2004 FORD THUNDERBIRD — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 34 complaints · 1 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (10 complaints · 29.4%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 5
  • Fires 0
  • Injuries 6
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2003 →
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 10 of 34 owner complaints (29.4%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 10 complaints, 29.4% of reports ENGINE 10 · 29.4% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 8 complaints, 23.5% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 8 · 23.5% · 2 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 5 complaints, 14.7% of reports POWER TRAIN 5 · 14.7% · 2 crash reports AIR BAGS: 3 complaints, 8.8% of reports AIR BAGS 3 · 8.8% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 3 complaints, 8.8% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 · 8.8% · 1 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 2 complaints, 5.9% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 2 · 5.9% FUEL SYSTEM: 1 complaints, 2.9% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 1 · 2.9% SUSPENSION: 1 complaints, 2.9% of reports SUSPENSION 1 · 2.9% WHEELS: 1 complaints, 2.9% of reports WHEELS 1 · 2.9% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 9 complaints, 26.5% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 9 · 26.5% · 1 crash 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 10 29.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 8 23.5% 2 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 5 14.7% 2 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 3 8.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 8.8% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 2 5.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 1 2.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 1 2.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
WHEELS 1 2.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 9 26.5% 1 crashes · 0 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 Jul 2004; the first recall shown was reported in Jul 2004. 2004-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2010-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2014-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jul 2004 Jul 2021 Recall campaign 04V330000 ◆ Recall campaign 04V330000
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2004-Q3 Owner reports 1
2004-Q4 Owner reports 1
2005-Q1 Owner reports 1
2005-Q2 Owner reports 1
2005-Q3 Owner reports 1
2005-Q4 Owner reports 1
2006-Q1 Owner reports 1
2006-Q2 Owner reports 1
2007-Q1 Owner reports 1
2007-Q2 Owner reports 1
2007-Q3 Owner reports 1
2008-Q1 Owner reports 1
2008-Q3 Owner reports 1
2010-Q1 Owner reports 2
2010-Q2 Owner reports 1
2011-Q2 Owner reports 1
2011-Q3 Owner reports 1
2011-Q4 Owner reports 1
2013-Q2 Owner reports 2
2013-Q3 Owner reports 2
2014-Q2 Owner reports 1
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
2014-Q4 Owner reports 1
2015-Q2 Owner reports 1
2015-Q4 Owner reports 1
2016-Q2 Owner reports 1
2017-Q1 Owner reports 1
2017-Q2 Owner reports 1
2020-Q3 Owner reports 1
2020-Q4 Owner reports 1
2021-Q3 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 04V330000
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 04V330000

    Report date
    Component:
    SEATS
    Consequence:
    THE SEAT MAY NOT PERFORM AS INTENDED DURING A CRASH WHICH COULD INCREASE THE RISK OF INJURY.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE UPPER SUPPORT ASSEMBLY ON THE POWER SEATS. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JULY 20, 2004. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT FORD AT 1-800-392-3673.
    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 34 complaints · page 1 of 2

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