1997 Mercury Mountaineer problems
Owners have filed 399 complaints with NHTSA about the 1997 Mercury Mountaineer. Tires is the most reported problem area, at 41% of complaints. After that come cruise control (15%) and brakes (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 399 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Tires 41% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 48 and 11
- Injuries and deaths
- 25 and 2
- Typical mileage
- 125,000 miles 35 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 | 2 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 3 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 0 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 5 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 5 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 7 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 7 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 3 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 2 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Among the 35 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 125,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 48 complaints mention a crash; 11 complaints mention a fire; 25 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 2nd most-complained-about out of 12 model years of the Mercury Mountaineer with enough data (252 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 6 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.
The vehicles left rear tire came apart causing the driver to loose control of the vehicle, as a result the vehicle rotated clockwise causing the vehicle to overturn several times and as a result the passenger was ejected out of the passenger side of the vehicle, the vehicle came to final rest on the shoulder,driver sustained incapacitating injuries, the passenger sustained incapacitating injuries but later died (florida traffic crash report, bridgestone/firestone, p235/75r15, wwilderness at m/s, vdhl1py147…
Consumer was involved in a 35 MPH frontal crash in which the driver's or passenger's air bags did not deploy, resulting in two injuries.
Tl*the contact owns a 1997 mercury mountaineer. The vehicle caught fire while parked and without warning. The vehicle was completely destroyed and a fire report was filed. The contact has pictures of the failure. The cause of the failure has not been determined; however, a firefighter speculated that it may have been due to electrical failure. The failure and current mileages were 125,000. Updated 07/14/09 updated 07/15/09
I was at a gas station making a purchase with my disabled mother. We left the store, and got into my truck. I started my truck and proceed to dive towards the exit of the gas station when I smelled something like burning rubber. I said to my mother that something smelled funny and then looked and saw a thin steam of smoke coming up from in between my legs. I parked the truck and jumpers out leaving my om in the car.