2007 Lincoln Town Car: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2007 Lincoln Town Car
On the 2007 Lincoln Town Car, the failure owners report most often is other speed control problem, and the reports cluster around 35,000 miles. The earliest to appear is other brake problem, reported by a median of 25,000 miles. Overall it scores 70 out of 100, high risk for a 2007.
High risk for a 2007 — 149th riskiest of the 365 2007 vehicles we can rate. 114 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
What breaks on the 2007 Lincoln Town Car
Owners have reported 25 named failure modes on the 2007 Lincoln Town Car, and the three most-reported carry 44% of everything filed.
Other speed control problem leads with 28 reports, about 1.7 per 1,000 vehicles and with the middle half of reports between 15k to 60,000 miles.
Other brake problem follows with 13 reports, usually reported between 12k to 85,000 miles.
Other steering problem follows with 9 reports, median 155,000 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into adas (31), steering (16) and brakes (13).
At what mileage it happens
85 of the reports on the 2007 Lincoln Town Car came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 60,000 miles.
Cumulatively, 47% by 50,000 miles, 71% by 100,000 miles and 92% by 150,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed, with 6 filed above the top of the chart.
The busiest stretch is between 0 and 10,000 miles, which alone holds 12% of the dated reports.
33% of the dated reports were filed below 36,000 miles.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
Showing the 12 most-reported failure modes of 25. The full list is in the table below.
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A further 6 reports came in above that, which is why the line stops short of the top. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
- Dashed the median reported mileage
What happens when these parts fail
Across the named modes, 22 mention a crash, 1 a fire and 7 an injury. Those are the words owners used in their own complaints, and NHTSA does not verify them, but they are the closest thing in this data to a measure of what a failure actually did.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 6.29, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: other speed control problem at $250–$2,000, other brake problem at $300–$1,800, other steering problem at $350–$2,400 and other body or interior problem at $200–$2,000. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
6% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other speed control problem | adas | 28 | 20 | 15k | 37k | 61k | 1.7 | $250–$2,000 | Critical |
| Other brake problem | brakes | 13 | 11 | 12k | 25k | 83k | 0.8 | $300–$1,800 | High |
| Other steering problem | steering | 9 | 4 | — | 156k | — | 0.5 | $350–$2,400 | High |
| Other body or interior problem | body | 9 | 7 | — | 44k | — | 0.5 | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure | steering | 5 | 4 | — | 118k | — | 0.3 | $700–$2,600 | High |
| Other engine problem | engine | 4 | 3 | — | 29k | — | 0.2 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure | fuel | 3 | 3 | — | 60k | — | 0.2 | $250–$1,800 | Moderate |
| Airbag failed to deploy in a crash | airbag | 3 | 3 | — | 81k | — | 0.2 | $1,000–$5,000 | Critical |
| Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault | airbag | 3 | 2 | — | 49k | — | 0.2 | $300–$1,600 | High |
| Seat belt or retractor failure | airbag | 3 | 3 | — | 78k | — | 0.2 | $200–$900 | High |
| Cruise control failure | adas | 3 | 3 | — | 8k | — | 0.2 | $200–$1,400 | High |
| Fuel gauge or level sensor failure | fuel | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $300–$1,200 | Moderate |
| Steering column or shaft failure | steering | 2 | 1 | — | 370k | — | 0.1 | $600–$2,500 | Critical |
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 2 | 2 | — | 126k | — | 0.1 | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 2 | 1 | — | 12k | — | 0.1 | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other visibility problem | glass | 2 | 2 | — | 82k | — | 0.1 | $150–$1,400 | Moderate |
| Misfire or rough idle | engine | 1 | 1 | — | 22k | — | 0.1 | $250–$1,600 | Moderate |
| Alternator or charging system failure | electrical | 1 | 1 | — | 98k | — | 0.1 | $450–$1,600 | High |
| Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure | electrical | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $250–$1,500 | High |
| Strut, shock or spring failure | suspension | 1 | 1 | — | 94k | — | 0.1 | $500–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Rust or structural corrosion | body | 1 | 1 | — | 30k | — | 0.1 | $500–$6,000 | High |
| Exhaust leak or fumes in the cabin | emissions | 1 | 1 | — | 23k | — | 0.1 | $250–$2,000 | High |
| Other fuel system problem | fuel | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $300–$2,200 | High |
| Other suspension problem | suspension | 1 | 1 | — | 10k | — | 0.1 | $350–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other wheel or tire problem | wheels | 1 | 1 | — | 92k | — | 0.1 | $200–$1,500 | High |
| Unclassified problem | other | 12 | 9 | 61k | 100k | 150k | 0.7 | — | Moderate |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 2007 Lincoln Town Car draws about 6.7 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 85th percentile of complaint rates among 2007 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound.
The working figure is 16,904 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2007 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The odometer reading is the one the owner gave.
