Ford Thunderbird: recalls and complaints by model year
NHTSA lists 50 recall campaigns for the Ford Thunderbird, model years 1960 to 2005. NHTSA has 2,352 complaints on file for this model line. 23 of the 35 model years have a page on this register.
Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.
NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on . Complaint file through . Recall file through .
Model years
The number under each year is the number of recall campaigns.
- 19600
- 19650
- 19674
- 19701
- 19711
- 19723
- 19734
- 19741
- 19754
- 19761
- 19774
- 19783
- 19793
- 19801
- 19833
- 19841
- 19851
- 19861
- 19871
- 19882
- 19894
- 19903
- 19913
- 19923
- 19933
- 19940
- 19950
- 19962
- 19970
- 19980
- 19990
- 20021
- 20030
- 20041
- 20051
| Model year | Recall campaigns | Complaints | Share of the line average | Units in the campaigns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 Ford Thunderbird NHTSA page | 1 | 22 | 33% | 56 |
| 2004 Ford Thunderbird | 1 | 31 | 46% | 24,277 |
| 2003 Ford Thunderbird | 0 | 32 | 48% | |
| 2002 Ford Thunderbird | 1 | 90 | 134% | 15,355 |
| 1999 Ford Thunderbird NHTSA page | 0 | 2 | 3% | |
| 1998 Ford Thunderbird NHTSA page | 0 | 3 | 4% | |
| 1997 Ford Thunderbird | 0 | 169 | 251% | |
| 1996 Ford Thunderbird | 2 | 232 | 345% | 84,100 |
| 1995 Ford Thunderbird | 0 | 261 | 388% | |
| 1994 Ford Thunderbird | 0 | 300 | 446% | |
| 1993 Ford Thunderbird | 3 | 423 | 629% | 8,189,731 |
| 1992 Ford Thunderbird | 3 | 184 | 274% | 8,189,731 |
| 1991 Ford Thunderbird | 3 | 112 | 167% | 8,031,800 |
| 1990 Ford Thunderbird | 3 | 139 | 207% | 8,025,072 |
| 1989 Ford Thunderbird | 4 | 124 | 185% | 8,023,924 |
| 1988 Ford Thunderbird | 2 | 92 | 137% | 7,900,682 |
| 1987 Ford Thunderbird | 1 | 61 | 91% | 3,600,000 |
| 1986 Ford Thunderbird NHTSA page | 1 | 23 | 34% | 3,600,000 |
| 1985 Ford Thunderbird NHTSA page | 1 | 14 | 21% | 3,508 |
| 1984 Ford Thunderbird | 1 | 26 | 39% | 530,000 |
| 1983 Ford Thunderbird | 3 | 3 | 4% | 101,085 |
| 1980 Ford Thunderbird NHTSA page | 1 | 3 | 4% | 3,000 |
| 1979 Ford Thunderbird | 3 | 1 | 1% | 106,000 |
| 1978 Ford Thunderbird | 3 | 1 | 1% | 129,400 |
| 1977 Ford Thunderbird | 4 | 1 | 1% | 1,088,100 |
| 1976 Ford Thunderbird NHTSA page | 1 | 0 | 0% | 410,580 |
| 1975 Ford Thunderbird | 4 | 0 | 0% | 283,780 |
| 1974 Ford Thunderbird NHTSA page | 1 | 0 | 0% | 127,208 |
| 1973 Ford Thunderbird | 4 | 0 | 0% | 1,087,170 |
| 1972 Ford Thunderbird | 3 | 0 | 0% | 1,062,811 |
| 1971 Ford Thunderbird NHTSA page | 1 | 0 | 0% | 4,600 |
| 1970 Ford Thunderbird NHTSA page | 1 | 1 | 1% | 86,300 |
| 1967 Ford Thunderbird | 4 | 0 | 0% | 304,661 |
| 1965 Ford Thunderbird NHTSA page | 0 | 1 | 1% | |
| 1960 Ford Thunderbird NHTSA page | 0 | 1 | 1% |
The share is the complaints of the model year divided by the average of the line for one model year. A campaign that names 3 model years is in the count of each of the 3.
