1990 FORD TEMPO — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 132 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (43 complaints · 32.6%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 16
  • Fires 27
  • Injuries 12
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1989 →
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 43 of 132 owner complaints (32.6%) in this vehicle snapshot. ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 43 complaints, 32.6% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 43 · 32.6% · 2 crash reports 22 fire reports SEAT BELTS: 26 complaints, 19.7% of reports SEAT BELTS 26 · 19.7% · 5 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 18 complaints, 13.6% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 18 · 13.6% · 1 crash reports 2 fire reports ENGINE: 13 complaints, 9.8% of reports ENGINE 13 · 9.8% · 1 crash reports 2 fire reports STEERING: 9 complaints, 6.8% of reports STEERING 9 · 6.8% · 3 crash reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 5 complaints, 3.8% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 5 · 3.8% TIRES: 3 complaints, 2.3% of reports TIRES 3 · 2.3% · 1 fire reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 3 complaints, 2.3% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 · 2.3% · 1 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 2 complaints, 1.5% of reports POWER TRAIN 2 · 1.5% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 99 complaints, 75.0% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 99 · 75.0% · 10 crash reports 22 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 43 32.6% 2 crashes · 22 fires
SEAT BELTS 26 19.7% 5 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 18 13.6% 1 crashes · 2 fires
ENGINE 13 9.8% 1 crashes · 2 fires
STEERING 9 6.8% 3 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 5 3.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
TIRES 3 2.3% 0 crashes · 1 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 2.3% 1 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 2 1.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 99 75.0% 10 crashes · 22 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 Oct 1990. 1995-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1995-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 1995-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 1995-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 1996-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1996-Q2: 16 owner reports 16 1996-Q3: 17 owner reports 17 1996-Q4: 12 owner reports 12 1997-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 1997-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 1999-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2000-Q4: 10 owner reports 10 2001-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2002-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Dec 1989 Oct 2004 Recall campaign 90E043001 ◆ Recall campaign 90E043001 Recall campaign 96V071000 ◆ Recall campaign 96V071000 Investigation EA90008 ● Investigation EA90008 Investigation DP96002 ● Investigation DP96002 Investigation PE96005 ● Investigation PE96005
  • Campaign 96V071000 was reported 419 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 6
1995-Q3 Owner reports 6
1995-Q4 Owner reports 6
1996-Q1 Owner reports 3
1996-Q2 Owner reports 16
1996-Q3 Owner reports 17
1996-Q4 Owner reports 12
1997-Q1 Owner reports 7
1997-Q2 Owner reports 1
1997-Q3 Owner reports 2
1997-Q4 Owner reports 2
1998-Q1 Owner reports 3
1998-Q2 Owner reports 2
1998-Q4 Owner reports 5
1999-Q1 Owner reports 1
1999-Q2 Owner reports 3
1999-Q3 Owner reports 1
1999-Q4 Owner reports 1
2000-Q1 Owner reports 1
2000-Q3 Owner reports 3
2000-Q4 Owner reports 10
2001-Q2 Owner reports 3
2001-Q3 Owner reports 4
2001-Q4 Owner reports 4
2002-Q1 Owner reports 2
2002-Q2 Owner reports 2
2003-Q1 Owner reports 2
2003-Q2 Owner reports 1
2004-Q3 Owner reports 2
2004-Q4 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 90E043001
Recall campaign 1 96V071000
Defect investigation 1 EA90008
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 90E043001

    Report date
    Component:
    AIR BAGS
    Consequence:
    INFLATOR COMPONENT SEPARATION ALLOWS HOT COMBUSTION GASES TO ESCAPE INTO THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT WHICH COULD RESULT IN INJURIES TO VEHICLE OCCUPANTS.
    Remedy:
    REPLACE AIR BAG MODULES CONTAINING POTENTIALLY DEFECTIVE INFLATORS.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 96V071000

    Report date
    Component:
    ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
    Consequence:
    THIS CONDITION COULD CAUSE OVERHEATING, SMOKE, AND POSSIBLY FIRE IN THE STEERING COLUMN AREA OF THE VEHICLE.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE IGNITION SWITCH.
    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 132 complaints · page 1 of 6

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