1992 FORD TEMPO — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 176 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: SEAT BELTS (39 complaints · 22.2%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 11
  • Fires 20
  • Injuries 18
  • Deaths 1
Compare with 1991 →
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 SEAT BELTS appears in 39 of 176 owner complaints (22.2%) in this vehicle snapshot. SEAT BELTS: 39 complaints, 22.2% of reports SEAT BELTS 39 · 22.2% · 2 crash reports ENGINE: 38 complaints, 21.6% of reports ENGINE 38 · 21.6% · 1 fire reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 37 complaints, 21.0% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 37 · 21.0% · 15 fire reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 10 complaints, 5.7% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 10 · 5.7% · 1 crash reports FUEL SYSTEM: 8 complaints, 4.6% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 8 · 4.6% STEERING: 8 complaints, 4.6% of reports STEERING 8 · 4.6% · 2 crash reports 1 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 7 complaints, 4.0% of reports POWER TRAIN 7 · 4.0% AIR BAGS: 5 complaints, 2.8% of reports AIR BAGS 5 · 2.8% · 5 crash reports SUSPENSION: 3 complaints, 1.7% of reports SUSPENSION 3 · 1.7% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 120 complaints, 68.2% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 120 · 68.2% · 9 crash reports 17 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)
SEAT BELTS 39 22.2% 2 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 38 21.6% 0 crashes · 1 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 37 21.0% 0 crashes · 15 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 10 5.7% 1 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 8 4.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 8 4.6% 2 crashes · 1 fires
POWER TRAIN 7 4.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 5 2.8% 5 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 3 1.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 120 68.2% 9 crashes · 17 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 1996. 1995-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1995-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 1995-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 1995-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 1996-Q1: 12 owner reports 12 1996-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 1996-Q3: 12 owner reports 12 1996-Q4: 13 owner reports 13 1997-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 1997-Q2: 11 owner reports 11 1997-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 1997-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 1998-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 1999-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 1999-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 1999-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2000-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2000-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2000-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2000-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2001-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2002-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 1995 Jan 2010 Recall campaign 96V071000 ◆ Recall campaign 96V071000 Recall campaign 97V019000 ◆ Recall campaign 97V019000 Investigation PE96033 ● Investigation PE96033 Investigation EA96024 ● Investigation EA96024
  • Campaign 96V071000 was reported 329 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
  • Campaign 97V019000 was reported 715 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 2
1995-Q2 Owner reports 7
1995-Q3 Owner reports 8
1995-Q4 Owner reports 6
1996-Q1 Owner reports 12
1996-Q2 Owner reports 8
1996-Q3 Owner reports 12
1996-Q4 Owner reports 13
1997-Q1 Owner reports 8
1997-Q2 Owner reports 11
1997-Q3 Owner reports 7
1997-Q4 Owner reports 3
1998-Q1 Owner reports 4
1998-Q2 Owner reports 3
1998-Q3 Owner reports 8
1998-Q4 Owner reports 3
1999-Q1 Owner reports 6
1999-Q2 Owner reports 5
1999-Q3 Owner reports 7
1999-Q4 Owner reports 3
2000-Q1 Owner reports 4
2000-Q2 Owner reports 5
2000-Q3 Owner reports 3
2000-Q4 Owner reports 7
2001-Q1 Owner reports 1
2001-Q2 Owner reports 3
2001-Q3 Owner reports 1
2001-Q4 Owner reports 1
2002-Q2 Owner reports 2
2002-Q3 Owner reports 3
2002-Q4 Owner reports 1
2003-Q1 Owner reports 1
2004-Q1 Owner reports 3
2005-Q2 Owner reports 2
2006-Q1 Owner reports 1
2008-Q3 Owner reports 1
2010-Q1 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 96V071000
Recall campaign 1 97V019000
Defect investigation 1 PE96033
Defect investigation 1 EA96024
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 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 →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 97V019000

    Report date
    Component:
    ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
    Consequence:
    THIS CONDITION CAN CAUSE SMOKE OR FLAMES FROM THE FAN AND/OR SHROUD, THE FAN ELECTRICAL WIRING, OR THE FAN MOTOR RESULTING IN A VEHICLE FIRE.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL INSTALL AN ELECTRICAL JUMPER HARNESS CONTAINING AN AUTOMATIC RESETTING CIRCUIT BREAKER TO PROTECT THE FAN MOTOR LOW SPEED CIRCUITRY FROM OVERHEATING.
    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 176 complaints · page 1 of 8

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