1991 FORD THUNDERBIRD — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 112 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: SERVICE BRAKES (16 complaints · 14.3%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 7
  • Fires 12
  • Injuries 5
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1990 →
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 SERVICE BRAKES appears in 16 of 112 owner complaints (14.3%) in this vehicle snapshot. SERVICE BRAKES: 16 complaints, 14.3% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 16 · 14.3% · 2 crash reports ENGINE: 14 complaints, 12.5% of reports ENGINE 14 · 12.5% SEAT BELTS: 14 complaints, 12.5% of reports SEAT BELTS 14 · 12.5% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 12 complaints, 10.7% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 12 · 10.7% · 9 fire reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 10 complaints, 8.9% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 10 · 8.9% · 1 crash reports FUEL SYSTEM: 10 complaints, 8.9% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 10 · 8.9% · 1 fire reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 10 complaints, 8.9% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 10 · 8.9% · 2 crash reports VISIBILITY: 6 complaints, 5.4% of reports VISIBILITY 6 · 5.4% STEERING: 3 complaints, 2.7% of reports STEERING 3 · 2.7% · 2 fire reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 75 complaints, 67.0% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 75 · 67.0% · 5 crash reports 8 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)
SERVICE BRAKES 16 14.3% 2 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 14 12.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 14 12.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 12 10.7% 0 crashes · 9 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 10 8.9% 1 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 10 8.9% 0 crashes · 1 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 10 8.9% 2 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 6 5.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 3 2.7% 0 crashes · 2 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 75 67.0% 5 crashes · 8 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. 1995-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1995-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1995-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 1995-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1996-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 1996-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 1996-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 1996-Q4: 9 owner reports 9 1997-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 1997-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 1999-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2000-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2000-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2000-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2001-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2002-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Aug 1993 Apr 2015 Investigation PE93075 ● Investigation PE93075 Investigation EA93033 ● Investigation EA93033
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 1
1995-Q2 Owner reports 3
1995-Q3 Owner reports 8
1995-Q4 Owner reports 4
1996-Q1 Owner reports 7
1996-Q2 Owner reports 6
1996-Q3 Owner reports 6
1996-Q4 Owner reports 9
1997-Q1 Owner reports 6
1997-Q3 Owner reports 1
1997-Q4 Owner reports 4
1998-Q1 Owner reports 2
1998-Q3 Owner reports 2
1998-Q4 Owner reports 3
1999-Q1 Owner reports 3
1999-Q2 Owner reports 4
1999-Q3 Owner reports 6
2000-Q1 Owner reports 4
2000-Q2 Owner reports 4
2000-Q3 Owner reports 2
2000-Q4 Owner reports 5
2001-Q2 Owner reports 8
2002-Q1 Owner reports 1
2002-Q2 Owner reports 2
2002-Q3 Owner reports 1
2002-Q4 Owner reports 2
2003-Q1 Owner reports 1
2004-Q1 Owner reports 1
2004-Q3 Owner reports 1
2004-Q4 Owner reports 2
2005-Q3 Owner reports 1
2008-Q3 Owner reports 1
2015-Q2 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 PE93075
Defect investigation 1 EA93033
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA 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.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 112 complaints · page 1 of 5

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 Aug 21, 2026
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