2009 Ford Taurus Problems

What owners report

Owners of this model year most often describe the engine shutting off while driving — frequently while coasting downhill, in cruise control, or at low speed — after which the car restarts with no trouble code stored. A second cluster of complaints covers unexpected acceleration and braking behavior, and a third covers airbags that did not deploy in crashes. Many of the stall reports arrive at very low mileage, suggesting they show up early in ownership.

1. 1
   Engine cooling

   Engine stalls or shuts off while driving

   • 19 complaints (30%)
   • median 5,431 mi at 0.7 yrs old (18 state mileage)
   • filed 2009–2016

   Complaints describe the engine quitting without warning while the car is moving — often while coasting, in cruise control, or on an incline — with dashboard lights coming on and power steering and power brakes fading. Owners say they coasted to the shoulder, shifted to neutral and restarted, and the car then ran normally. Several report repeated trips to the dealer where no stored codes were found, and some had the throttle body, fuel pump, fuel tank or camshaft sensor replaced without a lasting fix. Many are reported under 15,000 miles, including within the first few thousand miles on new cars, with others appearing at highway speeds later in life.

   2 related service bulletins

   What to check: Ask whether the throttle body or any stalling-related service has been done and whether the seller has ever experienced a stall; on a test drive, note any hesitation or rough idle when coasting downhill or with cruise control set.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “Purchased new 2009 Ford Taurus may13, 2009.on june 5 in late afternoon while traveling in heavy traffic thru a one lane construction zone on i80 in central pa. The engine stopped. I barely managed to get onto a narrow shoulder . There was no response on first try to restart. It restarted on th 2nd try. I took car to bethlehem Ford june 6 and they could not find a problem . Car had 3800 miles on it.”

   NHTSA complaint #10322571, filed 2010-03, 3,800 miles

   “On 2 occasions about a week apart, driving 40 MPH, down hill, coasting (foot off the gas completely), when engine shut off. First time stalled in r lane and I was able to restart. Second time I restarted engine while moving. Will take to dealer.”

   NHTSA complaint #10258102, filed 2009-02, 1,400 miles
2. 2
   Vehicle speed control

   Unexpected acceleration at low speed

   • 13 complaints (20%)
   • median 76,000 mi at 4.5 yrs old (11 state mileage)
   • 3 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2009–2020

   Owners describe the car surging forward or backward when they press the accelerator gently, or engine speed climbing while the brake is held. Some say the pedal felt stuck, and several report low-speed parking-lot or drive-to-reverse maneuvers that ended in a collision with a parked vehicle or another car. In a few cases dealers attributed it to the powertrain control module not being programmed correctly or to a sticking throttle. Reported at a wide spread of mileage, from a few thousand miles up to around 100,000, often at very low speeds during parking or pulling away.

   1 related service bulletin

   What to check: During a test drive, pull away slowly from a stop and try slow reversing into a parking space; ask the seller whether the PCM has been reflashed or the throttle body replaced.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “I was driving this 2009 Ford Taurus that I just got from the dealer ship.I was at a stop and there were people infront of me when I went to move forward I tapped on the gas pedal and it accelerated really fast and all of a sudden I hit the back of a van and my air bag went off ..I took it in to the dealership and they said the throttle was sticking , I believe that when I tapped the gas it stuck and accelerated fast making the car hit someone else ..my bumper is cracked and my airbag went off ....I believe that it was faulty and that this …”

   NHTSA complaint #10508726, filed 2013-04, 151,000 miles

   “Tl-the contact owns a 2009 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that when he was at a stop and attempted to accelerate, the vehicle would lose all power. The engine would rev but not move forward. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealership but the dealer told the contact that was how the vehicle was designed.the dealer also stated that it took time to send the signal to the computer. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact had not notified the manufacturer of the problem. The current mileage was approximately 19,700. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10355750, filed 2010-09, 30 miles
3. 3
   Air bags

   Airbags did not deploy in a crash

   • 6 complaints (9%)
   • median 59,500 mi at 4.0 yrs old (6 state mileage, few)
   • 6 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2012–2020

   Complaints describe frontal or side impacts at normal road speeds in which the airbags did not deploy, while occupants reported broken bones, bruises and back injuries. One owner noted the passenger-side bag deployed but the driver-side did not. In several cases owners said the manufacturer was contacted but offered no assistance because the vehicle was not under a recall. Mostly reported between roughly 55,000 and 100,000 miles, in crashes at around 45 mph.

   1 related service bulletin

   What to check: Check that the airbag warning lamp does the normal self-test at startup and has no stored codes; ask whether any airbag-related software update or service has been performed.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “This vehicle was struck in an accident and no airbag was deployed. It was traveling through an intersection, when a 2012 dodge ram 1500 turned in to the vehicle from the opposite direction left turn lane. The driver door had to be cut open to extract the driver. So the car was moving and the impact knocked this car in to another vehicle as well.”

