Recall Register

1989 Mercury Cougar: recalls and complaints

NHTSA lists 4 recall campaigns for the 1989 Mercury Cougar. The newest campaign is 96V071000. NHTSA received the report on 25 Apr 1996. The NHTSA record gives the component Electrical System / Ignition. NHTSA has 81 complaints on file for this model year. 6 NHTSA investigations name this model year.

The NHTSA recall file shows no do-not-drive advisory and no park-outside advisory on these campaigns.

This page cannot show if a recall applies to one vehicle. The NHTSA VIN lookup shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle.

Remedy of the newest campaign, 96V071000, in the NHTSA record

Dealers will replace the ignition switch.

Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.

NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on . Complaint file through . Recall file through .

Since the last update

No tracked figure of this page changed in a data update. What the log tracks

All updates to the register

Recall campaigns

4 campaigns, newest first. 8,023,924 units in total.

  • 96V071000Electrical System / Ignition
  • 89V081000Service Brakes, Air / Disc / Caliper
  • 89V080000Suspension / Rear / Springs
  • 88V165000Fuel System, Gasoline / Storage / Tank Assembly / Mounting
  1. 96V071000Received . 7,900,000 units.

    Electrical System / Ignition

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    The ignition switch could experience an internal short circuit.
    Consequence, in the NHTSA record
    This condition could cause overheating, smoke, and possibly fire in the steering column area of the vehicle.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Dealers will replace the ignition switch.

    Report filed by FORD MOTOR COMPANY. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

  2. 89V081000Received . 113,200 units.

    Service Brakes, Air / Disc / Caliper

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    Due to contact between the brake caliper of the inboard front wheel and the front stabilizer bar, there may be increased brake pedal travel following low speed turning maneuvers.
    Consequence, in the NHTSA record
    This could cause a reduction in brake performancethat could result in an accident.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Install acorn type front suspension strut nuts to eliminate stabilizer bar to brake caliper contact.

    Report filed by FORD MOTOR COMPANY. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

  3. 89V080000Received . 10,600 units.

    Suspension / Rear / Springs

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    Improperly heat treated rear suspension knuckles could experience high mileage fatigue cracks and eventual fracture.
    Consequence, in the NHTSA record
    This could result in rear suspension failure at theaffected wheel with an adverse affect on control of the car, which couldcause an accident.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Replace knuckles that have the affected lot codes.

    Report filed by FORD MOTOR COMPANY. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

  4. 88V165000Received . 124 units.

    Fuel System, Gasoline / Storage / Tank Assembly / Mounting

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    Plastic rollover valve mounting plate may not be properly sealed to the plastic fuel tank.
    Consequence, in the NHTSA record
    Fuel or vapor could leak, which could result in a vehiclefire.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Replace fuel tank.

    Report filed by FORD MOTOR COMPANY.

The campaign number opens the NHTSA record. Each quotation is the text of the NHTSA recall file.

Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.

Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.

Complaints by component

81 complaints, 104 component mentions.

A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. The figure per 1,000 component mentions shows how many of each 1,000 mentions name the component.

  • 1989 Mercury Cougar
  • All 1989 vehicles
1989 Mercury Cougar: complaints by component, per 1,000 component mentions
Component1989 CougarAll 1989 vehiclesCougar, all yearsMentions
Vehicle Speed Control211.555.36222
Seat Belts163.5121.143.517
Electrical System125139.7129.313
Service Brakes, Hydraulic105.8115.1104.711
Engine and Engine Cooling96.2127.316410
Power Train57.773.866.96
Equipment57.716.517.86
Steering38.542.423.84
Visibility28.830.752.53
Exterior Lighting28.815.648.83

The table shows the 10 components with the most mentions, of 17.

Complaints that report a crash
14
Complaints that report a fire
9
Injuries in the complaints
12
Deaths in the complaints
0
Date of the newest complaint
9 Nov 2008

These figures are the entries of the persons who sent the complaints.

Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.

Complaints about the 1989 Mercury Cougar, by the year NHTSA received them. The largest year is 1996, with 22 complaints.

Investigations

NHTSA investigations that name the 1989 Mercury Cougar
NumberTypeSubjectComponentOpenedClosedCampaign
PE95019Preliminary evaluationFAULTY SEATBELT BUCKLESSeat Belts / Front / Buckle Assembly27 Mar 199531 Jul 1995
EA93033Engineering analysisTHRTTL VLV LINKAGE BUSHINGVehicle Speed Control / Linkages30 Dec 199330 Dec 1994
PE93075Preliminary evaluationTHRTTL VLV LINKAGE BUSHINGVehicle Speed Control / Linkages30 Aug 199330 Dec 1993
EA90034Engineering analysisHOOD LATCHES FAILStructure26 Jun 199025 Feb 1992
EA90009Engineering analysisTHROTTLE STICKINGVehicle Speed Control / Linkages8 Feb 199028 Feb 1991
PE90001Preliminary evaluationTHROTTLE STICKINGVehicle Speed Control / Linkages4 Oct 19892 Feb 1990

Investigation: A study of a possible safety defect by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. An investigation with no closing date in the NHTSA file is open.

Other model years

The number under each year is the number of recall campaigns.

  1. 19620
  2. 19672
  3. 19681
  4. 19694
  5. 19701
  6. 19711
  7. 19721
  8. 19730
  9. 19742
  10. 19752
  11. 19761
  12. 19773
  13. 19781
  14. 19792
  15. 19801
  16. 19823
  17. 19832
  18. 19841
  19. 19851
  20. 19862
  21. 19871
  22. 19881
  23. 19894
  24. 19903
  25. 19913
  26. 19923
  27. 19933
  28. 19940
  29. 19950
  30. 19962
  31. 19970
  32. 19980
  33. 19997
  34. 20003
  35. 20011
  36. 20021

A year without a link has fewer than 2 campaigns and fewer than 25 complaints. It has no page.

Official channels

Cite this page

Recall Register. 1989 Mercury Cougar: recalls and complaints. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/mercury/cougar/1989/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through .

Sources

Source
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Licence
US government work, public domain
Recall file through
30 Sep 2026
Complaint file through
30 Sep 2026
First complaint in the file
1 Jan 1995
Manufacturer in the recall file
FORD MOTOR COMPANY

The NHTSA record is the authority. A complaint count is the number of different complaint numbers for the make, the model and the model year. How the register is made. Report an error.

Questions

How many units are in the recall campaigns for the 1989 Mercury Cougar?
8,023,924 units in 4 campaigns. A campaign can name other models and model years, and its units include them.
How many recall campaigns does the Mercury Cougar have for all model years?
NHTSA lists 48 recall campaigns for the Mercury Cougar, model years 1962 to 2002. 4 of them name the 1989 model year.
Which component do the complaints about the 1989 Mercury Cougar name most often?
Vehicle Speed Control: 22 of 104 component mentions, or 211.5 per 1,000. For all 1989 vehicles the figure is 55.3 per 1,000.
Is an NHTSA investigation of the 1989 Mercury Cougar open?
No. Each of the 6 investigations that name this model year has a closing date in the NHTSA file.