Mercury / Grand Marquis / 1998
1998 Mercury Grand Marquis problems
Owners have filed 168 complaints about the 1998 Mercury Grand Marquis with NHTSA. Engine and engine cooling accounts for 16.1% of them — the clear leader, ahead of steering at 10.1%.
Complaints168
Crashes9
Fires9
Injuries5
Deaths1
What owners report breaking
Engine and engine cooling 16.1% · 27
Steering 10.1% · 17
Exterior lighting 9.5% · 16
Suspension 9.5% · 16
Electrical system 8.9% · 15
Structure 6.0% · 10
Vehicle speed control 5.4% · 9
Power train 4.8% · 8
Severity
Of those complaints, 9 describe a crash, 9 describe a fire, 5 report an injury and 1 report a death.
Reading the numbers
Across the 18 model years of the Mercury Grand Marquis in this data, 1998 sits 14th by complaint volume. 2005 draws the most.
Filings have fallen off, 6 in the last three years against 11 in the three before. That is normal as a generation leaves the road.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 84,700 miles.
In owners' own words
On three separate occasions the vehicle has stalled while driving on the highway. *Nm each time this happened the vehicle could not be restarted and had to be towed to the nearest garage. The dealer informed the consumer that service bulletin 12950 as issued in 1999 identifying a fix for this problem. Since the consumer's vehicle was no longer under warranty he was forced to pay for the repair. Engine and engine cooling
While driving about 25 mph passed over rubbler bars and engine check light came on. Upon passing a farmer's trailer, crossed over a railroad onto on coming traffic, the vehicle shut down, causing the consumer to coast off the road.This was the fifth time that the vehicle has shut down, and the consumer had to reset the switch to get the vehicle to start, and lost power steering. Engine and engine cooling
While driving at 50mph on flat surface and with no warning vehicle shut off. Consumer had to pull over. *Akconsumer looked through the manual and found an article explaining what to do when the vehicle is bumped and fuel shut off. The vehicle was never bumped. Consumer followed the instructions and the vehicle started back up immediately and has been running since. Engine and engine cooling
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…
Other Mercury Grand Marquis years
1995 222 complaints · 14.9% service brakes, hydraulic 1996 282 complaints · 30.9% engine and engine cooling 1997 370 complaints · 34.6% engine and engine cooling 1999 202 complaints · 13.4% engine and engine cooling 2000 216 complaints · 11.1% steering 2001 207 complaints · 13.0% vehicle speed control