Total Complaints
1 filings
FORD FALCON · model year
1 NHTSA complaints for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 1988FORDFALCON carries 1 consumer safety complaint in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 1988 FALCON is tires:tread/belt with 1 filings. Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability.
NHTSA currently has 177 investigation files overlapping the 1988 FALCON, and 8 remain open. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
1 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| TIRES:TREAD/BELT | 1 |
THREE COOPER DISCOVERER TIRES DEVELOPED CROWN (TREAD) SEPARATION. RIGHT FRONT WAS OKAY. WHEN DRIVING CAN HEAR A CLUMP NOISE. CONTACTED MANUFACTURER & WAS INFORMED PAY FOR 1/2 PRICE FOR EACH OF THE TIRES WITH THE PROBLEM. NOT ORIGINAL TIRES ON VEHICLE. COOPER DISCOVERER LT 235/85R16 WITH 46,000 MILES ON A 1988 FORD, FALCON CHASSIS.*AK DOT#211492R4432. *SLC
Unintended Transmission Downshift and Rear Wheel Lock-up
Timing Belt Failure
Underbody shields detachment
B-Pillar Trim Detachment
Unintended Transmission Downshift and Rear Wheel Lock-up
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.