2003 Ford Crown Victoria Suspension Problems
- Complaints
- 27about this part
- Share
- 11%of 249 total for the year
- Median mileage
- 82,722miles
- Trend
- StableComplaints filed in the last 3 full calendar years are within 25% of the 3 years before.
NHTSA recorded 27 complaints about the suspension of the 2003 Ford Crown Victoria, 11% of the 249 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 82,722 miles. 2 of these say a crash was involved and 1 a fire, according to the filers. 1 recall campaign on record is filed under a similar system.
Example complaints
Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.
“The rear axle went out on the passenger side approximately 8 months or so before the driver side rear axle started going. There have been recalls for this same thing on the same make, year and model as my car. We replaced the passenger rear axle and are now facing having to replace the driver's side.”
NHTSA complaint #10436435, filed 2011-11, 160,000 miles“Dealer, who I had bought the car from and who had been servicing it, said bearing noise in r/r (mileage 44850). Repaired it for $694.57 dollars. Police and fleet crownvics were manufactured at the same time in the same plant in canada and were recalled for wheel bearing and axle problems via Ford recall number 04s16. Dealer said recall only applied to fleet vehicles so I had to pay for the work. Ford customer relations simply sent me back to the dealer. Is there any possibility the l/r bearing/axle may fail? Shouldn't the dealer/Ford consider this vehicle as part of the original recall? …”
NHTSA complaint #10717582, filed 2015-05, 44,870 miles“Problem: the rear sway-bar and sway-bar housing are damaged. Apparently, the initial problem occurred in the sway-bar housing, causing excess stress on the sway-bar, causing the failure. The local dealer told me Ford is apparently re-manufacturing the parts because of "problems" with this model. The dealer was unsure if Ford was going to initiate a recall on this model. The vehicle is owned by the knox county sheriff's department, but it is assigned to me for permanent use. The vehicle is still under warranty and is (still) awaiting service at lance cunninham Ford in knoxville, tn. …”
NHTSA complaint #10070601, filed 2004-01, 20,000 miles“Investigated rear end noise. Both axles have extreme ware . Bearing failure. And must be replaced. Ford recalled only police and commercial p70 p71 and p72 by order of NHTSA. Ford new all models experienced this failure as identified in TSB 030505a issued 3-5-03. My Ford cv a p74 model was made 11-05-02. Only a silent recall. And not now honored after normal wrty expires.”
NHTSA complaint #10488871, filed 2012-12, 85,100 miles“Dt: rear axle bearing failure, it chewed up the rear axle. Ford has a recall but it did not include this vehicle due to VIN. This caused the axle shaft to fracture, it leaked fluid. The vehicle was fixed, but problem recurred. This happened on july 14,2005. The vehicle before hand had started making a loud sound coming from the rear suspension.”
NHTSA complaint #10129679, filed 2005-07, 74,000 milesRelated recalls
- 04V328000Jul 7, 2004Certain police, commercial, and passenger vehicles sold to fleets typically input higher loads into the vehicle chassis overloading the wheel bearings and…Covers: Ford Crown Victoria 2003, Lincoln Town CAR 2003
Related service bulletins
- 10011151Aug 9, 2004Squeak or rubbing noise from front suspension - front spring insulator revised.
Suspension: other model years
| Year | Complaints | Share of year |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 4 | 17% |
| 2010 | 1 | 8% |
| 2009 | 4 | 9% |
| 2008 | 6 | 12% |
| 2007 | 5 | 10% |
| 2006 | 4 | 8% |
| 2005 | 5 | 3% |
| 2004 | 4 | 3% |
| 2003 | 27 | 11% |
| 2002 | 3 | 5% |
| 2001 | 4 | 8% |
| 2000 | 9 | 11% |
| 1999 | 18 | 13% |
| 1998 | 18 | 15% |
| 1997 | 45 | 16% |
| 1996 | 51 | 18% |
| 1995 | 35 | 14% |
| 1994 | 26 | 14% |
| 1993 | 11 | 6% |
| 1992 | 13 | 4% |
| 1991 | 1 | 2% |
| 1990 | 2 | 5% |
| 1989 | 1 | 1% |
| 1988 | 1 | 2% |
| 1984 | 1 | 17% |
Other parts of the 2003 Ford Crown Victoria
96 complaintsWheels
42 complaintsTransmission and drivetrain
25 complaintsElectrical system
20 complaintsSteering
11 complaintsVehicle speed control
11 complaintsFuel system
9 complaintsTires
9 complaintsVisibility (wipers, defrost, mirrors)
9 complaintsBrakes
8 complaintsEngine cooling
7 complaintsEngine
6 complaints
← All problems reported for the 2003 Ford Crown Victoria
About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 31, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.
To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology