Lincoln · MKZ · 2018
2
Recalls
26
Complaints
5/5
Safety Rating
The 2018 Lincoln MKZ has 2 recalls and 26 owner-reported complaints on file with NHTSA. Overall safety rating: 5 out of 5 stars. Most reported issue: power train (5 reports).
Source: NHTSA Public Records · Updated Apr 22, 2026
This page combines three types of NHTSA data: recall campaigns (official manufacturer or government actions), owner complaints (unverified consumer reports), and crash test ratings (where available). A vehicle with many complaints is not necessarily less reliable — complaint volume correlates with sales volume and vehicle age. Recalls indicate identified defects, not overall quality. To compare this model year with others, use the year navigation in the sidebar or return to the model overview page.
Overall Frontal Rating
Driver and Passenger Assessment
Driver Side
Passenger Side
Overall Side Rating
Side Barrier and Side Pole Tests
Driver Side
Passenger Side
Rollover Resistance
10.9% rollover risk in single-vehicle crash
Safety Features
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2013-2018 Fusion and Lincoln MKZ vehicles. The front brake hoses may rupture and leak brake fluid.
Remedy Status
Dealers will replace the front brake hoses, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 27, 2023. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 23S12.
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2014-2018 Lincoln MKZ and Ford Fusion vehicles. The steering wheel retaining bolt may loosen allowing the steering wheel to detach while driving.
Remedy Status
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering wheel bolt with a longer bolt, free of charge. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 18S08.
The car had an internal transmission failure and caused most of the transmission fluid to leak out between inspections. Upon removing the cv axle on driver’s side, the seal was fine and replaced along with cv axle. The fluid drained and was only about half a liter (needs about 4.5L normally). After servicing the transmission fluid, the dealership did their assessment and came to the following conclusion. “ Good Afternoon Sir We found the transmission system requires replacement due to an internal fault, including damage to the transfer shaft and bearings, with potential additional internal damage. Replacing the transmission can help restore smooth gear shifting and overall drivetrain functionality. To replace the transmission, you are looking at $9000.00 out the door. My apology on taking much longer to diagnose this properly. If you have any other questions please let me know. ” The drastic transmission failure which makes noises and engages and disengages while on cruise control shows the failure internally. Many metal pieces were found among the fluid when drained. This could and still can easily leave someone on the middle of the road with no time to drive to the shoulder. Car still has less than 100k miles with the severe transmission failure and the fluid leak which occurred prior to the transmission making noise. Essentially, the internal components caused the leak which the caused even more damage. I’m quoted $9,000 for the repair which occurred really early in the car’s life. I do a lot of longer trips away from home and can easily be left stranded in the middle of nowhere or even cause huge accidents when in heavy fast moving traffic if I lose drivability or if metal components fly off. The cv axle moves in and out of the transaxle side meaning the shaft can pop off as well.
Car only has 97K miles and the transmission fluid has been leaking for some time causing loud noises from the transmission which took time to locate. The transmission leaked fluid and only had about half a liter of fluid when it should be around 4.5 liters. The fluid leaked from the transmission on the driver cv axle seal. The car shows no lights on dash of any kind. I discovered the leak after the noises were really bad while driving one day. I put the car on my ramps and got under and discovered the driver cv axle damaged and looked like electrical tape was jammed in the cv axle near the transfer case/transmission. Upon closer inspection the leak of transmission fluid was even more obvious. There is no dip stick for the transmission so I decided to drain and see and there is evidence of only about half a liter of fluid. The fluid is black and full of metal particles. This is concerning because the depth of damage is unknown until the car is repaired; this repair would include a new seal, cv axle and fluid replacement. There is no way to know what internal damage was done and this was such a short period of time. Periodic inspections are conducted on the vehicle when oil changed are completed. This can easily lead to transmission failure and the risk is exponential due to it happening regardless of where you are on the road with the unknown weather and road conditions. Miles reflected is when the leak was discovered after the noises. 97,839 miles.
Wheel lug nuts get swollen due to the material used causing problems when the wheels need to be removed. I was lucky to not be in an emergency situation needing to change a wheel out. This could have easily happened and I would have been unable to change a wheel on the side of the road. I went to Costco to get my tires changed and they refused to take the wheels off because the wheel lug nuts were ALL swollen and could cause issues on removal or/and installation. They were afraid of stripping the hardware during removal or being unable to torque to spec during installation. The replacement of the wheel lug nuts with parts that wont recreate the problem was about $90 and taking an extra day for the tire replacement appointment plus me replacing it on my own saved on labor.
