Owners have filed 145 complaints on the Ford Taurus X, covering 2008–2009. The system named most often is Steering (41 reports). Worst years by volume: 2008, 2009; cleanest: 2009, 2008. 6 reports describe a crash, 4 a fire. On average the car was 5.4 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Ford Taurus X
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 145 Taurus X complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Steering 41 Read
Loss of steering wrecked 2 tires
Suddenly wouldn't turn to the right when stopped, got increasing difficult from stopped position. The faster the vehicle would go the more the steering would loosen up. Makes intersections very dangerous and impossible to maneuver. Pulled shoulder muscle trying to steer out of the intersection
Steering suddenly becomes very difficult like the power steering failed. It intermittently has power assist and the fluid level is good. I was told this a well known problem that is more common in the 2008 model. Diagnosis indicated the rack and pinion and/or gearbox is bad. It's a very dangerous situation when it…
Power Train 39 Read
Put car in drive went forward like a jet hit basketball hoop was cemented in ground
While pulling into parking space at very low speed with right foot on brake petal, car accelerated up and lurched forward hitting parked vehicle in front. Had to apply brake harder to get vehicle in park to stop acceleration
While turning into traffic, the car suddenly decelerates as if someone is putting on the brakes, or more like the car is dropped into the lowest gear possible. After the car is brought to a complete stop it resumes normal operations. This happened three or four times. The dealer couldn't find the problem. I pointed…
Structure 9 Read
The contact owns a 2009 Ford Taurus X. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH and hauling a trailer, the tow hitch detached from the vehicle, causing the passenger’s side of the trailer to collapse. No one was injured. The contact was able pull over on the side of the roadway with the driver’s side of the trailer…
The contact owns a 2008 ford taurus x. The contact stated that the hood release lever is located directly to the left of the parking brake pedal. When he attempts to apply pressure to the parking brake, it is easy to accidentally press the hood release lever. As a result, the hood opens. The contact filed a formal…
The contact owns a 2008 ford taurus x. While parked the contact was standing underneath the lift gate when the lift gate warning was sounding and the lift gate suddenly slammed down with force striking the contact. The contact sustained a headache, stiff neck and back pain after the failure occurred but did not seek…
Vehicle Speed Control 7 Read
The contact owns a 2008 ford taurus x. While driving 65 mph merging into traffic, the vehicle accelerated independently without warning. The contact stated that the brake pedal was depressed, but failed to stop the vehicle. The contact also stated that there was an abnormal burning odor coming from the front of the…
Dangerous design of relation of brake pedal and accelerator (gas) pedal. The gas pedal is located within approximately/4 of an inch of the brake pedal. And the gas pedal is on a 15deg.angle from the top to the bottom leaning towards the brake pedal. When brake is applied there is insufficient space to avoid the gas…
Vehicle was accelerating without any command
Service Brakes 7 Read
Encounter in normal driving while applying the brake moving your foot from the accelerator to the brake pedal your foot seems to catch both making the car difficult to stop(engine runs faster while braking till you realize your foot is in contact with both pedals, happens several times a week with multiple drivers
Failure of vehicle to stop. Two incidents - 10/25/08 & 7/13/09. Traffic light turns red, and I tried to brake and car does not stop, engine remains at traffic speed and roars. Shift to neutral and still no response and then turn car off and on. Back to normal and proceed to safely get off road and call ford service.…
2008 ford taurus x (formerly known as the freestyle) with premature rear brake wear. My vehicle needs complete rear brake pad and rotor replacement at just 25000 miles, at my expense. Ford customer care denying any responsibility for this issue, even with so many owner reports of the same issue. There is clearly some…
Suspension 6 Read
Front subframe (also referred to as K-frame, engine cradle, crossmember) rusted through forming large holes in two locations which could cause failure of the front subframe during operation. Locations mirror each other, are at the forward-facing side of the cross member just in from the point where the crossmember…
I was driving approx. 75 mph down the interstate and lost control of my 2008 taurus x. My vehicle left the road several times, almost overturned before I was able to get it stopped. A witness said my car was going sideways and he could not believe it didn't roll. The left lower control arm broke off of the sub frame.…
The transmission of our 2008 ford taurus x (49k miles) went into fail-safe mode on 6/21/2010 and was immediately taken to team ford. There was also a problem with the parking brake pedal working intermittently so we asked that this problem also be fixed while the vehicle was in their shop. The service manage said that…
Engine And Engine Cooling 5 Read
I have a 2008 ford taurus x with approx 8000 miles as of this writing. Approx. One month ago, I was driving on a very narrow 2 lane road and my engine failed. I noticed because the steering wheel would not turn and brakes were difficult to apply. I pulled to the side and started the car. It started right up. This past…
Vehicle lost all power, including brakes and steering twice. Once at approx. 8,000 miles and again at approx. 8,660 miles (may 2009). Vehicle made loud grinding noise and became very sluggish while driving approx. 15 mph. At approx. 15,900 miles twice within 1/4 mile (nov.2009). Dealership says they cannot duplicate…
Sudden acceleration while stopped in 2008 ford taurus x
Electrical System 4 Read
Vehicle had been parked and turned off for at least 4 hours. A fire was reported to my son who borrowed it for work. He used a fire extinguisher until the local fire department arrived. The fd disconnected the battery and put out the remaining fire. In their report stated the fire was electrical and started under the…
The vehicle was traveling at 70 mph with cruise control on, in heavy traffic. I tapped the brake pedal to release the cruise control and the vehicle lost all electrical power and stalled in the right hand lane of the interstate. Several commercial vehicles had to make a sudden stop to avoid a collision. The vehicle…
We are original owners on a 2008 ford taurus x with 143000 miles on it. The transmission has been shuttering and shifting roughly for the past 30000 miles or so. Recently my wife was driving at low speed when several warning lights on the dash went off, the miles until empty reading dropped to 0 (3/4 tank of gas…
Taurus X years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Air Bags | 3 | — | |
| 2008 | Air Bags,structure,service Brakes | 3 | 4 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 65 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.2 |
| Worst single series | 11 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.4 years |
A model average of 2.2 hides a worst series at 11. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Taurus X?
By complaint volume, 2008, 2009 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Taurus X years are the cleanest?
2009, 2008 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Ford Taurus X have?
145 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2008–2009. Of those, 6 describe a crash and 4 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.