Vehicle report
1997 FORD TAURUS
This model year
What the record shows
The 1997 Ford Taurus is a midsize car, and the 21st model year of a nameplate NHTSA records from 1977 to 2019.
The EPA rated two configurations: a single 3-litre six-cylinder engine, front-wheel drive only, a single transmission, Automatic 4-spd and running on regular gasoline.
Combined fuel economy ranges from 20 to 21 mpg depending on which one you have.
The federal record holds 770 owner complaints and 247 service bulletins for it.
Counts are reports, not rates. A complaint is something an owner chose to file; it is unverified and unadjusted for how many of these cars were sold, so the useful comparison is against other model years of the same car. Recalls and investigations carry more weight because a manufacturer or regulator acted on them.
Reading this report
Complaint counts are reports filed with NHTSA, not failure rates. A common model collects more of them than a rare one that breaks more often.