1999 Ford Taurus XL from North America - Comments

Everything! Do not buy a Ford, unless you love throwing away money! I thought that Ford had changed it's ways. I was wrong.

- Front motor mount... 3 times.

- Rear motor mount... 4 times.

- High pressure power steering hose. (Which almost never breaks on any other automobile)

- Power steering pump which got noisy after the above line broke.

- Both inner CV joints have caused tremendous vibration in the car and had to be repaired.

- Air conditioner compressor.

- High pressure air conditioner line... Not leaking O-Rings. The line actually blew up.

- Brake rotors had to be repaired several times due to warping and then replaced.

- Head gaskets which I didn't repair. I had another problem which necessitated engine replacement before I could repair the gaskets.

- Both outer and both inner tie rod ends.

- The wiper motor currently 'parks' the wipers up instead of down. At least they still work.

- Water pump.

- Alternator - 3 times.

- Stereo deck - The car came with a Ford 'Premium' sound system. Right!

- Some sort of vacuum sensor that deals with gas fumes was defective.

- When first driving in cold weather there is a very bad squeaking from the right front.

- When driving on the highway over 60 mph there is a 'catch' when making a slight wheel turn to the left that nobody can figure out.

-Throttle Position Sensor went out (the day I took it home)

Fuel gage sending unit never worked (read full or empty, nothing in-between)

-3 fuel injector went bad ($1500)

-2 Water pumps

-2 new rotors (recalled) replaced twice because the dealer didn't adjust the

back breaks and it fried the new set of rotors

-1 Heater core ($600)

-Alignment couldn't be set to specs. in the rear

-Trunk leaked (a result of the tail light gaskets being dirty, removing tail

lights and cleaning gaskets remedied this problem)

-Transmission leaked and then died (2 twice after only 10000 miles each time)

-Power steering hose ruptured

power steering pump leaked like a river

- oil leaks

Dead radiator fan.

In case you have had HEAD GASKET trouble like we did, we learned that Ford Recently (Feb 2000) announced a refund for Head Gasket repairs - this applies only to some '94 and '95 model year Taurus/Sables with the 3.8L engine (like ours, only they didn't include our model year - despite the fact that it was the same engine and same problem!) Typical of Ford, from what I can tell, but hopefully this will help you! Ford is offering an extended warranty on more than 700-thousand vehicles with this problem (gee, I wonder why it took them until the year 2000 to know there was a head gasket problem when I had this problem on a 1990 Taurus???). If you are affected by this warranty, Ford is supposed to send you a recall notice, but I would not trust them - you might wish to see the dealer on your own and ask about this... As I understand it, if you've paid for a repair to the head gasket, Ford will reimburse you, or you can choose a 4-thousand dollar credit toward the lease or purchase of a new Ford vehicle (WHY on earth you would want another Ford is beyond me though...)

One last note for the reader: I have a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, and a Master's Degree in Engineering Management. Although I do not design cars, I do know design, and I do know how to design quality in to a product (like Nissan did on my Datsun 310). I say this because, as a reader, you should know that I am more than a novice at understanding technical issues - I know how to maintain cars, I know what to expect in car troubles, and I've owned enough cars in my life to assert that this is the worst car we have ever owned. To those who might feel that my expectations are too high - let me point to my 1981 Datsun, and my 1996 Nissan S, my folks' 1979 Honda Accord and their 2000 Honda Civic, my brother's VW P.A.S.S.A.T - THESE are quality cars, designed well, and they rarely break down... If you think my expectations of what a car should be are too high, then I would suggest that your expectations are too low...

I understand where you are coming from being so angry when it comes to a lemon, because it sounds as though you had one. I've had my Taurus (a 1997 GL with 3.0 SOHC) for several years now and have not had a problem with it till now (vacuum actuator motor went out) at 103000 miles. I'd don't know where you had your work done, but $1500 dollars for 3 injectors, I think you should be writing a bad review to the vendor of the injectors and the heater core. They aren't time consuming jobs so labor isn't the reason, you were just ripped off. I have had bad luck with Ford mechanics in the past, so if you had the work done at a Ford dealership (Toyota and GM I've had equally bad experiences with) then I can see where your frustration and problems have come from. But I've also owned and worked on many other makes, including VW (a Passat as a matter of fact, and Passat isn't an acronym for anything) and Honda and I've seen some poor engineering and expensive parts on them too.

Also, as you said in your note to the readers, I have my masters degree in mechanical engineering and I did extensive vehicle and engine research for my thesis. I do all my own work on my cars so I know my way around them. Well, that's the end to my defense of America's best selling sedan. I like mine, it's been a very dependable car and my friends and family who have or have had one would agree. So sorry to hear you had a bad experience.

I have a 1991 Taurus with 149,000 trouble free miles - until recently, when the heater stopped working. This is not the heater core or radiator, which are hot and pressurized, but some switching stuff behind the dashboard.

I consider 149k with zero engine work or trans work to be pretty good compared to my other cars. I just bought a low-miles 1999 Taurus and hope to reach 150k with this, too.

