1986 FORD THUNDERBIRD — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 22 complaints · 1 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (6 complaints · 27.3%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 2
  • Fires 5
  • Injuries 1
  • Deaths 1
Compare with 1985 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution ENGINE appears in 6 of 22 owner complaints (27.3%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 6 complaints, 27.3% of reports ENGINE 6 · 27.3% · 2 fire reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 4 complaints, 18.2% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 4 · 18.2% · 2 fire reports SEAT BELTS: 4 complaints, 18.2% of reports SEAT BELTS 4 · 18.2% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 3 complaints, 13.6% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 · 13.6% · 1 crash reports FUEL SYSTEM: 2 complaints, 9.1% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 2 · 9.1% · 1 fire reports STRUCTURE: 1 complaints, 4.6% of reports STRUCTURE 1 · 4.6% · 1 crash reports TIRES: 1 complaints, 4.6% of reports TIRES 1 · 4.6% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 18 complaints, 81.8% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 18 · 81.8% · 1 crash reports 4 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
ENGINE 6 27.3% 0 crashes · 2 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 4 18.2% 0 crashes · 2 fires
SEAT BELTS 4 18.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 13.6% 1 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 2 9.1% 0 crashes · 1 fires
STRUCTURE 1 4.6% 1 crashes · 0 fires
TIRES 1 4.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 18 81.8% 1 crashes · 4 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 1995; the first recall shown was reported in Sep 1987. 1995-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1995-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Mar 1986 Apr 2002 Recall campaign 87V139000 ◆ Recall campaign 87V139000 Investigation EA86010 ● Investigation EA86010
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 1
1995-Q3 Owner reports 1
1996-Q1 Owner reports 1
1996-Q2 Owner reports 2
1996-Q3 Owner reports 2
1996-Q4 Owner reports 1
1997-Q1 Owner reports 1
1997-Q4 Owner reports 1
1998-Q1 Owner reports 1
1998-Q3 Owner reports 3
1999-Q3 Owner reports 1
2000-Q1 Owner reports 1
2000-Q3 Owner reports 1
2000-Q4 Owner reports 3
2001-Q1 Owner reports 1
2002-Q2 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 87V139000
Defect investigation 1 EA86010
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (1)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 87V139000

    Report date
    Component:
    FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
    Consequence:
    COUPLING COULD DISENGAGE DUE TO FUEL PRESSURE,VIBRATION, AND ENGINE MOVEMENTS; THIS WOULD CAUSE LOSS OF FUEL WHICH, INPRESENCE OF AN IGNITION SOURCE, CREATES A FIRE RISK.
    Remedy:
    INSTALL RETAINER CLIPS OVER THE COUPLINGS TO PREVENT COUPLING SEPARATION AND FUEL LEAKAGE.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 22 complaints · page 1 of 1

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources