Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,245,377 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA, including 140,173 crashes, 56,794 fires, and 8,580 deaths.
What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?
A consumer complaint is a free-form report filed by a vehicle owner directly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing a safety concern about their vehicle. NHTSA collects these reports through its Vehicle Owner Defect Report (VOQ) system and publishes them publicly. Each complaint includes the affected component, the date and circumstances of the incident, whether the failure caused a crash or fire, and any reported injuries or deaths. The owner's full narrative description is included verbatim, NHTSA does not edit or moderate the descriptions.
The database below contains over 2,245,377 individual complaints. NHTSA's investigators monitor it for clusters of similar reports, when enough owners describe the same failure mode on the same vehicle, NHTSA may open a Preliminary Evaluation that can lead to a recall. Many of the largest recalls in U.S. history, including the Takata airbag recall and the Hyundai/Kia engine fire recalls, started as patterns visible in this complaint database years before they became formal recalls.
How to interpret what you read
A few principles for reading consumer complaints usefully:
- One complaint is anecdote; a hundred similar complaints is data. NHTSA does not investigate the truthfulness of any individual report, that's the job of the Office of Defects Investigation, which looks at the full pattern. When evaluating a vehicle, look for whether multiple owners describe the same chain of events.
- Crash, fire, injury, and death flags are owner-set. They are not verified by NHTSA. They are still useful as a filter, because owners who tick those boxes are typically reporting more serious incidents than those who don't.
- Component categories are NHTSA-assigned, not owner-assigned. NHTSA standardizes the component field so that complaints can be aggregated. The owner narrative often goes into more detail than the component category captures.
- Complaint volume scales with sales volume. A best-selling model will accumulate more raw complaints than a niche model even at the same defect rate. To compare across vehicles, look at complaints per 100,000 units sold, not raw counts.
If you've experienced a defect
File a complaint. NHTSA's investigators rely on this database to detect emerging defects, and useful complaints, specific, concrete, with dates and mileage and clear descriptions of what happened, feed directly into the agency's pattern detection. The form takes about 10 minutes and is at nhtsa.gov/recalls under "Report a Safety Problem." Your complaint becomes part of the same public record that this page is built from. Owners filing detailed VOQs are how recalls get triggered.
Read more from our blog
Showing 19,021 complaints for LINCOLN
Incident date: Mar 31, 2022
Leased 2019 Lincoln Nautilus has needed 10 roadside assistance calls and has been in the Lincoln Service for warranty work at least 9 times in the last 6 months for the same issue. The vehicle's battery is being drained when the vehicle is completely shut off. I've had numerous issues when going to start my vehicle for work or personal transportation and the vehicle's battery is drained. As a firs... Read more
Incident date: Apr 4, 2022
In 2021 had an issue with brakes failing and becoming unresponsive/difficult to press almost causing a crash. Vehicle was inspected and the dealer replaced the brake booster and a vaccum line. This didn’t fix the issue. Recently had the same problem occur again where the brakes are intermittent and sometimes become soft and sink to the floor while driving. Apparently a bunch of people have been ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 4, 2022
Brought vehicle into the dealer for tire rotation service. They said they could not take my wheels off the car because the lug nuts have become swollen. This is a common condition where the chromed metal lug nut covers become separated from the lug nuts and expand such that the lug nut socket no longer fits. This means that I can't remove a wheel to fix a flat on the road which become a real hazar... Read more
LINCOLN
AVIATOR PHEV
(2022) - ENGINE
Apr 5, 2022
Incident date: Mar 22, 2022
On 5 separate occasions my car has given me a warning saying "Stop Safely Now." When I begin to slow down, the car looses all power and I have to coast to a stop somewhere. The first time the car started back up and I was able to drive it again, the following 4 times it had to be towed. Each time I was stranded on the side of the road - once literally on the road because I was unable to get onto t... Read more
Incident date: Mar 31, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Lincoln MKS. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer for routine servicing and was informed that the rear suspension toe links were loose and needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact learned of a previous recall for the failure. The contact was informed that the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approxi... Read more
Incident date: Mar 31, 2022
Vehicle (SUV) floor board and truck had standing water from unknown source. Suspect rear hatch and/or glass roof design allows for environmental contamination to enter. Water travels down to floor and pools. For example, spare tire was found to be submerged. Rear seat and trunk carpeting were moist (saturated) to the touch. Concern: If water in the vehicle is undetected and is allowed to pool fo... Read more
Incident date: Apr 2, 2022
Back passenger door opened while driving. Locking mechanism will not keep door shut.
