1997 Ford Taurus Sho problems
The 1997 Ford Taurus Sho has 40 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (58%) concerns engine. After that come electrical system (10%) and brakes (5%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 40 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 58% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 3 and 7
- Injuries and deaths
- 0 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 86,000 miles 23 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 1 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 1 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 1 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 7 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 4 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 3 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 6 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 23 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 86,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 77,000 miles (18 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 3 complaints mention a crash; 7 complaints mention a fire. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 85% of model years in our database.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
My car caught on fire . It was parked at 8 p.m on sat 2/05/04 and at around 4 a.m 0n 2-06-05 I look out the window and my car was engulfed in fire the fire started in the front and worked its way towards the back.
There is a electrical problem with the 1997 ford taures. I replaced the fuse for my power windows & now my dash lights & tail lights don't work. I was looking at the lights & the socket in which the bulbs go are burned. Motor caught slight fire but can't find the electrical problem.
1997 ford sho tauras. This car quit on my wife in the middle of the interstate,no power no where.there was cars sliding,honking horn etc.to keep from hitting or causing serious damage to her.I wasn,t concern about the car,but she could have been hurt.this issue is very dangerous and costly.someone needs to step in and take these cars off the highway,before its to late.my car is sitting in the garage dripping oil every where.cost to much to fix to much to sell.just have little over 70000 miles.if anyone needs a car…
On august 18, 2002 I had catastrophic engine failure due to a camshaft sprocket failure. A website [link removed] shows 241 failures that they can document.