"How reliable is the 2003 Ford Taurus?"

"Based on 1524 NHTSA complaints, the 2003 Ford Taurus has a median complaint mileage of 78182 miles. The most common issue is POWER TRAIN."

"What are common problems with the 2003 Ford Taurus?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 2003 Ford Taurus is POWER TRAIN, accounting for a significant portion of the 1524 total complaints filed."

2003 Ford Taurus: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 1524 complaints

1524

Total Complaints

78,182mi

Median Mileage

POWER TRAIN

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

53,000 25th Percentile

78,182 Median Mileage

108,614 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

POWER TRAIN

169

SUSPENSION:FRONT

147

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

136

VISIBILITY:DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER/HVAC SYSTEM:FAN/MOTOR

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

STRUCTURE

SUSPENSION

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

SUSPENSION:FRONT:SPRINGS:COIL SPRINGS

VISIBILITY

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"THE BRAKES FAILED TO STOP THE VEHICLE, WHICH RESULTED IN A COLLISION. *JB"

"WHEN THE BRAKES WERE APPLIED, THE ABS AUTOMATICALLY KICKED IN AND CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO SHAKE VIOLENTLY. *JB"

"WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE IN OVERDRIVE THE VEHICLE WOULD SLOW DOWN. THE DEALER WAS NOTIFIED. *NLM WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE IN OVERDRIVE THE VEHICLE SLOWS DOWN. THE DEALER HAS BEEN NOTIFIED. *MR"

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

POWER TRAIN 169 complaints

25th: 70,000 mi Median: 97,000 mi 75th: 126,445 mi

SUSPENSION:FRONT 147 complaints

25th: 70,000 mi Median: 89,223 mi 75th: 110,000 mi

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION 136 complaints

25th: 60,950 mi Median: 80,000 mi 75th: 105,582 mi

VISIBILITY:DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER/HVAC SYSTEM:FAN/MOTOR 86 complaints

25th: 40,541 mi Median: 54,175 mi 75th: 76,918 mi

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 82 complaints

25th: 73,089 mi Median: 110,000 mi 75th: 137,018 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

MI: 147 OH: 141 NY: 105 PA: 91 CA: 73 TX: 68 FL: 65 IL: 64 MN: 60 IN: 58

Who Files Complaints?

11.4%

Original Owners

88.6%

Second+ Owners

Ford Taurus — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

Year	Complaints	Median Mileage	Top Issue	Crashes
1990	542	100,000	STRUCTURE:FRAME AND MEMBERS	32
1991	946	93,858	POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION	50
1992	1009	120,000	ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE	62
1993	2206	96,750	ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE	80
1994	1283	95,858	POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION	69
1995	1597	92,572	POWER TRAIN	71
1996	1131	98,000	POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION	82
1997	1003	81,540	POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION	73
1998	680	90,000	VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL	75
1999	1100	70,000	SUSPENSION:FRONT:SPRINGS:COIL SPRINGS	78
2000	1497	70,000	SUSPENSION:REAR:SPRINGS:COIL SPRINGS	136
2001	1264	72,750	SUSPENSION:REAR:SPRINGS:COIL SPRINGS	115
2002	1756	80,000	SUSPENSION:FRONT:SPRINGS:COIL SPRINGS	104
2004	482	95,000	VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL	48
2005	1005	90,000	VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL	62
2006	415	87,000	VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL	29
2007	196	86,000	VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL	9
2008	240	78,682	POWER TRAIN	30
2009	77	37,000	ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING	10
2010	274	45,000	STEERING	23
2011	251	61,000	ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	20
2012	100	41,493	STEERING	1
2013	746	83,078	STEERING	27
2014	293	78,965	STEERING	21
2015	310	59,500	FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM	18
2016	94	52,500	BACK OVER PREVENTION	10
2017	49	29,500	ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	1
2018	57	50,000	UNKNOWN OR OTHER	6

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28