Air Bags. Review the 37 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
Vehicle Speed Control. Review the 37 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
Seat Belts. Review the 22 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

16 crash reports2 fire reports6 injury reports

What owners actually said

143 reports

713 miles · May 4, 2006

Vehicle Speed ControlCrashInjury

Read full complaint

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED THERE WERE THREE SEPARATE PROBLEMS WITH THE VEHICLE. THE FIRST PROBLEM OCCURRED WHEN THE AUTOMATIC PEDAL ADJUSTER WAS BEING USED THE ENGINE REVVED. THE SECOND OCCURRED WHILE DRIVING, THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WAS DIFFICULT TO DEPRESS, AFTER SEVERAL MILES OF DRIVING IN THIS CONDITION, THE CONTACT PRESSED AND RELEASED THE PEDAL AND IT SUDDENLY RESUMED NORMAL OPERATION. WHILE IN STOP AND GO TRAFFIC DRIVING AT 20 MPH THE VEHICLE SURGED FORWARD, WHILE THE BRAKES WERE APPLIED AND REAR ENDED ANOTHER VEHICLE. SEATBELTS WERE IN USE; NO INJURIES WERE SUSTAINED TO THE FOUR OCCUPANTS OF THE CONTACTS VEHICLE, HOWEVER THE DRIVER OF THE OTHER VEHICLE SUSTAINED INJURIES. THE POLICE WERE ON SCENE BUT NO REPORT WAS FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS RETURNED TO THE RENTAL AGENCY AND ANOTHER MODEL WAS ISSUED.

NHTSA ODI #10156813

440 miles · May 3, 2006

Service Brakes, HydraulicVehicle Speed Control

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE ATTEMPTING TO APPLY BRAKE PRESSURE AT LOW SPEEDS THE BRAKES FAILED, CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO ACCELERATE. THE DEALERSHIP WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM. UPDATED 05/30/06. *AK

NHTSA ODI #10156709

1,340 miles · Mar 3, 2006

Structure

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED THE CONSOLE IN THE ROOF, BLOCKS HALF OF THE REAR VIEW MIRROR. AS A RESULT, THE CONTACT CANNOT SEE PROPERLY WHILE BACKING. THE DEALERSHIP AND MANUFACTURER WERE ALERTED.

NHTSA ODI #10151728

Official recalls

14V704000 · Steering:rack And Pinion:pinion Shaft

Nov 5, 2014

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2005-2011 Ford Crown Victoria, 2005-2011 Mercury Grand Marquis vehicles manufactured March 23, 2004, to August 30, 2011, and 2005-2011 Lincoln Town Car vehicles manufactured March 8, 2004, to August 30, 2011, and on which the upper intermediate shaft was serviced during the course of safety recall 13V-385. The prior repairs may not have been correctly performed.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Improper servicing of the upper intermediate shaft could cause the shaft to separate, which can then result in a loss of steering control, and increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Ford will notify the owners of vehicles whose repair records reflect that the upper intermediate steering shaft was repaired during the course of the prior recall 13V-385. Dealers will inspect and replace the upper immediate shaft if necessary free of charge. The recall began November 17, 2014. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 14S25.

13V385000 · Steering

Aug 29, 2013

Ford is recalling certain model year 2005-2011 Ford Crown Victoria (including Crown Victoria Police Interceptors), Mercury Grand Marquis, and Lincoln Town Car vehicles. The affected vehicles are currently registered or were originally sold in Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Severe corrosion can seize the lower intermediate shaft which may cause the upper intermediate shaft to collapse and the steering column lower bearing to separate.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: If the lower bearing separates, the vehicle may experience a loss of steering, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Ford will notify owners and dealers will replace the lower intermediate shaft, free of charge. The upper intermediate shaft and steering column lower bearing will be inspected to identify any damage that may have occurred as a result of lower intermediate shaft corrosion, and repaired or replaced as necessary. If the steering column lower bearing has separated, a retainer clip will be installed. The recall began on October 23, 2013. Owners may contact Ford at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's recall number is 13S08.

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

PE14021 · Steering Column Shaft Obstruction

Opened Jul 7, 2014 · Closed Nov 21, 2014

Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Engine And Engine Cooling:exhaust System; Steering

On July 7, 2014 the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a preliminary evaluation based on five complaints (VOQs) alleging incidents ofinterference between dislodged exhaust manifold heat shields and the lower steering shaft/knuckle, including one alleging the interference resulted in a crash on a highway entrance ramp. Since opening this investigation, ODI has received four additional owner complaints.One indicated that the shield was removed before binding could occur.The other three occurred at low speed and produced some momentary steering binding that was overcome by the driver when additional steering effort was applied.Once the shield was repaired or removed, the steering returned to normal.The single incident ODI identified as a possible crash (VOQ No. 10578715) related to this condition could not be verified and the description of the crash in the complaint was not supported by the police accident report.No additional crash allegations have been identified related to the alleged defect condition.Information provided by Ford in its September 10, 2014 response to ODI's information request letter identified 10 additional incidents resulting in a low rate of 1.6 incidents per 100,000 vehicles sold in vehicles ranging from 7 to 11 years in service.Six of these incidents were reported by a single source, a state police fleet that corrected the problems in March 2011 and has not reported any additional failures since.Ford also reported 5 warranty claims, but these incidents occurred at very low mileages and appeared to be caused by loose or missing heat shield attachment hardware rather than the corrosion condition that was the cause of the more recent incidents and the focus of this investigation.This investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. The Agency will continue to monitor complaints and other information relating to the alleged defect in the subject vehicles and take further action in the future if warranted.The following VOQs are associated with this investigation:10643753, 10615584, 10611362, 10610451, 10578715, 10479681, 10471833, 10317493.

Additional source detail variants (2)

Engine And Engine Cooling:exhaust System

Steering