What is the best year for the Lincoln Continental?
No official dataset can support one universal best year. Use the table to compare complaint patterns and EPA figures, then open the shortlisted years for recall campaigns and exact specifications.
Model-year matrix
Lincoln Continental
which year?
Compare every Lincoln Continental model year the EPA recorded, 1984 to 2020. See complaint patterns, fuel economy and configurations side by side, then open any year for recall campaigns and the full dossier. Confirm against the official NHTSA recall search.
Evidence-led answer
Looking for the best Lincoln Continental year—or years to avoid?
The official records cannot honestly name a best, worst or most reliable year. Complaint totals have no sales, mileage or age denominator. They can show where more reports were filed and which components were named, giving you years to investigate more closely before checking the exact car and its VIN.
Which Lincoln Continental years should you avoid?
The records cannot justify a blanket avoid label. Years with more reports are surfaced below as research priorities, not predictions about every car from that year.
01 · More reports to inspect1991
203 indexed complaint reports; engine and engine cooling is the most-reported component label.
Open the 1991 dossier →02 · More reports to inspect1994190 indexed complaint reports; engine and engine cooling is the most-reported component label.
Open the 1994 dossier →03 · More reports to inspect1990158 indexed complaint reports; engine and engine cooling is the most-reported component label.
Open the 1990 dossier →Do not read this as an avoid list. Older and higher-selling model years usually accumulate more reports. A low count can also mean a newer, rarer or poorly matched vehicle—not a safer one.
Complaint totals are counts of owner-submitted allegations, not confirmed defects, and they carry no denominator: they are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received. A high-volume or older year will usually show more reports than a rare or recent one. The site does not convert these into a reliability score, because the data needed to do that honestly is not in the public record.
Direct comparison
Compare two Lincoln Continental model years.
Choose any two years. The URL keeps the pair so you can return to the same comparison. Every figure below is an observed official record or EPA estimate—not a reliability score.
2019 Lincoln Continental
- NHTSA complaint allegations
- 32
- Combined EPA economy
- 19–21 mpg/MPGe
- EPA configurations
- 6
- Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate
- $2,950–3,250
- Fuel labels
- Regular Gasoline
Most-reported component labelslatches/locks/linkages 8structure 7back over prevention 5
Open the 2019 evidence dossier →2020 Lincoln Continental
- NHTSA complaint allegations
- 7
- Combined EPA economy
- 19–21 mpg/MPGe
- EPA configurations
- 6
- Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate
- $2,950–3,250
- Fuel labels
- Regular Gasoline
Most-reported component labelsback over prevention 2unknown or other 2electrical system 1
Open the 2020 evidence dossier →Observed complaint-record difference
2020 has 25 fewer indexed complaint allegations than 2019.
This is not a rate or reliability finding. The counts have no sales, mileage, age or exposure denominator, and newer years have had less time to accumulate reports.Side by side
Lincoln Continental by year.
Complaint bars are scaled against this model’s own highest year, so they compare years with each other and with nothing else.
| Year | Complaints | Most-reported components | Combined MPG | EPA configs | Annual fuel cost | Dossier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 7 | back over prevention 2unknown or other 2electrical system 1 | 19–21 | 6 | $2,950–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 2019 | 32 | latches/locks/linkages 8structure 7back over prevention 5 | 19–21 | 6 | $2,950–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 2018 | 19 | latches/locks/linkages 5back over prevention 4electrical system 4 | 19–21 | 5 | $2,950–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 2017 | 74 | structure 20latches/locks/linkages 15unknown or other 15 | 19–21 | 5 | $2,950–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 2002 | 33 | vehicle speed control 6suspension 5unknown or other 5 | 18 | 1 | $4,200 | Dossier → |
| 2001 | 32 | suspension 8electrical system 6engine and engine cooling 4 | 18 | 1 | $4,200 | Dossier → |
| 2000 | 63 | air bags 17suspension 13visibility 12 | 18 | 1 | $4,200 | Dossier → |
| 1999 | 42 | suspension 12air bags 10vehicle speed control 5 | 18 | 1 | $4,200 | Dossier → |
| 1998 | 72 | engine and engine cooling 16vehicle speed control 13electrical system 7 | 18 | 1 | $4,200 | Dossier → |
| 1997 | 96 | visibility 16steering 12service brakes, hydraulic 11 | 18 | 1 | $4,200 | Dossier → |
| 1996 | 48 | suspension 14visibility 10power train 7 | 18 | 1 | $4,200 | Dossier → |
| 1995 | 70 | exterior lighting 12engine and engine cooling 11suspension 11 | 18 | 1 | $3,400 | Dossier → |
| 1994 | 190 | engine and engine cooling 96suspension 40electrical system 26 | 19 | 1 | $3,250 | Dossier → |
| 1993 | 121 | engine and engine cooling 81exterior lighting 17steering 14 | 18 | 1 | $3,400 | Dossier → |
| 1992 | 126 | engine and engine cooling 53suspension 26service brakes, hydraulic 23 | 18 | 1 | $3,400 | Dossier → |
| 1991 | 203 | engine and engine cooling 67suspension 54service brakes, hydraulic 51 | 18 | 1 | $3,400 | Dossier → |
| 1990 | 158 | engine and engine cooling 48suspension 32seat belts 27 | 19 | 1 | $3,250 | Dossier → |
| 1989 | 158 | seat belts 44electrical system 33engine and engine cooling 31 | 18 | 1 | $3,400 | Dossier → |
| 1988 | 84 | electrical system 47service brakes, hydraulic 24structure 14 | 18 | 1 | $3,400 | Dossier → |
| 1987 | 9 | electrical system 5suspension 3power train 2 | 19 | 1 | $3,250 | Dossier → |
| 1986 | 8 | seats 2service brakes, hydraulic 2engine and engine cooling 1 | 19 | 1 | $3,250 | Dossier → |
| 1985 | 15 | electrical system 5suspension 5service brakes, hydraulic 3 | 17–22 | 2 | $3,600 | Dossier → |
| 1984 | 6 | engine and engine cooling 3suspension 3electrical system 2 | 16–24 | 4 | $3,300–3,850 | Dossier → |
Evidence snapshot generated . “Not indexed” means NHTSA holds no complaint record matching this exact year, make and model — not that no fault occurred. Recall campaigns are not summarised here: NHTSA publishes no bulk recall dataset, and fetching them per year would take longer than the page should. Each year’s dossier shows its recalls in full, live from NHTSA.