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2003 Mercury Grand MarquisProblems, recalls & complaints

NHTSA has logged 362 owner complaints about the 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis, most often about the exterior lighting. It is covered by 1 safety recall, and for recall 15V-861 the manufacturer reports only 40% of affected cars repaired.

2003 Mercury Grand Marquis
32
CarFlaw IndexUse caution2.1× the Grand Marquis median · #2 of 27 years by complaints
Safety recalls1Lowest repair rate 40%Owner complaints36234 with a crash, fire or injuryTypical failure mileage96kExterior lighting, median miles

Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls, investigations and manufacturer recall reports, through May 14, 2026. Updated daily. Photo: SsmIntrigue, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Complaints by system

Where the 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis has problems

362 complaints grouped by the system owners reported.

Box size = number of complaints naming that system. Darker = larger share. One complaint can name more than one system.
Complaints by system
SystemComplaintsCrash, fire or injury
Exterior lighting2075
Electrical system516
Steering280
Suspension280
Vehicle speed control2713
Engine and engine cooling131
Power train121
Air bags115
Wheels100
14 other systems517

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Complaints are submitted by the public and are not verified by NHTSA.

1 recall

2003 Mercury Grand Marquis recalls and how many were fixed

Each ring shows the share of affected cars repaired, from the manufacturer’s latest quarterly report to NHTSA. Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers.

40%repaired · 2018 Q3

Exterior lighting: headlights

Recall 15V-861 · Dec 22, 2015 · 296,004 vehicles · 119,249 repaired

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

Problem, fix and repair progress →

Recalls apply to specific cars. To see whether a recall is still open on yours, enter the 17-character VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls or with Mercury.

Mileage at failure

When do exterior lighting problems start?

96kmiles, median

Based on the odometer reading in 165 exterior lighting complaints. 55% were reported before 100,000 miles.

median0k50k100k150k200k+
1under 30k miles91under 100k miles74100k miles or more
Owner-reported costs

What owners say repairs cost

Dollar amounts owners wrote in their complaints when describing a repair or a quote. These are not price estimates; a system is shown only when at least 8 owners mentioned a cost.

Exterior lighting

15 owners mentioned a cost

$600median

Middle half: $500 – $791

If a problem is covered by a recall, the dealer fixes it for free. Some manufacturers also reimburse owners who paid for a repair before a recall was announced.

Best & worst years

2003 vs. every other Grand Marquis year

Bars show complaints per model year. Colors show the CarFlaw verdict: complaints weighted for crashes, fires and injuries, adjusted for years on the road and compared with the Grand Marquis median. How we score

'83'84'85'86'87'88'89'90'91'92'93'94'95'96'97'98'99'00'01'02'03'04'05'06'07'08'09'10'11
  • Avoid
  • Caution
  • Solid
  • Best
  • Not rated
NHTSA crash tests

2003 Mercury Grand Marquis safety ratings

2003 Mercury Grand Marquis 4-DR. in NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program. Photos are from NHTSA's crash tests.

  • Stability control: No
  • Forward collision warning: No
  • Lane departure warning: No
6 investigations

NHTSA defect investigations

Federal investigations that included the 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis, and the recalls they led to.

  1. SPARK PLUG EJECTION FROM CYLINDER HEADDP05005 · closed Jan 4, 2006
    No recall
  2. Loss of headlamp/exterior lightingDP15002 · closed Aug 11, 2015
    No recall
  3. FRACTURE OF THE STEEL WHEEL RIMPE03009 · closed Aug 8, 2003
    Led to recall 03V-279
  4. REAR AXLE FRACTUREPE04010 · closed Jul 8, 2004
    Led to recall 04V-328
  5. LOSS OF HEADLIGHT FUNCTIONPE08066 · closed Mar 24, 2009
    No recall
  6. Loss of headlightsPE15028 · closed Jan 8, 2016
    Led to recall 15V-861
In owners' words

What Grand Marquis owners report

Recent exterior lighting complaints filed with NHTSA, shortened. Personal details are removed.

The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis. The contact that the headlights were intermittently inoperable. Additionally, the contact stated that the instrument panel lights, the brake lights, and the turn signal lights were inoperable. The contact who is a mechanic, had inspected the fuses, the…
Complaint 11660627 · May 13, 2025 · 160,000 miles
The Lighting Control Module has failed and my brake lights and dash board lights turn off after couple minutes while driving with the lights on. I took my vehicle in to dealer already once for problem to be fixed a year ago. They did repair but now same problem is occurring again. I went back to…
Complaint 11659286 · May 6, 2025
The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis The contact stated that both the headlamps and the taillights intermittently failed to operate as needed. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and was diagnosed. The dealer placed a processor on the vehicle and…
Complaint 11638746 · Jan 27, 2025 · 127,000 miles

Own a 2003 Grand Marquis?

Decode your VIN to see the recalls for your exact car, then confirm open recalls with NHTSA.