Faults:

Hm where do I start... well a few years ago, the car started making a loud crazy noise when I would go to start the engine.. and it would take two tries to turn it over...

After speculation and many people looking at the car, no one seemed to come up with any clues. Was not the battery or alternator.. etc.. etc...

Well then one day while driving on the highway, the car started to slow down in speed and lights came on... I hurried to drive it toward the side of the road, then... it stalled... done... the trans had blown and the motor, just like that.

Now present day, having issues with the car stalling... granted, I do not always have my tank half or more full.. but still it should not have any problems, considering the time and money spent that went into this car.

Well I get the thing looked at, and oh well it appears to be the "fuel pump"... looks like there was a recall for some models back in '04... well I checked with Ford and my VIN number showed nothing. Hmm, thanks Ford!!

Other than that, apparently I have quite a bit of rust that formed around the brake lines, the filler neck.. etc. Problems, problems... anyone have suggestions?

Faults:

Soon after initial purchase, driver's side window quit working, but was fixed under warranty.

Surges about once a minute with the A/C or defroster on.

2 failed alternators.

Rear hatch doesn't open properly.

Check engine light goes off and on.

Stutters when accelerating from 0-25mph.

Gas gauge quit working for a while.

Plastic that covers the window defroster vents keeps popping off.

General Comments:

I am the original owner, and was excited by the design of the Mercury Cougar when I first bought mine. Unfortunately, the reliability has been quite poor.

My biggest disappointment of the car is the constant surging that occurs when the the A/C or defroster is turned on. It is quite annoying, and is caused by the A/C compressor cycling every minute or so. I even had a service manager examine the car, and he explained it was due to how the Cougar is designed.

I am also on my 3rd alternator, which costs about $500 each time to get replaced.

I have had the check engine light issue looked at several times, but it always comes back on. I gave up trying to find the problem, since it costs money each time when taking it to the shop.

I still like Ford products, but would not recommend purchasing the 1999-2002 Mercury Cougar. There are other models out that that will provide a much higher satisfaction of ownership.

Faults:

The first day I bought this beautiful 1999 Cougar, the factory sun roof quit working, of course, while it was raining outside. And, when it quit raining, of course, the sunroof worked again. I've never opened it since that day.

I've replaced the TPS (throttle positioning sensor) twice.

I've went through three batteries.

I've went through too many tires to count.

I've done several brake jobs; too many to count.

On the driver's side electric window, I've replaced, with factory Ford parts, two electric window motors, two relays, and one switch. It's still "hit and miss" if the window will work or not.

Blower motor for A/C, two times replaced, and seems to work fine now. (what a miracle).

Radio quits on its own, and if you press the bottom panel of radio, push in on plastic, the radio comes back on.

Starter, well, I'm getting ready to put starter #3 on the car. Even with a new starter each time, it still makes that "screech" sound every once in a while, so the flywheel must be bad. It's cheaper to just keep putting a new starter in it.

The alternator, wow, what a story there. Some "clown" at Ford motor co. decided that they'd design a place for the alternator, that no known normal person could replace. It just about takes a college education to take the damn alternator off that car. We're getting ready to put alternator #2 on the car.

At this point, I'm so deep in money on this thing, that unless I find some real "sucker", I'm going to lose my a** on this car.

Honestly, unless it's an enemy, I'd NEVER recommend this car to ANYONE. Ford should have scrapped the idea of building it in the beginning!!!