A model year with fewer than 2 campaigns and fewer than 25 complaints has no page here. The link in its row opens its NHTSA page.
Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.
Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.
Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.
Components in the complaints
3,062 component mentions.
A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. The figure per 1,000 component mentions shows how many of each 1,000 mentions name the component.
| Component | Per 1,000 | Mentions |
|---|---|---|
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 188.4 | 577 |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 158.7 | 486 |
| Electrical System | 107.1 | 328 |
| Exterior Lighting | 89.2 | 273 |
| Power Train | 82 | 251 |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 58.1 | 178 |
| Seat Belts | 57.2 | 175 |
| Fuel System, Gasoline | 39.5 | 121 |
| Air Bags | 27.4 | 84 |
| Visibility | 26.1 | 80 |
Counts by year
Other model lines of the make
- Explorer142 campaigns
- F-150169 campaigns
- Taurus69 campaigns
- Focus36 campaigns
- Windstar33 campaigns
- Escape95 campaigns
- Fusion46 campaigns
- Ranger102 campaigns
- Mustang105 campaigns
- Edge43 campaigns
- Expedition77 campaigns
- Escort35 campaigns
- F-25054 campaigns
- Freestyle2 campaigns
- Contour22 campaigns
- F-250 SD68 campaigns
- Crown Victoria47 campaigns
- F-35050 campaigns
- Freestar5 campaigns
- Aerostar23 campaigns
- Fiesta15 campaigns
- F-350 SD78 campaigns
- Tempo11 campaigns
- Probe8 campaigns
- Escape Hybrid2 campaigns
- Excursion11 campaigns
- Five Hundred3 campaigns
- E-350101 campaigns
- E-15048 campaigns
- Flex14 campaigns
- Econoline58 campaigns
- Fusion Hybrid2 campaigns
- F15046 campaigns
- Explorer Sport5 campaigns
- Mustang GT1 campaign
- Explorer Sport Trac7 campaigns
- Bronco83 campaigns
- F Super Duty12 campaigns
- F-550 SD71 campaigns
- F-450 SD87 campaigns
- F25073 campaigns
- E-45050 campaigns
- Ford23 campaigns
- F Series10 campaigns
- Ford Truck8 campaigns
- E-25073 campaigns
- Bronco II10 campaigns
- Aspire2 campaigns
- 5001 campaign
- Transit Connect31 campaigns
- Festiva2 campaigns
- Club Wagon24 campaigns
- Focus Electric4 campaigns
- Taurus X1 campaign
- Transit65 campaigns
- F35062 campaigns
- Mustang Convertible0 campaigns
- CVPI3 campaigns
- C-Max12 campaigns
- Taurus SHO2 campaigns
Follow by RSS:Ford recallsVehicle recalls
Official channels
- NHTSA VIN lookupNHTSA shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle from its VIN or its license plate.
- NHTSA: report a safety problemThe NHTSA form for a complaint about a vehicle, a tire, a child seat or equipment.
Cite this page
Recall Register. Ford Thunderbird: recalls and complaints by model year. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/ford/thunderbird/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through .
Sources
- Source
- NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
- Licence
- US government work, public domain
- Recall file through
- 29 Sep 2026
- Complaint file through
- 15 May 2019
- Manufacturer in the recall file
- FORD MOTOR COMPANY
The model name is the name in the NHTSA files. NHTSA keeps a variant of a model as a different line. How the register is made. Report an error.
Questions
- Which Ford Thunderbird model years have the most recall campaigns?
- 1989 with 4, 1977 with 4, 1975 with 4. A campaign that names 3 model years is in the count of each of the 3.
- Which Ford Thunderbird model year has the most complaints?
- The 1993 model year, with 423 of the 2,352 complaints for the line. A newer model year has had less time to get complaints.
- Which components do the complaints about the Ford Thunderbird name?
- Engine and Engine Cooling: 188.4 per 1,000 component mentions. Service Brakes, Hydraulic: 158.7 per 1,000 component mentions. Electrical System: 107.1 per 1,000 component mentions.
- How many NHTSA investigations name the Ford Thunderbird?
- 17 investigations name one or more model years of the line. The page of each model year lists its investigations.