1997 Mercury Tracer: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 181 complaints
181
Total Complaints
82,000mi
Median Mileage
AIR BAGS
Top Issue
19
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

54,541 25th Percentile
82,000 Median Mileage
102,000 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

AIR BAGS
21
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
14
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE
10
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:SENSOR/CONTROL MODULE
10
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
9
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
9
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
8
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:HORN
7
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING:INTERIOR/UNDER DASH
6
SUSPENSION:REAR:SPRINGS
5

Severity Assessment

19
Crashes
26
Fires
21
Injuries
1
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"LOSS OF REAR BRAKE EFFECTIVENESS DUE TO FAILURE OF MASTER CYLINER. THE FAILURE WAS DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE COLD AMBIANT TEMPERATURES AT THE TIME."
"ABS BRAKES FAILED, PEDAL WENT TO THE FLOOR, RESULTING IN EXTENDED STOPPING DISTANCE; ALS0, REPLACED LEAKING MASTER CYLINDER. *AK"
"ABS BRAKES FAILED, PEDAL WENT TO THE FLOOR, RESULTING IN EXTENDED STOPPING DISTANCE; ALS0, REPLACED LEAKING MASTER CYLINDER. *AK"

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

AIR BAGS 21 complaints
25th: 55,641 mi Median: 59,470 mi 75th: 91,500 mi
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL 14 complaints
25th: 66,500 mi Median: 92,000 mi 75th: 109,000 mi
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:SENSOR/CONTROL MODULE 10 complaints
Median: 130,000 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

CA: 18 MI: 16 LA: 13 FL: 13 MO: 10 NV: 9 PA: 8 OH: 8 NJ: 7 TX: 7

Who Files Complaints?

29.8%
Original Owners
70.2%
Second+ Owners

Mercury Tracer — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

YearComplaintsCrashes
1991762
1992263
199311414
19948125
19951269
1998573
1999328

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28