Incident date: Jan 10, 2022
The camera often turns blue/black when backing up.
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
This luxury car has seat three seat memory positions: When you press the button the seat should go back to the computer-stored position (For the seat and steering wheel). The computer-stored position does not remember the position resulting in one getting jammed against the steering wheel and jamming ones feet into the peddles. While the seat memory recall feature is intended to be disabled unles... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
This luxury car has seat three seat memory positions: When you press the button the seat should go back to the computer-stored position (For the seat and steering wheel). The computer-stored position does not remember the position resulting in one getting jammed against the steering wheel and jamming ones feet into the peddles. While the seat memory recall feature is intended to be disabled unles... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
This luxury car has seat three seat memory positions: When you press the button the seat should go back to the computer-stored position (For the seat and steering wheel). The computer-stored position does not remember the position resulting in one getting jammed against the steering wheel and jamming ones feet into the peddles. While the seat memory recall feature is intended to be disabled unles... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2008 Lincoln MKX. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle the ABS, air bag, and check engine warning lights remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who replaced the ABS sensor; however, the failure persisted. The local dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 134,000.
Incident date: Oct 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2008 Lincoln MKX. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle the ABS, air bag, and check engine warning lights remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who replaced the ABS sensor; however, the failure persisted. The local dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 134,000.
Incident date: Oct 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2008 Lincoln MKX. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle the ABS, air bag, and check engine warning lights remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who replaced the ABS sensor; however, the failure persisted. The local dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 134,000.
Incident date: Feb 2, 2022
Our Lincoln MKX had a failure of its power brake booster showing no warning indicator light on the dashboard. The brakes felt like they had air in the lines and excessive pumping was needed to build pressure on the brake pads which eventually needed to be pushed close to the floor in order to stop. We made an appointment at the Ford Dealership. But, since it was a long distance from our home, an... Read more
Incident date: Feb 2, 2022
Our Lincoln MKX had a failure of its power brake booster showing no warning indicator light on the dashboard. The brakes felt like they had air in the lines and excessive pumping was needed to build pressure on the brake pads which eventually needed to be pushed close to the floor in order to stop. We made an appointment at the Ford Dealership. But, since it was a long distance from our home, an... Read more
Incident date: Mar 23, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Lincoln MKC. The contact stated that after purchasing the vehicle, it was discovered while driving 35 MPH, that the steering wheel would stiffen and become difficult to turn in either direction. Additionally, while making a left turn there was a cracking sound coming from the steering column. The cause of the failure was not determined. The local dealer was notified of the ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 29, 2021
Major rust problems that effect the safety of driving the vehicle. Vehicle will not pass PA State Inspection. Hood latch rusted. possibility of hood opening. Rust holes in rocker panels. FRAME cross supports. No enough space to explain. Please see attached PDF.
Incident date: Jun 29, 2021
Major rust problems that effect the safety of driving the vehicle. Vehicle will not pass PA State Inspection. Hood latch rusted. possibility of hood opening. Rust holes in rocker panels. FRAME cross supports. No enough space to explain. Please see attached PDF.
Incident date: Jun 29, 2021
Major rust problems that effect the safety of driving the vehicle. Vehicle will not pass PA State Inspection. Hood latch rusted. possibility of hood opening. Rust holes in rocker panels. FRAME cross supports. No enough space to explain. Please see attached PDF.