Check engine light came on. Error code 0302 and 0316 on ODB at dealer. Was advised that engine needed to be replaced due to coolant intrusion into cylinder 2 which cause the vehicle to overheat. Engine has 3200 miles on it. Safety hazard due to engine seizing at high speed and causing an accident due to loss of power. Also possible engine fire due to loss of coolant/overheating.
Coolant Intrusion of Cylinder 3, car has less than 50,000 miles total and has been very well taken care of. Has had over a gallon of coolant added within the month of Aug
My 2018 Lincoln MKZ with the 2.0 Ecoboost Engine incurred premature engine failure at ONLY 40k miles. My safety as well as other drivers' safety at risk due to EcoBoost Engine in certain model year 2013-2019 Ford and Lincoln vehicles have an inherent design defect which makes them predisposed to leak coolant, including allowing the coolant to seep into the engine cylinder, which causes overheating and cylinder head cracking, and can cause the engine to misfire, suddenly stall, or even catch fire while driving. In April the car began to "shake" at start up. The shaking was intermittent. After a few days of this, the check engine light came on. I took it to the mechanic (T&H) to have it looked at. They said the "shaking" is the car misfiring at start up. They were not able to locate any leaks or identify the cause of the misfire. They code on the check engine light was Code P0301-Cylinder #1. During April and May the misfires have continued and got worse. I was going back and forth to T&H trying to diagnose the issue. On May 12th, while taking the kids to school, I went to pull out into traffic and the car would not accelerate. The dashboard lights said the engine was overheating. The car would not go above 10mph. Luckily my mechanic is down the street. They were concerned about excessive use of coolant and not seeing a leak anywhere. They filled the coolant, and I made a follow up appt in one week to do a borescope inspection. On May 19th, T&H did a Borescope inspection and visually confirmed coolant in cylinder #1. They provided me a copy of a TSB 22-2229 that states the engine block needs to be replaced. The cost of the engine block replacement was estimated at $8k. Engine failure at 40k miles is unacceptable. An engine block replacement due to a manufacturing/design flaw should be covered by Lincoln Motor Co as a goodwill repair regardless of warranty status.
I own a 2018 Lincoln MKZ. The vehicle Engine overheating warnings came up, and I took the car to the dealership. They informed that the Lincoln MKZ vehicle had a frequent problem with coolant leaking into the engine due to faulty power train assembly. The dealer has seen and repaired hundreds of vehicles with this problem. Lincoln company denies responsibility for this manufacturing defect. The vehicle is only 7 years 3 months and 30 days old with 67914 miles used by single owner. A reputed company like Lincoln should be held responsible for manufacturing and marketing vehicles where the power train and engine fails on a fairly new vehicle.
Initially when buying the vehicle in 2021, it had 30k miles. Car continued to give me a "cylinder 2 misfire code" after numerous trips to different garages and then the car beginning to start up rough and anti freeze missing i came across a "service bulletin" regarding it being a faulty ring in the engine. I took the vehicle to Ford and they replaced the engine. My car just hit 100k miles All of the sudden one day when trying to stop at a red light the car was shaking . There was no codes and only happened while in drive and at a red light or stop sigh:( complete stop) I took the card to Ford, who diagnosed it and open up my tranny and found out there was no fluid ,was burnt and had metal in it. There is still no code on my dash board and i need to pay 7k to replace a transmission. The fluid is housed internally , there was no leaks, and no codes was thrown on the dash. How was i to know transmission fluid was leaking and wher was it going?
The contact owns a 2018 Lincoln MKZ. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was driven to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that there was a coolant intrusion into the engine. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 46,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Lincoln MKZ. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the engine light illuminated. While the vehicle was idling, there was an abnormal sound coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who referred the contact to the local dealer for assistance. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that there was coolant intrusion into the engine and that the engine needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 65,000.
I have been told by a ford mechanic on 7.11.2024, 6 weeks before buying the car that there is coolant intrusion in cylinder 2 and the only fix to this would be to replace the long block that cost a little over 8k, some how some way this vehicle dont have any recalls about this well known issue. This in no way should be on the customer due to a defect by Ford engine in there vehicles.
Upon driving north on rt. 95 in GA our pan Aramaic moonroof unexpectedly exploded. There was no apparent reason. No debris was present and environmental conditions were not extreme. ( sunny day about 72 degrees F) . The explosion was very loud and alarming creating a risk of losing control of the vehicle. Bodily injury could have resulted if the moon roof cover was open and chards of glass were shot into the vehicle. We have not contact the manufacturer yet , but plan to. There was absolutely no warning of this. It was sudden, unexpected and explosive. The tempered glass was shattered and glass was missing from all along all 4 sides of the moon roof. Very scary. I assume this is due to a manufacturing defect.
