Exterior Lighting › Brake Lights
Filed Feb 7, 200372,000 milesCA
CONNECTOR BURNED AND BLEW THE BULB. PH
1998 Ford Thunderbird
Routine
Owners filed 3 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the vehicle speed control. No safety recall has been issued.
What fails
| Component | Reports | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle Speed Control | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Exterior Lighting › Brake Lights | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Electrical System › Wiring | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
What owners reported
Newest filingsElectrical System › Wiring
Filed Jul 5, 2002TX
CONSUME RHAD PROBLEMS WITH ELECTRICALWIRES WHICH CASED HEADLIGHTS AND TURN SIGNAL NOT TO WORK. CAUSE UNKNOWN. DEALER NOTIFIED.*AK
Vehicle Speed Control
Filed Oct 9, 2000NF
WHEN DECLINING WITH CRUISE CONTROL ENGAGED IT CAUSED VEHICLE TO INCREASE ITS SPEED. DEALER NOTIFIED, AND INFORMED CONSUMER THAT IT WAS NORMAL. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO PROVIDE ANY FURTHER DETAILS. *AK
3 of 3 complaints, reproduced as filed.
Across model years
Worst on record: 1993| Year | Complaints | Recalls | Fires | Deaths | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 2004 | 34 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 2003 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 2002 | 93 | 2 | 0 | 1 | Fatalities reported |
| 1999 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 1998 — this page | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 1997 | 169 | 2 | 3 | 0 | Routine |
| 1996 | 233 | 4 | 4 | 1 | Fatalities reported |
| 1995 | 261 | 1 | 11 | 2 | Fatalities reported |
| 1994 | 300 | 1 | 10 | 2 | Fatalities reported |
| 1993 | 423 | 4 | 7 | 1 | Fatalities reported |
| 1992 | 184 | 4 | 11 | 1 | Fatalities reported |
| 1991 | 112 | 4 | 13 | 0 | Routine |
| 1990 | 140 | 4 | 19 | 2 | Fatalities reported |
Reading this record
No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.
Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.