Lincoln MKS reliability by year
11 recall campaigns and 372 owner complaints across 8 model years. Best year to buy: 2010. Year to avoid: 2013.
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 8 model years · newest first
Per-year recall counts add up to 19, more than the 11 campaigns above, because a single NHTSA campaign often covers several model years and is counted once in each.
Common trouble spots across the MKS aggregated across 8 model years
Common questions
What's the best year to buy a Lincoln MKS?
Based on NHTSA complaint volume and severity weighting, the 2010 Lincoln MKS scores 8.2/10 — the strongest in the 2009–2016 range. 51 complaints on file, 0 active recalls. Reliability scores reflect the federal complaint record, not subjective owner reviews.
Which Lincoln MKS year should I avoid?
The 2013 Lincoln MKS scores 6.2/10 — the weakest in the lineup. 141 owner complaints with NHTSA, 7 active recalls. That doesn't mean every 2013 is a problem — it means failure rates run higher than peer model years on the same platform.
Which years of the Lincoln MKS should I avoid?
No Lincoln MKS 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 MKS are tracked?
8 model years (2009 through 2016) with NHTSA records on file. Total across the lineup: 11 distinct recall campaigns and 372 owner complaints. Those campaigns land on 19 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 MKS?
steering is the most-reported category — 115 complaints across 5 model years. Average shop repair runs about $700.