1996 MERCURY MYSTIQUE — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 184 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (38 complaints · 20.7%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 7
  • Fires 12
  • Injuries 9
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1995 →
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 38 of 184 owner complaints (20.7%) in this vehicle snapshot. ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 38 complaints, 20.7% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 38 · 20.7% · 9 fire reports ENGINE: 29 complaints, 15.8% of reports ENGINE 29 · 15.8% · 2 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 21 complaints, 11.4% of reports POWER TRAIN 21 · 11.4% · 1 crash reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 12 complaints, 6.5% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 12 · 6.5% FUEL SYSTEM: 11 complaints, 6.0% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 11 · 6.0% VISIBILITY: 11 complaints, 6.0% of reports VISIBILITY 11 · 6.0% · 1 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 10 complaints, 5.4% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 10 · 5.4% · 1 crash reports SUSPENSION: 9 complaints, 4.9% of reports SUSPENSION 9 · 4.9% STEERING: 7 complaints, 3.8% of reports STEERING 7 · 3.8% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 152 complaints, 82.6% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 152 · 82.6% · 6 crash reports 9 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 38 20.7% 0 crashes · 9 fires
ENGINE 29 15.8% 0 crashes · 2 fires
POWER TRAIN 21 11.4% 1 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 12 6.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 11 6.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 11 6.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 10 5.4% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 9 4.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 7 3.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 152 82.6% 6 crashes · 9 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 Jul 1996. 1996-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 1997-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 1999-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 1999-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q3: 21 owner reports 21 1999-Q4: 11 owner reports 11 2000-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2000-Q2: 11 owner reports 11 2000-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 2000-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q1: 13 owner reports 13 2001-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 2001-Q3: 11 owner reports 11 2001-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2002-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2002-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2003-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2004-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jul 1996 Oct 2009 Investigation PE98063 ● Investigation PE98063 Investigation RQ99019 ● Investigation RQ99019 Investigation PE00023 ● Investigation PE00023 Investigation EA01001 ● Investigation EA01001 Investigation RQ02006 ● Investigation RQ02006
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1996-Q3 Owner reports 2
1996-Q4 Owner reports 2
1997-Q1 Owner reports 1
1997-Q2 Owner reports 2
1997-Q3 Owner reports 4
1997-Q4 Owner reports 4
1998-Q1 Owner reports 1
1998-Q2 Owner reports 4
1998-Q3 Owner reports 3
1998-Q4 Owner reports 7
1999-Q1 Owner reports 4
1999-Q2 Owner reports 3
1999-Q3 Owner reports 21
1999-Q4 Owner reports 11
2000-Q1 Owner reports 7
2000-Q2 Owner reports 11
2000-Q3 Owner reports 10
2000-Q4 Owner reports 4
2001-Q1 Owner reports 13
2001-Q2 Owner reports 10
2001-Q3 Owner reports 11
2001-Q4 Owner reports 2
2002-Q1 Owner reports 5
2002-Q2 Owner reports 2
2002-Q3 Owner reports 5
2002-Q4 Owner reports 2
2003-Q1 Owner reports 6
2003-Q2 Owner reports 2
2003-Q3 Owner reports 1
2003-Q4 Owner reports 1
2004-Q1 Owner reports 5
2004-Q2 Owner reports 3
2004-Q4 Owner reports 1
2005-Q1 Owner reports 1
2005-Q3 Owner reports 2
2005-Q4 Owner reports 1
2006-Q1 Owner reports 1
2006-Q2 Owner reports 1
2006-Q3 Owner reports 1
2007-Q2 Owner reports 1
2007-Q3 Owner reports 2
2007-Q4 Owner reports 1
2008-Q1 Owner reports 1
2009-Q1 Owner reports 1
2009-Q4 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 PE98063
Defect investigation 1 RQ99019
Defect investigation 1 PE00023
Defect investigation 1 EA01001
Defect investigation 1 RQ02006
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA 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.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 184 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 Aug 21, 2026
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