Vehicle: 2001 Lincoln Town car cartier with 45,000 original miles. Date problem revealed: 05/08/2008 at 38,000 miles. Component: Powertrain: Driveline; suspension: (rear); suspension: (front); steering. Defect summary: Certain police, commercial, and passenger vehicles sold input higher loads into the vehicle chassis overloading the wheel bearings and axles. Four wheel alignment check was performed. Rear wheels was not aligned to manufacture specifications, for which, this vehicle has a non-adjustable rear end. Front-end alignment was not in manufacture specifications and could not be corrected due to faulty rear end components. Consequence summary: This could lead to early bearing failure and ultimately to axle shaft fracture. In the event of axle shaft fracture, the vehicle would lose drive function and would coast to a stop. Loss of drive function could lead to a crash. Severely unstable steering at speed above 40 mph and will lead to a crash at highway speeds.

- Frontenac, KS, USA

While driving passenger's side airbag deployed and injured passenger. Consumer stated that if it had been on driver's side, and consumer was on highway, consumer would have been knocked from steering wheel.that may have been a life threatening situation. Consumer took vehicle to dealer, and dealer stated that consumer ran over something on the road that triggered sensors for side airbag. Vehicle hit nothing. This was second Town car that that consumer has experienced a life threatening situation. Vehicle pulls to the left. Trunk would not close properly due to it being out of adjustment.

- Ashdown, AR, USA