Volkswagen Cabriolet vs Lincoln Lincoln

Both cars' complete complaint records, side by side.

Read the totals carefully. NHTSA publishes no sales figures, so the car that sold more collects more complaints regardless of quality. The rows worth weighing are the proportions — the share of complaints that involved harm, and which part dominates.

Measure	Volkswagen Cabriolet	Lincoln Lincoln
Complaints on file	55	137
Model years covered	1984–1990	1976–2001
Worst model year	—	2000
Best model year	—	1998
Crashes reported	0	7
Fires reported	0	23
Injuries reported	1	5
Deaths reported	0	1
Most complained-about part	Fuel & Propulsion	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	1.8%	26.3%

Volkswagen Cabriolet by year

1 6 8 12 8 9 11

84 85 86 87 88 89 90

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Fuel & Propulsion 25 45.5%

Electrical System 7 12.7%

Airbags 6 10.9%

Engine & Cooling 4 7.3%

Body & Structure 4 7.3%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 3 5.5%

Steering 2 3.6%

Suspension 2 3.6%

Lincoln Lincoln by year

1 1 1 1 3 5 5 9 9 3 6 14 3 14 6 41 15

76 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Electrical System 27 19.7%

Engine & Cooling 17 12.4%

Suspension 14 10.2%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 13 9.5%

Brakes 10 7.3%

Tires 8 5.8%

Transmission & Drivetrain 7 5.1%

Steering 7 5.1%