Other speed control problem
Tl*the contact owns a 2007 lincoln town car. The contact stated that the vehicle accelerated while he was depressing the brake pedal. He was forced to depress the pedal as hard as possible to stop the vehicle. The stopping distance equaled the length of two vehicles. One week later, while pulling into a parking space, the vehicle surged forward again. The contact had to depress the brake pedal as hard as possible to stop the vehicle. The dealer stated that the contact must have had his foot on the accelerator pedal. The contact will take the vehicle to the dealer next week. The current mileage was 7,900 and failure mileage was 7,800. Updated 01/11/08. *lj updated *jb
Unintended acceleration. It happened about 6 times in 4000 miles. Transmission overhaul one time, next time dealer could not find any thing wrong,however it happened two days later and I will bring it back to dealer for the third time about the same problem. Whoever experiences this difficulty don't accept anyone telling you the accelerator was being pushed or the carpet was sticking. I have driven probably more than a million miles I know unintended acceleration. Period. *tr
Other brake problem
Tl*the contact owns a 2007 lincoln town car. The contact stated that when trying to apply the brakes in his vehicle the brake pedal goes down too far and hits the accelerator causing the car to jump forward. The contact brought the car into an authorized dealer however a technician was unable to diagnose a problem. The current mileage is 11,350. Updated 06/25/08 *bf the consumer stated when he applied the brake, the accelerator pedal would go down as well. Updated 06/29/08
Over the year and half we have owned the car, the brakes have failed and bringing the car to a stop is very difficult. After a lengthy battle we the dealership and also ford, they stand by the fact that nothing is wrong. They had the car almost 3 months and they could not duplicate the problem, so there is no problem, according to them. *tr
Other steering problem
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 lincoln town car. The contact stated that the vehicle was included in NHTSA campaign number: 13v385000 (steering). The dealer was contacted and stated that the repair could not be performed because the vehicle was purchased in ohio and the state of california, in which the contact resided, was not participating in the recall. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the dealer should have been able to provide the repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 40,000.
Tl * the contact owns a 2007 lincoln town car. While turning the vehicle at various speeds, the power steering failed. The dealer stated that the transmission shifter was defective. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The VIN was invalid. The failure mileage was 147,224.
Recalls on the 2007 model year
NHTSA has issued 3 recall campaigns covering the 2007 Lincoln Town Car, affecting an estimated 21,593 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover steering:rack and pinion:pinion shaft, steering and suspension:front:hub. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
One caution about reading these together: a recall usually raises the complaint count for the same part, because owners who read about it go and file. The mileages stay informative; the counts get noisy.
STEERING:RACK AND PINION:PINION SHAFT
36,888 vehicles 2014-11-05- 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.
- 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.
STEERING
355,000 vehicles 2013-08-29- 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 Wisconsin. Severe corrosion can seize the lower intermediate shaft which may…
- 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.
SUSPENSION:FRONT:HUB
8,800 vehicles 2007-06-26- Defect
- On certain passenger vehicles, a front wheel bearing and hub assembly may fracture due to improper heat treatment.
- Consequence
- If a hub fractures, it may potentially detach from the wheel knuckle, resulting in the wheel being retained only by the brake caliper assembly. As a result, the wheel may separate from the vehicle potentially resulting in a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect both front wheel bearing and hub assemblies and replace them free of charge. The recall began on june 22, 2007. Owners may contact ford at 1-800-392-3673.
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
How it ranks in the 2007 field
The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.
Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.
- Left fewer and less serious reports
- Right more, or worse
- Marker this vehicle
How 2007 compares with the other years
High risk for a 2007 — 149th riskiest of the 365 2007 vehicles we can rate. Every score on this site is a rank inside its own model year, which is what makes a 2004 and a 2019 comparable at all.
Across the 14 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 1999 comes out best at 62 and 2002 worst at 75, with 2007 itself at 70.
If the model year is negotiable, 1999, 1998, 2010, 2001, 2003, 2000, 2004 and 1996 score lower than 2007 by a margin worth acting on. Same body, same engines, different luck — usually a supplier change or a mid-cycle fix, which the complaint data can show but never explain.
Within the 2003–2008 generation specifically, 2003 is the strongest year at 64 and 2007 the weakest at 70.
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 2003-2008 generation, 2003 Lincoln Town Car scores best at 64 and 2007 Lincoln Town Car worst at 70.
Where to spend the inspection money
The mileages below are where the first quarter of reports for each mode had already been filed, which makes them the point at which a fault is worth looking for rather than the point at which it happens: other brake problem from about 12k and other speed control problem from about 15k.
On a 2007 Lincoln Town Car with more miles than that on it, the useful question to put to a seller or a mechanic is whether other brake problem has been dealt with, and if so with what parts and at whose expense. A car that has already had the repair is in a different position from one that has not.
Treat it as where to point the inspection, not as a prediction. A well-maintained example can sail past every mileage on this page, and a neglected one can fail well before the first of them.
What this page cannot tell you
114 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 114 reports, 85 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 75% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
The failure modes are assigned by software reading the owner's own words, which is accurate in bulk and wrong in individual cases. A mode with a handful of reports may contain a misfiled one.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 2007 Lincoln Town Car?
The most-reported failures are other speed control problem (28 reports, median 35,000 miles), other brake problem (13 reports, median 25,000 miles) and other steering problem (9 reports, median 155,000 miles). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
At what mileage do 2007 Lincoln Town Car problems start?
Other brake problem is the earliest failure mode to show up, with a median reported mileage of 25,000 miles and a quarter of reports before 10,000 miles. Across all failure modes on this year, the median report sits at 60,000 miles.
Is the 2007 Lincoln Town Car reliable?
It scores 70 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 149th riskiest of the 365 2007 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2007 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Which year of the Lincoln Town Car is best?
Within the 2003–2008 generation, 2003 scores best at 64 out of 100 and 2007 worst at 70. Same body, same engines, different luck.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed