102.

After a strong rain, a leaky cowl in my 2003 taurus let water into my blower motor and shorted it out. the fan only worked on high. i had it fixed once, and then after another storm it immediately shorted out again. then, in the last week (9/1/92008), it stopped working all together, even on high. ford has issued a related recall for a leaky windshield (03v087000), but will not fix this issue, even though it is a known problem. when i went in to talk with ford, they were aware of the problem, but said since it was not yet recalled, they would not fix it for free. i have not as of yet had this replaced again. *tr

Leaky cowl. causes floorboard to be constantly soaked. has already been reported with complaint # 10184014. the recall # is 03v087000. the recall needs to be extended to cover these cars no matter the mileage since it is a factory defect. *tr

The part in question is a transitor for the ford taurus 2003. the same problem exist with earlier model such as the 2001. a leak above the dash board allows water to fill the compartment and overflow onto the floorboard. the amount of water is enough to short out transitors and cause problems. when talking to a ford dealer"vancouver ford dealer", they acknowledge that they repair this problem quit often. could a previous recall for the same problem be extended to include 2003 models??? thx *tr