1991 Mercury Tracer Wagon | Retro Review

[@KenanTurkiye]

If MotorWeek continually showed wagons I'd probably would never be able to get off the internet.

[@KenanTurkiye]

@Scott Dove 🙃

[@fernandorocha901]

Mercury Tracer wagon is my favorite

[@KenanTurkiye]

@@fernandorocha901 You're a man of fine tastes sir. :)

[@WC3POchannel10A]

@@fernandorocha901 I had a 1989 1/2 Tracer wagon. That was with the superior Mazda 323 engine. I drove it 210,000 miles before selling. Loved it!

[@jcat96]

now this is peak motorweek content

[@IVR02]

Someone at MotorWeek has been having fun digging station wagons out of the archives lately, huh? First the Lancer a few weeks ago, then the Accord last week, and now this Tracer. Hey, I'm all for it!

[@razvandobos9759]

In a world of bland crossovers, wagons hold that charm. People talk bad about them these days, calling them obsolete. But if you’re a car enthusiast like me, you know good and well how functional they really are. Mercury actually almost did bring back the Tracer as a 2012 model and it would be a upscale Ford Focus.

[@ouch1011]

Back when I was in driver’s education a couple decades ago, our driver’s ed car was an Escort of this generation. With three of us in the car, it was unbelievably slow. I remember the instructor told us to get up to speed “as quickly as possible” when merging onto the freeway (solid advise that more people need to follow) so I took that as any teenage boy would…an excuse to floor the accelerator. I floored it as soon as I hit the on-ramp and the only perceptible thing that happened was more noise. The car was still barely accelerating. I must have kept the pedal floored for at least 20 seconds before we got to freeway speeds lol. Those old Escort/Tracers were not known for speed.

[@chrisfreemesser5707]

First new car I ever owned was a '93 Tracer sedan, was in college at the time. Really good car, wish something like it was available today. I remember being at the dealership and looked at the row of Tracer wagons and thought about getting one instead but decided I was too young to drive a wagon, lol

[@fernandorocha8459]

I love Mercury Tracer wagon 1991

[@davidaubin3902]

1:10 John: THE SELECTION OF GAUGES ARE LARGE AND EASY TO READ, BUT INCOMPLETE! LOL

[@zythr9999]

No Oil Pressure and Volt guages

[@carwrtr1]

@@zythr9999Get over the lack of gauges. Fuel and temperature are enough on a compact car!

[@zythr9999]

@@carwrtr1 True, the other gauges are nice to have, Chrysler had them in many of their models, including the Omni/Horizon.

[@larrylaffer3246]

Apparently the American Market ones were built in Mexico but the Canadian Market ones were built at Ford's Lio Ho Factory in Taiwan. Which they've operated since the early 70's.

[@SunsPhan75]

These wagon reviews. Baby got back!!

[@oliverdelgado6952]

In the town my in laws live there is one still running around in great conditions. I seen it multiple times. Its a real treat seeing someone take care of these forgotten cars.

[@brycewalat5321]

These are the kinds of cars that are actually practical and affordable…but sadly are no longer being made.

[@SlickRick135]

True, but not a safe or high quality vehicle.

[@CalvinHikes]

These are the days when car companies would try to figure out what people wanted and then they would make that. Now they spend time answering questions nobody asks and building cars designed to please governments

[@FantomLightning]

As always the people commenting this stuff have their head in the sand. This Mercury adjusted for inflation would be $23,271 at it's base price. For that you can get a much better in every way modern vehicle that's far more safe and feature rich. A 2024 Impreza has more safety, more performance, better fuel economy, more features and AWD at the same price. Also, to the person complaining about how auto makers don't listen to consumers, they absolutely do. Crossovers/SUVs sell because consumers want them. The echo chamber of auto enthusiasts aren't representative of the average buying public.

[@Andyface79]

@@SlickRick135 It was high quality, most of the components are from the Mazda Protégé which was a very good car. Safe? No, not by modern standards, but for 91 it wasn't bad.

[@Andyface79]

@@FantomLightning I would assume that if this was being sold today, it would have better safety features and have optional AWD.

[@marshalmagooo3899]

Owned a 91 Corolla wagon, absolutely the most reliable vehicle I have owned and was sooo versatile

[@Yormsane]

I had the 1995 Ford Escort version of this practical lil' wagon. Unfortunately it dropped a valve into its engine back in 2007, I couldn't afford to fix it, so off it went to the junkyard. I still miss it today.

