2002 Lincoln Town CAR

No clear pattern

21.2% of complaints about the 2002 Lincoln Town CAR arrived in its first year of service. That is an unusual figure for a 2002 vehicle, but with only 66 complaints on record the sample is too small to call it a pattern — the margin of error covers the range where ordinary vehicles sit. The figures below are reported without a verdict. The most-reported system is air bags (20 complaints), typically at 4.7 yr or about 55,534 miles.

Complaints: 66
Median age at failure: 2.5 yr
Median mileage: 49,000 n=35
Crash / fire / tow: 33.3% of reports
Safety recalls: 1

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

15E082000 2015-10-06

Steering

Dorman Products, Inc. (Dorman) is recalling certain model Dorman Steering Shafts, part number 425-359, Solutions Steering Shafts, part number 7-0359, and OE Solutions Steering Shafts, part number 425-359, manufactured April 17, 2014, to September 28, 2015. These aftermarket replacement steering shafts are sold for use in 1995-2002 Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis, and Lincoln Town Car vehicles. These steering shafts may separate during operation if the integral fastener is loose or missing and if the interfacing vehicle shaft is compressed in length.

If the shafts separate during vehicle operation, a loss of steering control would result, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.

In owners’ own words

Air bags mileage not reported 10 mo in service crash / fire / tow

WHILE DRIVING 30MPH INVOLVED IN A HEAD-ON COLLISION AND AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. *AK

Air bags mileage not reported 11 mo in service crash / fire / tow

IN A FRONTAL COLLISON, NONE OF THE AIR BAGS DEPLOYED ON IMPACT. *AK THE CONSUMER STATES THAT FORD DID SEND SOMEONE TO CHECK OUT THE SYSTEM, AND THEY SAID THAT ALL THE SENSORS WERE WORKING. THERE'S OVER $10K WORTH OF DAMAGE IN THE FRONT OF THE VEHICLE. THE FACTORY REPRESENTATIVE SAID IT WAS NOT HIT WITHIN 27 PERCENT RADIUS OF THE CENTER. BUT WITH THE IMPACT, THEY SHOULD HAVE DEPLOYED. *SCC

Air bags 22,000 mi 1.2 yr in service

WHILE DRIVING THE PASSENGER SIDE, SIDE AIRBAG DEPLOYED WITHOUT VEHICLE BEING IN AN ACCIDENT. PLEASE PROVIDE MORE DETAILS. TS *DT

Other Town CAR model years

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

2002 Lincoln Town CAR

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

In owners’ own words

Other Town CAR model years

How to read this