What breaks most · 1990 to 2011 model years
Mercury Grand Marquis problems by year
Owners have filed 3,492 safety complaints with NHTSA about the Mercury Grand Marquis across model years 1990 to 2011. Three years stand out: 2005 for exterior lighting complaints, 2003 for exterior lighting complaints and 2004 for exterior lighting complaints. The quietest years are 2009, 1990 and 2008.
- Years to check closely: 2005, 2003, 2004
- Fewest complaints: 2009, 1990, 2008
- Complaints on file
- 34921990 to 2011, all trims
- Worst year
- 2005434 complaints
- Crashes reported
- 275148 fires · 300 injuries · 14 deaths
- Typical failure mileage
- 75kMedian where owners gave mileage
- Recall campaigns
- 81Across the years shown
Complaints by model year
Raw filings with NHTSA, not adjusted for how many were sold.
| Model year | Complaints | Crashes | Recalls | Most-reported component |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 56 | 6 | 1 | Electrical system (13) | |
| 82 | 12 | 2 | Electrical system (21) | |
| 254 | 23 | 3 | Brakes (hydraulic) (46) | |
| 142 | 9 | 3 | Powertrain and transmission (29) | |
| 155 | 17 | 3 | Speed control and throttle (33) | |
| 179 | 19 | 7 | Brakes (hydraulic) (29) | |
| 237 | 9 | 6 | Engine and cooling (85) | |
| 313 | 11 | 5 | Engine and cooling (124) | |
| 141 | 8 | 7 | Engine and cooling (26) | |
| 160 | 16 | 5 | Engine and cooling (25) | |
| 152 | 13 | 8 | Exterior lighting (19) | |
| 143 | 25 | 5 | Speed control and throttle (26) | |
| 73 | 8 | 2 | Speed control and throttle (15) | |
| 324 | 20 | 2 | Exterior lighting (178) | |
| 322 | 17 | 2 | Exterior lighting (190) | |
| 434 | 24 | 5 | Exterior lighting (263) | |
| 125 | 15 | 3 | Speed control and throttle (35) | |
| 89 | 6 | 3 | Tires (23) | |
| 64 | 11 | 3 | Steering (15) | |
| 22 | 2 | 2 | Electrical system (4) | |
| 19 | 4 | 2 | Body and structure (5) | |
| 7 | 0 | 2 | Electrical system (3) |
What fails on the 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis
| Component | Share of complaints | Filings | Crashes | Parts for this job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exterior lightingHeadlights, tail lights and bulbs | 61% |
263 | 2 | Shop exterior lighting parts for the 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis |
| Electrical systemAlternators, starters and ignition | 16% |
71 | 4 | Shop electrical system parts for the 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis |
| Air bags | 13% |
58 | 5 | Check recalls for air bags on NHTSA.gov |
| Speed control and throttleThrottle and pedal sensors | 8% |
35 | 13 | Shop speed control and throttle parts for the 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis |
| Seat belts | 7% |
29 | 0 | Check recalls for seat belts on NHTSA.gov |
| SteeringPower steering pumps, racks and hoses | 4% |
16 | 1 | Shop steering parts for the 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis |
| Brakes (hydraulic)Brake pads, rotors and calipers | 2% |
10 | 1 | Shop brakes (hydraulic) parts for the 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis |
| Body and structureDoors, latches and body hardware | 2% |
10 | 1 | Shop body and structure parts for the 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis |
One complaint can name more than one component, so shares add to more than 100%. "Unknown or other" is NHTSA's uncategorized bucket and is shown but never ranked.
In owners' words
Complaint narratives as filed with NHTSA, trimmed for length.
-
Lights go off. Both stationary and moving. Very scary. Contacted dealer and the said they can't get the recalled part for my car. The lighting modgule
-
When driving at night, headlights will sometime become dim, usually the headlights will cut off. Less than a minute, after they go off,headlights will return back on.
-
Lcm (lighting control module) recall from 2015. I bought the car in march of 2016 and the dealer failed to take advantage of the recall before i purchased the car.
How to read this page
Every figure comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's public complaint database, which holds every safety-related defect complaint filed by owners since 1995. We refresh it monthly and count each complaint once per component it names. Data through September 30, 2026.
NHTSA only accepts safety-related complaints. Rattles, paint, infotainment bugs and other annoyances are under-reported here, so this page is a map of what fails in ways owners consider dangerous, not a full reliability score.
Counts are raw. Use the year-over-year shape and the component mix, not the absolute numbers. Where a component maps to parts we stock, the row links to that category filtered to the year you are viewing. Air bag and seat belt complaints link to the recall checker instead, because those repairs are almost always covered.
Common questions
Which Mercury Grand Marquis years have the most problems?
By NHTSA complaint volume, 2005, 2003, 2004 carry the most filings on the Mercury Grand Marquis. The 2005 alone has 434 complaints, led by exterior lighting.
What is the most common Mercury Grand Marquis problem?
On the 2005 model year, the most-reported component is exterior lighting with 263 complaints. The table above lists the top components for every year.
At what mileage do Mercury Grand Marquis problems start?
The median mileage at failure across all Mercury Grand Marquis complaints that include mileage is about 75,000 miles. Older model years skew higher; the per-year figure is in the "at a glance" card.
Are these complaints verified?
No. NHTSA publishes complaints as submitted and does not investigate individual filings. Patterns across hundreds of complaints are meaningful; a single one is not.