Ford / Crown Victoria / 2003
2003 Ford Crown Victoria problems
Owners have filed 303 complaints about the 2003 Ford Crown Victoria with NHTSA. Exterior lighting accounts for 31.7% of them — the clear leader, ahead of wheels at 13.9%.
Complaints303
Crashes19
Fires6
Injuries6
Deaths0
What owners report breaking
Exterior lighting 31.7% · 96
Wheels 13.9% · 42
Suspension 8.9% · 27
Power train 8.6% · 26
Electrical system 6.9% · 21
Vehicle speed control 3.6% · 11
Steering 3.6% · 11
Engine and engine cooling 3.0% · 9
Severity
Of those complaints, 19 describe a crash, 6 describe a fire and 6 report an injury.
Reading the numbers
Across the 12 model years of the Ford Crown Victoria in this data, 2003 sits 5th by complaint volume. 1992 draws the most.
Filings are rising — 7 in the last three years against 6 in the three before. For a vehicle this age that usually points to a wear-related failure owners are hitting now.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 95,171 miles.
In owners' own words
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Crown Victoria. The contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 15v861000 (exterior lighting); however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Vin tool confirms parts not available. Exterior lighting
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Crown Victoria. The contact stated that while driving at night with the headlights activated, both headlights inttermittenly and independently failed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing where the contact was awaiting diagnosis of the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 97,000. Exterior lighting · reported at 97,000 miles
While drive the Crown Victoria I hear a clicking sound, the headlights goes off. It does not comes back on I have to hold the switch on bright lights to see in the night when this happens. I have search on line and I notice it is a constant problem that have occurred with other Crown Victoria drivers. Why do we have to pay for having this malfunction fix when it is a factory fault? Exterior lighting
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…
Other Ford Crown Victoria years
1997 340 complaints · 26.2% engine and engine cooling 1998 138 complaints · 21.0% engine and engine cooling 1999 174 complaints · 14.4% engine and engine cooling 2000 103 complaints · 18.4% engine and engine cooling 2004 175 complaints · 46.9% exterior lighting 2005 240 complaints · 42.1% exterior lighting