12th Feb 2004, 12:37
I see I'm not alone... I bought a 1999 Taurus Se and drove it very mildly and mostly highway miles. I have serviced it religiously. I had bought an extended warranty that lasted to 75,000 miles. Right at 78,000 miles, the transmission began to act up and would not shift into overdrive. I brought the car to dealer who charged me $98 to tell me I need a new transmission. The service department manager said, "take it up with Ford". We did not build the car". When I searched the web, I couldn't believe the ocean of complaints and articles written about Ford Transmissions. They've had serious issues since the late 80's. Folks, if Ford has not fixed their transmission problems by now, it will never happen. Too many drive train issues!! By the way, I owned and sold a 94 Taurus too, which I got almost nothing for, due to transmission problems. I've had front end problems with both vehicles also. Ford is just not keeping up with other manufacturers in producing a solid, reliable drive train. Have you driven a Ford lately??? Never again for me!!
7th Apr 2004, 00:30
I, too, have fallen victim to the mysterious Ford demons. I have a 99 Ford Taurus LS with a little less than 100,000 miles on it. I bought it from my sister's company a little over a year ago. It had been her company car for three years and she never had a problem with it except that the brakes went out. Well, I had the car for 5 months when it began pinging and finally quit working altogether. It turns out that my engine was shot. It cost me 2,300 dollars to get the whole engine replaced. One month later my transmission suddenly stopped working in the middle of the highway. I was no where near an exit and came close to being hit by several cars. My mechanic flushed my transmission several times (for several hundred dollars) and managed to get it to work, but told me that it would ultimately have to be replaced. Three months later, it finally died. It is now costing me 1200 to get this replaced. Also there are several small oddities such as the brakes having to be replaced often, my tires having to be balanced almost every three months, the back passenger window only working some of the time, and the cigarette lighter going out. All of these repairs cost money... bringing my grand total to well over 4,000 dollars. That is more than I paid for the car itself. I am only a college student and Ford has taught me that good deals are not always what they seem. I will NEVER purchase a Ford car again. I have thoroughly been disillusioned. I would never recommend to anyone that they should buy a Ford.
12th Aug 2004, 19:28
Reading the stories before mine, is like finding my own words written by other people. Same problems, different day. My Taurus, 59000 miles well maintained and after two consecutive trips to the dealer, $700 to know that I need anew transmission that will cost me $3500. it is a shame.
21st Apr 2005, 08:10
I had a Taurus 1999 Station Wagon. I bought it new. I am very happy with the vehicle. These cars need to be serviced on time. Expect to replace the oxygen sensor, some electrical problem came. Replace the fuel filter every 30,000 miles. The cooling system is great (rare for Ford). For the transmission, that's true that's a problem. In fact, this car hates city ride. If you live in City, do not buy a Taurus. If you live in country side, buy it, that's a bargain. Also, change the exhaust system every 50,000 miles. Strange or not, the transmission is hurt by a classical loss of power.. Less you are agressive on the pedal, more you will have a happy transmission.
8th Aug 2005, 20:44
1999 Ford Taurus 65,000 miles, transmission problems. OK, I am convinced that others are in the same boat as I am... transmission problem with Taurus. I just had my Taurus towed to the Ford dealership and diagnosed. Transmission pump broke ($72 part) which caused body valve of transmission ($1,088 part) to be damaged. With labor, $1843.69 to fix transmission. I too am thankful that my family was not reared ended from behind when car suddenly died in a local Wal-mart parking lot. No warning at all. I just thank the good Lord for not being on the highway when it happened. Question is... do I fix it or spend $$$ on a new Ford? Think I better fix it since I have $6,000 left on note. Maybe this 1yr warranty will be worth it. Next car I buy though will be a Honda or Toyota!!!
29th Sep 2005, 09:11
Well, as they say: Misery loves company?? I have a 99 Taurus SE and I have had many problems as well. First of all, I have to change my brakes anually, they do not last any longer than that. I am currently having transmissions problems as well. When the car switches gears it bangs into place and slips frequently as well. Currently my car is having the head gasket replaced and will cost me about $ 1,200.00 to do so.. this happened with no warning at all. I was traveling on the highway at 65mph when I lost all power and the motor got rough and the rest is history. I also had trouble with all the automatic door locks which after several repairs do not function at all and to top it all, the key entry takes 5 minutes or more before the door opens. The heat never works for long and has cost me over $1,000.00 in repairs with no solution in sight...Signed..another disgusted Taurus owner.
18th Dec 2005, 23:24
I have a 99 Taurus. Transmission was replaced at 50000 miles. I have replaced different O2 sensors multiple times. coolant tank just replaced because it had cracks in it. tie rod issue recently fixed. bad battery terminals. check engine light horrors. in all probably spent 1000 in the last year fixing this car. I had an 86 Taurus before this one, never had any major problems, at least none that were not expected from a 17 year old car.
11th Oct 2003, 13:23
I own the '99 SE. My brother purchased it with 100,000 miles on the odometer and a dead engine. He replaced the engine and I eventually bought it.
The problems...
Squeaky brakes. Tried the squeak eliminator gadgets on the market and new rotors to no avail. Bought a new pair that were supposed to be low noise - anti squeak. The noise didn't go away. So I bought the highest quality, most expensive pads. The problem is still there, but no longer as noticeable. I am now hoping the pads need to "settle". It seems to be less of a nuisance as time goes by since it only happens when the brakes are cold. It's now 120,000 miles old and the steering rack (aka rack and pinion) needs replacing. So does the coolant reservoir because the super glue I used to seal the crack isn't 100% effective.
I like the car. I had heard and read average ratings for most American cars. It kind of made me sad, but I still wanted the standard American vehicle: in my mind, the Taurus. I still like it.