1988 Mercury Tracer GS from North America - Comments

It needed a tie rod end.

Control arm.

Numerous wheel alignments.

About 2 years ago it needed a sway bar link.

I had to replace some gaskets.

Replaced the key door locks because the original key broke in the door.

Ever since I bought the car the back window seal leaked.

Always got shaky going past 70mph.

This was given to me by my mother. It had major rust and hardly any tread on the tires, but after $500 later on repairs it ran like brand new.

It was bought for only $500 which you can't beat for a 1988 car with low mileage. There are much newer cars with higher mileage than this particular one.

It has cost us a total $1000 on repairs on this car, but it's still better than making monthly car payments.

I have done a 700 mile road trip and never had to pull over once, except for gas.

I hope this car keeps running as much as it can, since the price of gas is not good at this point. I get over 40mpg in this car.

This car looks ugly in gray, but I care more about the ride, which it rides very smooth. I never want to get rid of it.

Despite on the repairs, it's the best car I ever had. We have had a 1979 Monte Carlo, 1989 Park Ave, lots of Rangers, a 2002 Explorer, and a 2004 Mariner which we traded in the explorer for. This car beats them all, especially the Mariner, which is also our current vehicle.

Mercury did a very bad thing by not making these cars anymore.

I have owned an 1988 Mercury Tracer since I bought it new in January 1989. I paid cash for it as the price was low and I didn't want car payments.

This dear car has cost me very little over the past 20 years. It's styling--3 door hatchback--is still modern. I have the oil changed and a new filter installed every 4 months, more often than necessary but I plan on keeping the car until either it or I die, whichever comes first.

It has 119,000k or roughly what? 80,0000 miles I think, so is still almost like new, although the interior has been trashed by my dog. Any dents are soon repaired on the exterior, almost all caused by other careless drivers who have hit me from the rear, a couple of hit and runs which damaged the fenders, plus two break ins into my supposedly secure parking area which damaged the driver's side door lock, both repaired.

$25 of gas once a month gets me around, the car merely sips gas, it has plenty of power to get me up hills without shifting down. I estimate it costs me roughly $88.50/month to drive the car, insurance, gas and oil changes, less than a monthly bus pass and much more convenient.

My car has a manual transmission which I prefer to automatic, and still has the original clutch. I have replaced the tires once and had the front and back brakes replaced once.

I dearly love this little car and am grateful that I bought it all those years ago. It is truly the best car I've ever owned. It's a shame that they are no longer made, because the Tracer could be the answer to owning more expensive and fancy cars which always seem to need repairs...

We bought a 5-door hatchback Tracer in 1988. Best little car we ever owned. We keep track of gas mileage on all our cars. This car gave us between 40 and 46 miles per gallon and we tracked it for up to 80,000 miles. Yes, 40 - 46 miles per gallon. We sold it in 2005, at 84000 miles, when we moved from the West Coast to the East Coast and still got 1500 Dollars for it. 84000 It was garaged, well kept and looked and drove like new. Wish, we would still have it, but had too much to move as it was. I heard that later models didn't get as good gas mileage.