Owners have filed 272 complaints on the Lincoln MKT, covering 2010–2019. The system named most often is Steering (97 reports). Worst years by volume: 2013, 2010, 2014; cleanest: 2017, 2018, 2016. 5 reports describe a crash, 3 a fire. On average the car was 6.1 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Lincoln MKT
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 272 MKT complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Steering 97 Read
I was driving east on rte. 95 in the bronx, ny on wed. Feb, 19, 2020 at approx. 10:15 am. I was in the middle lane of a 3 lane highway, the car is equiped with GPS and it shows I was driving at 53 mph. All of a sudden the vehicle turned left into the jersey barrier bounced off and up and turned 180 degrees and drove…
On April 30, 2021 as I was driving down the road my steering wheel suddenly starting turning left to right involuntarily causing me to lose control of my car and crash. My vehicle is a total loss and I had just paid heavty deposit and financed a Lincoln Mkt with a dealership that never disclosed to me that my vehicle…
The contact owns a 2013 lincoln mkt. The contact stated that the steering locked up while driving and the vehicle lost control and ran into a sign. The sign was on the other side of the road. The front bumper was torn off, the fender was bent and the rearview on the driver's side was also torn off. There were no…
Structure 34 Read
The incident occurred in a parking lot, in bright daylight at 4:05 pm. The lincoln mkt was being driven on an errand to a shopping mall. The driver made a left turn, and stopped for another vehicle backing out of a parking spot. On proceeding to make a right-hand turn into the same parking spot, the vehicle traveling…
The contact owns a 2019 Lincoln MKT. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention) and 25V827000 (Structure); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were unavailable. The contact stated that while in reverse(R), the rearview camera displayed a black image. The…
The contact owns a 2019 Lincoln MKT. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 24V951000 (BACK OVER PREVENTION) and 25V827000 (STRUCTURE); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The local dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the part was not available. The…
Electrical System 16 Read
The contact owns a 2013 lincoln mkt. While driving in a funeral procession, smoke and flames appeared from the engine compartment under the hood. Prior to the failure, the vehicle had been parked with the engine off for three hours. The driver stopped the vehicle, asked the passengers to exit, opened the hood, and…
Navigator system, bluetooth system, are disconnected all the time, in the middle of any trip
The engine light continues to come on and the only reading it gives off is that the engine is running lean. Nothing seems to be smoking or wrong with the vehicle. It continues to drive well. Then the backup cameras started to go on a blink. It comes off and on intermittently sometimes on while driving forward and less…
Visibility 15 Read
The contact owns a 2015 lincoln mkt. While driving 65 mph, a loud abnormal sound was heard coming from the panoramic sun roof. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the sun roof fractured and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The…
I was driving on the hwy and my freind was driving behind me.my vista glass moonroof exploded and shattered.it was nobody in front or on the side just my freind behind me
Sun roof glass shattered, this is car number 315, we are a livery company and this is car 1 of 5 (so far) to have the sun roof spontaneously shatter out of 18 cars purchased (all 2014 lincoln mkt's.)
Back Over Prevention 12 Read
The contact owns a 2019 Lincoln MKT. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the backover prevention camera did not function as intended. The contact stated that the back-over prevention camera displayed a black screen and an error message. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent…
The contact owns a 2019 Lincoln MKT. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V951000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had…
See attached letter for complaint
Fuel/propulsion System 11 Read
On six occasions a flame followed by billowing back smoke has poured from my vehicle. Each time the dealership replaced the turbocharger - only to have it happen again
Car started to hesitate, then when I stopped at a light it started running rough like it wanted to stall. Then the engine light started blinking. Vehicle was towed to dealership. All fuel injectors, spark plugs, and ignition coils replaced
The contact owns a 2015 lincoln mkt. The contact stated that the vehicle would not start from a parked position. The contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing the same symptoms as listed in NHTSA campaign number: 16V621000 (fuel system, gasoline). The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic and the fuel…
Suspension 11 Read
Rear toe-link failure, and part is available. The failure occurred while I was driving, about 20 mph, heard a loud noise from the back of the vehicle. The vehicle swerved a bit but managed to regain control and come to a complete stop. Was not diagnosed by the dealership, but have determined,through TSB lookup, that…
The contact owns a 2016 lincoln mkt. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 20V072000 (suspension) however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. Neither the manufacturer nor a dealer were…
The contact owns a 2015 lincoln mkt. The contact stated that the toe link fractured while travelling at 45 mph. The contact believes that the failure may have been due to NHTSA campaign number: 20V072000 (suspension). The driver lost control of the vehicle as the rear was fishtailing across a three lane highway late…
Power Train 11 Read
Transmission was replaced now speedometer is 10 miles faster than the speed of the car lincoln doesnt know how to fix it.when car turns on the radio will put the heat all the way up in 80 degree weather and when you try to adjust it goes back up to hi heat
Received recall notice 14s10, NHTSA 14V-393 from lincoln and took vehicle to dealer for inspection. Object of recall was found defective. Left vehicle on 12 august, after being told the vehicle was safe to drive even with the defective parts. I did not feel comfortable driving the car after reading what the defect…
Was driving heard odd noises and burnt fluid transfer case was defective both of my ford AWD did ecact same thing
MKT 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 | Back Over Prevention | — | — | |
| 2018 | Electrical System,unknown Or Other,electronic Stability Control (esc) | — | — | |
| 2017 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 2016 | Electrical System,engine,back Over Prevention | — | — | |
| 2015 | Back Over Prevention | 1 | — | |
| 2014 | Back Over Prevention | 2 | — | |
| 2013 | Electrical System | 1 | 2 | |
| 2012 | Electrical System,structure | — | — | |
| 2011 | Engine | — | — | |
| 2010 | Electronic Stability Control (esc) | 1 | 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 | 133 |
| Average complaints per series | 2 |
| Worst single series | 7 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 6.1 years |
A model average of 2 hides a worst series at 7. 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
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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 MKT?
By complaint volume, 2013, 2010, 2014 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 MKT years are the cleanest?
2017, 2018, 2016 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Lincoln MKT have?
272 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2010–2019. Of those, 5 describe a crash and 3 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.