Lincoln Continental reliability by year
5 recall campaigns and 132 owner complaints across 4 model years. Best year to buy: 2019. Year to avoid: 2017.
Worst model years to avoid → — the single year to avoid for every model line we track, ranked side by side.
At-a-glance: every year color-coded
Each cell shows the last two digits of the model year and its 0–10 reliability score from NHTSA data. Click any year to see the full record. ★ best year · ✕ year to avoid.
Year-by-year reliability 4 model years · newest first
Per-year recall counts add up to 11, more than the 5 campaigns above, because a single NHTSA campaign often covers several model years and is counted once in each.
Common trouble spots across the Continental aggregated across 4 model years
Common questions
What's the best year to buy a Lincoln Continental?
Based on NHTSA complaint volume and severity weighting, the 2019 Lincoln Continental scores 7.8/10 — the strongest in the 2017–2020 range. 31 complaints on file, 3 active recalls. Reliability scores reflect the federal complaint record, not subjective owner reviews.
Which Lincoln Continental year should I avoid?
The 2017 Lincoln Continental scores 7.2/10 — the weakest in the lineup. 75 owner complaints with NHTSA, 4 active recalls. That doesn't mean every 2017 is a problem — it means failure rates run higher than peer model years on the same platform.
Which years of the Lincoln Continental should I avoid?
No Lincoln Continental model year currently rises to an "avoid" or "high-risk" verdict on the NHTSA data — either the record is clean or sample sizes are still too thin for a confident call. The year-by-year breakdown below shows what's on file regardless.
How many years of the Lincoln Continental are tracked?
4 model years (2017 through 2020) with NHTSA records on file. Total across the lineup: 5 distinct recall campaigns and 132 owner complaints. Those campaigns land on 11 model-year entries in total, because one campaign often covers several years at once — which is why per-year recall counts add up to more than the campaign count.
What's the most-reported problem on the Lincoln Continental?
electrical is the most-reported category — 22 complaints across 3 model years. Average shop repair runs about $850.