"How reliable is the 2008 Mercury Mariner?"

"Based on 553 NHTSA complaints, the 2008 Mercury Mariner has a median complaint mileage of 104392 miles. The most common issue is STEERING."

"What are common problems with the 2008 Mercury Mariner?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 2008 Mercury Mariner is STEERING, accounting for a significant portion of the 553 total complaints filed."

2008 Mercury Mariner: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 553 complaints

553

Total Complaints

104,392mi

Median Mileage

STEERING

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

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

77,000 25th Percentile

104,392 Median Mileage

143,750 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

STEERING

295

POWER TRAIN

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

SERVICE BRAKES

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

ENGINE

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

AIR BAGS

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"CAR HAD 2,500 MILES WHEN BOTH BRAKE LIGHTS ILLUMINATED AND ONLY HAD MANUAL BRAKING. CAR WAS TOWED TO DEALERSHIP WHERE THEY NEEDED TO CONSULT WITH FORD SPECIALISTS TO DETERMINE THE PROBLEM BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T SURE IF IT WAS THE MASTER CYLINDER OR THE BRAKES. THE REPLACEMENT PART HAD TO PULLED FROM..."

"TRAVELING THROUGH WILLIAMSBURG, VA EN ROUTE TO VACATION WHEN POWERTRAIN LIGHT ILLUMINATES AND POWER STEERING IS LOST. ABLE TO STEER VEHICLE INTO PARKING LOT TO WAIT FOR TOW. HAD TO FIND A WAY TO GET TO THE OPEN RENTAL LOCATIONS TO CONTINUE ON TRIP, UNLOAD ALL LUGGAGE INCLUDING A LOADED ROOF RACK I..."

"NEW 2008 MERCURY MARINER INTERMITTENT WILL NOT START OR HARD TO START AND WHEN STARTS EMITS HEAVY BLACK SMOKE FROM EXHAUST. WHEN CAR DID NOT START LEFT DAUGHTER IN A UNSAFE ENVIRONMENT. TOOK CAR TO LOCAL DEALERSHIP, SERVICE DEPARTMENT ADMITTED FORD WAS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM THERE IS A SERVICE BULLETI..."

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

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