1998 Ford Taurus problems
Owners have filed 680 complaints with NHTSA about the 1998 Ford Taurus. Cruise control is the most reported problem area, at 17% of complaints. Next are brakes (14%) and transmission (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 680 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Cruise control 17% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 75 and 17
- Injuries and deaths
- 89 and 4
- Typical mileage
- 90,000 miles 173 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 | 6 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 8 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 25 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 38 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 25 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 27 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 12 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 17 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 9 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 5 |
What the data shows
Of the 173 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 90,000 miles. For cruise control specifically, the median reported mileage is about 90,000 miles (18 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 75 complaints mention a crash; 17 complaints mention a fire; 89 injuries reported; 4 deaths reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1998 ranks 11th most-complained-about out of 29 model years of the Ford Taurus with enough data (418 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 safety recall campaigns.
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.
This could have been a fatal accident I was driving at about 60 miles and all of a sudden I had lost control of wheel and was fighting to steer the car. This happened twice within a month 7/23/99 and again8/23/99. The lord was truly with me I could have had a serious accident both times.
I bought the vehicle from this company. I expect that all parts be in safe working condition... I was in an automobile accident june 3, 2005 in which while traveling about 50 MPH my car struck the side of a ford truck that had pulled out perpendicular into my lane. My car was wedged beneath the truck and the front end was demolished while the dash has evidence of moving back as well including the bruises on my knees and leg.
While pulling out of the driveway the front coil spring broke without warning. As a result, the front passenger side tire was punctured. There was a cut on the inside of the sidewall. The consumer also had a 2001 ford taurus that was recalled for the problem and a 1993 model that experienced the same.
While driving 15 MPH the front coil spring broke without warning. As a result the front passenger side tire was punctured. A manufacturer's recall 04s17 was issued for that coil spring, however this vehicle was not included in the recall due to VIN.