1985 FORD TEMPO — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 29 complaints · 4 recalls
Most-reported system: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (11 complaints · 37.9%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 3
  • Fires 5
  • Injuries 1
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1984 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution ELECTRICAL SYSTEM appears in 11 of 29 owner complaints (37.9%) in this vehicle snapshot. ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 11 complaints, 37.9% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 11 · 37.9% · 4 fire reports ENGINE: 7 complaints, 24.1% of reports ENGINE 7 · 24.1% · 1 fire reports STEERING: 4 complaints, 13.8% of reports STEERING 4 · 13.8% · 1 crash reports AIR BAGS: 2 complaints, 6.9% of reports AIR BAGS 2 · 6.9% · 2 crash reports SUSPENSION: 2 complaints, 6.9% of reports SUSPENSION 2 · 6.9% POWER TRAIN: 1 complaints, 3.5% of reports POWER TRAIN 1 · 3.5% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 1 complaints, 3.5% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 · 3.5% WHEELS: 1 complaints, 3.5% of reports WHEELS 1 · 3.5% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 21 complaints, 72.4% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 21 · 72.4% · 2 crash reports 5 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 11 37.9% 0 crashes · 4 fires
ENGINE 7 24.1% 0 crashes · 1 fires
STEERING 4 13.8% 1 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 2 6.9% 2 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 2 6.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 1 3.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 3.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
WHEELS 1 3.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 21 72.4% 2 crashes · 5 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Apr 1995; the first recall shown was reported in Jul 1985. 1995-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1995-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 1995-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 1996-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jul 1985 Jan 2011 Recall campaign 85V086000 ◆ Recall campaign 85V086000 Recall campaign 85V134000 ◆ Recall campaign 85V134000 Recall campaign 85V145000 ◆ Recall campaign 85V145000 Recall campaign 07E064000 ◆ Recall campaign 07E064000 Investigation EA86010 ● Investigation EA86010 Investigation PE87028 ● Investigation PE87028 Investigation PE88034 ● Investigation PE88034 Investigation PE89118 ● Investigation PE89118 Investigation EA91052 ● Investigation EA91052 Investigation DP96002 ● Investigation DP96002 Investigation PE96005 ● Investigation PE96005
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q2 Owner reports 1
1995-Q3 Owner reports 3
1995-Q4 Owner reports 1
1996-Q2 Owner reports 8
1996-Q3 Owner reports 1
1996-Q4 Owner reports 1
1997-Q3 Owner reports 1
1997-Q4 Owner reports 1
1998-Q2 Owner reports 2
1998-Q3 Owner reports 1
2000-Q2 Owner reports 1
2000-Q4 Owner reports 3
2001-Q1 Owner reports 1
2001-Q4 Owner reports 1
2002-Q1 Owner reports 1
2002-Q4 Owner reports 1
2011-Q1 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 85V086000
Recall campaign 1 85V134000
Recall campaign 1 85V145000
Recall campaign 1 07E064000
Defect investigation 1 EA86010
Defect investigation 1 PE87028
Defect investigation 1 PE88034
Defect investigation 1 PE89118
Defect investigation 1 EA91052
Defect investigation 1 DP96002
Defect investigation 1 PE96005
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (4)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 07E064000

    Report date
    Component:
    FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
    Consequence:
    A LEAKING FUEL PUMP COULD CREATE A VEHICLE FIRE HAZARD.
    Remedy:
    FEDERAL-MOGUL WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND REPLACE THE DEFECTIVE FUEL PUMPS FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON OCTOBER 15, 2007. OWNERS CAN CONTACT FEDERAL-MOGUL AT 248-354-7700.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 85V086000

    Report date
    Component:
    SUSPENSION
    Consequence:
    Not available in the source record
    Remedy:
    REPLACE REAR SUSPENSION BOLTS AS NECESSARY.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  3. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 85V134000

    Report date
    Component:
    ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
    Consequence:
    Not available in the source record
    Remedy:
    REPLACE ELECTRONIC ENGINE CONTROL PROCESSOR, IF NECESSARY.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  4. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 85V145000

    Report date
    Component:
    SUSPENSION
    Consequence:
    Not available in the source record
    Remedy:
    REPLACE REAR SUSPENSION BOLTS AS NECESSARY.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 29 complaints · page 1 of 2

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources