AutoUtility currently tracks 80 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2016 Ford Taurus. Driver Assistance & Safety Tech issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 26 complaints (32.5% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 4 filings cite a crash, 1 cites a fire, 3 report one or more injuries.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 80 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (26 reports • 32.5% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Engine & Cooling (12), Steering System (9)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 4 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 1 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 3 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
80
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
4
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
1
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
3
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2016 Ford Taurus

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 32.5% of complaints

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

26 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
⚠️ 1 crash report 🩹 1 injury report entry
#2 Problem Area 15% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

12 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
⚠️ 1 crash report 🩹 1 injury report entry
#3 Problem Area 11.3% of complaints

Steering System

9 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 2 crash reports 🩹 2 injury report entries
#4 Problem Area 8.8% of complaints

Air Bags & Restraints

7 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 3 crash reports 🩹 2 injury report entries
#5 Problem Area 8.8% of complaints

Fuel & Propulsion System

7 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
⚠️ 1 crash report
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2016 Ford Taurus

Specific mechanical, electrical, and driver-assist defect symptoms identified via deterministic narrative analysis

AutoUtility uses deterministic phrase matching to identify recurring symptom descriptions within consumer-submitted NHTSA complaint narratives.

Engine & Cooling 3.8% of complaints

Engine Coolant Intrusion / Oil Leak

3 complaint narratives describe this symptom
Symptom Identification Method: A complaint may describe more than one symptom, so percentages may sum to more than 100%. Symptom identification reflects text contained in consumer-submitted complaint records and does not establish a confirmed mechanical diagnosis.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2016 Ford Taurus

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11759637
Filed: 08/26/2026

"The contact owns a 2016 Ford Taurus. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall..."

Incident Date: 02/01/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: BACK OVER PREVENTION
Other / Miscellaneous NHTSA ODI ID: #11755923
Filed: 08/10/2026

"I own a 2016 Ford Taurus Limited that is covered under Ford Safety Recall 25SA9 / NHTSA Recall 25V-695 for the rearview camera. I received the recall notification in October 2025 stating that a remedy was not yet available and that I would receive another notification once parts became available...."

Incident Date: 10/15/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Body & Structure NHTSA ODI ID: #11753126
Filed: 07/27/2026

"The contact owns a 2016 Ford Taurus. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V611000 (Structure); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the passenger’s side B-Pillar trim became loosened. The..."

Incident Date: 03/06/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: STRUCTURE
Other / Miscellaneous NHTSA ODI ID: #11750840
Filed: 07/16/2026

"My backup camera rarely works and sometimes is upside down. It cuts in and out while backing up. There is a recall from Oct 2025 but still no fix."

Incident Date: 02/01/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11750232
Filed: 07/14/2026

"The contact owns a 2016 Ford Taurus. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 25V611000 (Structure) and 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable..."

Incident Date: 09/13/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: STRUCTURE,BACK OVER PREVENTION
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Ford Taurus

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2019)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Ford Taurus 269 12 6 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Ford Taurus Current Page 80 4 4 Current
2017 Ford Taurus 44 1 4 View 2017 Problems →
2018 Ford Taurus 48 3 4 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Ford Taurus 14 1 2 View 2019 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2016 Ford Taurus

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 27 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Back Over Prevention / Camera NHTSA category: BACK OVER PREVENTION 21 0 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 9 0 0 0 0
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 6 1 0 1 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 5 0 0 0 0
Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION 5 0 0 0 0
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 4 0 0 0 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,BACK OVER PREVENTION 3 0 0 0 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 2 0 0 0 0
Engine & Cooling NHTSA category: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 2 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 2 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,STRUCTURE,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SEAT BELTS,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 1 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 1 0 0
Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS 1 0 0 0 0
SEATS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,AIR BAGS,LANE DEPARTURE 1 1 0 1 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SEAT BELTS,SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 1 0
STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (80). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.
Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.