Incident date: Mar 12, 2022
We saw something leaking onto our driveway from inside the garage a couple weeks ago. I verified it was leaking from underneath the engine area of my car but didn't think anything else about it. A week later I went somewhere and was gone about an hour and came back and parked in the garage. I came back into the garage maybe a half hour later and it smelled like gas. I looked and noticed it dr... Read more
Incident date: Mar 22, 2022
Manufacturer Recall Number19S54 NHTSA Recall Number19V904 Manufacturer Recall Number21S12 NHTSA Recall Number21V158 I've been waiting to complete the first recall for my car for over two years and during that time a second recall for the airbag has come out. I am afraid to drive my car and put others in danger and I'm afraid to sell my car because I could be knowingly putting other people at ris... Read more
Incident date: Mar 22, 2022
Manufacturer Recall Number19S54 NHTSA Recall Number19V904 Manufacturer Recall Number21S12 NHTSA Recall Number21V158 I've been waiting to complete the first recall for my car for over two years and during that time a second recall for the airbag has come out. I am afraid to drive my car and put others in danger and I'm afraid to sell my car because I could be knowingly putting other people at ris... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2019 Lincoln Navigator. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would not properly accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal. The RPM's would suddenly increase before the speed was drastically reduced. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer for service however, the failure persisted. No further information was available. The manufacturer w... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2019 Lincoln Navigator. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would not properly accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal. The RPM's would suddenly increase before the speed was drastically reduced. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer for service however, the failure persisted. No further information was available. The manufacturer w... Read more
Incident date: Feb 23, 2022
In regards to my brand new 2021 Lincoln Aviator Reserve (4181 miles): 2.23.22- Driving home on a very narrow, winding road when my car unexpectedly started to vibrate/shake. There were no alerts and no warning lights that came on. Fortunately, I was coming up on one of the very few turnouts available. As I started to pull over the car completely shut off (completely died). Luckily, I made it off... Read more
LINCOLN
AVIATOR PHEV
(2022) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Mar 18, 2022
Incident date: Feb 18, 2022
A warning appears on the dash "stop safely now" and the vehicle rapidly comes to a complete stop and is unable to be moved. This has occurred on three occasions, during 2 of which the car stalled in an active driving lane on a highway, resulting in life threatening situation. The app said "high voltage battery warning" triggered by "another event". Being investigated by Lincoln, who is re-acquirin... Read more
LINCOLN
AVIATOR PHEV
(2022) - ENGINE
Mar 18, 2022
Incident date: Feb 18, 2022
A warning appears on the dash "stop safely now" and the vehicle rapidly comes to a complete stop and is unable to be moved. This has occurred on three occasions, during 2 of which the car stalled in an active driving lane on a highway, resulting in life threatening situation. The app said "high voltage battery warning" triggered by "another event". Being investigated by Lincoln, who is re-acquirin... Read more
LINCOLN
AVIATOR PHEV
(2022) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 18, 2022
Incident date: Feb 18, 2022
A warning appears on the dash "stop safely now" and the vehicle rapidly comes to a complete stop and is unable to be moved. This has occurred on three occasions, during 2 of which the car stalled in an active driving lane on a highway, resulting in life threatening situation. The app said "high voltage battery warning" triggered by "another event". Being investigated by Lincoln, who is re-acquirin... Read more
Incident date: Jan 15, 2022
Water has entered a headlight and has caused the turn signal, DRL and headlight functions to fail intermittently. Ford/Lincoln has inspected and acknowledge the defect, and it is covered under warranty. However, they have not and do not admit to having a replacement headlight available. They do have headlight assemblies available for new car production and choose to use the new assemblies for new ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 5, 2022
I have a 2002 lincoln LS v8 the passenger ball joint came loose and broke had it fixed driver side has now came loose and rattling
Incident date: Jan 25, 2022
Door ajar notification continues to illuminate when all doors are secure. First incident happened on 1/25/2022. Was sent in for repair and returned on 2/2/2022. Issue happened again while driving on the interstate on 3/10/2022, and is back in for repair. This notification causes domes lights to continue to illuminate which is a danger at night, and will not allow for doors to lock.
