Faults:

After only 3000 miles the car quit. The problem turned out to be an electrical problem which couldn't be narrowed down by the service center. The mechanics, and I use that term loosely, opted to replace the entire wiring loom.

The car still has electrical issues which the dealership has been either unable or unwilling to resolve.

19000 miles PFE valve failure.

The trunk latch sticks occasionally.

General Comments:

I like the car. It's fun to drive and gets good gas mileage. The few problems aside, one must expect a few bugs when buying a new vehicle.

My only complaint would be the poor service provided by the dealership.

Faults:

I had an extensive list of problems with my Cougar. These included:

- starting issues. The car would not start several times. It even left me stranded in another city and had to be towed to the nearest dealership where it remained for one week. The transmission had to be removed two times in less than two weeks to access the starting components so that they could be replaced or fixed.

- a loud noise when backing up.

- rattling under the hood after the transmission was removed.

- leakage in a hose related to the air conditioning.

- the brakes were worked on several times and parts of them were replaced. They continued to squeal.

- there was a problem with the trunk latch.

- the driver's side window was replaced because it would not go up properly. The passenger side window also caused problems and had to be looked at.

These are the problems that I can remember. There were so many that I already forget some. I was in the shop at least once a month.

General Comments:

The car was very unreliable and not good value for the money. It was a complete disappointment to me as a first-time new car owner. Ford's lack of empathy towards the problems also discouraged me from purchasing another Ford product.

I took Ford to arbitration and won my case. Ford was forced to buy the car back because of the extensive list of problems. I am glad to be rid of it.

Faults:

The only thing that has gone wrong with my Cougar is that the key sometimes refuses to turn in the ignition. This has caused the car alarm to sound embarrassing me in crowded parking lots. Usually just taking the key out and trying it again will start the car.

General Comments:

This car has been so much fun. I live in Montana so I know this car can get up and go. I used to travel over Marius pass, a windy mountain road in the rockies, and this car could get me through the 35 mph turns at over 60 mph. The car has enough power to downshift and quickly gain enough speed to pass those pesky Grand Ams coming out of corners.

My first vehicles have been a 1980 Ford Fairmont and a 1970 Chevy Pickup. The Cougar gets better gas mileage than the pickup and better performance than the Fairmont. This car is also the favorite to go cruising in with my friends because the girls like it more than my friend's Neon.