I own a 1999 Ford Taurus 3.0 flexible fuel. With 72K miles, it's maintained religiously.

Last winter I started noticing insufficient heat and a increased of noises, valves actuation and alikes when operating the temp control switches. After checking the obvious; hoses, thermostat coolant level, which has always being rust color. Even after flushing and additives.

I did some research and WALLAH! I, called the Ford dealer I worked at in 1999 (as a salesman) My friend and service MGR. said Ford had a large number of problems with this and had under warranty replaced bad water pumps. The impellers had corroded away due to the acids in the system, and would under certain conditions not pump enough pressure to properly maintain the heater core from clogging up with the RUST, and corrosion from some kind of a steel sleeve used, somewhere in this engine (the cylinder sleves perhaps), which leads to a plug up heater core. Although the engine temperature appears, at least in mine at this point, to be OK.

She said it was not a formal recall that she knew of now, and the labor (Mid-Atlantic) cost for a heater core replasment is about $550 or so. Give or take a hundred nation wide, 6 hours. If experience and done by a good technician, plus the water pump, plus if needed hoses, radiator flush and thermostat, may as well put a serpentine belt as well (every 75K miles, or risk a very costly repairs). So as you can see, it can add to a very costly repair.

But now to what I read somewhere in the Internet. You may want to research for it yourself.

Drain and flush the system yourself, or have it done at your local discount service center. It may just work for you. Mine has been done by myself every 2 years or 30K miles, and last year preassure back flush two times.

Run the car to normal operating temp. and carefully reach and touch the heater core hoses. If they only feel warm you most likely have a plugged up heater core. Disconnect the heater core, in and out hoses "off", the higher up the easier, and with care and funnel add "Gel, Liquid Drano", it will eventually work it's magic (30 min. for me). Then with your garden hose pressure nozzle do the rest until clear, rust and junk free water is all you see. This, fresh A/F, and a thermostat did the trick for me.

Ford Taurus's, may not be on par with other imports or modern domestic autos, but I have driven and have own MB, BMW, VW, Honda's, Toyota, Chrysler's and Chevy's and a few British (They are so so Regal looking, even when broken) and for it's day, mid-size, level of comfort and safety margin, has being the most economical car per driven mile I've ever operated at about $0.30 cents per driven mile, that I have ever owned.

My old Mercedes 300D went 375K before I passed her on. This I have yet to see, but it may be worth it to keep it until the wheels fall off, after all they are only transportation, no matter what else you may think. Well, maybe not that Ferrari 350 GT. Good luck.

I do not believe this guy's review. If all these things went wrong you figure he would have bought a different car by now. Plus I doubt this many problems would happen on a car. If these problems really did happen, you might want to change mechanics. He might be ripping you off. By the way my Grandma has a 99 with 100,000+ miles on it. The only thing she replaced is a speed sensor.

I own a 1996 Ford Taurus LX with a 24 valve V6 with 117,000 miles. I purchased it in 1999. It has had no major problems until about two years ago.

1. Fuel pump (Which cost $1500 because ford conveniently produced this vehicle with the fuel filter INSIDE the tank.)

2.Junkyard Transmission $2700 (because new one would cost more than book value of car) (at 100,000 miles. exactly. Coincidence?)

3.O2 sensors in side each muffler $150

4.Spark Plug Wire #5 Misfiring $200 Ford Garage

5.burns 1 quart of oil every 500 miles.

6.Service Engine Soon Light on 24/7 because transmission slips every once in a while when accelerating.

The only good things about this car is the body and the audio system.

FYI: I also own a 1987 Chevrolet Beauville Van with a 350ci V8. It has 270,000. The only things that I have replaced on it are the brakes and tires and one headlamp. Buy a Chevy.

I just want to comment, I have a "99" Taurus that I bought new and just this past week I was driving down my street going to work, and I heard a snapping noise under the hood. I pulled over, checked under the hood and to my amazement the belt was off! and I saw some drips of anti-freeze coming out of a little hole by a pulley, I got the vehicle to a shop and I was told that the water pump was getting ready to go out and the bearing went bad on the pulley and threw the belt, besides that my Taurus, has racked up over 100,000 miles and she hasn't really let me down! They are a great car.

I have a 99 ford taurus and about a month ago I was noticing that my warning lights weren't working except for the Service Engine Light... So a couple weeks ago I'm driving and I look down and the Service Engine light had gone off thought it was a joke, but I think my dashboard has died... however my dashboard lights work, my turn signals work, but nothing else.. I am also smelling a burning rubber smell when I shut off the car its coming from under the hood??? any ideas what I should do???

I also own a 1999 Taurus that I bought new and have had now for almost 8 years. The car has over 115,000 miles and is still going. The only thing that has gone wrong with the car since I have owned it is the heater core going out, and when that happend the car was still under warranty and I wasn't out any money. This has been the best car I have ever owned and I am thinking about buying a new 2008 model because of the luck I have had with mine.