Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (battery, alternator, wiring, ignition, instrument cluster, infotainment).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2006 Ford Taurus owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
Vehicle is now on 2nd transmission the original transmission failed around 60000 miles Ford originally put a brand new transmission in it for previous owner documentation was provided when we purchased the vehicle since move unknown where it's at now but this transmission has only 67000 miles on it experiencing same problems sometimes it will slip between 2nd and 3rd year other times it will slip between 1st and 2nd year sometimes they won't let it go over drive other times he gets stuck In overdrive no rhyme no reason for why it does what it does it just seems to do what it wants when it was but it really sucks when you're on the highway driving 75 mile an hour and decided to come out of overdrive and get stuck in 2nd gear so you have to slow down in front of everybody and it kind of forces you to do so that could easily get someone killed Going from 75 mile an hour to stuck in 2nd …
2/15/17- while coasting up-hill with foot not on the gas, car accelerated to over 4,000 RPM all by itself, braking was extremely difficult. I parked, turned car off, turned it back on and even while parked it revved back up to over 4,000 RPM. Took it to Firestone on 2/16/17- they replaced the iac (idle air control) valve. 3/3/17- while idling at red light with foot not on the gas, car accelerated/ revved up to over 4,000 RPM all by itself. Had to press on brake very hard and turn car off. Turned it back on and it was no longer accelerating. 3/4/14 took it to a different Firestone. They adjusted cruise control cable. 9/3/17- while idling on a bridge with foot not on the gas, car accelerated/ revved up to over 3,000 RPM all by itself. Braking was extremely difficult and had to turn car off in the middle of traffic. Turned it back on and it was no longer accelerating by itself. …
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that the air bag warning light illuminated. In addition, the contact mentioned that there was a short circuit within the radio, which caused the speedometer and the windshield wipers to fail. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The mechanic was unable to diagnose the failure for the air bag however, the mechanic replaced the windshield wipers and radio. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 95,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 60 MPH, the gauges on the instrument panel flickered, the vehicle decelerated, and the door locks started to click. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed, but the technician could not find a failure. In addition, while driving, the right turn signal failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 119,000.
While I was driving my vehicle accelerated to almost 50 MPH without me touching the gas pedal in at all. When I tried to break, my breaks did work but not completely. There have been multiple occasions when my vehicle has lost all power and completely shut off, every time being at an extremely busy intersection. My cruise control has been disconnected and the issue still occurs. When I turn my car on now, it goes up to 4,000 rpms by itself in park. Huge safety issue.
When turning steering wheel, at times an object can be heard rolling around in steering wheel. Also, mileage light is not lighted. It can only be seen at night when dark out. This has been a problem for the last 2 to 3 years. I took vehicle to a st. Cloud, mn Ford dealer on May 22, 2015, to see if the problem May be part of the recent airbag recall. Dealer advised that there is no recall on vehicle and the problem May be unrelated to recall.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that the vehicle would smoke when it was turned on. The oil, battery, engine warning light would illuminate on the instrument panel and the vehicle would make a loud noise. The dealer was notified, but did not assist the contact with the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure was not remedied. The vehicle was not repaired.
I own a 2006 Ford Taurus sel 12v, I was driving when all of the sudden, all of the lights on the dashboard (like ABS, brake light,) lighted up like a christmas tree and then I lost all power to the engine. I hit the gas pedal several times with no response but in about 5-8 seconds later, the car started up by itself with an abrupt and violent jerk forward. It was almost as if I turned the key in the ignition to the off position and then quickly back on .. While I was sitting at a red light, I noticed a whole lot of weird stuff going on. …
On numerous occasions my car has shut off while driving. Everything electrical shuts off and the car itself turns off. Basically the car is electrically dead. I have literally had to put the car in neutral, so it will continue to coast to lessen the chance of being rear ended, switch the ignition to off and pray that the car turns back on when I switch the ignition back on. In most instances this has been successful but on one occasion I was forced to pull off the highway and coast to a complete stop. The intermittent nature of this problem makes it very difficult to diagnose. I have checked the battery connections and the ground wire and all seem to be secure and tight with no "play" that I can determine. I don't believe it is the battery or the car wouldn't start to begin with.
I have a 2006 Ford Taurus and within the past couple of months it will die while sitting at a redlight. I have to turn off the ignition and restart the car and that usually solves the problem. This has happened about 6 times in the past 2 months. Today, however, it stalled at a redlight and I restarted but as I continued driving, the RPM would drop rapidly when I hit the breaks and it acted like it would die. I continued driving and was going about 45 miles an hour and all of the sudden all the odometers dropped to zero and everything on the dashboard went out. I pushed the gas pedal and then everything came back on. Very strange and now I'm worried the car might die when I'm actually driving and not sitting at a redlight.
Related recalls
Electrical system › Instrument cluster/panel
Certain passenger vehicles built for one specific fleet customer were modified for optional hands-free cellular phone operating capability. To provide this functionality, a special overlay wire harness was installed that inadvertently did not include the circuits for passenger air bag deactivation indicator (padi) lamp…
Remedy: The fleet customer was notified and all vehicles have been repaired. The recall began on April 28, 2006.
Electrical complaints in other Taurus years
Frequently asked questions
How common are electrical problems on the 2006 Ford Taurus?
NHTSA has 25 complaints about the electrical system of the 2006 Ford Taurus, 8% of the model year's 318 complaints. The component named most often is instrument cluster/panel (1 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2006 Ford Taurus electrical problems?
Yes — NHTSA recall 06V-119 (instrument cluster/panel, Apr 10, 2006). Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers.
At what mileage do 2006 Ford Taurus electrical problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 86,000 miles, and 5% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 0 crashes, 1 fire and 0 injuries to electrical system 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.