Mercury problems by model
Owners have filed 25,386 complaints with NHTSA about the 13 Mercury models with enough data to profile here, covering 86 model years from 1990 through 2011. The Sable draws the most at 6,355, 25.0% of the make's total.
Complaint volume tracks how many cars a make sold as much as how they held up, and NHTSA complaints are unverified owner reports rather than confirmed defects. Nothing on this page compares Mercury against another manufacturer. Use it to find the model, then the model year, then read what owners of that year actually filed.
Every Mercury model
| Model | Model years | Complaints | Most-reported year | Top system that year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sable | 15 1990–2005 | 6,355 | 1993 981 | Engine and engine cooling (43.5%) |
| Grand Marquis | 18 1991–2008 | 4,484 | 2005 634 | Exterior lighting (47.9%) |
| Milan | 6 2006–2011 | 3,220 | 2010 1,430 | Steering (17.3%) |
| Mountaineer | 11 1997–2008 | 2,579 | 2002 504 | Power train (29.6%) |
| Cougar | 10 1990–2002 | 2,165 | 1999 740 | Electrical system (14.9%) |
| Villager | 7 1993–1999 | 2,073 | 1993 516 | Engine and engine cooling (29.5%) |
| Mariner | 5 2005–2011 | 1,591 | 2008 554 | Steering (54.2%) |
| Mystique | 5 1995–1999 | 1,422 | 1995 524 | Engine and engine cooling (21.9%) |
| Monterey | 2 2004–2005 | 482 | 2004 346 | Power train (61.8%) |
| Tracer | 3 1993–1997 | 421 | 1997 181 | Air bags (27.1%) |
| Montego | 2 2005–2006 | 311 | 2005 190 | Power train (25.8%) |
| Mariner Hybrid | 1 2008–2008 | 177 | 2008 177 | Service brakes (16.4%) |
| Topaz | 1 1994–1994 | 106 | 1994 106 | Engine and engine cooling (17.0%) |
Model years shown are those with at least 100 complaints on file, the gate every page on this site has to clear.
Reading the numbers
Across every Mercury model year on the site, engine and engine cooling is the system named most often: 2,929 complaints, 14.4% of those filed under a named system. Individual model years diverge from that sharply, which is the reason to read the year rather than the badge.
The three most-reported Mercury models (Sable, Grand Marquis and Milan) account for 55.4% of the make's complaint volume. The rest is spread across the other 10 models. Bear in mind that a nameplate selling in the millions will out-file a niche one whatever its record.
Of the 25,386 complaints, 1,458 describe a crash, 627 describe a fire and 45 report a death.
Most-reported Mercury model years
The single heaviest model year of each Mercury nameplate, 1990–2011. Heaviest is not worst. Read it alongside the model page.