Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (doors, hood, frame, rust, paint and trim).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2002 Ford Taurus owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
My son was driving my 2002 Ford Taurus on 4-15-2014 at approximately 12:00 a.m. He had the cruise control set to 35 MPH. While driving, the cruise control began to accelerate. He tried to disengage the cruise control by hitting the brake. The cruise control would not disengage and the car kept accelerating reaching the speed of about 70mph. As a turn approached he could no longer control the vehicle. He hit a curb and a stop sign before the car came to a stop on the roadway. This was not the first instance with that vehicle and cruise control malfunctions, though this was the only time that the cruise control caused an accident. The vehicle had to be towed from the scene. The vehicle sustained $6005.00 of damage and is a total loss. Which does not include the cost of fixing the cruise control and acceleration issues.
I am being told this third party as I was unable to see the accident scene and have not seen a police report. My 19-yr old daughter was exiting a main road slowing to a stop. She was doing approximately 2-3 MPH when she was struck from behind by another vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed. The impact knocked her vehicle into the vehicle in front of her knocking that vehicle into the vehicle in front of it. My daughter's airbags did not deploy. She received whiplash from the incident as she was forced backward and frontward. She also hit her head on the steering wheel. Her significant other hit his knee on the passenger side dash. Both were wearing their seatbelts at the time. Her vehicle (titled in my name and purchased by me) sustained major disabling damage resulting in a total loss.
The driver's door handle will freeze up on particularly cold days, and the door will not stay shut once it has been opened. Consequently, the door has to be tied shut, or it has to be held on to. It has been this way for about 3 years, even though we have attempted several "sure" fixes for the problem. Once the weather warms up, the problem goes away... Until the next cold snap. It is not cold out right now, so I can't document this with a photograph. Incidentally, all of the outside door handles tend to stay in the "open" position once they have been lifted. We tend to get in the habit of pushing them down after we open it, but it seems unsafe to me.
Lower body has sever rust. Rocker panels are completely rotted off despite taking care to wash the cars under body in the winter. Floors are soft. Upper body has no rust issues. Lower body I have had to treat with rust preventative every year for the past 8 years. I believe the car will be too rusted to drive in the next 6 to 8 months.
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that the vehicle's windshield was loosening on the upper passenger side. The contact noticed that the windshield was coming out of the molding. The dealer and manufacturer were not notified. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 129,000.
I have a 2002 Ford Taurus. On the evening of jan. 22, 2008 my wife was leaving work when she heard a loud thump, the front of the vehicle fell downward. She was unable to steer, move forward or reverse. Having to move the vehicle, we had it towed to a near by auto repair station where it was than inspected. Needing the vehicle asap, the technician called that night to inform us that the drivers front coil spring broke in half and that it was wedge into the wheel. After further inspection he found that the pass front coil spring was also cracked. Needing the vehicle, I had them do the repairs which included coil springs, struts, damaged sway bar links, and bearings for a total $ 810.84. When I picked the vehicle up I was told by the tech that the rear springs are also cracked and should be replaced asap. …
I have a 2002 Taurus where the passenger side floor was getting sopping wet when the A/C was used. I determined the problem was back-flow through the high density foam seal that surrounds the drain spout. The drain spout goes through a hole in the firewall, and black high density foam seals between the hole and the evaporator drain spout. Because the drain spout is more or less horizontal, instead of dripping off the end of the spout, the water was flowing back along the bottom of the spout toward the firewall, then wicking through the black foam back into the passenger compartment, resulting in a soaked passenger side floor. Ford offered to remove my dash to find the problem for a cost of $800 in labor alone. This seems to me like a defect since there are thousands online having the same issue. …
Vehicle was running fine. Next day, no heat. I had a mechanic backflush the line after which I was able to get some(very little) heat for about 1 month just to get me through the winter. Following year, I had to have the vehicle backflushed again. Same results, but now the ac is staying on with the vent on and I have no heat any where but at the floor boards and that is very little to none. A mechanic advised me that it is the heater core and will need to be replaced. Other complaints on the heater core sound to be a result of an incident I had: when I bought this vehicle, I had a problem within 30 days of ownership where water was leaking under the hood from outside. I was charged for replacing a faulty cowlick. The dealership told me that this problem would continue to happen weekly when the car got wet if the cowlick was not replaced. …
Occasionally, after heavy rain, the passenger side floor of my Taurus would be soaked. This went on for a few years. During the winter of 2007, the blower motor stopped functioning due to the leak. When the blower motor stopped working I was on the highway and could not defrost my windows. This was especially dangerous because of the snowy and icy conditions. Not only was I unable to defrost the inside of my windshield, but I also could not prevent ice from forming on the outside of my windshield. It was an extremely dangerous situation and I had to exit the highway. The window cowl under the windshield and various parts of the blower motor were replaced. This did stop the leak. My Taurus is a 2002, but I have seen this problem in the 2000 to 2005 models. It is unacceptable that NHTSA has not investigated this and issued a recall. …
When I purchased the car, the low setting on the blower motor didn't work. I had the resistor replaced, and the motor worked for a while. Then I noticed water on the passenger side floorboard. Water was entering the passenger side, behind the dashboard, through a leak near the air intake of the blower motor. The water has rusted the blower motor, causing it to blow the motor resistors and short out the motor. It has also caused water damage on the passenger side floor. I had to take the vehicle to the dealer to have the leak sealed and the blower motor replaced. I am currently waiting for the work to be done, so I don't have an idea of what it will cost yet. I will request that they return the old blower motor to me.
Body complaints in other Taurus years
Frequently asked questions
How common are body problems on the 2002 Ford Taurus?
NHTSA has 54 complaints about the body & structure of the 2002 Ford Taurus, 4% of the model year's 1,426 complaints. The component named most often is body (15 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2002 Ford Taurus body problems?
No. NHTSA lists no body & structure recall for the 2002 Ford Taurus, though it has 3 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2002 Ford Taurus body problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 62,000 miles, and 4% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 3 crashes, 0 fires and 3 injuries to body & structure problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
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.