Owners have filed 2,648 complaints on the Lincoln Town Car, covering 1981–2011. The system named most often is Electrical System (354 reports). Worst years by volume: 1997, 1996, 1992; cleanest: 1981, 1982, 1983. 217 reports describe a crash, 353 a fire, 9 a death. On average the car was 7.2 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Lincoln Town Car
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 2,648 Town Car complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 354 Read
Electrical; fill gas tank. Minutes later gauge shows I'm empty. Continues to repeat over and over. Driver's seat; crackling sound "like metal broke" seat does not adjust correctly and can no longer move the seats tilt. Having me drive in an uncomfortable position. Wipers; rainy day both motors left and right smoke up…
This vehicle has suddenly violently accelerated on four different occasions during the last eleven months. The first incident occurred after tapping the brake pedal at a very slow speed and resulted in the car crashing into a barrier at a filling station in upstate new york. Subsequent episodes were halted by turning…
Fire started in the front of the car without any known reasons. Vehicle was serviced regularly and no problems were noted during the service two weeks before the fire. A thorough full service was done in may 200y as well
Engine And Engine Cooling 314 Read
The vehicle the 2007 ford f-650 was towing caught fire. When the consumer pulled over toward the shoulder the car being towed became engulfed in flames. *kb 2007 lincoln town car caught on fire and was destroyed. The police officer saw smoke coming from the vehicle which was being towed. By the time he reached the…
We owned a 2004 lincoln town car. We drove that car that evening, parked it in the garage at 10:45pm and went to bed. At 3:30am, we were awoken by police breaking our door down and flames were shooting out of our garage. The source of the fire was determined to be from the lincoln town car. The town car had no hood…
Fire started somewhere in the dash board and the whole car went into flames melting the entire inside of my car. The whole car is now gone something from the inside of the dash went bad and ford should do something about this
Vehicle Speed Control 309 Read
The contact owns a 2008 lincoln town car. The contact stated that when he depressed the brake pedal at a slow speed, the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The contact experienced the failure and rear ended another vehicle. There were no injuries and no police report was filed. The contact believed that the brake pedal and…
The contact owns a 2007 lincoln town car. The contact stated after shifting the vehicle into drive, the vehicle experienced an unintended acceleration which resulted in a crash through the passenger's garage. The vehicle was not able to stop even when the brake pedal was depressed. The contact was able to regain…
The contact owns a 2007 Lincoln Town Car. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 MPH, the driver pressed the accelerator pedal the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration, causing the vehicle's speed to suddenly increase above 65 MPH. The driver shifted the transmission to the neutral position, but…
Service Brakes 278 Read
Vehicle had ABS braking system lock-up,causing spin out, landing into a ditch and catching on fire. Tt
Driving perhaps 30 miles per hour I suddenly heard the car accelerate and it started to go faster. I hit the brakes and that did not slow down the car. I was in heavy traffic and quickly went into a side street turning sharply and narrowly missing parked cars but struck two steel poles and than a parked truck. It was…
The contact owns a 2006 lincoln town car signature. The contact stated that while driving 5 mph, he attempted to apply the brakes and his foot accidentally depressed the accelerator pedal as well. The vehicle lunged forward as a result. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who stated that they were unable to assist…
Suspension 239 Read
The contact owned a 2003 lincoln town car. While driving at approximately 40 mph, the axle fractured causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle. As a result, the contact crashed into a concrete divider. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries reported. The vehicle…
Consumer states was backing out of driveway. Put vehicle in reverse and car suddenly accelerated rearward across the street and collided w/another vehicle. Nlm. Consumer states the the exhaust pipe and muffler were replaced , the front and rear suspension was aligned
I lost control of the car when it hit ice at 9:20a- 1/25/2013 on I-94 near chesterton, in, spun around and crashed twice (front/rear) into the left concrete barrier parallel to the roadway. None of the 4 air bags deployed. I (age 77) and my passenger (age 83) wore seat belts that saved us. Car front smashed; car rear…
Air Bags 216 Read
