1987 FORD TEMPO — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 53 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (24 complaints · 45.3%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 2
  • Fires 17
  • Injuries 1
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1986 →
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 24 of 53 owner complaints (45.3%) in this vehicle snapshot. ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 24 complaints, 45.3% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 24 · 45.3% · 1 crash reports 14 fire reports ENGINE: 12 complaints, 22.6% of reports ENGINE 12 · 22.6% · 3 fire reports STEERING: 4 complaints, 7.6% of reports STEERING 4 · 7.6% FUEL SYSTEM: 3 complaints, 5.7% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 3 · 5.7% POWER TRAIN: 2 complaints, 3.8% of reports POWER TRAIN 2 · 3.8% SERVICE BRAKES: 2 complaints, 3.8% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 2 · 3.8% EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 1 complaints, 1.9% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 1 · 1.9% SEAT BELTS: 1 complaints, 1.9% of reports SEAT BELTS 1 · 1.9% STRUCTURE: 1 complaints, 1.9% of reports STRUCTURE 1 · 1.9% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 45 complaints, 84.9% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 45 · 84.9% · 2 crash reports 15 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 24 45.3% 1 crashes · 14 fires
ENGINE 12 22.6% 0 crashes · 3 fires
STEERING 4 7.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 3 5.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 2 3.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 2 3.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 1 1.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 1 1.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 1 1.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 45 84.9% 2 crashes · 15 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 Jan 1995; the first recall shown was reported in Apr 1987. 1995-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1995-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1995-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1996-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 1996-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 1996-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 1997-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 1997-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 1999-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Apr 1987 Aug 2007 Recall campaign 87V060000 ◆ Recall campaign 87V060000 Recall campaign 07E064000 ◆ Recall campaign 07E064000 Investigation PE89118 ● Investigation PE89118 Investigation EA90008 ● Investigation EA90008 Investigation PE91025 ● Investigation PE91025 Investigation EA91052 ● Investigation EA91052 Investigation DP96002 ● Investigation DP96002 Investigation PE96005 ● Investigation PE96005
  • Campaign 07E064000 was reported 4,485 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 3
1995-Q2 Owner reports 3
1995-Q4 Owner reports 2
1996-Q1 Owner reports 3
1996-Q2 Owner reports 9
1996-Q3 Owner reports 5
1996-Q4 Owner reports 3
1997-Q1 Owner reports 1
1997-Q2 Owner reports 1
1997-Q3 Owner reports 3
1997-Q4 Owner reports 1
1998-Q1 Owner reports 2
1998-Q3 Owner reports 1
1998-Q4 Owner reports 1
1999-Q1 Owner reports 1
1999-Q2 Owner reports 4
1999-Q3 Owner reports 1
2000-Q3 Owner reports 2
2000-Q4 Owner reports 1
2001-Q2 Owner reports 2
2001-Q3 Owner reports 2
2002-Q2 Owner reports 1
2002-Q3 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 87V060000
Recall campaign 1 07E064000
Defect investigation 1 PE89118
Defect investigation 1 EA90008
Defect investigation 1 PE91025
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 (2)

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 87V060000

    Report date
    Component:
    WHEELS
    Consequence:
    WHEEL STUDS COULD FRACTURE CREATING A RISK OF A WHEELSEPARATING WITH LITTLE FOREWARNING.
    Remedy:
    REPLACE WHEEL LUG NUTS AND IF NECESSARY, REPLACE WHEELS AND WHEEL STUDS.
    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 53 complaints · page 1 of 3

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