1998 Mercury Tracer: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 1998 Mercury Tracer
On the 1998 Mercury Tracer, the failure owners report most often is other engine problem, with 8 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 85,000 miles. Overall it scores 69 out of 100, high risk for a 1998.
High risk for a 1998 — 64th riskiest of the 271 1998 vehicles we can rate. 57 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
What breaks on the 1998 Mercury Tracer
Owners have reported 25 named failure modes on the 1998 Mercury Tracer, and the three most-reported carry 35% of everything filed.
Other engine problem leads with 8 reports and about 296 per 1,000 vehicles.
Other suspension problem follows with 7 reports.
Other electrical problem follows with 5 reports, median 150,000 miles. 1 of those report mention a fire.
By system, the reports fall mostly into engine (10), suspension (10) and electrical (5).
At what mileage it happens
Too few of the reports on this year carry an odometer reading to describe the timing: 7 of them do. The mileages quoted elsewhere on this page come from the modes that have enough of them.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
Showing the 12 most-reported failure modes of 25. The full list is in the table below.
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
Severity, and what it costs
Across the named modes, 1 mentions a crash, 1 a fire and 1 an injury. Those are the words owners used in their own complaints, and NHTSA does not verify them, but they are the closest thing in this data to a measure of what a failure actually did.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 4.04, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: other engine problem at $300–$4,000, other suspension problem at $350–$2,000, other electrical problem at $250–$2,000 and steering rack, gear or tie rod failure at $700–$2,600. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
30% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other engine problem | engine | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | 296.3 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Other suspension problem | suspension | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | 259.3 | $350–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 5 | 1 | — | 150k | — | 185.2 | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure | steering | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 111.1 | $700–$2,600 | High |
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 3 | 1 | — | 132k | — | 111.1 | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Other body or interior problem | body | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 111.1 | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Thermostat failure | cooling | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 74.1 | $250–$900 | Moderate |
| Loss of braking | brakes | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 74.1 | $400–$3,000 | Critical |
| Strut, shock or spring failure | suspension | 2 | 1 | — | 83k | — | 74.1 | $500–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other speed control problem | adas | 2 | 1 | — | 82k | — | 74.1 | $250–$2,000 | Critical |
| Oil leak | engine | 1 | 1 | — | 78k | — | 37.0 | $250–$2,200 | Moderate |
| No-start or intermittent start failure | engine | 1 | 1 | — | 150k | — | 37.0 | $200–$1,800 | Moderate |
| Radiator or coolant leak | cooling | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 37.0 | $350–$1,900 | High |
| CV axle or driveshaft failure | drivetrain | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 37.0 | $450–$2,200 | High |
| Fuel pump failure | fuel | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 37.0 | $600–$2,600 | High |
| ABS module or sensor failure | brakes | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 37.0 | $500–$2,400 | High |
| Airbag failed to deploy in a crash | airbag | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 37.0 | $1,000–$5,000 | Critical |
| Steering column or shaft failure | steering | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 37.0 | $600–$2,500 | Critical |
| Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure | suspension | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 37.0 | $400–$2,200 | High |
| Liftgate, tailgate or trunk failure | body | 1 | 1 | — | 70k | — | 37.0 | $250–$1,500 | Moderate |
| Wiper or washer failure | glass | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 37.0 | $120–$800 | Moderate |
| Other brake problem | brakes | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 37.0 | $300–$1,800 | High |
| Other steering problem | steering | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 37.0 | $350–$2,400 | High |
| Other wheel or tire problem | wheels | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 37.0 | $200–$1,500 | High |
| Other visibility problem | glass | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 37.0 | $150–$1,400 | Moderate |
| Unclassified problem | other | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 185.2 | — | Moderate |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 1998 Mercury Tracer draws about 2,111 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 100th percentile of complaint rates among 1998 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound.
The working figure is 27 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 1998 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
Recalls on the 1998 model year
NHTSA has issued 1 recall campaign covering the 1998 Mercury Tracer, affecting an estimated 27 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover seat belts:front. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
One caution about reading these together: a recall usually raises the complaint count for the same part, because owners who read about it go and file. The mileages stay informative; the counts get noisy.
SEAT BELTS:FRONT
388 vehicles 2004-07-12- Defect
- Certain trw driver's side seat belts manufactured on december 6 and 9, 2002, for use as replacement equipment for 1997 ford escort 4-door and station wagon platform vehicles, ford's p/n f7cz54611b09aac. The seat belt assemblies exhibit a no-lock condition which does not comply with federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 209, seat belt assemblies.
- 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.
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
How it ranks in the 1998 field
The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.
Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.
- Left fewer and less serious reports
- Right more, or worse
- Marker this vehicle
Better and worse years of the same car
High risk for a 1998 — 64th riskiest of the 271 1998 vehicles we can rate. The comparison is always within the same model year, so an older car is never penalised for having had longer to break.
Across the 4 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 1997 comes out best at 59 and 1996 worst at 70, with 1998 itself at 69.
If the model year is negotiable, 1997 scores lower than 1998 by a margin worth acting on. Same body, same engines, different luck — usually a supplier change or a mid-cycle fix, which the complaint data can show but never explain.
Within the 1996–2003 generation specifically, 1997 is the strongest year at 59 and 1996 the weakest at 70.
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 1996-2003 generation, 1997 Mercury Tracer scores best at 59 and 1996 Mercury Tracer worst at 70.
The limits of complaint data
57 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 57 reports, 7 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 12% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
The failure modes are assigned by software reading the owner's own words, which is accurate in bulk and wrong in individual cases. A mode with a handful of reports may contain a misfiled one.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 1998 Mercury Tracer?
The most-reported failures are other engine problem (8 reports), other suspension problem (7 reports) and other electrical problem (5 reports, median 150,000 miles). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Is the 1998 Mercury Tracer reliable?
It scores 69 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 64th riskiest of the 271 1998 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 1998 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Which year of the Mercury Tracer is best?
Within the 1996–2003 generation, 1997 scores best at 59 out of 100 and 1996 worst at 70. Same body, same engines, different luck.
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