2nd Jul 2007, 13:59

Wow I don't even know where to begin. Well actually I'll start off by saying that my 99 ford taurus is the biggest piece of junk in the world. Seriously a couple years ago my car was in a traffic jam, with stop and go traffic. Every time that I accelerated the RPM's would jump from 1500 to 2500 if I just touched the gas pedal. When on the highway, if I take my foot off of the gas, the RPM's and speed shoot down with a mild jerk. Anyways during the traffic jam, the car got so bad, that it started to jerk violently and eventually just shut down completely. Thanks Ford. Then two months after I got it out of the shop, it did it again, with the exact same symptoms and result. Today I was feeling the same type of transmission problems and am ready to trash the car and buy myself a bike, not like a ducati, but more like a red line. What a piece. No more Fords, I think I'll just stick with walking, considering that's what that car made me do eventually.

15th Jul 2007, 21:04

Bought my wife a 99 Ford Taurus at auction. Like others the Transmission sensor gave out. A temporary quick fix is to open the hood, and simply pull off the sensor connector plug on top of the transmission. The transmission will now operate properly in both OD and drive. You will notice your rpm's are steady as your speed goes up - loss of fuel economy due to the failed sensor ( to technical to explain here...). Two things to do: Change out the old transmission fluid immediately - its gonna require synthetic fluid at a higher price, but is worth it as it shifts far better now. And change out the coolant. In fact, I suggest changing out ALL of the fluids and start clean. Until you get the sensor replaced your fuel economy will suck for a while, but its better than not having wheels at all and it IS safe to drive.

20th Jul 2007, 14:55

My Taurus is having the same issue. It won't shift into gears and shoots up to 5000 rpms no matter how lightly I play with the gas. So if you unhook the cable going to the sensor it will drive fine for the time being?

21st Jul 2007, 13:24

My son in college has a '99 Taurus with only 70k miles on it and he is having power steering issues that we have not been able to fix. My daughter has a 2001 Taurus and we have spent a fortune on the front end.

I think the only thing to do with a Ford is never to buy one, but if you have a Ford lemon write it off when it starts causing problems. Don't bother spending a dollar on it because you will never get your money back.

29th Jul 2007, 14:12

I bought my '99 Ford Taurus 2 1/2 years ago. It had 86,000 miles on it. Not even 6 months after I bought it, I started having problems with it, all the same ones mentioned above, and more. First came the speed sensors. Then the transmission started to give me problems (slipping, trouble shifting, etc). Then the heat went, followed shortly after by the A/C. Then the alternator started to go. The car had so many problems I couldn't keep up with them, time-wise or financially. The car was in the shop, literally, about every 4 to 5 months. Finally, two weeks ago, while in New Hampshire, on vacation, at 9:30 at night, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by woods, while I was alone, my transmission died. Nice, huh? Needless to say, I would never purchase another Ford Taurus, nor advocate the purchase of one by anyone else. It was the most unreliable, troublesome car I have ever owned, and from what I'm seeing here, I guess that's not really anything out of the ordinary for this car.

9th Oct 2007, 08:21

My 1999 Ford Taurus is the best car I have ever owned. It has 153,000 miles on it and is still going strong! Thanks Ford for building quality dependable cars. If you properly maintain it will work for you. Most people don't properly maintain so they have issues and think its the maker, but buy what ever makes you happy and maintain it.

25th Oct 2007, 20:56

I recently got rid of my ailing 99 Taurus and I will never buy another Ford again.

First off - two days after buying the car, the O2 sensor goes (bought an extended warranty, but still had to pay $100 bucks) Then the alternator died about a year later - another $500 bucks. The brakes were horrible, couldn't keep the thing aligned, and the rear door locks were intermittent at best.

And before anyone says you have to maintain a car by servicing it - I did. The transmission was about to go after 180,000 miles - and I had the fluid flushed every 25K which is more often than recommended. In fact the mechanic thought I misspoke when I told him how many miles were on it.

Long story short - traded it in and now have a Nissan in the driveway... Never again will I buy a Ford.

26th Oct 2007, 16:50

What, you took this thing all the way to 180000 miles without a major repair and you see nothing good in it?

1st May 2008, 14:14

A person must be crazy to expect the average automatic transmission to last 180,000+ miles. Good grief. I have never had a Toyota or Honda last that long, except for an OLD 'Yota SR5 pickup that finally rusted out at over 200k.

My 99 Taurus LX stripped-down, barebones machine was the most reliable car I've ever had, overall. I experienced some quirky issues but I was able to take care of all of them with simple, cheap fixes. For example: The infamous dome light that never goes off, just spray some lubricant into the door latches and voila, problem solved.

My only major issue was that my transmission went at 130,000 miles; I considered that great because of all the folks complaining about replacing theirs at 50k or 60k. Not to mention it was the "weaker" model transmission, the AX4S (compared to the AX4N).

Perhaps I got lucky... I see many more complaints about the '96 - '99 Taurus than the previous generation ('95 and earlier). But mine was a reliable workhorse to the end.

4th Dec 2008, 16:08

Oh Man!!! What a piece of garbage!!! Dig this list everyone;

- Replaced wheel bearings - $200.00 each

- Replaced ball joints - $200.00 each

- Replaced power steering pump... twice - $300.00

- Replaced power steering rack and pinion... 3 times!!! $2700.00

- Replaced heater core - $150.00

- Replaced brakes front and back 5 times - about $400.00

- Still steering shaking problems

- Replaced wheel knuckle driver side - $500.00

- Replaced axle driver side - $300.00

- Replaced wiper motor - $150.00

- Replaced transmission - $2700.00

- Replaced all brake lines and fuel lines - $1000.00

The only thing going for me is that I had to buy a parts car. Only $100.00 figures.

Never a Ford again. Everyone says that and Ford should start to figure out why it is going into receivership. Only foreign for me from now on. Ford... you suck!!!