Most common 2000 Ford Taurus problems
Share of the 1,195 complaints; one complaint can involve more than one system. "~" is the median mileage when the problem started.
Ford Taurus complaints by model year
Best Taurus years: 2019, 2017, 2016. Years to avoid: 2005, 2013, 2002, 1995, 2000. Compare all years →
2000 Ford Taurus recalls (8)
Suspension › Front › Springs › Coil springs
On certain passenger vehicles originally sold in or currently registered in the states of connecticut, delaware, illinois, indiana, iowa, kentucky, maine, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, missouri, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, west virginia, wisconsin, and the…
Remedy: Dealers will install protective spring shields. In addition, Ford is extending the warranty coverage of the front coil springs in all other states, for fracture only, up to 10 years of service or 150,000 miles,…
Exterior lighting › Brake lights › Switch
Certain passenger vehicles are being recalled to correct a problem with a malfunctioning stop lamp switch and/or associated wiring. This malfunctioning could render the stop lamps inoperable or cause them to stay on all the time. This could cause confusion to a following driver, which could lead to a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will remove the stop lamp switch and associated wiring assembly and install a newly designed stop lamp switch and wire assembly. Owner notification is expected to begin on April 5, 2004.
Service brakes, hydraulic › Pedals and linkages
Certain passenger vehicles equipped with adjustable padels are being recalled in order to adjust the brake and accelerator pedals to a minimum of 50 mm of lateral separation. Simultaneous application of both the brake and accelerator pedals could result in an increase in engine RPM.
Remedy: Owners will be instructed as to the proper way to set the position of the pedals and to take their vehicles to a dealer to have the spacing between the brake and accelerator pedals measured.
Visibility › Windshield wiper/washer › Motor
Vehicle description: passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, and light and medium duty pickup trucks. A switch located in the plastic cover of the wiper motor gear case could malfunction and overheat, potentially resulting in loss of intermittent wiper function, loss of wiper park function, complete loss of wiper function, or…
Remedy: Dealers will inspect the date code on the wiper motor. Motors built with the suspect time frame will have the wiper motor gear case cover replaced. Owner notification began August 20, 2001.
Exterior lighting › Headlights › Switch
Vehicle description: passenger and sport utility vehicles. Due to the use of incorrect material by a supplier, the headlamp switch knob can fracture and separate from the headlamp switch.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the headlamp switch knob. Owner notification began April 9, 2001. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a…
Exterior lighting › Tail lights › Switch
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles equipped with adjustable pedals. If the grease from the adjustable pedal assembly enters the stop lamp switch, it can contaminate the contacts leading to carbon build up, and potentially, a short circuit.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the brake lamp switch and wipe down the adjustable pedal assembly to remove excess grease. Owner notification began March 22, 2001.
Show 2 more recalls
Exterior lighting › Back up lights
Vehicle description: passenger sedans with factory or dealer-installed deck lid spoilers with LED center high mounted stop lamps (chmsl). Vehicles produced with spoilers were manufactured from March 1 through October 31, 2000; and vehicles with spoilers installed by dealers were manufactured from January 1 thorough December 30,…
Remedy: Dealers will install a jumper/resistor assembly at the spoiler that provides an electrical resistor to ground and corrects the chmsl and brake-shift interlock conditions. Owner notification began March 19, 2001.
Equipment › Other › Labels
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. The "vehicle capacity weight" and "designated seating capacity" information was not printed on the safety certification labels affixed to these vehicles.
Remedy: Owners will be provided with a supplemental label with the correct information, along with instructions for affixing the label adjacent to the vehicle certification label. Owner notification began October 20, 2000.
NHTSA defect investigations
Federal safety investigators have looked into 9 possible defects involving the 2000 Ford Taurus:
Brake light switch failure
Ford conducted a recall in March, 2001 to correct a defect affecting the brake light switch in my 2000 through early-2001 taurus and sable vehicles equipped with power adjustable pedals (recall 01v-078).rq03-008 was opened to investigate complaints concerning the remedy and scope of 01v-078.odi's analysis identified concerns with post-repair failures in recalled vehicles,failures in my 2001-02 vehicles with…
Brake/accelerator pedal application
Ms. Rodman reported that after her vehicle was inspected for the recall, her mother experienced a sudden acceleration and crashed the sable into a light pole.previously NHTSA had conducted an investigation for this issue (pe02-035) that resulted in the recall (02v-266) of 369,000 my 2000-2002 taurus and sable vehicles equipped with adjustable brake and accelerator pedals to insure that the separation between the…
Speed control cable damage
On June 21, 2013, Ford initiated Customer Satisfaction Program 13B04 to address a concern with Speed Control Cable damage in certain model year (MY) 2000 through 2003 Taurus and Sable vehicles equipped with 3.0L 4V Duratec engines and built at the Chicago assembly plant.In the dealer letter for the program, Ford indicates that the Speed Control Cables on affected vehicles may be susceptible to damage or becoming…
Rear coil spring fracture
The office of defect investigation (odi) opened preliminary evaluation, pe05-054, based on 131 vehicle owner questionnaires related to alleged rear coil spring fractures.since opening the investigation there have been an additional sixty-three (63) complaints alleging rear coil spring fracture.an analysis of the vehicle owner questionnaires (voqs) submitted to odi reveals that 42% of the complainants allege that the…
Front suspension coil spring fracture
Odi possesses 130 vehicle owners questionnaires (voq) alleging front suspension coil spring failure in the subject (model year 1999-2000) vehicles.an additional 11 voqs concerning my 2001 vehicles have been found, bringing the total to 141.more than 75% of these reports allege that the broken spring damaged or punctured the adjacent tire.all of these reports originated in the salt belt states located in the…
Frontal air bag non-deployment in crash
Ford motor company has identified 260 reports alleging frontal air bag non-deployment for any (severity) frontal or near-frontal crash on model year 2000-2001 Ford taurus and Mercury sable vehicles.additional crash reports are contained in NHTSA's fatality analysis reporting system (fars) database.the single odi report listed in the report summary is NHTSA's special crash investigation's case no.
