1993 FORD TEMPO — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 226 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (54 complaints · 23.9%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 17
  • Fires 5
  • Injuries 26
  • Deaths 1
Compare with 1992 →
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 ENGINE appears in 54 of 226 owner complaints (23.9%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 54 complaints, 23.9% of reports ENGINE 54 · 23.9% · 1 crash reports 1 fire reports SEAT BELTS: 51 complaints, 22.6% of reports SEAT BELTS 51 · 22.6% · 5 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 27 complaints, 12.0% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 27 · 12.0% · 1 crash reports 4 fire reports SERVICE BRAKES: 17 complaints, 7.5% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 17 · 7.5% · 2 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 14 complaints, 6.2% of reports POWER TRAIN 14 · 6.2% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 11 complaints, 4.9% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 11 · 4.9% · 2 crash reports FUEL SYSTEM: 8 complaints, 3.5% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 8 · 3.5% · 1 crash reports TIRES: 6 complaints, 2.7% of reports TIRES 6 · 2.7% VISIBILITY: 6 complaints, 2.7% of reports VISIBILITY 6 · 2.7% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 150 complaints, 66.4% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 150 · 66.4% · 10 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)
ENGINE 54 23.9% 1 crashes · 1 fires
SEAT BELTS 51 22.6% 5 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 27 12.0% 1 crashes · 4 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 17 7.5% 2 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 14 6.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 11 4.9% 2 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 8 3.5% 1 crashes · 0 fires
TIRES 6 2.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 6 2.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 150 66.4% 10 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 Jan 1995; the first recall shown was reported in Apr 1996. 1995-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1995-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 1995-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 1995-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 1996-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 1996-Q2: 13 owner reports 13 1996-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 1996-Q4: 11 owner reports 11 1997-Q1: 12 owner reports 12 1997-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 1997-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 1998-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 1998-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 1998-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 1998-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 1999-Q1: 10 owner reports 10 1999-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 1999-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 1999-Q4: 9 owner reports 9 2000-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2000-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2000-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2000-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2001-Q1: 10 owner reports 10 2001-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2001-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2002-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2002-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2003-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2003-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 1995 Jul 2009 Recall campaign 96V071000 ◆ Recall campaign 96V071000 Recall campaign 97V019000 ◆ Recall campaign 97V019000 Investigation PE96033 ● Investigation PE96033 Investigation EA96024 ● Investigation EA96024
  • Campaign 96V071000 was reported 458 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
  • Campaign 97V019000 was reported 656 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 8
1995-Q3 Owner reports 6
1995-Q4 Owner reports 3
1996-Q1 Owner reports 9
1996-Q2 Owner reports 13
1996-Q3 Owner reports 4
1996-Q4 Owner reports 11
1997-Q1 Owner reports 12
1997-Q2 Owner reports 2
1997-Q3 Owner reports 9
1997-Q4 Owner reports 6
1998-Q1 Owner reports 5
1998-Q2 Owner reports 7
1998-Q3 Owner reports 10
1998-Q4 Owner reports 8
1999-Q1 Owner reports 10
1999-Q2 Owner reports 10
1999-Q3 Owner reports 7
1999-Q4 Owner reports 9
2000-Q1 Owner reports 6
2000-Q2 Owner reports 8
2000-Q3 Owner reports 6
2000-Q4 Owner reports 8
2001-Q1 Owner reports 10
2001-Q2 Owner reports 8
2001-Q3 Owner reports 2
2002-Q1 Owner reports 3
2002-Q2 Owner reports 1
2002-Q3 Owner reports 3
2002-Q4 Owner reports 2
2003-Q1 Owner reports 4
2003-Q2 Owner reports 5
2003-Q3 Owner reports 1
2003-Q4 Owner reports 1
2004-Q2 Owner reports 1
2004-Q4 Owner reports 1
2005-Q1 Owner reports 1
2005-Q4 Owner reports 1
2008-Q2 Owner reports 1
2009-Q3 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 226 complaints · page 1 of 10

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