There are 4 stored owner reports matching the visibility & wipers leading-label group for the 1988 Ford Taurus in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 4 of 4 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)1988 FORD TAURUS GL 3.0L V-6. HEATER CORE FAILED DURING WINTER MONTH WITH TEMPS IN THE 30-40 DEGREE F RANGE. WINDSHIELD AND ALL OTHER WINDOWS FOGGED OVER AND ELIMINATED VISIBILITY INSTANTLY. THE INCIDENT HAPPENED AT NIGHT AT APPROX 9:30 PM. ATTEMPTS AT USING A PAPER TOWEL WHICH WAS HANDY WAS TO NO AVAIL. AS SOON AS THE INTERIOR WINDOW WAS WIPED, IT INSTANTLY REFOGGED. USE OF DEFOGGER WAS FUTILE AND USE OF THE AIR CONDITIONER WAS OF LITTLE TO NO HELP. THE IMMEDIATE NATURE OF THE INCIDENT, FOR AN INEXPERIENCED DRIVER OR A DRIVER UNFAMILIAR WITH THE ROAD IT COULD LEAD TO A TRAGIC ACCIDENT. ANYONE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AT HIGH SPEED WHEN THIS WOULD OCCUR WOULD VERY LIKELY BECOME DISORIENTED, LOSE CONTROL, AND CRASH WITH LIKELY FATAL RESULTS. THERE ARE VERY LIKELY, NUMEROUS "UNEXPLAINED FATALITIES" WHERE THIS VERY INCIDENT WAS THE CAUSE. AFTER THE CRASH, FINDING THE CAUSE WOULD BE VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE DUE TO THE EXTENT OF DAMAGE TO THE CAR AND, DUE TO THE FATAL ENDING, NO ONE FROM INSIDE THE AUTO TO RELATE WHAT HAPPENED. THE SAME HEATER CORE AND INSTALLATION ARRANGEMENT HAS EXISTED ON THE FORD TAURUS FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. I REPORTED THIS SHORTLY AFTER IT OCCURRED BUT RECEIVED NO RESPONSE.*AK
WHEN THE HEATER CORE FAILS IN COLD TEMPERATURES, LARGE VOLUMES OF STEAM FROM THE SUPERHEATED COOLING FLUID IS RELEASED INTO THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT CAUSING ALL WINDOWS TO FOG WITHIN 5 TO 10 SECONDS RENDERING THE DRIVER BLIND ON THE HIGHWAY. OPENING THE WINDOWS AND SHUTTING OFF THE HEATER IS NOT A RAPID ENOUGH REMEDY. THE WINDSHIELD REMAINS FOGGED AS DOES THE REAR WINDOW, EVEN WITH THE REAR WINDOW DE-FOG/ICER ON. THIS INCIDENT PRODUCES A VERY SERIOUS SITUATION FOR EVEN AN EXPERIENCED DRIVER AT NORMAL URBAN TRAFFIC SPEEDS. AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, AND AT NIGHT, THIS BECOMES AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION. THE RUPTURE OF THE HEATER CORE IS INSTANTANEOUS AND COMES WITHOUT WARNING.*AK
HAIRLINE CRACK IN WINDSHIELD NEAR HOOD HAS SPREAD UPWARD TO BECOME A 2 FOOT LONG CRACK.
HEATER CORE FAILURE RESULTED IN CLOUDS OF SMOKE COMING THROUGH WINDSHIELD/ DEFROST VENTS AND AIR VENTS.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: May 4, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.