1998 MERCURY TRACER — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 44 complaints · 1 recalls
Most-reported system: SUSPENSION (10 complaints · 22.7%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 3
  • Fires 1
  • Injuries 3
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1997 →
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 SUSPENSION appears in 10 of 44 owner complaints (22.7%) in this vehicle snapshot. SUSPENSION: 10 complaints, 22.7% of reports SUSPENSION 10 · 22.7% ENGINE: 7 complaints, 15.9% of reports ENGINE 7 · 15.9% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 6 complaints, 13.6% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 6 · 13.6% · 1 fire reports AIR BAGS: 5 complaints, 11.4% of reports AIR BAGS 5 · 11.4% · 3 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 3 complaints, 6.8% of reports POWER TRAIN 3 · 6.8% STRUCTURE: 3 complaints, 6.8% of reports STRUCTURE 3 · 6.8% VISIBILITY: 2 complaints, 4.6% of reports VISIBILITY 2 · 4.6% FUEL SYSTEM: 1 complaints, 2.3% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 1 · 2.3% SERVICE BRAKES: 1 complaints, 2.3% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 1 · 2.3% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 38 complaints, 86.4% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 38 · 86.4% · 3 crash reports 1 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)
SUSPENSION 10 22.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 7 15.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 6 13.6% 0 crashes · 1 fires
AIR BAGS 5 11.4% 3 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 3 6.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 3 6.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 2 4.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 1 2.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 1 2.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 38 86.4% 3 crashes · 1 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 1998; the first recall shown was reported in Jul 2004. 1998-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2002-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2003-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 1998 Jan 2010 Recall campaign 04E048000 ◆ Recall campaign 04E048000 Investigation DP01001 ● Investigation DP01001
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1998-Q1 Owner reports 2
1998-Q4 Owner reports 2
1999-Q1 Owner reports 1
1999-Q2 Owner reports 3
1999-Q3 Owner reports 3
1999-Q4 Owner reports 1
2000-Q2 Owner reports 2
2000-Q3 Owner reports 2
2000-Q4 Owner reports 1
2001-Q1 Owner reports 3
2001-Q3 Owner reports 1
2001-Q4 Owner reports 5
2002-Q1 Owner reports 5
2003-Q1 Owner reports 1
2003-Q3 Owner reports 2
2004-Q1 Owner reports 2
2004-Q4 Owner reports 2
2005-Q1 Owner reports 1
2005-Q2 Owner reports 1
2005-Q3 Owner reports 1
2005-Q4 Owner reports 1
2007-Q2 Owner reports 1
2010-Q1 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 04E048000
Defect investigation 1 DP01001
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (1)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 04E048000

    Report date
    Component:
    SEAT BELTS
    Consequence:
    IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH, THE RESTRAINT SYSTEM MAY NOT PROVIDE ADEQUATE PROTECTION TO THE SEAT OCCUPANT, WHICH MAY INCREASE THE RISK OF PERSONAL INJURY.
    Remedy:
    TRW WILL NOTIFY THE CUSTOMERS WHO PURCHASED THE REPLACEMENT SEAT BELT ASSEMBLIES FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON AUGUST 27, 2004.
    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 44 complaints · page 1 of 2

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