[@ctre97]

It's incredible how far economy cars have come, 88hp would be considered unacceptable nowadays

[@jonathankleinow2073]

88 hp and an 80 mph speedometer!

[@chrisfreemesser5707]

It's all about the power-to-weight ratio, not pure HP. The Mitsubishi Mirage only has 78hp but being a small car it does the job

[@bghoody5665]

@@chrisfreemesser5707 So true. I recently watched a video on the Honda S660 - a Japanese only Kei car - which has about the same amount of HP but because it's so light is a lot of fun. And it's a new car.

[@palebeachbum]

Four minutes is not enough coverage of the 1991 Tracer wagon! I would like to have seen more. I remember these being handsome little cars at the time. They offered the 1991-1996 Escort/Tracer in so many different configurations to suit many small car shoppers' needs. 3-door hatch, 5-door hatch, 4-door sedan, and station wagon. You had the choice of a 5-spd manual or 4-spd automatic and a Ford 1.9L SOHC or Mazda 1.8L DOHC. These were great cars. Solidly built. Dependable. Unfortunately, the seats were incredibly hard and flat and the interior was very noisy. Common for the time among subcompact economy cars. There were some competitors that felt more substantial and plusher inside like the Dodge Shadow/Plymouth Sundance and Chevy Cavalier, though those cars felt a bit archaic in comparison since they were much older designs.

[@surfordie82]

My dad had the Ford Escort version of this exact car, except his was manual. Similar paint color too, which was called "Mocha Frost". He used to throw surfboards up on the roof every weekend...that optional roof rack was very functional. Wish they'd tested a 5 speed, I want to know the 0-60 vs the automatic.

[@swlancaster1964]

I had a 92 Escort wagon. Huge steering wheel!

[@carexpertandy]

It’s cool to see all of these different wagon road tests from this time period. But it was only a few years after this when that craze began to die down with rising minivan popularity, and now SUVs/crossovers have that popularity. But Ford continued to offer Escort/Tracer wagons until 1999 when the Focus wagon began, and that lasted until 2007. Taurus/Sable wagons lasted until 2005, and were then replaced with the Freestyle crossover (later Taurus X). Amazing that Ford could hold on to wagons this long when many competitors couldn’t.

[@TofersCarTales]

That is a really good looking little retro wagon. Wish I could find a mint example.

[@nlpnt]

An Escort GT/Tracer LTS wagon was a real missed opportunity. The car I always thought Ford should've built instead of the Explorer.

[@johnl3230]

Not sure why, but i've always loved these cars, especially the Topaz with the V6 haha.

[@PhillyDee215]

Throwback.....

[@thebestisyettocome4114]

Own new in 1993 sadan. It was a nice car. Traded in 1998.

[@bikes7777]

I had a 91 escort wagon, 5 speed manul. Loved it!

[@lab1042]

First new car I ever bought was a 91 Tracer LTS. Too bad they didn't make the wagon as an LTS. Probably been decades since I've seen one of these

[@hulz99]

I love the Air Agassi’s the guy in the video is wearing 😂

[@fleuger99]

Great review and a wonderful period for automotive fans, so many options and a time when manufacturers were actually trying to build something different to gain sales. Now everyone makes three or four sizes of boring SUV's. Blah! I've had several wagons and still drive one today, a 2020 MB E450 wagon which is my fav car I've ever owned.

[@RoxiSmith]

I remember that car. This thing used everywhere in '90s and early '00s. Now i don't see these 90s ford escort and mercury trace on road anymore

[@L0rdVadr]

The sedan version of this was my first car. I liked it, but it was doing some undiagnosed engine things and I was way less familiar in an engine bay as I am now. Cool little car, didn’t even knew a wagon version existed.

[@dynodope]

You guys have the Plymouth Sundance review on your channel?

[@MPMeterman]

Do a search here on YT…it’s out there.

