Faults:

I absolutely love this car! She is a metallic emerald green and clear coated.

The interior is Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrfect.

She is sporting some Kumho Solus XR 21 tires, and I only run ceramic brakes.

For those of you whining about the brakes on this car... Don't blame the brakes, blame the drivers.

I cannot honestly say that she hasn't been a problem child, but she is like brand new now, and ready to run another 18 years.

She handles like a dream in our Chicago winters. I have yet to spin out or slide. Learn how to drive defensively people.

Any used car problems are typical.

This is my 3rd Cougar, and she will be my last.

General Comments:

This car is sporty, sleek, sexy, and stops on a dime.

The interior is roomy, and backseat leg room is doable.

Gas mileage is excellent. I can go 3-4 weeks before fueling.

Faults:

Oxygen sensor at 85,000.

I can remove the key while it's running, but I kind of like that.

General Comments:

The car has good power and handles nice for a 3600 lbs. I love the body style, and the wrap around dash board looks good too.

We get lots of snow where I live. I bought winter tires for all 4 wheels, and put 100 pounds of sand in the trunk. It cuts through 6 inches of snow. If you are smart when driving these cars in the snow, you can get around just fine. I didn't get stuck all winter. Snow tires are a must with this car!

Now onto the issues:

I bought the car in early 2009, it was 15 years old and only had 80,000 miles at the time. It currently has only 91,000 miles. I always wanted a Cougar in this body style and had to jump on this one with the low miles.

However, shortly after I bought it, I began to experience the dreaded AOD-E transmission slip from 1st to 2nd. Sometimes the shifts are very lazy, and other times I hear a grinding sound before it shifts to 2nd.

After the transmission started to slip, the 4.6 would make a knocking sound that lasts for a couple minutes after a cold start. It sounds like piston slap.

Now the most recent issue, the 4.6 began to use oil, about a quart every 2000 miles. It's leaving puffs of blue smoke after pulling away from a stop light. The car didn't burn oil when I bought it.

Sadly I'm going to sell the car. I know either the engine or transmission will fail soon, and it's not worth dumping thousands of dollars into a $1500 car. It's too bad because otherwise I like the car.

Faults:

Problems recently are:

Starter.

Cloth interior ripping.

Rear view mirror falling off.

Gear shift knob falling off.

Anti theft device not working properly.

Bad oxygen sensor.

Serpentine belt starting to crack.

General Comments:

Solid, reliable car.

Good on gas.

Plenty of power, handles well.

Repair costs about 1,500 in the 8 years I've had it.. most normal stuff.. wiper blades, plugs, wires, brakes.

Faults:

About 6 months ago, the radiator fan failed to come on, which resulted in the car overheating. Went through everything on the car including fuse relay, wires, and temp sensors and everything was OK. I ended up "custom" wiring it to a toggle switch to turn the fan on when the temp started to rise.

Idler pulley was worn out when I bought the car. It caused a loud (really loud) whining sound like I never heard before when it was wet. Very easy to replace and only cost about $20.

This car eats gas like crazy. I only get around 12 mpg in the city and 15 on the highway.

General Comments:

Great car for the amount of abuse it has been through. Previous owners did not care much for it. They hardly did any maintenance on it. I knew that when I bought it, but I needed a cheap car fast. I have had this car for about 1 year and 3 months now, and I must say I never expected it to last this long.

As for pickup, this car does have getup and go. It pushes around 210HP and 260TQ (Not to sure about the later). The only downside to that is being that is a V8 it hogs the gas.

As for handling it is OK, but I must say that the suspension that is in mine is pretty worn out. Compared to my previous car, which was a 1997 Chevy Cavalier Z24, it can't match the handling.