What is the best year for the Ford Taurus?
No official dataset can support one universal best year. Use the table to compare complaint patterns and EPA figures, then open the shortlisted years for recall campaigns and exact specifications.
Model-year matrix
Ford Taurus
which year?
Compare every Ford Taurus model year the EPA recorded, 1986 to 2019. See complaint patterns, fuel economy and configurations side by side, then open any year for recall campaigns and the full dossier. Confirm against the official NHTSA recall search.
Evidence-led answer
Looking for the best Ford Taurus year—or years to avoid?
The official records cannot honestly name a best, worst or most reliable year. Complaint totals have no sales, mileage or age denominator. They can show where more reports were filed and which components were named, giving you years to investigate more closely before checking the exact car and its VIN.
Which Ford Taurus years should you avoid?
The records cannot justify a blanket avoid label. Years with more reports are surfaced below as research priorities, not predictions about every car from that year.
01 · More reports to inspect1993
1,557 indexed complaint reports; engine and engine cooling is the most-reported component label.
Open the 1993 dossier →02 · More reports to inspect20021,426 indexed complaint reports; suspension is the most-reported component label.
Open the 2002 dossier →03 · More reports to inspect20031,223 indexed complaint reports; suspension is the most-reported component label.
Open the 2003 dossier →Do not read this as an avoid list. Older and higher-selling model years usually accumulate more reports. A low count can also mean a newer, rarer or poorly matched vehicle—not a safer one.
Complaint totals are counts of owner-submitted allegations, not confirmed defects, and they carry no denominator: they are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received. A high-volume or older year will usually show more reports than a rare or recent one. The site does not convert these into a reliability score, because the data needed to do that honestly is not in the public record.
Direct comparison
Compare two Ford Taurus model years.
Choose any two years. The URL keeps the pair so you can return to the same comparison. Every figure below is an observed official record or EPA estimate—not a reliability score.
2018 Ford Taurus
- NHTSA complaint allegations
- 47
- Combined EPA economy
- 19–21 mpg/MPGe
- EPA configurations
- 5
- Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate
- $2,950–3,250
- Fuel labels
- Regular Gasoline
Most-reported component labelsback over prevention 10structure 10unknown or other 8
Open the 2018 evidence dossier →2019 Ford Taurus
- NHTSA complaint allegations
- 13
- Combined EPA economy
- 19–21 mpg/MPGe
- EPA configurations
- 5
- Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate
- $2,950–3,250
- Fuel labels
- Regular Gasoline
Most-reported component labelsback over prevention 6engine and engine cooling 2lane departure 2
Open the 2019 evidence dossier →Observed complaint-record difference
2019 has 34 fewer indexed complaint allegations than 2018.
This is not a rate or reliability finding. The counts have no sales, mileage, age or exposure denominator, and newer years have had less time to accumulate reports.Side by side
Ford Taurus by year.
Complaint bars are scaled against this model’s own highest year, so they compare years with each other and with nothing else.