Incident date: Mar 25, 2021
Takata Recall. The contact owns a 2010 Lincoln MKX. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V158000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was not made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2014 Lincoln MKZ. The contact stated while driving 45 mph, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to park on the side of the road and within 1-2 minutes he was able to restart the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2014 Lincoln MKZ. The contact stated while driving 45 mph, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to park on the side of the road and within 1-2 minutes he was able to restart the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 8, 2022
We have swollen lug nuts on our vehicle. We are unable to rotate our tires and our service technician states they all need to be replaced. They state the "outer shell is swelling". The vehicle is available for inspection. This is a safety concern since the lug nuts can break. No warning lamps or messages are shown. These were professional inspected by a trained technician at Chapel Hill Tire l... Read more
Incident date: Jan 13, 2022
Turning signals don't work. I bought this used 2008 Lincoln Navigator with the written text on my phone that said the used car lot took the vehicle to their mechanic and he said he had fixed the problem. I called him (the mechanic) upset and said the used car lot said he fixed the problem. He said he didn't say that; the signals could not be fixed without certain parts (computer parts) that are... Read more
Incident date: Jul 10, 2020
Complaint Lincoln 2009 MKZ air vent grid on dash board broke in various places and collapse also, it appears the dash board in front of air vent grid is raised. Causing the defroster to not work properly and the window shield does not clear properly. I was told to fix the problem the whole dash board needs to be replaced. I see this as a design and manufacturer defect and that Lincoln should repa... Read more
Incident date: Mar 9, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Lincoln MKZ. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed and traveled to the floorboard. The contact stated the braking distance was extended due to the failure. The contact stated that no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer who stated that the failure was caused by the front driver’s side brake rubber ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 8, 2022
Vehicle year is listed as recalled under NHTSA recall 15V005 but not included based on production date. After starting vehicle and navigating into moving traffic, vehicle exhibited identical symptoms (stopping unexpectedly while in motion, no force to gas pedal, slowing to a stop/locking up as if in acc mode). Check engine light illuminated, vehicle restarts after full shut down and drives. Upo... Read more
LINCOLN
MKZ HYBRID
(2015) - SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
Mar 8, 2022
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
The contact's wife owns a 2015 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. The contact received a notification for NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V011000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The dealer had been notified about the recall and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer had been notified of the recall. The contact stated that the manufacturer had... Read more
Incident date: Mar 7, 2022
The contact owns a 2009 Lincoln MKZ. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 19V904000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) and 21V158000 (Air Bags) however, the parts to do the recall repair were not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made awar... Read more
Incident date: Mar 7, 2022
The contact owns a 2009 Lincoln MKZ. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 19V904000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) and 21V158000 (Air Bags) however, the parts to do the recall repair were not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made awar... Read more
Incident date: Mar 7, 2022
I took my Lincoln to a Ford dealership regarding water in my trunk. The technician said it was the factory wields off the assembly line that have failed. Lincoln said they would not cover the repair due to not enough complaints on model and car was over any warranties. I returned the vehicle to the same dealership to get the repair. I was told it was not the wields, but the trunk lid. I paid for a... Read more
Incident date: Mar 7, 2022
My backup camera still turns blue. I have had the recall done to fix the issue but it still happens occasionally. Seems to be just random when it happens and no direct cause when it does happen.
Incident date: Mar 7, 2022
My backup camera still turns blue. I have had the recall done to fix the issue but it still happens occasionally. Seems to be just random when it happens and no direct cause when it does happen.
Incident date: Nov 16, 2021
The fuel tank needs replacement due to a crack in the fuel tank is causing fumes in the vehicle. Exactly like the recall of 2005 Lincoln LS, that the dealership cannot find because it is more than 15 years.
Incident date: Feb 24, 2022
Vehicle has 5400 miles and has catastrophic engine failure while driving. Vehicle towed to dealership and diagnosed engine seized needs complete engine replacement
Incident date: Mar 5, 2022
Lug nuts are swollen. Doesn’t even have 33,000 miles on my vehicle.
Incident date: Mar 25, 2021
Tire size 265/40 R 21. I had 2 tires fail with sidewall breaks on this car, which was purchased on 8/23/2019. These were the original tires that came with the car. First sidewall problem occurred on 3/25/2021 when the car had only 6,700 miles on it. That tire was replaced. Tires were maintained and rotated as recommended by dealer. Then on 10/12/2021 when the car had 9,234 miles on it a second ori... Read more