   NHTSA complaint #11300886, filed 2020-01, 100,000 miles

   “The contact owned a 2009 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 45 MPH, another vehicle crashed into her when it drove through a stop light. The air bags did not deploy. The police reported to the scene. The contact sustained bruises, a sprained back, and broken ribs. The vehicle was destroyed. The approximate failure mileage was 58,000... Updated 08-07-12”

   NHTSA complaint #10465432, filed 2012-07, 58,000 miles
4. 4
   Brakes

   Brakes applying on their own or dragging

   • 5 complaints (8%)
   • median 98,000 mi at 8.5 yrs old (4 state mileage, few)
   • filed 2010–2023

   Owners describe the brakes grabbing or coming to a hard stop without the pedal being pressed, often while turning or accelerating at low speed, and clearing after the engine is shut off and restarted. Other complaints describe a wheel dragging or the car spinning when braking for a turn, with a mechanic reporting frozen calipers that had to be replaced along with the rotors. Several owners say shops could not reproduce or find the cause. Reported from about 46,000 up to 174,000 miles, typically at low speed while turning or on city streets.

   3 related service bulletins

   What to check: On a slow test drive, make a few tight turns at low speed and listen for dragging or grinding; ask whether calipers, rotors or any brake-related software update have been serviced.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “Traction control locks up my front passenger side tire. This happened on 12/27/16 and two other times in the past. Brakes were not applied at the time. The traction control system locked the brake. There a many complaint of this happening on the web in other Ford models as well. This could be dangerous. I was pulled left and went off the road. Ford will not respond as they can't reproduce the issue. Someone will get hurt!!! I was doing 20mph when it happened all 3 times.”

   NHTSA complaint #10938312, filed 2016-12, 174,000 miles

   “While driving my 2009 Ford Taurus 83,000m the breaks hard stop on its own, it was hard enough that if me and my passenger was not wearing our seat belts it would have smashed his face into the dash and my face into my steering wheel, we were on a side street turning left and as I was accelerating the breaks hard stopped on its own. The other time the breaks hard stopped was while turning right once again accelerating and almost got rear ended on a very busy main street. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11374699, filed 2020-11, 83,000 miles
5. 5
   Transmission and drivetrain

   Rough or erratic transmission shifting

   Mentioned in 5 of 60 sampled complaints

   Complaints describe hard or delayed shifts, gears held too long, and, in some cases, the transmission dropping out of gear at low speed with a growling noise and then slamming back in. Some owners say the car rolls backward on an incline when releasing the brake in drive, and a dealer described that as a normal characteristic of the transmission. Others report clunking into second gear when cold and a momentary loss of power. Reported from a few thousand miles up to around 42,000 miles, often when cold or pulling away from a stop.

   What to check: Test from a cold start and drive slowly through the first few shifts, and try a stop on a hill to see whether the car holds or rolls; ask whether the transmission has been serviced or reprogrammed.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “On 4 separate occassions, my 2009 Ford Taurus limited automatic transmission dropped out of gear while I was accelerating slowly away from a stop The times they have occurred Is from a stop sign into traffic. It dropped out of gear at about 5 mph and made a growling noise. . I put my foot on the brake. When I started it again everything worked fine. . …”

   NHTSA complaint #11461742, filed 2022-04

   “The car has low miles for the year 42k. The transmission has always been erratic, hard shifting, holding gears for too long. A new problem that is happening, in the morning car clunks extremely hard into second gear. I went to accelerate onto a busy road and the transmission banged so hard it startled us and lost power. There's a safety concern with this because it lost all power and we were almost hit by an approching car. After doing searches on the internet, I found this is a common problem with a lot of Ford Taurus model. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11241226, filed 2019-08, 41,500 miles

Buying note. Ask for service records covering throttle body, PCM and transmission work, and test-drive the car both cold and at highway speed with cruise control engaged, since stalling and shifting complaints often appear early and intermittently. A pre-purchase inspection by an independent mechanic is worth doing given several owners report dealers could not reproduce their symptoms.

Summary written with AI from a sample of 60 NHTSA complaints for this model year (picked at random, with complaints that state a mileage and recent ones taken first), then checked automatically against the source records. Where a problem shows a complaint count, every complaint for this model year was matched with fixed keyword rules (written with AI and tested against the sample), and the mileage, age and repair figures are calculated from those complaints; owners' figures are as stated, not verified. Other counts refer to the sample. The excerpts come from NHTSA's public complaint records and are unverified; capitalisation is normalised, NHTSA staff notes are removed, and shortened text ends with “…”. Something wrong? Request a correction.