2009 Ford Taurus recalls & problems

Safety recalls

Recall repairs are free at any authorised dealer. A recall listed here may already have been fixed on a particular car: enter its 17-character VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see open recalls.

Crash test ratings

NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings (New Car Assessment Program). Ratings are comparable only between vehicles of similar size and weight, and ratings from 2011 on use tougher tests than earlier years. Photos: NHTSA.

Fuel economy

EPA estimates from fueleconomy.gov for each engine and transmission sold. Annual cost is the EPA's estimate for 15,000 miles a year at its current fuel and electricity price assumptions. Your results will vary.

What owners report

*Median odometer reading when the problem happened, where owners gave one. One complaint can name several problem areas.

Recent owner complaints

• Service brakes

  Every couple weeks when driving slowly around a corner, the brakes will all of a sudden come on & stop my car. If I had anyone behind me, I would have had several collisions, by now. My mechanic has looked at the brakes, wheels, etc., & cannot find the problem. I am VERY concerned about this defect. PLEASE HELP!

  Aug 16, 2023
• Suspension

  Car shop replaced front suspension struts 1/23/19. I told owner that made the clunking noise ever worse. Kevin said well, your car needs lower control arms, bushings, &engine mount. Had that done by same car shop on 9/16/2019. I told Kevin that did not take care of clunking noise. I took car to an auto shop where I moved to for maintenance. They told me my struts were bad. Called Kevin in Fayetteville & the struts were going out of warranty later that week. I drove up there & the replaced struts on 1/27/2020, under warranty but charged me labor. The clunking continued. Around 6/29/2022, my car steering locked up while I was driving on a busy street. I turned the car off & waited a minute to…

  Jun 29, 2022
• Power train

  On 4 separate occassions, my 2009 Ford Taurus limited automatic transmission dropped out of gear while I was accelerating slowly away from a stop The times they have occurred Is from a stop sign into traffic. It dropped out of gear at about 5 mph and made a growling noise. . I put my foot on the brake. When I started it again everything worked fine. . I was leaving a parking lot and I had reached a speed of 5-15 mph when there was no longer any gear, then it slammed into gear for a moment, went a few feet, then dropped out again, then slammed into gear again. I was able to coast to the curb in a residential area and turn the engine off. Fortunately no traffic was coming.Another time I…

  Apr 21, 2022
• Service brakes

  WHILE DRIVING MY 2009 FORD TAURUS 83,000M THE BREAKS HARD STOP ON ITS OWN, IT WAS HARD ENOUGH THAT IF ME AND MY PASSENGER WAS NOT WEARING OUR SEAT BELTS IT WOULD HAVE SMASHED HIS FACE INTO THE DASH AND MY FACE INTO MY STEERING WHEEL, WE WERE ON A SIDE STREET TURNING LEFT AND AS I WAS ACCELERATING THE BREAKS HARD STOPPED ON ITS OWN. THE OTHER TIME THE BREAKS HARD STOPPED WAS WHILE TURNING RIGHT ONCE AGAIN ACCELERATING AND ALMOST GOT REAR ENDED ON A VERY BUSY MAIN STREET. THERE WAS A TIME I WAS DRIVING AND MY CAR COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN/OFF ON ITS OWN I WAS DRIVING 40MPH I HAD TO PUT IT IN NEUTRAL AND START IT AGAIN WHILE THE CAR WAS STILL GOING OVER 35MPR. I HAVE HAD THIS CAR LESS THAN SIX…

  Nov 8, 2020 · 83,000 miles
• Air bagsCrash1 injury

  THIS VEHICLE WAS STRUCK IN AN ACCIDENT AND NO AIRBAG WAS DEPLOYED. IT WAS TRAVELING THROUGH AN INTERSECTION, WHEN A 2012 DODGE RAM 1500 TURNED IN TO THE VEHICLE FROM THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION LEFT TURN LANE. THE DRIVER DOOR HAD TO BE CUT OPEN TO EXTRACT THE DRIVER. SO THE CAR WAS MOVING AND THE IMPACT KNOCKED THIS CAR IN TO ANOTHER VEHICLE AS WELL.

  Jan 21, 2020 · 100,000 miles
• Unknown or other

  WHILE DRIVING MY DAUGHTER'S VEHICLE IT WILL RANDOMLY STALL OUT OR SHUT OFF. DASH LIGHTS COME ON, AND STEERING LOCKS UP. BOTH TIMES SHE WAS ABLE TO GET TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. SHE RESTARTED THE CAR AND IT RAN AND DROVE NORMAL AGAIN. SHE TOOK IT TO A MECHANIC AND THEY CAN'T FIND THE PROBLEM. THIS HAS HAPPENED TO HER TWICE IN THE LAST TWO MONTHS. SHE HAS ONLY OWNED THE CAR FOR A LITTLE OVER TWO MONTHS. BOTH TIMES SHE WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 45 MILES PER HOUR.

  Oct 13, 2019 · 95,000 miles
• Power train

  THE CAR HAS LOW MILES FOR THE YEAR 42K. THE TRANSMISSION HAS ALWAYS BEEN ERRATIC, HARD SHIFTING, HOLDING GEARS FOR TOO LONG. A NEW PROBLEM THAT IS HAPPENING, IN THE MORNING CAR CLUNKS EXTREMELY HARD INTO SECOND GEAR. I WENT TO ACCELERATE ONTO A BUSY ROAD AND THE TRANSMISSION BANGED SO HARD IT STARTLED US AND LOST POWER. THERE'S A SAFETY CONCERN WITH THIS BECAUSE IT LOST ALL POWER AND WE WERE ALMOST HIT BY AN APPROCHING CAR. AFTER DOING SEARCHES ON THE INTERNET, I FOUND THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH A LOT OF FORD TAURUS MODEL. THE FORD COMPANY IS APPARENTLY AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM IN THEIR TRANSMISSIONS AND WON'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. I PURCHASED THE CAR WITH 23K MILES ON IT. AS OF TODAY, WE…

  Jul 30, 2019 · 41,500 miles
• Unknown or other

  THE AC BLOWS HOT AIR ON THE DRIVER SIDE & COLD AIR ON THE PASSENGER SIDE.THE BLEND DOOR ACTUATOR IS BAD. IT'S VERY HARD TO GET TO AND VERY EXPENSIVE TO HAVE REPLACED. I HAVE SEEN OVER 100 COMPLAINTS ON MULTIPLE YEARS AND MODELS OF FORDS. ESPECIALLY TAURUS MODELS. PLEASE FORCE FORD TO FIX THEIR MISTAKES INSTEAD OF THE VEHICLE OWNERS PAYING UPWARDS OF 600 BUCKS TO HAVE IT DONE.

  Jul 1, 2019 · 74,640 miles

Owner complaints are submitted to NHTSA by the public and are not verified. Shown as filed (NHTSA removes personal details); long reports are shortened.