I own a 2018 Lincoln MKZ. Starting the second week in January I started to notice a strange smell in the cabin of my car and outside of my car. I told my husband that I was smelling something strange, and he noticed that the exhaust was a billowy white smoke. My husband noticed that this was not a good sign. We also noticed that my Lincoln app was saying there was a misfire in cylinder 2. My husband checked my coolant and saw that my coolant reservoir was completely empty. My husband added coolant and informed me that we would need to take the car to the shop. By the following week ([XXX]) my husband checked my coolant again and saw that my reservoir was empty again and my app was saying cylinder 2 was misfiring again. On Tuesday [XXX], we took the car to the Suburban Ford of Waterford to have my car looked at. On Wednesday [XXX], the dealership called my husband and informed him that I would need a new engine in my car because the coolant is leaking into cylinder and mixing with the oil which is causing the misfire in cylinder 2. The dealership informed us that this was a problem that Ford and Lincoln had with the 2.0 and 1.5 engines for the MKZ and Fusion. The 2018 MKZ was affected by this problem. The dealership informed us that Ford/Lincoln replaced the engines after they noticed the problem, but they said my car must have had the older engine that had the problem. As you can imagine I was very upset to hear that my car, which is only six years old, would need a new engine. Not only was I upset to hear this, but I am also upset about possibly shouldering the financial burden of a new engine when this is a manufacturing problem that is no fault of my own. Also, since Ford/Lincoln knew about this issue why did they not send out a recall notice about this issue? I have found out that the oil mixing with the coolant causes corrosion in the cylinders. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Torque converter stuck off pcm code 6f35 transmission vin look up doesn't show recall but it has same transmission installed with the same problem as 2017 model
2018 LINCOLN MKZ. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARD TO FAULTY FUEL PUMP. THE CONSUMER IS REQUESTING TO BE REIMBURSED FOR THE FAULTY FUEL PUMP.
On 10/20/2022 while driving the sun roof exploded. Nothing hit the roof. The glass shatter all around the perimeter of the roof. The sound was like a shot gun blast next to your ears. Fortunately, the shattering glass did not cause a wreck or injury. The Ford garages I called stated I would have to pay for the damage. It seems this is not an uncommon occurance.
The contact owns a 2018 Lincoln MKZ. The contact stated while driving at night at approximately 35 MPH, the low beam light's visibility was blinding and made the vehicle unsafe to drive. The vehicle was diagnosed at a local dealer with a headlight failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 20,300.
The contact owns a 2018 Lincoln MKZ. The contact stated while driving approximately 3 MPH, the brakes locked up. The ABS warning light was flashing on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 21,000.
I had a accident almost a year ago if not longer. I hit a deer on the freeway they couldn’t understand why my airbags didn’t deploy. They say the bar was cracked in two different spots that makes the airbag deploy. Luckily my car wasn’t total for that reason. But I always wondered why my airbags didn’t deploy ? I thought I should let you know that .
This is [XXX] my customer is missing and has been missing since 7:45pm 8/17/21 by this vin number i was wondering if you could put a trace on the vin number 3LN6L5D92JR[XXX] PARTS OF THIS DOCUMENT HAVE BEEN REDACTED TO PROTECT PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Showing 1–20 of 25 complaints
The 2018 Lincoln MKZ has 2 recalls recorded by NHTSA.
NHTSA has received 26 owner-reported complaints for the 2018 Lincoln MKZ.
The 2018 Lincoln MKZ received an overall safety rating of 5 out of 5 stars from NHTSA.
The most commonly reported complaint categories for the 2018 Lincoln MKZ are power train (5 reports), engine (4 reports), power train,engine (3 reports).
Yes. NHTSA has 2 recalls on record for the 2018 Lincoln MKZ. Scroll up to review the published recall summaries, consequences, and remedies. To check for unrepaired recalls on your specific vehicle, use your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Look up recalls and complaints for any year, make, and model.
This page summarizes publicly available data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Complaint counts reflect reports submitted to NHTSA by vehicle owners and do not by themselves prove defect severity or vehicle safety. Safety ratings may not be available for all vehicle-years. This site is not affiliated with NHTSA or any vehicle manufacturer. For official information, visit the official NHTSA page for this vehicle.