The contact owns a 2008 Lincoln Mkz. While attempting to open all the vehicle's doors, the door handles fractured. Also, the rear locks failed to operate the doors. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who stated that an unknown electrical motor sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 78,000.

- Surprise, AZ, USA

Without warning, the driver's door would not open. I was trapped in the vehicle. The only way to exit the car was to roll down the window and use the exterior handle. The vehicle had not been in an accident and is in good working condition. There was no prior warning that the door handle was worn or had a defect. I have disassembled the door and I see that an interior section of the interior door handle has fractured. This section acts as a cam to pull the cable that opens the door. It is a poor design because the plastic is in pure tension and allows a crack to catastrophically propagate. I belive this is a serious safety hazard because it traps an occupant in the vehicle without warning. Many failure mode effects analysis events assume the driver can exit the car to receive a low score. This makes several other possible failure modes much more dangerous.

- Grand Rapids, MI, USA