| Year | Complaints | Most-reported components | Combined MPG | EPA configs | Annual fuel cost | Dossier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 13 | back over prevention 6engine and engine cooling 2lane departure 2 | 19–21 | 5 | $2,950–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 2018 | 47 | back over prevention 10structure 10unknown or other 8 | 19–21 | 5 | $2,950–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 2017 | 44 | electrical system 11unknown or other 9structure 7 | 19–23 | 6 | $2,650–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 2016 | 79 | back over prevention 25unknown or other 14engine 12 | 19–23 | 6 | $2,650–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 2015 | 268 | back over prevention 53fuel/propulsion system 53steering 50 | 20–26 | 6 | $2,350–3,100 | Dossier → |
| 2014 | 228 | steering 65fuel/propulsion system 54electrical system 29 | 20–26 | 6 | $2,350–3,100 | Dossier → |
| 2013 | 583 | steering 296fuel/propulsion system 96engine 69 | 20–25 | 6 | $2,450–3,100 | Dossier → |
| 2012 | 78 | steering 16structure 16electrical system 15 | 20–22 | 4 | $2,800–3,100 | Dossier → |
| 2011 | 187 | electrical system 48engine 40steering 25 | 20–22 | 4 | $2,800–3,100 | Dossier → |
| 2010 | 204 | steering 41engine 37power train 36 | 20–22 | 4 | $2,800–3,100 | Dossier → |
| 2009 | 64 | engine and engine cooling 18vehicle speed control 10air bags 6 | 18–21 | 4 | $2,950–3,400 | Dossier → |
| 2008 | 175 | power train 44steering 36vehicle speed control 32 | 18–22 | 4 | $2,800–3,400 | Dossier → |
| 2007 | 149 | vehicle speed control 55electrical system 31engine and engine cooling 22 | 20 | 1 | $3,100 | Dossier → |
| 2006 | 318 | vehicle speed control 181power train 33electrical system 26 | 20 | 2 | $3,100 | Dossier → |
| 2005 | 774 | vehicle speed control 541power train 124engine 68 | 19–20 | 6 | $3,100–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 2004 | 375 | vehicle speed control 166power train 74electrical system 26 | 19–20 | 6 | $3,100–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 2003 | 1,223 | suspension 331power train 319visibility 206 | 19–21 | 6 | $2,950–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 2002 | 1,426 | suspension 1,090visibility 102vehicle speed control 77 | 19–21 | 6 | $2,950–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 2001 | 1,037 | suspension 567vehicle speed control 100service brakes, hydraulic 87 | 19–20 | 6 | $3,100–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 2000 | 1,195 | suspension 483engine and engine cooling 110service brakes, hydraulic 108 | 19–20 | 6 | $3,100–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 1999 | 874 | suspension 187steering 115vehicle speed control 113 | 18–20 | 6 | $3,100–4,200 | Dossier → |
| 1998 | 545 | vehicle speed control 113service brakes, hydraulic 86power train 71 | 18–20 | 7 | $3,100–4,200 | Dossier → |
| 1997 | 770 | power train 228engine and engine cooling 168service brakes, hydraulic 71 | 18–21 | 5 | $2,950–4,200 | Dossier → |
| 1996 | 825 | engine and engine cooling 239power train 190steering 114 | 18–21 | 6 | $2,950–4,200 | Dossier → |
| 1995 | 1,205 | power train 418engine and engine cooling 400electrical system 104 | 19–21 | 7 | $2,950–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 1994 | 923 | engine and engine cooling 337power train 291electrical system 94 | 19–21 | 7 | $2,950–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 1993 | 1,557 | engine and engine cooling 760power train 183electrical system 178 | 18–21 | 7 | $2,950–4,200 | Dossier → |
| 1992 | 681 | engine and engine cooling 261power train 115service brakes, hydraulic 89 | 19–21 | 5 | $2,950–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 1991 | 649 | power train 280engine and engine cooling 147service brakes, hydraulic 83 | 18–21 | 5 | $2,950–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 1990 | 381 | engine and engine cooling 91structure 70steering 57 | 18–21 | 7 | $2,950–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 1989 | 562 | seat belts 144electrical system 135engine and engine cooling 114 | 18–21 | 8 | $2,950–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 1988 | 333 | electrical system 112engine and engine cooling 76structure 53 | 18–24 | 9 | $2,550–3,400 | Dossier → |
| 1987 | 255 | electrical system 82engine and engine cooling 42structure 34 | 19–24 | 6 | $2,550–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 1986 | 101 | engine and engine cooling 27power train 23electrical system 20 | 19–23 | 6 | $2,650–3,250 | Dossier → |
Evidence snapshot generated . “Not indexed” means NHTSA holds no complaint record matching this exact year, make and model — not that no fault occurred. Recall campaigns are not summarised here: NHTSA publishes no bulk recall dataset, and fetching them per year would take longer than the page should. Each year’s dossier shows its recalls in full, live from NHTSA.