NHTSA Complaint #10383994 — 2003 FORD TAURUS

THE CAR IS MY DAUGHTERS. I MAINTAIN AND SERVICE THE CAR. THE CAR IS A 2003 FORD TAURUS. A WEEK AGO BOTH FRONT SPRINGS FAILED AT ONCE, AND SUBSEQUENTLY CUT THE INSIDES OF BOTH FRONT TIRES CAUSING THEM TO BLOW OUT. FORTUNATELY THE TIRES FAILED IN THE DRIVEWAY AND NOT WHILE SHE WAS ON THE HIGHWAY COMMUTING TO OR FROM WORK. I CALLED THE FORD DEALER AND ASKED IF THERE WAS A RECALL ON THIS FAILURE. THE PERSON SAID THAT THE 'OASIS' SYSTEM DID NOT SHOW ANY RECALLS ON THE SPECIFIC VIN. I THEN ARRANGED FOR THE CAR TO BE TOWED TO MY LOCAL MECHANIC (WHO PREVIOUSLY WORKED AT THE LOCAL FORD DEALER FOR OVER 15 YEARS), SINCE THE FORD DEALER IS EXCESSIVELY EXPENSIVE. HE SAID THAT THE BROKEN SPRINGS (BOTH) TWISTED IN SUCH A WAY AS TO CUT BOTH THE FRONT TIRES ON THE INSIDE SIDE WALL. HE ALSO HAD TO REPLACE A SWAY BAR LINK (BROKEN IN THE SPRING FAILURE), AND BOTH FRONT STRUTS BLOWN OUT WHEN THE BROKEN SPRINGS ALLOWED ALL THE CARS WEIGHT TO BOTTOM OUT ON THE STRUTS. THE CAR IS CURRENTLY AT THE TIRE SHOP GETTING TWO REPLACEMENT TIRES (THE BLOWN OUT ONES HAD 70% TREAD REMAINING) AND A FRONT END ALIGNMENT. THIS FAILURE COULD HAVE BEEN CATASTROPHIC HAD IT HAPPENED AT HIGHER SPEED OR ON THE HIGHWAY. THIS IS AN EXTREME SAFETY HAZARD AND SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED BY THE NHTSA. I'M AWARE THAT THE FAILURE OF SPRINGS ON FORD'S TAURUS/SABLE, ESCORT/TRACER, AND OTHER FORD MODELS IS NOT UNCOMMON AND HAS BEEN A PROBLEM OVER THE YEARS. THIS SPECIFIC TYPE OF FAILURE, WHERE THE TIRES ARE CUT AND BLOWOUT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED ASAP. I HAVE NOTIFIED FOMOCO AS WELL. *TR