FORD FORD · model year

1979 FORD FORD

1 NHTSA complaints for this specific cohort.

NHTSA overall rating

Not crash-tested

New Car Assessment Program

The 1979FORDFORD 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 1979 FORD is tires 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 74 investigation files overlapping the 1979 FORD, and 2 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.

1
Complaints
0
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0
Deaths

Total Complaints

1 filings

Crashes Reported

0 reports

Source

NHTSA ODI

Federal complaints database

Complaints vs. fleet median (215)

At or below the fleet median complaint volume.

Complaints by Component

ComponentCount
TIRES1

Recent Complaints

20011025TIRES

I FIRST BOUGHT A SET OF THESE TIRES IN 1996. THE RIDE WAS ROUGH FROM THE BEGINNING, AND I COMPLAINED. THE DEALER TOLD ME THEY WERE "OUT OF ROUND BUT WITHIN GOODYEAR SPECS". I CONTINUED TO DRIVE WITH A NOTICEABLE VIBRATION BECAUSE THEY WOULD NOT REPLACE THE TIRES AND I COULD NOT AFFORD TO REPLACE THEM. IN THE FALL OF '98,ONE OF THE IRES DELAMINATED WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEED. I PUT ON MY SPARE AND CONTINUED. I COULD NOT FIND A REPLACEMENT LOCALLY, AND CONTINUED TO DRIVE ON MY SPARE. LESS THAN 3 WEEKS LATER, A SECOND TIRE DELAMINATED. I THEN DROVE TO ANOTHER TOWN 50 MILES AWAY AND TOLD THEM OF THE PROBLEM, AND INSISTED THEY REPLACE ALL 4 TIRES, WHICH THEY DID AT A PRORATED PRICE.THE SECOND SET RODE WITH A SLIGHT VIBRATION, BUT WAS BETTER THAN THE FIRST. THIS GRADUALLY DETERIORATED, UNTIL I WAS DRIVING WITH MUCH VIBRATION. BALANCING WOULD NOT HELP. IN SET. OF 2000 ANOTHER TIRE DELAMINATED. GOODYERA NO LONGE MAKES THIS TIRE, AND SENT ME A REFUND. I THEN BOUGHT 2 MICHELINS, USING THE MA

Compare 1979FORDFORD to Similar Vehicles

NHTSA Investigations 2 Open

View all investigations

Frequently Asked Questions

How many complaints does the 1979 FORD FORD have?
The 1979 FORD FORD has 1 NHTSA complaints, 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 deaths reported.
What are the most common problems with the 1979 FORD FORD?
The most-complained component for the 1979 FORD FORD is TIRES with 1 complaints. Other frequently reported areas include various components.
Is the 1979 FORD FORD safe to buy?
Review the complaint history, crash and fire reports, safety ratings, and recall status on this page to make an informed decision. No NHTSA crash test rating is available for this model year. Compare with other model years using the links above.
Where does this data come from?
All complaint, recall, and safety rating data is sourced from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Complaints are filed by vehicle owners through NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation.

Vehicle Safety Guides

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.