One problem related to power train has been reported for the 1998 Mercury Villager. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
1998 Villager-4 rapid acceleration situations-starting to brake the engine starts revving up to the point you cannot hold the car with the brake, only by shifting to neutral. Sept. 2005,10/2006, 8/2010 & 12/09/10. Caused accident on 12/09 and totaled vehicle. Fortunate no injuries but a very shook up driver trying to get it stopped. It dragged her across the intersection up onto a sidewalk and took her several feet down the sidewalk barely missing houses & trees. All the time she was pushing on the brake & the engine was racing & the tires were digging up the dirt dragging the vehicle. Ran over a two foot stump & the van finally came to a stop. The driver was very shook and this all happened through no fault of hers. This problem was reported to NHTSA when the 9/2005 incident happened. There have been at least 4 or 5 other reports of the same problem with the 98 Villager. The power trains in the Villager are built by Nissan. Very fortunate the driver was not injured or that no one was on the sidewalk at the time. Something definitely needs to be checked about this problem before someone gets injured or killed. I have several pictures of this last incident if someone would be interested in seeing what happened.