2003 FORD TAURUS — Complaint #521612
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:STARTER ASSEMBLY:SOLENOID filed February 13, 2005
NHTSA complaint #521612 (ODI reference 10110477) concerns a 2003 FORD TAURUS and was filed on February 13, 2005. The owner reports the failure occurred on October 20, 2003. The vehicle had 8,182 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to South Dakota based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as electrical system:starter assembly:solenoid, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same FORD TAURUS cohort independently describe similar electrical system:starter assembly:solenoid failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2003 FORD TAURUS shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
AT ABOUT 8000 MILES I WAS DRIVING MY 2003 TAURUS WHEN I NOTICED AN ELECTRICAL SMELL. I PULLED OVER AND SHUT THE AIR CONDITIONING OFF TO LISTEN TO MY VEHICLE. THE CAR SOUNDED LIKE IT WAS CONTINUALLY TURNING OVER WHILE RUNNING. I TURNED THE CAR OFF AND REMOVED THE KEYS, BUT THE CAR WOULD NOT SHUT OFF. I PULLED MY BABY FROM THE VEHICLE AND RAN. SMOKE WAS POURING FROM HOOD. THE MECHANIC SAID THE SOLENOID SHORTED INTERNALLY CAUSING STARTER TO ENGAGE. WE HAVE SINCE HAD MANY STARTING PROBLEMS. RIGHT NOW MY CAR IS IN THE SHOP FOR THE 11TH DAY IN ROW.THEY ARE ON THE SIXTH ATTEMPT TO FIX THE VEHICLE. THE CAR WILL CRANK, BUT NOT START. THE SECOND TRY IT WILL THEN SPUTTER AND START. THEY HAVE EVEN REPLACED THE COMPUTER AND THAT DID NOT FIX IT. ALSO THE TIRES HAD TO BE REPLACED AT 22,500 MILES DUE TO VIGOROUS SHAKING. THE WHOLE CAR WOULD START TO VIBRATE AT ABOUT 40 MPH. AT 75 ON THE INTERSTATE THE FRONT OF THE CAR WOULD SHAKE FOR ABOUT 30 SECONDS THEN QUIT FOR 30 SECONDS. THIS ROUT
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 521612 |
| ODI Number | 10110477 |
| Date Filed | February 13, 2005 |
| Failure Date | October 20, 2003 |
| VIN | 1FAFP53253G |
Similar ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:STARTER ASSEMBLY:SOLENOID Complaints for 2003 FORD TAURUS
I PURCHASED THE CAR ON 2/11/08 AND THEN TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALER THE NEXT DAY BECAUSE THE DOOR PANEL BROKE OFF AND THE CAR WAS IDLING HIGH WHEN I DRIVE IT. THEY KNOCKED $1,000 OFF OF THE SALES PRI
I HAVE A CONCERN OF REGARDING A SAFETY ISSUE ON MY 2003 FORD TAURUS. I AM NOT SURE IF THIS IS THE RIGHT PLACE TO LODGE A COMPLAINT, BUT WOULD DIRECT ME TO THE RIGHT SOURCE IF NOT.*AK SUNDAY, NOVEM
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.