1986 FORD TAURUS — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 100 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (17 complaints · 17.0%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 2
  • Fires 6
  • Injuries 3
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1985 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution ELECTRICAL SYSTEM appears in 17 of 100 owner complaints (17.0%) in this vehicle snapshot. ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 17 complaints, 17.0% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 17 · 17.0% · 6 fire reports ENGINE: 16 complaints, 16.0% of reports ENGINE 16 · 16.0% POWER TRAIN: 14 complaints, 14.0% of reports POWER TRAIN 14 · 14.0% STRUCTURE: 12 complaints, 12.0% of reports STRUCTURE 12 · 12.0% SEAT BELTS: 7 complaints, 7.0% of reports SEAT BELTS 7 · 7.0% · 1 crash reports STEERING: 7 complaints, 7.0% of reports STEERING 7 · 7.0% · 1 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 4 complaints, 4.0% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 4 · 4.0% SUSPENSION: 3 complaints, 3.0% of reports SUSPENSION 3 · 3.0% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 3 complaints, 3.0% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 · 3.0% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 80 complaints, 80.0% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 80 · 80.0% · 2 crash reports 6 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 17 17.0% 0 crashes · 6 fires
ENGINE 16 16.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 14 14.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 12 12.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 7 7.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 7 7.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 4 4.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 3 3.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 3.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 80 80.0% 2 crashes · 6 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 1995. 1995-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1995-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 1995-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 1995-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 1996-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 1996-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 1996-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 1996-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1997-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 1997-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1997-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q1: 12 owner reports 12 1999-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 1999-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 1999-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports May 1987 Jan 2008 Investigation PE87030 ● Investigation PE87030 Investigation PE88014 ● Investigation PE88014 Investigation EA88032 ● Investigation EA88032 Investigation PE89007 ● Investigation PE89007 Investigation PE89006 ● Investigation PE89006 Investigation PE89091 ● Investigation PE89091 Investigation EA89023 ● Investigation EA89023 Investigation PE89126 ● Investigation PE89126 Investigation EA90006 ● Investigation EA90006 Investigation PE90019 ● Investigation PE90019 Investigation PE90066 ● Investigation PE90066 Investigation PE90071 ● Investigation PE90071 Investigation EA90042 ● Investigation EA90042 Investigation EA90045 ● Investigation EA90045 Investigation PE91036 ● Investigation PE91036 Investigation PE91108 ● Investigation PE91108 Investigation PE91128 ● Investigation PE91128 Investigation EA91042 ● Investigation EA91042 Investigation PE92056 ● Investigation PE92056 Investigation EA92040 ● Investigation EA92040 Investigation PE93100 ● Investigation PE93100 Investigation RQ97009 ● Investigation RQ97009
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 2
1995-Q2 Owner reports 4
1995-Q3 Owner reports 8
1995-Q4 Owner reports 5
1996-Q1 Owner reports 6
1996-Q2 Owner reports 6
1996-Q3 Owner reports 7
1996-Q4 Owner reports 4
1997-Q1 Owner reports 9
1997-Q2 Owner reports 3
1997-Q3 Owner reports 2
1998-Q1 Owner reports 1
1998-Q2 Owner reports 1
1998-Q3 Owner reports 3
1998-Q4 Owner reports 2
1999-Q1 Owner reports 12
1999-Q2 Owner reports 4
1999-Q3 Owner reports 8
1999-Q4 Owner reports 2
2000-Q1 Owner reports 1
2000-Q4 Owner reports 3
2001-Q1 Owner reports 1
2001-Q2 Owner reports 1
2002-Q3 Owner reports 1
2002-Q4 Owner reports 1
2003-Q3 Owner reports 1
2005-Q2 Owner reports 1
2008-Q1 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 PE87030
Defect investigation 1 PE88014
Defect investigation 1 EA88032
Defect investigation 1 PE89007
Defect investigation 1 PE89006
Defect investigation 1 PE89091
Defect investigation 1 EA89023
Defect investigation 1 PE89126
Defect investigation 1 EA90006
Defect investigation 1 PE90019
Defect investigation 1 PE90066
Defect investigation 1 PE90071
Defect investigation 1 EA90042
Defect investigation 1 EA90045
Defect investigation 1 PE91036
Defect investigation 1 PE91108
Defect investigation 1 PE91128
Defect investigation 1 EA91042
Defect investigation 1 PE92056
Defect investigation 1 EA92040
Defect investigation 1 PE93100
Defect investigation 1 RQ97009
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA records.

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 100 complaints · page 1 of 4

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources