1997 Ford Mustang problems
Owners have filed 231 complaints with NHTSA about the 1997 Ford Mustang. Brakes is the most reported problem area, at 17% of complaints. Next are engine (14%) and transmission (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 231 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 17% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 20 and 3
- Injuries and deaths
- 13 and 2
- Typical mileage
- 100,000 miles 12 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 0 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 2 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 2 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 2 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 4 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 1 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 12 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 100,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 20 complaints mention a crash; 3 complaints mention a fire; 13 injuries reported; 2 deaths reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1997 ranks 20th most-complained-about out of 36 model years of the Ford Mustang with enough data (153 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
We are aware of you previous release regarding the ford svt brake lines and would like more information regarding your investigation and if it was a third party evaluating
Consumer's son was driving and was involved in a front end collision, driver was killed in accident along with 1 other injury, front air bags did not experience deployment, consumer was told by an attorney that if air bags would have deployed, the driver may not have been killed. *slc
When attempting to merge into traffic at low speeds, the vehicle pulled to the left and accelerated to speeds of 35 to 40MPH 0without any reason, causing an accident.
Seat belts on driver's side failed about 2 years ago and were replace dwith one from junk yard. Now the one on the passenger side is locked up (belt won't extend). This is on a 1997 ford mustang v-6.
Tl* the contact owns a 1997 ford mustang. The contact stated that while traveling 35 MPH, a foul odor started to emit into the cabin. The contact then merged to the side of the road because he became distraught. The vehicle was driven to the contact's home. The vehicle was not taken to a mechanic and was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 128,000 and the current mileage was 130,000.