2005 Lincoln Town Car problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Vehicle Speed Control (32) · Air Bags (11) · Seat Belts (10)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Lincoln Town Car model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
97 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (2)
Steering:rack And Pinion:pinion Shaft 2014-11-05 · campaign 14V704000 · 36,888 vehicles
Defect: 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.
Risk: 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.
Fix: 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.
Steering 2013-08-29 · campaign 13V385000 · 355,000 vehicles
Defect: 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 W
Risk: If the lower bearing separates, the vehicle may experience a loss of steering, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: 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 n
Service bulletins (36)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Structure 2020-07-13 · TSB 20-2233 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this article supersedes tsb 19-2026 to update the vehicle model years affected. some 2000 and newer ford/lincoln/mercury vehicles equipped with aluminum body panels may exhibit corrosion concerns appearing as bubbled and/or peeling paint with or without accompanying white dust. panel replacement is
Structure 2019-02-07 · TSB 19-2026 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2000 and newer ford, lincoln and mercury vehicles equipped with aluminum body panels may exhibit corrosion concerns appearing as bubbled and/or peeling paint with or without accompanying white dust. panel replacement is recommended. follow the service procedure steps to correct the condition
Structure 2019-02-07 · TSB 19-2026 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2000 and newer ford, lincoln and mercury vehicles equipped with aluminum body panels may exhibit corrosion concerns appearing as bubbled and/or peeling paint with or without accompanying white dust. panel replacement is recommended. follow the service procedure steps to correct the condition
Engine And Engine Cooling:exhaust System:manifold/Header/Muffler/Tail Pipe 2016-09-21 · SSM 46085 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
the powertrain control/emissions diagnosis (pc/ed) manual has been revised for diagnosing electronic throttle bodies (etbs). the etc_act and etc_dsd pids should not used to diagnose possible etb concerns. the ids has a limited refresh rate when reading these pids and cannot display quickly enough to
Structure 2016-04-21 · TSB160072 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
inpected or repaired under 13r01 - requests for recall service action under 13s08
Steering 2016-04-21 · 16-0072 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
for 2005-2012 crown victoria, 2005-2011 grand marquis and town car vehicles, regional program 13r01 applies to vehicles not registered in corrosion states and not included in safety recall 13s08, where operation in high corrosion areas for an extended period may lead to corrosion in the lower interm
Showing the 6 most recent of 36 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2022-12-05 · Visibility/Wiper · 92,000 mi“the contact owns a 2005 lincoln town car. the contact stated that the windshield wipers became inoperable. there were no warning lights illuminated. the local dealer was not contacted. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was contacted. the failure mileage was approximately 92,000. the consumer stated wipers are only turned o…”
2022-10-26 · Vehicle Speed Control“while accelerating approximate @ 30 mph, vehicle speed increased without assistance nearly plummeting into a body of water at a curve... exit 77 on i-95s md. the car could not handled the curve at that rate of speed. town car had to be thrown into neutral and hard press brake pedal in order to stop. safety issue could have been major accident or …”
2020-11-09 · Vehicle Speed Control · 💥 crash“2005 lincoln towncar. consumer writes in regards to faulty accelerator which resulted in a auto accident. *ld *js…”
2020-07-28 · Service Brakes · 126,000 mi · 💥 crash“tl* the contact owns a 2005 lincoln town car. the contact called in regards to having a brake failure. the contact stated while approaching a red light and depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle failed to stop causing the vehicle to hit a truck and the curb. the vehicle was able to stop after depressing the brake pedal multiple times. the contact …”
2019-12-19 · Air Bags“air bag light flashes 3 times 5 times and then stays on. no accidents 28000 actual miles.…”
2019-12-09 · Air Bags · 248,000 mi“air bag light was on for a year but now its off but have 25 beeps everytime i start car and every 20 minutes after. found it was ab n airbag issue…”
2019-09-08 · Air Bags · 28,000 mi“"takata recall." i noticed a few weeks ago that my airbag light is on. i have 28000 actual miles on the 2005 lincoln town car that has always been garaged. i have not had a recall on the airbag light and i would like for you to check it out and let me know of any recalls on the airbags.…”
2019-08-09 · Steering · 95,000 mi“became hard to steer while driving. like loss of power steering to it into be checked it is the intermediate steering. almost lost control. i was told it was recalled for same reason. i checked it was recalled but says 0 unrepaired . but says some was not repaired correctly i have less than 95,000 miles on this vehicle. what can be done for this ve…”
2019-04-16 · Service Brakes · 93,000 mi · 💥 crash“tl* the contact owns a 2005 lincoln town car. while attempting to stop the vehicle, the brake pedal was depressed and the vehicle inadvertently accelerated. the vehicle came to a stop at an extended distance. on another occasion, the brake pedal was depressed and the contact struck a guardrail in order to avoid crashing into another vehicle. there …”
2019-02-27 · Seat Belts“air bag light on, giving code 34 then remains illuminated. dealer said seat belt tensioners on both side need to be changed @ a cost of $1,500 . they also advise serious injury can occur in an event of an impact .…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.