2002 LINCOLN TOWN CAR — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 62 complaints · 1 recalls
Most-reported system: AIR BAGS (20 complaints · 32.3%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 14
  • Fires 1
  • Injuries 12
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2001 →
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 AIR BAGS appears in 20 of 62 owner complaints (32.3%) in this vehicle snapshot. AIR BAGS: 20 complaints, 32.3% of reports AIR BAGS 20 · 32.3% · 8 crash reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 12 complaints, 19.4% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 12 · 19.4% · 5 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 10 complaints, 16.1% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 10 · 16.1% · 1 crash reports ENGINE: 4 complaints, 6.5% of reports ENGINE 4 · 6.5% SUSPENSION: 3 complaints, 4.8% of reports SUSPENSION 3 · 4.8% VISIBILITY: 3 complaints, 4.8% of reports VISIBILITY 3 · 4.8% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 2 complaints, 3.2% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 2 · 3.2% · 1 fire reports SEAT BELTS: 1 complaints, 1.6% of reports SEAT BELTS 1 · 1.6% STEERING: 1 complaints, 1.6% of reports STEERING 1 · 1.6% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 40 complaints, 64.5% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 40 · 64.5% · 10 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)
AIR BAGS 20 32.3% 8 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 12 19.4% 5 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 10 16.1% 1 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 4 6.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 3 4.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 3 4.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 2 3.2% 0 crashes · 1 fires
SEAT BELTS 1 1.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 1 1.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 40 64.5% 10 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 Jan 2002; the first recall shown was reported in Oct 2015. 2002-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2002-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2002-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2002-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2003-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2003-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2004-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2006-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2010-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 2002 Jan 2019 Recall campaign 15E082000 ◆ Recall campaign 15E082000 Investigation PE03011 ● Investigation PE03011 Investigation EA03014 ● Investigation EA03014 Investigation DP05005 ● Investigation DP05005
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2002-Q1 Owner reports 3
2002-Q2 Owner reports 3
2002-Q3 Owner reports 7
2002-Q4 Owner reports 4
2003-Q1 Owner reports 1
2003-Q3 Owner reports 3
2003-Q4 Owner reports 1
2004-Q1 Owner reports 5
2004-Q2 Owner reports 2
2004-Q3 Owner reports 2
2004-Q4 Owner reports 3
2005-Q3 Owner reports 1
2005-Q4 Owner reports 1
2006-Q1 Owner reports 2
2006-Q2 Owner reports 2
2006-Q3 Owner reports 3
2006-Q4 Owner reports 1
2007-Q1 Owner reports 2
2007-Q4 Owner reports 1
2008-Q4 Owner reports 1
2009-Q1 Owner reports 1
2009-Q2 Owner reports 2
2009-Q3 Owner reports 1
2010-Q1 Owner reports 3
2010-Q4 Owner reports 1
2012-Q4 Owner reports 1
2014-Q4 Owner reports 1
2016-Q2 Owner reports 1
2018-Q1 Owner reports 1
2018-Q2 Owner reports 1
2019-Q1 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 15E082000
Defect investigation 1 PE03011
Defect investigation 1 EA03014
Defect investigation 1 DP05005
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 15E082000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    If the shafts separate during vehicle operation, a loss of steering control would result, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.
    Remedy:
    Dorman will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering shaft, free of charge. The recall began on October 28, 2015. Owners may contact Dorman customer service at 1-800-523-2492, option 5.
    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 62 complaints · page 1 of 3

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