Owners have filed 212 complaints on the Lincoln Zephyr, covering 2006–2006. The system named most often is Air Bags (130 reports). Worst years by volume: 2006; cleanest: 2006. 9 reports describe a crash, 1 a fire. On average the car was 9.6 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Lincoln Zephyr
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 212 Zephyr complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Air Bags 130 Read
The contact stated a parked vehicle was struck while traveling at 45 mph. The parked vehicle was sitting in the right hand lane of traffic changing a flat tire and upon initial impact the airbags did not deploy. The occupants of the vehicle were wearing seat belts, but minor injuries were sustained. The vehicle was…
The contact owns a 2006 lincoln zephyr. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 mph, she was struck by another vehicle from the front and rear passenger sides, causing the contact to crash into a pole. Upon impact, the air bags failed to deploy. The contact sustained injuries to the chin, hands, and…
The contact owned a 2006 lincoln zephyr. While driving approximately 60 mph, six vehicles lost control and created a chain reaction crash involving thirty vehicles. The contact's vehicle was impacted on all four sides. The frontal air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed. The contact sustained minor injuries…
Wheels 20 Read
The 2006 lincoln zephyr was traveling at a speed of 40 and the rear passenger tire suddenly blew up. The mechanic inspected the cause and concluded that the original aluminum lincoln-factory wheel was defective. The mechanic also inspected the other three wheels and the same problem is continuing to occur with all the…
The contact owns a 2006 lincoln zephyr. The contact stated that all four wheels on his vehicle were defective. The wheels cause the tires to flatten and will not hold air. The contact must place air in the tires each week. The dealer stated that the vehicle needed new wheels, but at the contact's expense because they…
I have a 2006 lincoln zephyr the chrome is peeling of the wheels causing the tires to loose air pressure the car was purchased new and currently has 9,000 miles we purchased an extended warranty but was told this is not a safety issue I beg to differ
Service Brakes 11 Read
2006 lincoln zephyr. Consumer writes in regards to problem with brakes *tgw the consumer stated upon arriving at an intersection, he applied the brake, and the pedal nearly went to the floor, the ABS seemed to activate as he moved into the intersection. The consumer noticed the ABS was in control, as he tried to…
Brake peddle goes to the floor after ABS is activated. In my case trying to stop in the snow. This is the second time this has happened. First time with 51318 miles, second with 62700 miles. The internet in full of people complaining about the anti-lock brake pump failing which causes the brake peddle to go to the…
Ford is recalling my vehicle under 19s54. Ford knows of 15 crashes related to this problem but the recall notice says the vehicle is safe to drive until the parts are available. How can the vehicle be safe to drive if ford knows of 15 crashes related to the issue? Ford should supply a rental car until they are able to…
Power Train 10 Read
The contact owns a 2006 lincoln zephyr. The contact stated that when up shifting, the vehicle would not respond to higher gears and would begin jerking abnormally. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that the transmission was defective and would need replacing. The vehicle was…
2006 lincoln zephyr: transmission began failing at 35,000 miles. Extremely harsh shifting from second to third gear. No acceleration when driving uphill causes safety hazard as speed cannot be maintained. Extremely harsh shifting and sometimes unable to shift gears at all. Found a technical service bulletin…
The contact owns a 2006 lincoln zephyr. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 mph, all of the instrument panel warning indicators began to illuminate continuously until the engine was turned off. In addition, the gear lever failed to shift into reverse until after several attempts were made by the…
Structure 9 Read
When husband was driving the gas pedal stuck in the mat causing him to run off road causing damage to hood, fender, headlight, grill & left front wheel got damaged but since we only have liability it has forced us to drive it damaged. In motion, ran into woods
2006 lincoln zephyr light reflects into the rear windshield and the front windshield. *ts ***nar
I have a 2006 lincoln zephyr and the dashboard has become terribly warped which has caused my window defroster to not operate properly. This is suppose to be a luxury car and the dashboard is an intricate part that houses the instrument panel. Lincoln/ford should recall these vehicles and fix the problem. So far the…
Electrical System 8 Read
Brand new 2006 lincoln zephyr. Electric doors do not lock until a speed of 15-18 mph is reached. Ford's manual states: "doors lock at 12 mph". Dealer could not fix it. Contacted ford. They consider it a "non issue" and closed the file. I find this a safety hazard since it takes a long time in busy commute traffic to…
Im filing this complaint due to having issues with my 06 lincoln zephyr. While driving my passenger side air bag light turned on and in order to get the light to turn off I had to turn off my vehicle and restarted it but the light has not come back on since then. Im also having problems with my passenger side a/c seat…
Driving down interstate and check engine light started flashing and car lost power. Called dealer and they said the light was an engine malfunction. Stated not to drive it. Got it towed to repair shop. When they diagnosed car they stated the PCM module went out and was sending uninterrupted electricity to engine coils…
Tires 4 Read
The contact owns a 2006 lincoln zephyr equipped with michelin energy tires, size p225/50/r17. While the vehicle was being serviced, the contact was informed that all four tires (original) needed to be replaced due to dry rotting. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who confirmed. The tires had not been…
Tires continually loosing air pressure. Mechanics showed flaking and cracking chrome plating on wheels that create air leakage path at bead/rim contact area. Damage to tires due to repeated loss of air pressure. Mechanics at belle tire say this is a very common problem with the 2006 lincoln zephyr wheels. Why no…
Was traveling southbound on I-39 when tire blew out. Have had to replace tires several times and told by dealership and 2 auto service centers that the rims are so corroded they do not hold air properly and need to be replaced. All wheels have chrome flaking off. Car currently has less than 75k miles. In the 2.5 years…
Suspension 3 Read
Issue with weak, inadequate welds on a 2006 lincoln zephyr. This issue is related to ford TSB 06-24-07, and involved the subframe of the vehicle. Since the subframe not only hold the engine and supporting parts, the area in question is also integral to the front suspension/steering. This is a safety hazard is a weld…
The front lca ball joint dries up in the socket and make the car squeak, and wobble over the road. The auto show stated it was a poor design since you are unable to add lubrication into the ball joint. There is a national back order till may, so I have to drive my car unsafely until one is available
The traction control light comes on all the time. When you take off the car is gutless no power. Until you hit traction control off. Sometimes does it after. Bit. Someone almost hit me pulling out from the gas station last night again, due to no power! It also messes with the shifting due to the traction control ive…
Zephyr 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Air Bags | 9 | 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 | 14 |
| Average complaints per series | 15.1 |
| Worst single series | 28 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 9.6 years |
A model average of 15.1 hides a worst series at 28. 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 Zephyr?
By complaint volume, 2006 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 Zephyr years are the cleanest?
2006 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Lincoln Zephyr have?
212 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2006–2006. Of those, 9 describe a crash and 1 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.