2019 Lincoln Continental

Drivers door latch is failing to engage properly making it so the door can not closed right away. No matter how you close the door it always pushes right back open sometimes the door will semi latch but still poses the hazard of opening while driving. It has been inspected by the dealer to confirm the issue. There has been a recall for this exact issue however my vin number was not included and upon contacting Lincoln I was told there was nothing that they could do and my options were to wait until there could be the recall extended to my vehicle or just pay out of pocket. The dealership charges 2,600+Tax for the door latch replacement. As of now there is no warning lamps present and no warning lamps/driver display messages have appeared at all from the issue. If the door opens while driving there is the hazard of potential of falling out of the vehicle, or the door crashing into another object or vehicle causing an accident and or damage.

Lightly leaned on door when it was shutting, making it so it wouldn't shut all the way, soft close system engaged jamming the door and making it impossible without destroying the door/motor to open even with the emergency release latch in the map compartment of my vehicle (driver side under the electronic release button) the door eventually threw up an error letting me know the door was malfunctioning and was ajar when it wasn't. I had to climb over to the passenger seat to get out and after trying to figure out a way to release the door with about 5 minutes of effort the door finally released by holding the open button and pulling constantly at the cost of the soft close motor and a constant error message on screen with a yellow wrench on the dash. No other info on other faults are known as of yet. I have not been able to bring it to a dealer as of yet but I will update this as soon as I do I can probably reproduce it on another door but I fear doing so will have a chance to never being able to open the door again. This can be a huge issue in the event of an emergency where you need to spend extra time to break the window or crawl out and if the car lacks power with doors lock NO DOOR can be opened as the emergency release latch only works on the drivers door.

I am not aware of an accident involving this defect. I am reporting a safety concern that occurred to me after I bought the car. All door controls(inside and out) are electronic. Doors are electronically opened by pressing a button. In the event of a crash that disables the electric system, occupants would be trapped in a locked car with no way to open the door. For this apparent reason, the driver's side door has a very small mechanical lever low on the driver's side door panel that will open the door in case of electrical failure. However, the lever is NOT conspicuous and many owners may not be aware of it's existence. Moreover, the driver's door is the ONLY door with a backup mechanical lever to open the door. In a crash, it may not be feasible to remove all occupants through the driver's door. In the event of a crash that disables the car's electrical system AND damages the driver's door sufficiently to prevent opening, all occupants would be trapped in the vehicle. If occupants are also exposed to fire or water hazard, it could easily result in a fatality. I believe that NHTSA and Lincoln should consider a recall to install conspicuous mechanical levers in ALL doors, or alternatively, install a redundant battery backup system that would allow doors and window to be opened in the event that the primary electrical system is compromised in a crash. Sincerely, [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).