2003 FORD TAURUS — Complaint #665166
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:STARTER ASSEMBLY:SOLENOID filed April 10, 2008
NHTSA complaint #665166 (ODI reference 10224111) concerns a 2003 FORD TAURUS and was filed on April 10, 2008. The owner reports the failure occurred on February 12, 2008. The vehicle had 73,348 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to California 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
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 PRICE AND TOOK OFF THE FORD WARRANTY FOR THIS EXCHANGE AND THEY WROTE OUT ANOTHER SALES CONTRACT. A MONTH LATER, THE STARTER WENT OUT AND I PAID $200.00 TO FIX IT (OUT OF MY POCKET). THEN, ON 4/7/08 WHEN I WAS ON MY WAY TO WORK, THE CAR BROKE DOWN AGAIN AND I CALLED RACEWAY FORD. THE CAR DEALER WHOM SOLD ME THE CAR TOLD ME THAT HE DON'T KNOW IF THEY CAN HELP ME AND IF THEY DID FIX IT, HE SAID HE WOULDN'T KNOW WHEN IT'LL BE READY BECAUSE HE'S NOT A MECHANIC (IN A VERY SARCASTIC TONE). HE TOLD ME TO JUST CALL BACK WHEN THE MANAGER ARRIVE AT 3 P.M. TODAY. I HAD TO GET MY CAR REPAIRED THE SAME DAY SO I TOOK MY CAR TO GENERAL AUTOMOTIVE SHOP IN MORENO VALLEY AND PAID $688.00 (OUT OF MY POCKET) TO GET IT REPAIRED. AFTER MY CAR WAS REPAIRED, ON 4/7/08, I WENT TO RACEWAY FORD AND WAITED 15 MINUTES
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 665166 |
| ODI Number | 10224111 |
| Date Filed | April 10, 2008 |
| Failure Date | February 12, 2008 |
| VIN | 1FAFP53293A |
Similar ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:STARTER ASSEMBLY:SOLENOID Complaints for 2003 FORD TAURUS
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
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.