"How reliable is the 1998 Mercury Mountaineer?"

"Based on 298 NHTSA complaints, the 1998 Mercury Mountaineer has a median complaint mileage of 79500 miles. The most common issue is Tires."

"What are common problems with the 1998 Mercury Mountaineer?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 1998 Mercury Mountaineer is Tires, accounting for a significant portion of the 298 total complaints filed."

1998 Mercury Mountaineer: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 298 complaints

298

Total Complaints

79,500mi

Median Mileage

Tires

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

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

60,500 25th Percentile

79,500 Median Mileage

104,000 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

Tires

Tread/Belt

Vehicle Speed Control

Accelerator Pedal

Electrical System

Engine

Recliner

Gasoline

Front

Cruise Control

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEED , THE FRONT SUSPENSION BROKE IN HALF, DROPPING TO THE GROUND , THROWING THE OCCUPANTS IN THE VEHICLE TO SUSTAIN INJURIES. THE DEALER HAS BEEN NOTIFIED. *AK"

"VIBRATION IN REAR OF VEHICLE, UNABLE TO LOCATE PROBLEM."

"UPON ACCELERATION THE ENGINE STALLS AND LOSES POWER ,AND COMPLETELY STOPS WITHOUT WARNING OR ANY PRIOR NOTIFICATION. INCIDENT OCCURRED ABOUT FIVE TIMES. THE DEALER CANNOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM. *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.

Tires 53 complaints

25th: 70,350 mi Median: 80,000 mi 75th: 101,000 mi

Vehicle Speed Control 18 complaints

25th: 50,875 mi Median: 78,000 mi 75th: 104,250 mi

Accelerator Pedal 13 complaints

25th: 60,000 mi Median: 80,000 mi 75th: 99,600 mi

Electrical System 10 complaints

25th: 76,280 mi Median: 99,000 mi 75th: 103,000 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

TX: 26 NY: 25 MD: 23 MI: 18 MO: 15 OH: 15 NJ: 15 CA: 14 IL: 14 LA: 13

Who Files Complaints?

45.6%

Original Owners

54.4%

Second+ Owners

Mercury Mountaineer — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

Year	Complaints	Median Mileage	Top Issue	Crashes
1997	399	124,646	Tread/Belt	48
1999	182	67,000	Tires	15
2000	164	81,000	Vehicle Speed Control	21
2001	32	40,000	Structure	3
2002	504	75,000	Automatic Transmission	19
2003	220	78,898	Body	8
2004	271	70,000	Body	20
2005	113	48,150	Body	9
2006	153	58,945	Automatic Transmission	9
2007	119	78,000	Seats	6
2008	156	65,000	Seats	4
2010	24	38,000	Service Brakes	0

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