2003 Mercury Grand Marquis

Typical pattern

7.7% of complaints about the 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis came in the first year, which is unremarkable for a 2003 vehicle — around the middle of the 228 model-years on record. The median complaint arrives at 10.6 yr in service. The most-reported system is exterior lighting (209 complaints), typically at 11.6 yr or about 96,000 miles.

Complaints: 439
Median age at failure: 10.6 yr
Median mileage: 87,655 n=343
Crash / fire / tow: 7.7% of reports
Safety recalls: 2

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

15V861000 2015-12-22

Exterior lighting:headlights

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2003-2005 Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis vehicles manufactured October 3, 2001, to August 2, 2005. The affected vehicles have a lighting control module (LCM) that may fail, resulting in a loss of headlights.

A loss of headlights can reduce driver visibility and increase the risk of a crash.

06E056000 2006-06-13

Fuel system

CERTAIN AFTERMARKET FUEL FILTERS SOLD UNDER THE PUROLATOR BRAND NAME, P/N F65277, SHIPPED FROM JANUARY 16 THROUGH JUNE 2, 2006, FOR USE ON THE ABOVE LISTED PASSENGER VEHICLES. DUE TO INCORRECT DESIGN, THE QUICK CONNECTORS MAY NOT FULLY SEAT WITH THE TUBE INTERFACE, EVEN THOUGH THE PERSON MAKING THE CONNECTION MAY BELIEVE THAT THE QUICK CONNECTOR IS FULLY ATTACHED.

FAILURE OF THIS CONNECTION COULD LEAD TO FUEL SPILLAGE AND, IN THE PRESENCE OF AN IGNITION SOURCE, A FIRE COULD OCCUR.

In owners’ own words

Electrical system mileage not reported 0 mo in service

DASHBOARD CONTROL PANEL IS TOTAL DARKNESS RADIO, CD, CLOCK, POOR ILLUMINATION. DEALER HAS BEEN NOTIFIED. PLEASE PROVIDE FURTHER INFORMATION. MR

Electrical system mileage not reported 7 mo in service

VEHICLE STALLED AT ANY SPEED, STALLED 25 TIMES. VEHICLE HAS BEEN EXAMINED BY DEALER 4 TIMES. DEALER COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM. VEHICLE HAD BEEN AT DEALER A TOTAL OF 36 DAYS. PRIMARY COMPUTER WAS RESET, THEN REPLACED BY DEALER. THIS DID NOT REMEDY THE PROBLEM.*AK

Electrical system mileage not reported 1.0 yr in service

WHILE DRIVING UNDER RAINING CONDITIONS CRUISE CONTROL WAS NOT WORKING. INSTRUMENT LIGHTS PANEL WAS OFF, AND WINDSHIELD WORKED INTERMITTENTLY. DEALER REPLACED TWO COMPUTERS IN THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM , BUT PROBLEM STILL OCCURRING. *AK

Suspension mileage not reported 0 mo in service

WHILE THE VEHICLE IS IDLING THERE IS A ROUGHNESS AND KNOCKING NOISE. PLEASE FURNISH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION DEALER IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM. MR

Other Grand Marquis model years

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

2003 Mercury Grand Marquis

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

In owners’ own words

Other Grand Marquis model years

How to read this