1999 LINCOLN TOWN CAR — Complaint #941040
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT filed September 25, 2012
NHTSA complaint #941040 (ODI reference 10476967) concerns a 1999 LINCOLN TOWN CAR and was filed on September 25, 2012. The owner reports the failure occurred on October 15, 2011. The vehicle had 167,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Connecticut based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as suspension:front:control arm:lower ball joint, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same LINCOLN TOWN CAR cohort independently describe similar suspension:front:control arm:lower ball joint failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 1999 LINCOLN TOWN CAR shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 1999 LINCOLN TOWN CAR CARTIER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE TRAVELING 2 MPH, A LOUD NOISE EMITTED AS THE VEHICLE FAILED TO ACCELERATE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A LOCAL REPAIR SHOP WHERE IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THE PASSENGER SIDE BALL JOINT NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED AND THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AND CONFIRMED THAT THE VIN FAILED TO QUALIFY FOR REPAIRS UNDER NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER:98V322000 (SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT). THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 167,000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 173,000. UPDATED 11/23/12 *BF THE CONSUMER STATED THE PASSENGER LOWER BALL JOINT FAILED AS SHE WAS TRAVELING, BUT NO ACCIDENT OCCURRED, THE VEHICLE WAS THEN TOWED TO A LOCAL REPAIR SHOP, WHERE IT WAS REPAIRED. IN FACT, THE REPAIR SHOP REPLACED THE PASSENGER LOWER CONTROL ARM AS WELL AS THE LOWER BALL JOINT. APPROXIMATELY EIGHT MONTHS AFTER THE DRIVER'S SIDE LOWER BALL JOINT FAILED, AS
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 941040 |
| ODI Number | 10476967 |
| Date Filed | September 25, 2012 |
| Failure Date | October 15, 2011 |
| VIN | 1LNHM83W8XY |
Similar SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT Complaints for 1999 LINCOLN TOWN CAR
See attached document for complaint.
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1999 LINCOLN TOWN CAR. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 3 MPH IN A PARKING LOT. THE LOWER BALL JOINTS DETACHED WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1999 LINCOLN TOWN CAR. WHILE ATTEMPTING TO BACK OUT OF A PARKING SPACE, THE CONTACT TURNED THE WHEEL AND THE VEHICLE JERKED AND STOPPED MOVING. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A LOCAL
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1999 LINCOLN TOWN CAR. WHILE DRIVING 30 MPH, THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE LOWER BALL JOINTS FAILED AND THE FRONT DRIVER SIDE OF THE VEHICLE FELL TO THE GROUND AND BENT. THE VEHI
DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE STARTING THE ENGINE WITH THE VEHICLE IN PARK, THE LEFT FRONT LOWER BALL JOINT FRACTURED WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INSPECTED BY A DEALER. THERE WAS A NHTSA R
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.