IllustrationTRANSMISSION JUMPS OUT OF GEAR.
1994 Ford Thunderbird
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
Limited comparison data
There is not enough comparable history to draw a useful model-year comparison.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Thunderbird years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
Limited mileage data: 17 of 300 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Power Train. Review the 92 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Service Brakes, Hydraulic. Review the 75 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Engine And Engine Cooling. Review the 61 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
22 crash reports10 fire reports11 injury reports
What owners actually said
300 reportsOWNER STATES THAT VEHICLE HAS EXPERIENCED EXCESSIVE BRAKE WEAR AND THAT ALL OF HER BRAKES MUST BE REPLACED EVERY 6000 MILES. OWNER FEELS THAT THIS SHOULD NOT BE OCCURRING. *AK
OWNER STATES THAT FRONT BRAKES HAVE EXCESSIVE WEAR AND THAT THEY WEAR EVERY 5 TO 10,OOO MILES. OWNER NOTES THAT THESE ARE NOT ABS BRAKES. *AK
BRAKE PADS KEEP HAVING TO BE REPLACED(3 TIMES), DEALER SAYS THIS IS NORMAL. *AK
WARPED BRAKE ROTORS, CAUSING VIBRATION AT STOPS. *AK
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION DOWNSHIFTED AT HIGHWAY SPEED FOR NO APPARENT REASON. *AK
OWNER HAS ABS BRAKES, SHE STATES THAT THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP NUMEROUS TIMES FOR THE BRAKES, OWNER NOTES THAT THE WHEEL SHIMMIES AND THAT VEHICLE DOES NOT WANT TO STOP. *AK
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION DOWNSHIFTED AT HIGHWAY SPEED FOR NO APPARENT REASON.
WARPED FRONT BRAKE ROTORS; ALSO, TRANSMISSION SHIFTED ROUGHLY BETWEEN 3RD AND 4TH GEAR DUE TO TORQUE CONVERTER FAILURE. *AK
UPON DEPRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL, THE BRAKE PEDAL WILL NOT RELEASE, CONSUMER HAS TO PLACE AN OBJECT UNDER THE BRAKE PEDAL IN ORDER FOR THE PEDAL TO RELEASE . CONSUMER HAS CONTACTED THE DEALER, DEALER HAS YET TO REPLACE ANY PARTS. *AK
Official recalls
0No recalls in this snapshot.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
0No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.