1990 FORD TAURUS — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 376 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: STRUCTURE (58 complaints · 15.4%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 28
  • Fires 23
  • Injuries 25
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1989 →
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 STRUCTURE appears in 58 of 376 owner complaints (15.4%) in this vehicle snapshot. STRUCTURE: 58 complaints, 15.4% of reports STRUCTURE 58 · 15.4% · 1 crash reports ENGINE: 57 complaints, 15.2% of reports ENGINE 57 · 15.2% · 5 fire reports STEERING: 39 complaints, 10.4% of reports STEERING 39 · 10.4% · 2 crash reports 4 fire reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 37 complaints, 9.8% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 37 · 9.8% · 8 fire reports AIR BAGS: 35 complaints, 9.3% of reports AIR BAGS 35 · 9.3% · 16 crash reports 1 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 28 complaints, 7.5% of reports POWER TRAIN 28 · 7.5% · 1 fire reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 24 complaints, 6.4% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 24 · 6.4% · 5 crash reports SEAT BELTS: 19 complaints, 5.0% of reports SEAT BELTS 19 · 5.0% · 2 crash reports VISIBILITY: 15 complaints, 4.0% of reports VISIBILITY 15 · 4.0% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 286 complaints, 76.1% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 286 · 76.1% · 20 crash reports 22 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)
STRUCTURE 58 15.4% 1 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 57 15.2% 0 crashes · 5 fires
STEERING 39 10.4% 2 crashes · 4 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 37 9.8% 0 crashes · 8 fires
AIR BAGS 35 9.3% 16 crashes · 1 fires
POWER TRAIN 28 7.5% 0 crashes · 1 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 24 6.4% 5 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 19 5.0% 2 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 15 4.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 286 76.1% 20 crashes · 22 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: 13 owner reports 13 1995-Q2: 14 owner reports 14 1995-Q3: 22 owner reports 22 1995-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 1996-Q1: 15 owner reports 15 1996-Q2: 18 owner reports 18 1996-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 1996-Q4: 17 owner reports 17 1997-Q1: 19 owner reports 19 1997-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 1997-Q3: 14 owner reports 14 1997-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 1998-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 1998-Q3: 17 owner reports 17 1998-Q4: 15 owner reports 15 1999-Q1: 24 owner reports 24 1999-Q2: 26 owner reports 26 1999-Q3: 17 owner reports 17 1999-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2000-Q1: 12 owner reports 12 2000-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2000-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2000-Q4: 13 owner reports 13 2001-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2001-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2002-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2002-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2002-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2003-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2003-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Aug 1990 Oct 2009 Investigation PE90104 ● Investigation PE90104 Investigation PE90113 ● Investigation PE90113 Investigation EA90045 ● Investigation EA90045 Investigation EA91011 ● Investigation EA91011 Investigation PE91108 ● Investigation PE91108 Investigation EA91042 ● Investigation EA91042 Investigation PE92014 ● Investigation PE92014 Investigation PE92044 ● Investigation PE92044 Investigation EA92040 ● Investigation EA92040 Investigation PE93058 ● Investigation PE93058 Investigation PE93065 ● Investigation PE93065 Investigation PE93100 ● Investigation PE93100 Investigation EA94008 ● Investigation EA94008 Investigation DP95004 ● Investigation DP95004 Investigation DP96014 ● Investigation DP96014
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 13
1995-Q2 Owner reports 14
1995-Q3 Owner reports 22
1995-Q4 Owner reports 8
1996-Q1 Owner reports 15
1996-Q2 Owner reports 18
1996-Q3 Owner reports 10
1996-Q4 Owner reports 17
1997-Q1 Owner reports 19
1997-Q2 Owner reports 9
1997-Q3 Owner reports 14
1997-Q4 Owner reports 8
1998-Q1 Owner reports 4
1998-Q2 Owner reports 6
1998-Q3 Owner reports 17
1998-Q4 Owner reports 15
1999-Q1 Owner reports 24
1999-Q2 Owner reports 26
1999-Q3 Owner reports 17
1999-Q4 Owner reports 7
2000-Q1 Owner reports 12
2000-Q2 Owner reports 8
2000-Q3 Owner reports 6
2000-Q4 Owner reports 13
2001-Q1 Owner reports 8
2001-Q2 Owner reports 2
2001-Q3 Owner reports 4
2001-Q4 Owner reports 1
2002-Q1 Owner reports 6
2002-Q2 Owner reports 3
2002-Q3 Owner reports 5
2002-Q4 Owner reports 3
2003-Q2 Owner reports 3
2003-Q3 Owner reports 2
2003-Q4 Owner reports 3
2004-Q1 Owner reports 2
2004-Q2 Owner reports 2
2004-Q3 Owner reports 2
2005-Q1 Owner reports 2
2005-Q2 Owner reports 1
2006-Q3 Owner reports 1
2008-Q3 Owner reports 1
2009-Q2 Owner reports 1
2009-Q3 Owner reports 1
2009-Q4 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 PE90104
Defect investigation 1 PE90113
Defect investigation 1 EA90045
Defect investigation 1 EA91011
Defect investigation 1 PE91108
Defect investigation 1 EA91042
Defect investigation 1 PE92014
Defect investigation 1 PE92044
Defect investigation 1 EA92040
Defect investigation 1 PE93058
Defect investigation 1 PE93065
Defect investigation 1 PE93100
Defect investigation 1 EA94008
Defect investigation 1 DP95004
Defect investigation 1 DP96014
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 376 complaints · page 1 of 16

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