Lincoln Town CAR Problems by Model Year
NHTSA recorded 3,298 consumer complaints across the 28 model years of the Lincoln Town CAR (1984–2011) that have at least 5 complaints. 1997 has the most, with 314. Across all years, the part named most often is electrical system (511 mentions). Pick a model year below to see its parts, mileage, recalls and service bulletins.
Best and worst Town CAR years →
All Town CAR model years
Years with fewer than 5 complaints are not listed. The score compares years of the same model, allowing for the era and for how long each year has collected complaints: 50 is a typical year, lower means fewer complaints. It is not adjusted for sales volume.
| Year | Complaints | Median mi | Recalls | TSBs | Score (50 = typical) | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 6 | 53,500 | 3 | 20 | — | Not enough data |
| 2010 | 13 | 94,000 | 3 | 20 | — | Not enough data |
| 2009 | 5 | 27,410 | 3 | 18 | — | Not enough data |
| 2008 | 20 | 43,200 | 3 | 16 | — | Falling |
| 2007 | 84 | 60,000 | 3 | 18 | Not compared (before 2008) | Stable |
| 2006 | 143 | 62,768 | 2 | 23 | Not compared (before 2008) | Stable |
| 2005 | 119 | 65,000 | 3 | 36 | Not compared (before 2008) | Falling |
| 2004 | 83 | 65,500 | 0 | 29 | Not compared (before 2008) | Falling |
| 2003 | 201 | 69,000 | 1 | 30 | Not compared (before 2008) | Falling |
| 2002 | 65 | 48,940 | 0 | 21 | Not compared (before 2008) | Stable |
| 2001 | 161 | 80,000 | 5 | 22 | Not compared (before 2008) | Falling |
| 2000 | 108 | 68,150 | 8 | 18 | Not compared (before 2008) | Rising |
| 1999 | 148 | 100,000 | 5 | 10 | Not compared (before 2008) | Falling |
| 1998 | 154 | 84,000 | 7 | 8 | Not compared (before 2008) | Rising |
| 1997 | 314 | 90,000 | 6 | 7 | Not compared (before 2008) | Falling |
| 1996 | 259 | 92,000 | 8 | 4 | Not compared (before 2008) | Stable |
| 1995 | 165 | 103,734 | 6 | 3 | Not compared (before 2008) | Stable |
| 1994 | 155 | 105,500 | 5 | 2 | Not compared (before 2008) | Stable |
| 1993 | 176 | 108,500 | 4 | 2 | Not compared (before 2008) | Stable |
| 1992 | 249 | 100,000 | 4 | 2 | Not compared (before 2008) | Stable |
| 1991 | 155 | 83,100 | 5 | 0 | Not compared (before 2008) | Stable |
| 1990 | 209 | 100,000 | 4 | 0 | Not compared (before 2008) | Stable |
| 1989 | 89 | 96,951 | 5 | 0 | Not compared (before 2008) | Stable |
| 1988 | 99 | 113,500 | 5 | 0 | Not compared (before 2008) | Stable |
| 1987 | 32 | 34,102 | 6 | 0 | Not compared (before 2008) | Stable |
| 1986 | 50 | 143,000 | 4 | 0 | Not compared (before 2008) | Stable |
| 1985 | 21 | — | 1 | 0 | — | Stable |
| 1984 | 15 | 152,000 | 1 | 0 | — | Rising |
Parts named most often, all years
Counts add up complaint mentions across the listed years. A complaint can name several parts.
- Electrical system511 18%
- Vehicle speed control461 16%
- Brakes440 15%
- Engine cooling437 15%
- Air bags315 11%
- Suspension306 11%
- Steering234 8.1%
- Transmission and drivetrain168 5.8%
Example complaints
One per model year, chosen for length and detail. Personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.
1999: “I was driving down a public street not even going the speed limit and I came to the stop light my car acted like it didn't wanna go I got it to a parking spot and it burst to a ball of flames I had no previous symptoms and the car was driving fine it had just gotten to halfway mark on my heat gauge. I think it may have been the plastic intake manifold melted maybe? …”
NHTSA complaint #11196539, filed 2019-04, 161,000 miles1993: “I was working on doing maintenance on my car. Next thing I know, there's a fire. I got it out quickly enough with the original extinguisher. The speed control harness, which had a recall at one point, is burned and a brake line busted. 9f924 is the number for the part. I do not know for certain if this was ever replaced. But it must have been hot enough to catch brake fluid on fire”
NHTSA complaint #11246137, filed 2019-08, 83,000 miles2007: “Water accumulates on floor front and rear. Passenger sidethe car can be in motion or stationary during rain or going through car wash. We had a 2001 towncar with the exact same problem. After googling this issue I find there are many autos with this problem. What we spend for these autos this should have been resolved by manufacturer years ago!”
NHTSA complaint #10970379, filed 2017-04, 100,000 milesOther Lincoln models
1,670 complaintsLincoln MKZ
1,667 complaintsLincoln MKX
1,418 complaintsLincoln Navigator
1,357 complaintsLincoln LS
982 complaintsLincoln Mark Viii
821 complaintsLincoln MKC
603 complaintsLincoln Aviator
490 complaints
About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 27, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate. Methodology