2008 Ford Taurus X
Safety ratings, recalls, and consumer complaints from NHTSA
NHTSA Safety Ratings
2008 Ford Taurus X 4-DR. w/SAB
- Overall
- Not Rated
- Front Crash
- Not Rated
- Side Crash
- Not Rated
- Rollover
- ★★★★☆
Recalls(1)
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2009-2012 Ford Flex, 2008 and 2010-2012 Ford Taurus, 2008-2009 Ford Taurus X, 2008 Mercury Sable, 2009 and 2011 Lincoln MKS vehicles. The driver frontal air bag may improperly inflate during second-stage deployment in the event of a high speed crash. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
Campaign: 16V247000
Consumer Complaints(153 total, showing 10)
SEAT BELTS
All 5 rear seatbelts have cracked plastic around the metal piece that buckles in.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
This has happened since we purchased the car. when driving down the road out of the blue the wrench light on the dash turns on and the car loses all power!! Dangerous! So dangerous. i have spoken with other foes tauras x owners and they too have the same issue. When it happens i pull over and shut the car off and wait a bit.. I turn it back on and the wrench light is off BUT CAR WONT SHIFT INTO GEAR!! it's very hard to get the shifter to move. when it does move it's a loud CLUNK CLUNk sound like u just dropped the transmission on the ground!! This is happening more often then not now. Hundreds of thousands of people who own this vehicle have complaints about the same issue. NO one can figure out the issue! Some say a sensor, yet a sensor would not make my transmission clunk like that! A lot say it's the control arm and ford has had the wrong control arm installed in all there does tauras x"s 2007 and 2009. My car has 77,609 miles on it. it's been doing this for the past 40,000 miles! I'm truely scared to drive this car aspecially in the winter!! FORD YOU already have been told and are well aware of this issue ! Fix it or get sued by tens of thousands of us all petitioning to do so and all together as a group. so buckle up Ford!
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The contact owns a 2008 Ford Taurus X. While the contact’s daughter was driving approximately 40 MPH, several unknown warning lights illuminated, the steering wheel became difficult to turn, and the vehicle lost motive power. The contact's daughter was able unable to pull over but was able to restart the vehicle and the vehicle returned to normal functionality. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where it was diagnosed with needing spark plugs, coolant, and radiator replaced. The failure persisted. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The contact was informed that the vehicle was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 109,000.
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
I bought this vehicle used from a lot. It had 2 previous owners and came with all the service history. I first noticed the vehicle seemed like it didn’t want to go into overdrive . It would get to about 70 mph which would have the rpm’s at 3k! The 2nd time or so that we got it to these speeds (on interstate) the vehicle suddenly clunked , steering wheel jerked , vehicle lost power - I had my 2 children in the vehicle and I was pregnant. We had to pull over immediately . After sitting side the road for a few , it crunk up and we rode out . Only for it to happen 2 more times. And this is not the only thing effected by this . Not long after I got it , I started noticing a hard shift / clunk / slam when going into gear and especially when the vehicle has just tried to downshift and I pressed the gas again . Due to this , I’m unable to tell when and if we can pull out into traffic and such. I must time it good in order to not risk getting T boned etc. Also, with 3 kids in tow , a vehicle slamming their necks and heads is dangerous and scary. So , I’ve had some work done on . Trying to help my issue. Apparently my issue is the same as a lot of others . Which is an intermittent issue . And apparently no matter if all the passed recalls were addressed. Or if the owners of the vehicle serviced it often and currant . Or if the pcm was reflashed , replaced etc - the Ford Taurus X will continue to have these issues . And these issues seem to be the same issues that were addressed in the ford recall in 2020 ( which didn’t include the Taurus X) and previous recalls . This drivertrain transmission has been an issue for the Taurus X since forever . Please check into this. Last thing we need is whiplash or life flights from this .
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
THE DASH WARNING LIGHTS ALL COME ON AND THE SPEEDOMETER AND GAS GAUGE GO TO ZERO. I HAVE HAD THE CAR SINCE SEPTEMBER 2017 AND IT ONLY HAD ONE PREVIOUS OWNER! THIS IS A SCARY PROBLEM BECAUSE THE CAR WILL NOT ACCELERATE WHEN THIS OCCURS. HAS ANYONE HAD THIS PROBLEM AND FIGURED OUT HOW TO FIX? ALSO THERE'S A LOUD KNOCKING NOISE SOMETIMES THAT SOUNDS LIKE IS COMING FROM UNDER THE DASHBOARD. THIS IS NOT THE FIRST OR EVEN TENTH TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED. TO MANY TO REMEMBER ALL THE DATES!
STEERING,SUSPENSION
DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD STRAIGHT, OUR CAR MADE A POP SOUND AND SUDDENLY LURCHED AND STEERING WAS IMPAIRED. CAR WAS TAKEN TO THE NEAREST DEALERSHIP WHERE THEY FOUND THE ENGINE CRADLE/FRONT SUB FRAME HAD RUSTED THROUGH INTERNALLY CAUSING THE SWAY BAR TO BREAK AWAY AND IT HAD PERFORATED AROUND THE MOUNT FOR THE CONTROL ARM. WE WERE EXTREMELY FORTUNATE THE CONTROL ARM DIDN'T COMPLETELY DROP OUT CAUSING AN ACCIDENT. FAILURE IS ALMOST IDENTICAL TO THE FORD ESCAPE SUBFRAME RECALL. DEALER TECHNICIAN SAID HE HAS REPLACED A LOT OF THESE ENGINE CRADLES IN THE TAURUS X'S FOR THE SAME FAILURE (SOME WORSE THAN OURS, COMPLETELY RUSTED IN HALF ETC.). LACK OF SUFFICIENT PAINT INSIDE OF THE CRADLES CAUSING PREMATURE FAILURE IS A MAJOR SAFETY CONCERN. I WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF THERE ARE ACCIDENTS REPORTED FOR THIS CONCERN. I HAVE REQUESTED THE ENGINE CRADLE FROM THE DEALERSHIP AFTER IT IS REMOVED FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE.
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
TRANSMISSION STUCK IN HIGH GEAR WHILE IN MOTION. CAN'T ACCELERATE FROM STOP TO MAINTAIN SPEED. POWER CYCLE FIXED. INTERMITTENT ISSUE.
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
WITHIN 24 HOURS, TWICE THE CAR SUDDENLY DISPLAYED "EMPY" FUEL GUAGE AND HAVING ZERO MILES ON THE RANGE ESTIMATOR DESPITE HAVING ROUGHLY HALF A TANK OF GAS. ONE TIME, SHORTLY AFTER DISPLAYING "EMPTY" DESPITE HAVING HALF A TANK, THE CAR CUT OFF AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS.
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)
HAD TO SHELL OUT $528.06 TO REPLACE BOTH THE 'INPUT & OUTPUT SHIFT SENORS' IN THE VEHICLE. REPAIR INVOLVED REMOVING THE VALVE BODY ON THE TRANSMISSION FOR ACCESS. MAJORITY OF THE COST INVOLVE THE LABOR TO REACH THIS AREA ON TRANS. A MONTH EARLIER TRANS LOCKED UP IN LOW GEAR, DASH LIGHTS WERE FLASHING? SHUT OFF ENGINE & RESTARTED. RAN OK THEN. SAFETY ISSUE! RECALL IS IN ORDER!
POWER TRAIN
TRANSMISSION IS SLIPPING AND WONT CHANGE GEARS
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