Reliability & cost of ownership
Mercury Tracer Reliability & Common Problems
How reliable is the Mercury Tracer? Compare every model year side by side — NHTSA recalls, owner complaints, and crash-test stars — then open the year you're shopping for a full reliability and repair-cost forecast.
Mercury Tracer problems by model year
8 recall entries and 316 owner complaints on file across 6 model years, sourced from the federal NHTSA database.
| Year | Recalls | Complaints | NCAP stars | Full report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 Tracer | 1 | 2 | No NCAP test | Reliability forecast → |
| 1999 Tracer | 1 | 20 | No NCAP test | Reliability forecast → |
| 1998 Tracer | 1 | 44 | No NCAP test | Reliability forecast → |
| 1997 Tracer | 2 | 142 | No NCAP test | Reliability forecast → |
| 1996 Tracer | 0 | 12 | No NCAP test | Reliability forecast → |
| 1995 Tracer | 3 | 96 | No NCAP test | Reliability forecast → |
Most-complained-about components
Owner complaints filed with NHTSA against the Mercury Tracer, grouped by the component each complaint names — the fastest read on where this model gives trouble.
- air bags62 complaints
- engine and engine cooling45 complaints
- fuel system44 complaints
- electrical system40 complaints
- gasoline39 complaints
- suspension28 complaints
- service brakes22 complaints
- hydraulic22 complaints