Following its last mid-cycle refresh, the 2023 Lincoln Corsair was added to Consumer Reports‘ list of recommended vehicles based on an impressive above average predicted reliability rating of five out of five possible points, as well as strong showings in every category, save for in-car electronics. However, Consumer Reports just announced that it was dropping eight different vehicles from its recommended list due to some changes in regard to their inherent reliability, and that list includes the Lincoln Corsair.
The Lincoln Corsair joins the Ford Escape Hybrid, Audi Q8 e-tron, BMW iX, Hyundai Santa Cruz, Kia EV6, Mazda CX-90, and CX-90 PHEV as losing recommended status, as each received below average reliability scores this time around. CR collects its reliability data via the aforementioned questionnaires, which ask members to identify any problems they’ve experienced within the last 12 months across 20 different categories ranging from things like paint and trim to mechanicals. From there, CR averages each vehicle’s reliability score across three model years – so long as it didn’t experience any significant changes during that timeframe.
Though it offers up plenty of power, responsive handling, a comfortable ride, and a quiet cabin, the Lincoln Corsair also reportedly presents owners with some various woes as well. According to Consumer Reports, its latest member surveys indicated that some Lincoln Corsair owners are experiencing problems with their vehicle’s drive system, body hardware, in-car electronics, and various noises and leaks. Like the Escape Hybrid, the Corsair PHEV is also experiencing troubles with 12-volt battery drain, though a technical service bulletin was issued to address that particular problem.
“We are working to delivery the best customer experiences and constantly improve the quality of our products and services,” a Ford spokesperson said in response to this news. “Consumers experiencing a 12-volt battery drain in the 2023 model Corsair Plug-In Hybrid can contact a dealer to have it serviced as part of TSB 24-2288, or contact Ford’s customer service at 1-866-436-7322.”
Comments
Ford’s are complete garbage. Ford to leads in recalls 3 years running.
Sometimes, Consumer Reports will recommend a new vehicle, then rescind that recommendation a year later. I remember back in the mid-’80s when the ’83 (or was it the ’84?) Mustang 4-cylinder hit the recommended used car list… despite the ’79-82 and ’85 Mustang 4-cylnders being on the “Avold” list. Sure enough, the ’83 Mustang 4 made the list of used cars to avoid, the next year.
I’m not surprised, given FoMoCo’s quality woes.
However, I question the objectivity of Consumer Reports. It only surveys its subscribers. It’s not exactly a representative sample of owners.
The problem with a surveys, is they are not REPAIR data. Data taht woudl cost money for CR to buy they won’t get because they are cheap…and the want to sell tehri data not buy other people factual date. So they create a survey that is all heresy and opinion, which is bad because – people lie. People tell half-truths or they inflate issues that occur and deflate issues they cause. A lack of a recommendation might hurt fractionally, but people are going to do what they think no matter what. Its not like people keep buying Chevy/GM based on CR ratings, right?
CR falls all over itself about anything Subaru-related. The most perfect automobile ever built, according to CR. Subaru has problems like any other car. Always a very strongly biased automotive reliability source.
I have had a Lincoln Corsair since 2021 and have had no problems with it. You cannot judge a cars reliability just from Consumer Reports readers- sample is too small and some readers favor particular cars and never give them bad ratings.
I don’t believe a word CR says. Only last summer an online article, claiming to be from CR was bemoaning the high repair costs of Luxury cars and said if you wanted reliability and lower repair costs, they suggested to “buy domestic brands” and specifically mentioned the Lincoln name as a Luxury brand thats more reliable with less repairs. Then a week later, they had another article come out where they say to avoid Lincoln. It was like “whoops, we are not supposed to say domestic brands are good, better make another article next week that directly contradicts the one we just put out”. For me, I look at online consumer/customer reviews when I buy a car. And I will read many of them from multiple websites to get a consensus on the car. The supposed experts opinions are useless and obviously biased. Sometimes i read them and wonder if there is not some scam that if the manufacturer doesn’t pay them off, they will write a bad review? Apparently Ford/Lincoln didn’t want to bribe them to get more favorable press. For me, I want to know what people have to say who have bought the car and had them a while. With regards to Lincoln, I have had been around lots of various, so called luxury cars and few are better than Lincoln in terms of being a bona fide luxury car that also will not be in the shop with costly repairs all the time. You’d have to be brain dead to not realize brands like bmw, jaguar, Rover, etc, are going to be way more problematic and break down far more than Lincoln! And Lincoln’s still retain some modicum of being “luxury” vehicles, versus a warmed over sports car. I don’t want any car that has to be brought into a dealer frequently for costly repairs or maintenance. I got better things to do than be bringing some overpriced foreign car to a repair shop all the time. I also don’t need or want the car to be able go around a corner at 70mph. But I do want it to be supremely comfortable and quiet and luxurious. The only caveat with Lincoln is lately they have “over the top tech”. Tech rarely makes a car more luxurious. Its mostly just useless crap meant to dazzle the simple minded who are wowed by it. I order them with the more basic equipment packages as if there is one category that earns customer complaints with Lincoln, its the fully loaded high tech equipped models. Get the lowest level Reserve or the base model. Customer reviews on those tend to be better.
It’s made in China. What more do you need to know???
Ford used to build reliable cars in 2016 , as my 2016 Ford Flex is built tight , but my 2005 Lincoln was built well , but it lacked technical up dating over 11 Years of ownership!
CR members are the driving force for these ratings? CR members would complain about a b___ j__. NEVER rely on crybabies for good solid info. NEVER!
It’s a very large survey of car owners. Not a small sample. It’s very matter of fact, not opinion centric. “Did you have a problem with x?” While they seem prone to favor Toyota in their reviews, the surveys are straight up…no expert scoring them. Just got a Corsair so far so good ..great car