Mercury Best and Worst Years by Model
9 Mercury models, 5,936 NHTSA owner complaints and 35 recall campaigns for model years 2005–2025. Pick a model to see which years to avoid and which are the safest bets.
Mercury models ranked by owner complaints
Sorted by popularity. Years to avoid / best years come from each model’s own Complaint Index.
Verdicts are based on NHTSA owner complaints and recalls per model-year, compared within each model. This is not a reliability rating. How the Complaint Index works.
| Model | Years | Complaints | Recalls | Years to avoid | Best years | Top issue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury Grand Marquis | 2005–2011 | 865 | 6 | 2005, 2006 | 2009, 2011 | Electrical System |
| Mercury Mountaineer | 2005–2010 | 395 | 3 | 2006, 2008 | 2009, 2010 | Structure & Body |
| Mercury Mariner | 2005–2011 | 1,296 | 6 | 2008, 2009 | 2006, 2007 | Steering |
| Mercury Milan | 2006–2011 | 2,518 | 13 | 2008, 2010 | 2006, 2011 | Airbags |
| Mercury Sable | 2005–2009 | 165 | 1 | 2008 | — | Engine |
| Mercury Montego | 2005–2007 | 256 | 3 | — | — | Transmission & Powertrain |
| Mercury Mariner Hybrid | 2006–2012 | 212 | 0 | 2008, 2009 | 2010 | Engine |
| Mercury Monterey | 2005–2007 | 170 | 3 | — | — | Transmission & Powertrain |
| Mercury Milan Hybrid | 2010 | 59 | 0 | — | — | Steering |
Mercury model years with the most complaints
Raw complaint counts (not adjusted for age or sales). Click through for the breakdown.
- 2010 Mercury Milan · 1,002 complaints · 11 recalls Avoid
- 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis · 488 complaints · 4 recalls Avoid
- 2008 Mercury Mariner · 461 complaints · 3 recalls Avoid
- 2008 Mercury Milan · 451 complaints · 4 recalls Avoid
- 2007 Mercury Milan · 434 complaints · 4 recalls Caution
- 2009 Mercury Mariner · 315 complaints · 1 recalls Avoid
- 2010 Mercury Mariner · 270 complaints · 2 recalls Caution
- 2009 Mercury Milan · 226 complaints · 6 recalls Good
- 2006 Mercury Milan · 214 complaints · 4 recalls Best
- 2011 Mercury Milan · 191 complaints · 7 recalls Best
How we rank Mercury years
For each model we compare its own model years using the Complaint Index: complaints, crashes, fires, injuries, deaths and “Do Not Drive” recalls reported to NHTSA, adjusted for how long each year has been on the road. The top quarter of a model’s years is marked Avoid, the bottom quarter Best. Because NHTSA publishes no sales data, models are not ranked against each other. Full details in the methodology.