[@utbob2010]

I had the Ford Escort version (1995) also in Mocha Frost. Let's see, in the 18 months that I own that little rascal, let me tell you what went wrong with it. At 17K, I had the 4 speed automatic rebuilt ( the only time I owned a car with an automatic transmission). Still in the 17K range, I had to have the front struts replaced (had replaced the bald front tires at my own expense. According to Ford, the struts were installed wrong at their factory in Mexico). Gee, we're sorry. Around 18.5K the paint started to peel. Ford balked on a free respray, but with a threat of a law suit, they backed down. Final straw that broke the camel's back. A glitch in the pwr door locks started around 19.75K miles. They would lock/unlock on their own. Sometimes I would come out to my car with a unlocked door. At a tick over 20K miles, I bought a brand new 1997 Honda Civic (11 years later bought a 2008 Honda Fit, which I still drive in 2023) and never looked back. So, thanks to Ford, I'm a confirm Honda fan!

[@strawberryjoana-chan4969]

My sister has a Tracer wagon before. Happened about her station wagon is, it has a blown engine so, she traded in for a 2009 Volvo V70.

[@billmago7991]

I own a 1989 holden 5ltr v8 wagon.....love it❤❤❤

[@yumishindou5705]

Some weird trivia but this is the car destroyed by a Yoshi egg in a 2003 ad for the Yoshi's Island re-release on the GBA :D

[@emilianocruz11]

We need the 1991 Ford thunderbird and Mercury cougar Road test from motorweek and the 1994 final years of the Ford thunderbird and Mercury cougar

[@styner3]

Some of you don't remember so well, this was not a good vehicle. Reliability and resale was horrible.

[@rustbeltrobclassic2512]

These were great little cars.. Would have gladly taken one in highschool with a stick..

[@jaredhuang2225]

Too bad this segment of cars is completely dead in the USA.

[@dohc1067]

I had the sedan version of the Tracer with Ford's 1.9 automatic and it wasn't a great car. Ford sent me a notice in the mail for the option to extend my warranty for $500. I declined it. I discovered later on Ford knew they sent a lot of them with defective engine valves. The rest of Ford's small car program is history.

[@manthony225]

These were good looklng little wagons.

[@minipandora22]

Back when cars were unique 😢

[@carwrtr1]

Tracer was a different car than Escort and was for a different customer. At least they tested this car with an automatic transmission; I’m over this manual transmission rage crap…

[@karinkatt7893]

Beautiful...too bad not available in east asia......

[@RoadCone411]

I always liked the Doppler Effect front grille on the Mercury Tracers...a modern look in an otherwise bland-looking car. I am watching this video and it is staggering to me that this test was 32 years ago...wow. I guess you dont see any Escorts/Tracers from this era on the road now. Any survivors would be true relics.

[@AdamG1983]

Maybe I'll be Tracer!

[@RallyLancer95]

This is the closest we're going to get to Chris' original Sonichu car

[@MichaelEilers]

Every time I watch one of these, I have the same thoughts: how did anyone survive the cars of this era? And why does MotorWeek somehow make it so cars they clearly hate, some how are OK at the end of the review?

[@danr1920]

It's an Escort, don't kid yourself.

[@mervinprone]

A Mazda transmission that shifts rough? No way

[@arevee9429]

Wish small, practical wagons with plenty of cargo capacity were still available. Everything these days has a swoopy back that eats into cargo space. Or it's an SUV and too big. Or both.

[@Timico1000]

I still don't get why Ford developed completely different Escorts for the US and Europe. They are even very similar sized.

[@disan9135]

This cars were so popular but so crappy. Unlike Japanese cars from the 90’s you don’t see these on the roads.

[@rushmatic]

I had a friend in high school that had this. She called it Tracey lol. One summer 8 of us loaded up in it went to the beach and shroom’d. One thing that really tripped me out was the sideways tailpipe.

[@Trance88]

Gawd I wish Ford would make a vehicle similar to this again. Nope. Gotta go to a $30K ford Escape, or a friggin' pickup truck being the closest thing to the Tracer/Escort in their lineup now, value-wise. Unbelievable.

[@lucasworktv]

Why does this car remind me a Volvo? 😅

[@thewiseguy3529]

Life Hack #67 If you drive a car like this, you can have a substantial savings in your bank account. Then pay cash for an exotic car someday 😜

[@CalvinHikes]

When cars were slow awful and cheap.

[@AngelHernandez-ls5wr]

0 to 85 mph speedometer in 1991?🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️

[@Jose_hernandez970]

No hombre vato. Este POS probably can’t go faster than 85 anyways. Jaja

[@quick2mack74]

88 horsepower lol