Research · complaint index

Mercury Mystique years to avoidWhat NHTSA complaint data does and doesn’t say

We compared 5 model years of the Mercury Mystique by owner complaints to NHTSA, adjusted for how long each year has been on the road. No single year stands far above the rest.

01 —Complaint index

Complaints per year on the road

1.0 = typical year for this model
View as table
Model yearComplaints per year since release
19966
19972
19988
19995
20002
YearComplaintsPer year on roadIndexRecallsCrashesSignal
20006520.558Fewest complaints
199913751.0417Typical
199823681.7119Typical
19977420.574Typical
199619061.3107Typical
  • 200065 complaints · 5 recallsFewest complaints
  • 1999137 complaints · 4 recallsTypical
  • 1998236 complaints · 11 recallsTypical
  • 199774 complaints · 7 recallsTypical
  • 1996190 complaints · 10 recallsTypical
Data from NHTSA Complaints & Recalls APIs · synced Nov 6, 2026

Fewest complaints for their age: 2000.

02 —FAQ

About this comparison

What Mercury Mystique years have the most complaints?

No Mercury Mystique model year drew more than twice the typical complaint rate among the 5 model years compared. The highest was 1998.

Is this a reliability rating?

No. These are counts of unverified owner complaints to NHTSA. They are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so a popular year can collect more complaints. Use them to find patterns, then read the reports.

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.