Faults:

After a few days of dying on me in traffic, the fuel pump went out at 36,000 miles. My latest problem is a short in my locking system. Which means my trunk won't unlatch with the switch and I can't use my automatic door locks.

General Comments:

I'm 5'4" and still find it hard to see over the steering wheel unless the seat is set at it's highest setting.

Very comfortable for road trips, The backseat is geat to have small kids jump in the back, Although I wouldn't recommend it for car seats, the few I have tried don't seam to fit correctly in the backseat. Terrific gas mileage I still get about 480 miles per tank! That makes me happy.

Faults:

My engine is blown with 42,000 miles on it. Diagnosed by my father whom is a certified mechanic.

The rods are knocking and the car is overheating.

The trunk latch is broken.

The windows stick and hardly work.

The air conditioning blows out warm air for the first half hour at least even after they fixed the problem supposedly.

The car shakes BAD when your going 65-70 miles on the freeway.

Speakers had to be replaced.

I could keep going on and on!!

General Comments:

This was a car that was well taken care of. I made sure it was in for an oil change every 3,000 miles, faithfully and have documented proof of that.

Ford would not stand behind me to offer any help such as the diagnostic fee to make sure it is the rods knocking. My father is a certified mechanic and ensured me that it doesn't take a genius to figure out what the knocking is. Why should I have to pay for a fee when this engine should have lasted me for 15 years not 2 years??!!

Please do not buy any Ford product as they do not stand behind their products nor will they budge when it comes to helping people after the warranty has expired.

Beware!! I will only deal with car manufacturers that work with their customers even after the warranty has expired from now on!! Ford is NOT one of those people!!

Faults:

After I had the car for one month, the car was taken into the dealership where they had to replace the alternator due to the lights flickering (headlights, dash etc.) At this time there was about 2,500 miles on the car.

The second time the car was taken in was for the fuel pump, which had to replaced, at this time there was 5,500 miles on the car.

I had to return the car a month later for a recurring problem, the lights were once again flickering and dimming. The dealership (which made me pay for my own rental car) had to replace and reroute the wiring from the alternator, at this time there were 7,500 miles on the car. This appeared to be a major electrical problem which the dealership could not ever completely fix even if they would have had the car 365 days out of the year. I still had some dimming of the lights when I would accelerate the car, which was embarrassing having a new car that didn't work correctly.

Recently the car stalled going down the road and caught fire underneath the engine (which appears to have been a short). The car is currently sitting at the dealership as of today. The dealership will not fix the car and insurance will not fix the car due to this being a mechanical problem. This occurred at about 37,000 miles.

General Comments:

My first comment would be don't buy a Cougar, unless you would like to pay for something you are not going to get. I plan on letting the car be repossessed, unless I could find some more information on these matters to get a lawyer.

There have been several recalls on these cars for wiring problems which cause them to catch on fire, or if your lucky will not start.

The car seemed nice when I was not paying for the car to be fixed when it was under warranty, it felt like I was getting my money worth out of the car, but is defiantly not worth it.

My two cents would be if you have a "NEW" Cougar don't let what happened to me, happen to yourself, sell it.

If you have any information that could help me in my case, or would like to be involved in the case, email me at cpqa_1@hotmail.com.

Thanks for reading.

Chris Patton.