1999 Ford Taurus SE from North America

Summary:

This car is a nightmare

Faults:

The heater coil broke.

I have had constant brake problems, especially with the ABS.

I have changed the EGR VALVE.

I had to change the transmission & motor mounts.

General Comments:

As an American, I decided to buy American. What a mistake that was. This car has had nothing but problems since the first day I had it.

I owned a Ford Taurus Wagon in the 80's and that car caused me a living hell as well. I thought FORD would have improved over the years. I had a Nissan before this and it never caused me these kind of headaches.

People warned me. I was told FORD stands for Fix Or Repair Daily!!! They could not have been more right!!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 10th December, 2005

12th Dec 2005, 08:03

If you had to change your transmission and motor mounts, this car was seriously abused. How many other worldwide forums do you bash your country on?

13th Aug 2006, 14:33

I owned a 98 Taurus for years. I just had to get rid of it and wanted to locate another. This was the best car I have ever owned (an I have owned a lot) I had to replace only a cracked radiator reservoir and general maintenance. The only bad thing about this ride is the horrible gas mileage with a 3.0 DOHC. It seemed that I got better mileage out of my 79 T-Bird with a 351 V8.

25th Apr 2008, 22:08

This car was picked up as a used car. Based on the problems it appears the prior owner was quite hard on it. I personally would give more credence to a person who owned the car new or acquired it with low mileage. I have no doubt that these problems exist but the car has high mileage combined with age that would inevitably relate to mechanical breakdown.

1999 Ford Taurus SE 3.0 from North America

Summary:

Never will I buy another Ford car

Faults:

The rear calipers seized and had to be replaced, along with the rotors and pads.

The exhaust pipe with the converters in it stress cracked until a 1" hole needed to be repaired, almost $300 for the part.

The alternator needs to be replaced, but is in such a tight spot that half of the front end must be disassembled to remove it.

The heater blend door is stuck in the full heat position. Because of the location of the actuator, it takes the removal of the entire dashboard to repair it.

General Comments:

The car is a pleasure to drive.

When something on it fails, the poor design means extremely high labor costs to repair even a simple problem.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 10th December, 2005

26th May 2006, 00:08

Do I have the same car as you? I've got a 99' Taurus, and the Alternator is smack on top of the engine. It's almost impossible to miss, and there are no hidden areas either.

24th Jun 2006, 20:59

I have been burned. My 1999 Taurus SE has had 3 transmissions already. I had to pay for all replacements because the car was used when I bought it with 60,000 miles in 2003, and the first break-down happened after my one year warranty expired. The third transmission is now on its last leg after only 10,000 miles.

I have changed brake pads and rotors for all 4 wheels twice in three years, more that I did in 10 years with my VW Jetta---I'm not exaggerating. And I am religious about maintenance; these problems literally just popped up. You don't expect your new rotors to wear out after 3,000 miles!

Just last week, I just spent $900 on the emissions control computer systems after failing the state emissions test. One would normally associate these problems with a very old car! My windshield wipers move without being turned on, and at the worst times when I'm on the road. They just start swinging back and forth.

Now I have new problem. When I brake, the whole car rattles in front, and all the bearings are bad.

All other problems aside, how does Ford get away with something as significant as this transmissions issue? I have three friends whose 1997, '98 and '99 Ford Tauruses, respectively, have had transmissions replaced--one of them twice? I had a 1997 VW Jetta that took 190,000 miles with none of these problems.

Is there a class action suit I can join?

James Thindwa

Chicago.

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