The car accelerated while going up a ramp that went to an axis road to the interstate. We hit a retaining wall head on, spun around and then the back of the car also hit the wall. My seat belt did not hold me back. I ended wedged between the console and dashboard. I have a broken rib and chipped tooth and bumps and…
The contact owns a 2007 lincoln town car. The contact stated that while driving at 15 mph and attempting to accelerate, the accelerator pedal became stuck causing the vehicle to lunge forward and crash into bushes. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was not filed and no injuries were reported. The vehicle…
Had an accident and as a result the airbag notification light stays on. Light suppose to indicate that the airbag inflated. It did not inflate during accident. Accident was on a city street and it was in motion
Steering 194 Read
While driving, my 2011 lincoln, continental which was is showroom condition, at approximately 30-35 mph, on wet pavement (not saturated) negotiating slight curve,while wearing a seatbelt, vehicle veered left more than a left front flat tire would cause. Steering did not respond. Vehicle crossed yellow double solid…
I was traveling west on 64 on 8\13\15 . There was a considerable amount of traffic but I was experiencing no problems until my car begin to swerve back and forth and I was unable to maintain the lane. We realized that we must get the car off the road and into the median to avoid being struck or striking a car in the…
The contact owns a 2007 lincoln town car. While backing out of the driveway at approximately 5 mph, a snap sound was heard and the steering wheel fractured. The steering wheel moved in circles and the contact lost control of the vehicle. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle…
Power Train 100 Read
I was slowly backing out of my short driveway my foot only on the brake pedal when suddenly car accelerates and hit parked car across at resulting in accident. Two weeks before this I was driving on road about 15 mph and saw car ahead of me had stopped I put foot on brake started slowing when car accelerated hard…
The contact owns a 2008 lincoln town car. The driver placed the vehicle into park and turned off the ignition. She extended her legs out of the door and prepared to exit the vehicle when it suddenly rolled backwards into the street. The vehicle crashed into a parked vehicle. The failure occurred without warning. The…
The contact owned a 2007 lincoln town car. The contact stated that while reversing out of a parking lot and attempting to drive up a hill, the contact depressed the accelerator pedal and the vehicle accelerated excessively independently. The brakes ceased to operate and the contact was unaware if any warning lights…
Town Car 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Air Bags,seat Belts,vehicle Speed Control | 2 | — | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | — | 1 | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2008 | Electrical System,engine,fuel/propulsion System | 4 | — | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 16 | 1 | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 11 | 1 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 14 | 2 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 17 | 2 | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 12 | — | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 12 | 1 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 11 | 4 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 6 | 6 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 11 | 7 | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 5 | 3 | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 9 | 6 | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 5 | 8 | |
| 1995 | Air Bags | 10 | 9 | |
| 1994 | Air Bags | 9 | 23 | |
| 1993 | Air Bags | 8 | 47 | |
| 1992 | Air Bags | 9 | 78 | |
| 1991 | Air Bags | 9 | 12 | |
| 1990 | Air Bags | 16 | 52 | |
| 1989 | Electrical System | 5 | 26 | |
| 1988 | Electrical System | 8 | 24 | |
| 1987 | Electrical System | 2 | 14 | |
| 1986 | Electrical System | 4 | 18 | |
| 1985 | Electrical System | 1 | 2 | |
| 1984 | Electrical System | 1 | 5 | |
| 1983 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | 1 | |
| 1982 | Electrical System | — | — |
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 | 925 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.9 |
| Worst single series | 17 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 7.2 years |
A model average of 2.9 hides a worst series at 17. 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
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- 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 Town Car?
By complaint volume, 1997, 1996, 1992 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 Town Car years are the cleanest?
1982, 1983, 2009 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Lincoln Town Car have?
2,648 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1981–2011. Of those, 217 describe a crash and 353 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.