2002 Mercury Mystique: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2002 Mercury Mystique
Only 3 defect reports have been filed with NHTSA about the 2002 Mercury Mystique, which is too few to compute mileage percentiles or a risk score. The reports reported fuel pump failure.
When each failure gets reported
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel pump failure | fuel | 2 | 2 | — | 36k | — | 0.0 | $600–$2,600 | High |
| Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault | airbag | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $300–$1,600 | High |
This year had no usable recall paperwork, so the fleet-size estimate is the median of other years of the same model. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The odometer reading is the one the owner gave.
Fuel pump failure
When depressing the accelerator pedal vehicle hesitated and stalled. Took vehicle to dealer, and dealer informed consumer that the problem was the fuel pump. However, that part was not covered under a recall. *ak
When depressing the accelerator pedal vehicle hesitated and stalled. Took vehicle to dealer, and dealer informed consumer that the problem was the fuel pump. However, that part was not covered under a recall. *ak
Every year of the Mercury Mystique
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 1996-2002 generation, 1997 Mercury Mystique scores best at 59 and 1998 Mercury Mystique worst at 64.
What the reports on file say
The complaints recorded against the 2002 Mercury Mystique are fuel pump failure (2 reports, around 36k miles) and airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault (1 report). With a sample this size these are anecdotes rather than a pattern, and they are shown because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see them than nothing.
Why this page is short
A model year needs about 8 reports before percentiles mean anything, and this one does not have them. Complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road, so a thin page usually means a rare car, a new car, or a car whose owners do not file.
Other years of the same model do have enough: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000. The mechanical parts are often shared across those years, so their pages are the better guide to what this one is likely to do, with the caveat that a shared part is not a shared production line.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed