1985 Mercury Cougar 3.8 V6 from North America

Summary:

A poor man's Thunderbird!

Faults:

Not really much of anything. Other than routine maintenance, just a new power antenna about 10 years ago, a new digital dash gauge cluster around the same time, and a new wiper motor 5 years ago.

General Comments:

This car doesn't owe me a dime. My cougar is an '85 that has a lot of options on it (all power, cruise, etc.). It is two tone silver and gray with a red cloth interior. Mine also has wire wheel covers, and neat little opera lights behind the quarter windows on the outside of the car. The ride is excellent, the motor has plenty of power, and fuel mileage is about 25 mpg over the road. I bought this car new, and other than getting the digital dash (very gimmicky and unreliable) I do not regret my choice. since it is kept in a garage, the body has stayed nice. I may re power it if the engine ever dies. The only odd thing about this car is that it has 2+2 seating with a full length console, yet has a column shifter? They should've put the shifter on the floor to complement the sporty look of the console. Just seems odd to me, that's all.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 8th June, 2005

1985 Mercury Cougar 302 V8 EFI from North America

Summary:

Wonderful

Faults:

The module on the distributor went out in May of 1999. We replaced it with a one-year part and that one went out, a year later. We replaced the whole distributor while we were at it.

The alternator and starter have needed to be replaced twice. Once was after the year warranty went out on the both of them and then both of them went out within a couple of weeks. We decided to purchase lifetime replacement products from then on.

The heater core was the next thing to go out. We fought through the winter and finally became tired of freezing so we put a new one in. There were three bad things about this: #1 It is VERY hard to install. #2 We had to let the freon out of the A/C. #3 It warmed up two weeks later and never got cold again until the next winter.

The radiator began to leak in June of 2000. I had it repaired and it blew out again two days later. I went ahead and replaced it.

Interior has held up pretty well but the paint has faded. I am in the process of restoring this car and will give it back to my dad upon completion. Then it will probably be garaged and driven every so often.

General Comments:

This is a good car. It has about 204,500 miles on the original motor. It still starts at the turn of the key without having to press the gas. It will run with the best of them (Mustangs) even though it only has a 140hp motor. Good take off and handles well, and after 204,000 miles, I'd say 20-24 mpg isn't all that bad.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 21st April, 2001

1985 Mercury Cougar XR7 Turbo 1.8 from North America

Summary:

It blows

Faults:

The engine blew out. Then my dad put a Pinto engine with a turbo in it. It runs like crap. It does 0-60 in about a week.

It has a lot of rust.

It has SUV tires.

General Comments:

It is slow.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 22nd January, 2001

8th May 2001, 11:57

If you have a pinto engine in it, SUV tires, and when you got the car it had 150,000 miles on it, of course it will run slow!