Best and worst Geo Tracker years to buy
Which Tracker years to buy and which to skip, each judged against the others.
Gathering every model year from NHTSA. The first look at a model can take a little while.
Which Tracker years to buy and which to skip, each judged against the others.
Gathering every model year from NHTSA. The first look at a model can take a little while.
Look for 1998 to 2000. The Worthy year 1997 sits right next to a problem year, so have it inspected with extra care. Skip 1996. Maybe, only with records and an inspection: 1995.
Each year is set against a typical Tracker year at the same age. 2× means twice the complaints.
Each came out Worthy and is not next to a problem year. These are the newest such years, so you can still find one.
From owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the federal car safety agency. Only years old enough to judge. Still have any car inspected.
Also an app: add it to your home screen, free, no app store. Get the app
Newer years have had less time to collect complaints, so we compare every year at the same age, not by these totals. Each judged year shows that first: 2× is twice the complaints of a typical Tracker year at its age. Skip counts all complaints. Complaints about costly parts (engine, transmission, body and frame, hybrid and EV system) can make a year Maybe, never Skip, and each Maybe or Skip names the rule that made it. A year between two Maybe or Skip years is a Maybe too. The small marks by each year show how sure its verdict is: three for high, one for low. How sure is the verdict?
The most recent judged years that came out Worthy, none right next to a Maybe or Skip year. Each count below is taken at the same age as the typical year it is set against, so it can be lower than the year's full total in the list above.
Other Worthy years with the fewest owner complaints against a typical year at the same age, none right next to a Maybe or Skip year. A year that sold few cars can also show few complaints, so check how sure its verdict is (the small marks by each year above).
Every Worthy year of the Tracker we would point to is in the newest ones above.
Judged years that came out Maybe or Skip: more complaints than a typical year, more about costly parts, or inside a run of problem years.
Education, not financial or mechanical advice. Have any used car checked by a mechanic you trust before you buy.
Each year’s owner complaints, held up against a typical year of the Tracker at the same age. Popular cars collect more complaints just by selling more, so a year is never compared with another model. The typical year leaves out years that were high themselves, so a run of bad years cannot set its own bar.
Pick a year to open it. Owner complaints filed with NHTSA are unverified, and not adjusted for how many were sold.
SourceNHTSA’s complaint and recall datasets. Each year’s page links its own NHTSA record. NHTSA, checked Nov 4, 2026.
0.4× a typical year
In its first 8 years: 7 vs 20 typical
Most named: Air bags
4.3× a typical year
In its first 8 years: 85 vs 20 typical
Most named: Engine
“Do not drive” and “park outside” are NHTSA’s own warnings on a recall, until it is fixed.
Scroll the table sideways to see more.
| Year | Verdict | Owner complaints | Recalls | Top problem area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Not judged | 1 | 0 | No part named |
| 2001 | Not judged | 2 | 1 | Engine |
| 2000 | Worthy | 7 | 0 | Air bags |
| 1999 | Worthy | 22 | 3 | Engine |
| 1998 | Worthy | 20 | 0 | Brakes |
| 1997 | Worthy | 26 | 0 | Brakes |
| 1996 | Skip | 88 | 1 | Engine |
| 1995 | Maybe | 65 | 0 | Body and frame |
SourceNHTSA’s complaint and recall datasets. Each year’s page links its own NHTSA record. NHTSA, checked Nov 4, 2026.