Brake/accel pedal separation
Rear coil spring fracture
Odi's analysis identified a high complaint rate for the rear coil springs in the salt belt states (approximately 250 per 100,000 vehicles).approximately 59 percent of the complaints alleged that the coil spring failure caused damage to the adjacent rear tire, with about half of these (30 percent of total complaints) alleging that the damage resulted in air loss.because air loss from a rear tire can result in changes…
Frontal air bag non-deployment in crash
This investigation identified a total of 427 reports alleging non-deployment of the frontal air bags.of the 427 reports, two incidents (fatal crashes) have been identified as severe frontal crashes in which the frontal air bags did not deploy.a defect trend has not been identified at this time.further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted.accordingly, this investigation is closed.the closing of…
What 2000 Ford Taurus owners say
Suspension all 443 →
I was driving my 2000 Ford Taurus down the highway at 70 MPH with my wife and small child, on our way to church, when the passenger side spring broke and nearly pulled our car into a guard rail and off a bridge. This happened sometime in 2004 and I can still remember the exact location on hwy 59. It's a day I doubt I ever forget. I remember the mechanic telling me a front spring should never fail. He said there were no current recalls, so I was stuck with the bill. I remember being furious with Ford not only because my family nearly died, but because they wouldn't own up to something that should never happen. Here it is nearly 12 years later, and I found an invoice from 2008 for new struts and sway bars that cost me nearly $1,000. I can't help but think that bill was somehow related to what happened when my spring broke in 2004, but maybe not. …
Front end unacceptable! Then defroster didn't work in winter and I had to use my shirt sleeve to keep rubbing the windshield. I told ac collins Ford dealership that something was wrong with the coil springs and brakes when I bought it. I also told them that the ac was leaking in car. I told them that the steering wheel would shake when I was braking. I can send over the emails if you like. Ac collins sold me this car with serious suspension problems. You May have all records of proof. Front suspension coil spring fracture defect investigation for the 2000 Taurus investigation: #pe04044 opened: May 24 2004. Status: recall vehicle component: suspension:front:springs:coil springs*
Engine & cooling all 108 →
Part of the engine, top portion closest to the firewall on the passenger side of the vehicle, caught on fire while I was driving on a city street near my residence in lancaster, ca. I noticed the smoke emitting from under the hood when I came to a stop at the stop light.
On May 13, 2010 at approximately 8:50 a.m. My 2000 Ford Taurus caught on fire while it was parked in the parking lot of most precious blood catholic church in corpus christi. I was attending morning mass at the time of the fire. If not for the swift action of the secretary who called the fire department, the fire would have spread from the hood to the gas tank and it would have exploded. My car was declared a total loss and I was grateful that I was not in the car at the time of the fire. I have elderly parents who are with me all the time and some times they stay in the car while I run in to get them something from the store. My car was well maintained and only had 90,000 miles on it. My allstate insurance did pay me for the value of the car, however, I now had to buy a new car and I have acquired a monthly payment of $300 for five years, when I had no car payment on my Ford. …
Brakes all 108 →
Tl* the contact owned a 2000 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving at 45 MPH, the vehicle suddenly accelerated independently without any warnings and the brakes failed to stop the vehicle. The contact attempted to regained control of the vehicle but it crashed into a ditch. The contact sustained back and neck injuries that required medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to salvage yard and deemed destroyed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 136,000.
Started to smell burned wires in car. Look under dash and smoke and wires where burned. Brake lights dont work. Reading online and other issue with this car and people where having same issue. When I called dealer they said theres nothing they can do because they are no more recalls on that. But I think this is a safety issue and can cause great danger.
2000 Ford Taurus engines & fuel economy
| Engine | Transmission | Drive | MPG city / hwy / combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0L 6-cyl | 4-speed automatic | FWD | 17 / 26 / 20 |
EPA ratings. Class: Large car.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 2000 Ford Taurus a good car?
Based on 1,195 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the 2000 Taurus rates avoid: 4.2× as many complaints as a typical year of the Taurus at the same age. It is one of the Taurus years we suggest avoiding. Complaint counts don't account for sales volume or individual maintenance, so have any used car inspected before buying.
What is the most common problem with the 2000 Ford Taurus?
The suspension — 443 complaints, 37% of all complaints for this model year, most often about rear › springs › coil springs. Next are the engine & cooling (108) and brakes (108).
How many recalls does the 2000 Ford Taurus have?
There are 8 recalls for the 2000 Ford Taurus, the most recent from July 15, 2004 (coil springs). Recall repairs are free at any authorized dealer — check whether yours has been done with the VIN recall check.
What are the best and worst years of the Ford Taurus?
The best years by complaints, compared at the same age, are 2019, 2017 and 2016. Years to avoid or approach with caution: 2005, 2013, 2002, 1995 and 2000. See the full Ford Taurus years comparison.
At what mileage do 2000 Ford Taurus problems happen?
The median mileage reported in complaints is about 70,000 miles; 25% of problems with a recorded mileage started before 50,000 miles.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.