2003 Mercury Marquis problems & reliability
33 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2003 Mercury Marquis. Last verified Aug 8, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several vehicles.
3 complaints report injuries (4 injured).
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Exterior Lighting | 8 | 24% |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 5 | 15% |
| Electrical System | 4 | 12% |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 4 | 12% |
| Steering | 4 | 12% |
| Suspension | 4 | 12% |
| Structure | 3 | 9% |
| Air Bags | 2 | 6% |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 2 | 6% |
| Fuel System, Gasoline | 2 | 6% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
All 12 reported components →Mileage when problems occurred
Among the 22 complaints that included a usable odometer reading, the median reported incident mileage was 42,378 miles (middle 50% between 21,565 and 64,500 miles).
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“Tl* the contact owns a 2003 mercury marquis. The contact stated that the power steering would seize. When the contact turned off and restarted the vehicle, the power steering operated normally. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, but the failure could not be duplicated. The dealer and manufacturer were…”
Steering · filed Jan 2, 2019
“Steering required significant effort to turn steering past approximately 30-45 degrees at the steering wheel. This required replacement of the upper and lower steering columns. Less than one month after replacement, steering now has a "jump" and a "clunk" at the same position in the steering wheel rotation. These…”
Steering · filed May 30, 2018
“In firestone store parking area perpendicular to service for attendant to fill the rt frt tire. Pulled up to attendant , applied brakes and veh surged ahead, struggled to control to no avail. Made diffucult u turn to avoid drv into street traffic, crashed other veh, cont'd on jumping 2 inside pk curbs stopping as…”
Vehicle Speed Control · filed Feb 8, 2018
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Safety recalls
No NHTSA recall campaigns name the 2003 Mercury Marquis in our current data. Recalls may apply only to certain VIN ranges — always confirm with a VIN check.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 2003 Mercury Marquis?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.
- · Among complaints with usable mileage, the median reported incident mileage was 42,378 miles. This does not predict when a particular vehicle will develop a problem.