1998 Mercury Mountaineer problems
Owners have filed 298 complaints with NHTSA about the 1998 Mercury Mountaineer. Tires is the most reported problem area, at 35% of complaints. After that come cruise control (13%) and electrical system (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 298 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Tires 35% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 29 and 31
- Injuries and deaths
- 36 and 2
- Typical mileage
- 80,000 miles 66 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 | 7 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 5 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 19 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 10 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 9 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 5 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 4 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 2 |
| 200k+ miles | 2 |
What the data shows
Among the 66 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 80,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 29 complaints mention a crash; 31 complaints mention a fire; 36 injuries reported; 2 deaths reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 92% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1998 ranks 3rd most-complained-about out of 12 model years of the Mercury Mountaineer with enough data (187 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 5 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.
Consumer had just turned off the highway and was traveling on a dirt road when vehicle jerked to right and then rolled over. Consumer and her daughter were thrown out from vehicle. Consumer was knocked unconscious, and daughter was killed upon impact. Also vehicle exploded into flames.
When the 1998 mercury mountaineer was running on hwy 121 south merging into hwy 114 west in grapevine, tx, the 1998 mercury suddenly became out of control at a speed less than speed limit. The car was being accelerated even if the accelerator pedal was off. The driver applied break to stop the car but the break did not work. Then the driver had to steer the car into the bush off road to avoid collision to other cars. The driver changed the at to p (parking) to stop the car.
When the 1998 mercury mountaineer was running on hwy 121 south merging into hwy 114 west, the 1998 mercury suddenly became out of control at a speed less than speed limit. The car was being accelerated even if the accelerator pedal was off. The driver applied break to stop the car but the break did not work. Then the driver had to steer the car into the bush off road to avoid collision to other cars. The driver changed the at to p (parking) to stop the car. The engine surged and started fire underneath of the car.
I bought my vehicle about 3 years ago. It had 60,000 on the odometer. The back windshield wiper never worked, and does once in a while and the radio light never stays on. Once in a while it will show the station or the time. My drivers side door handle has always been loose. My engine light came on a year after I got it and it will not go off. It say egr flow insufficient and yet I have replaced all of those and had the computer reset.