Owners have filed 546 complaints on the Lincoln MKC, covering 2015–2019. The system named most often is Engine (239 reports). Worst years by volume: 2017, 2015, 2019; cleanest: 2018, 2016, 2019. 18 reports describe a crash, 11 a fire. On average the car was 6.0 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Lincoln MKC
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 546 MKC complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine 239 Read
While driving my vehicle on a highway, smoke started to come from the hood. This is approximately 10-15 minutes after I had been driving the vehicle. The smoke became worse and luckily I was able to pull over to turn the vehicle off. The smoke continued to intensify and started to come through the vents. I exited the…
The contact owns a 2019 Lincoln MKC. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V378000 (Engine) 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 repair. The contact stated while the…
I purchased 2017 Lincoln MKC new almost immediately had electrical issues with it that has stayed throughout the vehicles life. At about 55,000 miles my car started acting up like it was misfiring. I took it to Lincoln and twice they said they couldn’t feel anything. I left the car over night because it mainly…
Electrical System 56 Read
Vehicle shut down completely while driving on the highway. The error message "the vehicle has shut down" appearedin on the dashboard. Had there been a transport trailer behind us, we could have been killed. Ford customer service is doing nothing for us. Very disappointing as my mother now has to drive a vehicle that…
USB charging and snyc connection station at the bottom of console caught fire and within a couple of minutes the inside of the vehicle was engulfed in flames. Barely escaped with my life
I started the vehicle, the sync system went through a restart, killing the engine and turning off the dashboard panels. It had happened before on a level surface, but this time I was on a 10-15% grade. I stopped again, turned the vehicle off and returned about 15 minutes later. I was on a slight hill, with the…
Back Over Prevention 42 Read
The contact owned a 2018 Lincoln MKC. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V572000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that…
The contact owns a 2019 Lincoln MKC. The contact stated that while attempting to reverse, the rearview camera became inoperable. The contact stated that the rearview camera image was distorted. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V572000 (Back Over Prevention). The dealer was contacted and…
The contact owns a 2019 Lincoln MKC. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V572000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the rearview camera had become inoperable while reversing. The local dealer was contacted, but the…
Power Train 41 Read
The contact owns a 2018 lincoln mkc. The contact stated that on several occasions after the vehicle was parked with the engine turned off, the contact exited the vehicle and vehicle started to roll away. The contact attempted to reenter the vehicle but was unable to do so. The contact fell and sustained several…
2016 LINCOLN MKC parked on driveway for over 24 hours, when my father was outside gardening he noticed smoke and flames coming from under the hood, the Fire Department was called who out the fire out and stated it was "totaled". Fire Department conducted their own investigation to determine the cause of the fire. The…
I drove to the end of my driveway which is approximately 1000 feet. I came to a complete stop, got out of the vehicle with the expectation that it went into park because this is a safety feature of this vehicle that I have used many times without issue and it is listed as such in my owner's manual. I stood there…
Engine And Engine Cooling 37 Read
The contact owns a 2019 Lincoln MKC. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle briefly vibrated, prompting the contact to discontinue driving the vehicle. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined there…
The contact owns a 2019 Lincoln MKC. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the temperature gauge started to indicate that the engine was overheating, prompting the contact to discontinue driving the vehicle. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an…
The contact owns a 2019 Lincoln MKC. The contact stated that the engine experienced rough idling after starting with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who replaced the spark plugs and coil pack; however, the failure recurred with the vehicle shuddering while…
Steering 14 Read
The contact owns a 2018 lincoln mkc. While driving approximately 65 mph, the lane departure safety feature activated to correct the vehicle from veering out of the lane. The lane departure feature steered the vehicle too far to the left, causing the vehicle to crash into the median and flip over. The vehicle sustained…
First incident: My daughter was in the vehicle in our driveway in March 2022 and was leaving. She came running inside and told me she hit the start button and that the vehicle did not start, but started to roll down the driveway with the steering wheel locked in position. She was stepping on the brakes and the vehicle…
Hours after I purchased a certified pre-owned 2015 lincoln mkc with approximately 19k miles the tire pressure light came on (friday). I was told the car had a perfect carfax. I also noticed the air vent to the back seat didn't seem to work well. I called the dealership as soon as they re-opened and was told to bring…
Wheels 14 Read
I had my winter tires replaced with my summer tires. The repairman told me that the lug nuts were swelling and shouldn’t be put back on the vehicle, they may not be removable if there was a need to do it roadside. They said that this is an extremely prevalent problem with ford vehicles and Ford was not taking…
Wheel bearing on driver's side front had to be replaced. It is not available for inspection. Vehicle started making a loud woomp woomp noise near the wheel.My wheel could have seized while driving. The problem was confirmed and resolved by an independent service center. The vehicle was inspected by an independent…
After less than 26000 miles the tires are reported by ford maintenance to be woren to a dangerous level when traveling there is a loud noise from tires
Structure 10 Read
Car was in driveway. Auto stop feature was on. Foot was on brake, engine stopped idling. As I lifted my foot off the brake, the engine restarted and the a/c compressor engaged at the same time. The car lunged forward and hit a brick column causing over $2000 in damage.car was serviced at dealer for this problem. I was…
The car got on fire while being parked and turned off
The recalls its was before of my accident now my car its works good but cant pass brake ligts inspection dmv requirement
MKC years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Air Bags,seats | 1 | 2 | |
| 2018 | Back Over Prevention | 3 | — | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 7 | 2 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 1 | 6 | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 6 | 1 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 259 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.1 |
| Worst single series | 9 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 6.0 years |
A model average of 2.1 hides a worst series at 9. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
- No ads, on every page
- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the MKC?
By complaint volume, 2017, 2015, 2019 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which MKC years are the cleanest?
2018, 2016, 2019 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Lincoln MKC have?
546 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2015–2019. Of those, 18 describe a crash and 11 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.