1999 Mercury Cougar 4 cylinder from North America

Summary:

I would still be driving it with 143,000 miles on it, had it not been totaled by a drunk driver

Faults:

The trunk won't stay open when you try to remove items; you have to have someone hold it up for you.

The windshield wiper motor won't work, and then when repaired, won't stop working, you have to shut the engine off for them to stop! I was told they cost $750 to replace and must be purchased through the dealership.

The brakes needed to be replaced, but at 143,000 miles that is not bad. Normal wear and tear stuff. Nothing out of the ordinary for any vehicle really.

The paint faded a bit, and my seat got a hole in it, but that was my fault for parking it outside and wearing jeans with buttons on them! This has nothing to do with any fault of the car!

General Comments:

The car got great mileage, little maintenance actually, just keeping up with what is recommended and regular oil changes.

I bought this lovely little sporty car in 1998, it is 1999, and I loved driving it!

There is virtually no room to sit in the backseat, although my husband could get in and he is six foot 3 inches, but not a comfortable ride in the back seat!

It is a cute car, I loved the way it looked, I like the interior, it handled GREAT on the road, took corners easily and quickly, and best of all, was so easy to park.

A nice car to drive. I would still own it if it hadn't been totaled by a drunk driver!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 22nd September, 2010

1999 Mercury Cougar 2.5L V6 from North America

Summary:

I love my Cougar... I will not be getting rid of it!

Faults:

My brake drums were cracked and had to be replaced.

I've had to do a routine tune up, changed the spark plug wires, and get a new battery.

It is a bit rusty on the bottom by the doors and underside. But it also came from Oregon, so it is a bit understandable.

My check coolant light comes on and off as it pleases, as well as my check engine light. But, being that it is a Mercury, same makers as Ford, they are all known for having sensor problems.

General Comments:

This car has been on the go! From continuous trips to Seattle, and just my daily driving of 70+ miles from school to work.

I got the car when I was 15 years old, for my first car. It had 60,000 miles when I bought it, and it now currently has 118,000 miles. I haven't had really any problems with it except for one, and it is a big one! It does not like to stay running when it is 20 degrees or below.

Yes, the back seats are bucket seats and very uncomfortable to some, but what can you expect for a sports car?

I'm really surprised on the comments I've read about all the problems people seem to have. I have not had really any problems except for it not liking the cold. That is 20 degrees. It starts fine, but it idles really low to the point that it dies. And it does not stay started unless my foot is on the gas pedal. I don't understand why this is, and if anyone has the same problem or knows why it does this, please fill me in!

renee_lilmodel@hotmail.com

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 8th September, 2010

1999 Mercury Cougar 3 door coupe 2.5 Duratec from North America

Summary:

For most people, it would be a problematic car to own. I still like the car though

Faults:

I have owned my 1999 Mercury Cougar for 3 years. I still own it.

I bought it in September of 2007. I have put 53000 miles on it. It had 143000 miles on it when I bought it, and now has 196000 miles.

Prior work to me owning it included, a used 75k miles replacement engine, and a clutch. Possibly more.

Parts I have replaced include AC compressor and AC clutch, 2 heater blower motors, exhaust mufflers and tubing, alternator, 2 batteries, 16 tires, several power window switches, 1 serpentine drive belt, 1 serpentine belt tensioner, radiator hoses that have 2 t sections needed replacement. I built a metal pipe / tube system for better reliability.

Problems the car has had and still has.

1. Service engine light on with many codes.

2. AC small leak that cannot be found so far.

3. Electric drain that stays on when car is turned off.

4. Driver's seat will not recline forward.

5. Rear sway bar rubber bushings tear and fall out.

6. Ignition locked up and needed to be broken open.

7. Performance varies from great to fair for ??? reasons.

8. Engine has a small oil leak that drips over the pan and exhaust etc. I cannot isolate the leak.

9. Rear seat is uncomfortable for everyone; children and adults.

10. The car needs an alignment, and wears the front tires very unevenly.

11. The car had a Viper car alarm installed. I took it out. The car flashes the passenger lights and honks through the passenger rear speaker sporadically. Very strange???

12. Trunk electric opening switch works but trunk does not unlatch.

13. Front spoiler cracked and fell off, although the bolts still remained in the fenders.

14. The transaxle has a grind going into 3rd gear, therefore I rarely use third gear. It was like this when I bought it.

And lots of other small things as well.

I have added many things to the car, including:

1. Regular oil changes using synthetic oil 5-30.

2. The transmission gets dextron 4, a complete change every 15,000 miles.

3. Aftermarket air intake with a K&N filter.

4. Complete custom built exhaust with a flex pie and twin Hyabusa rear motor cycle mufflers.

5. Water piping steel piece going to the radiator and the engine.

6. Lots of Freon 134, due to an AC leak that no one has found so far.

Despite the problems, the car has not let me stranded anywhere. No major breakdowns for 53000 miles.

I really like the car. It has got me to and from work, and out of town regularly. 53000 miles in around 3 years. It looks great and rides smooth still. I have had a lot of cars, and this has been one of the better ones. I owned a lot of higher mileage garbage that was always breaking down and leaving me stranded.

This car has been a blessing, though many may think that with my problems with it, make it a bad car.

It has been the second best car I have owned out of around 30 cars so far.

I would recommend a car like this for only a mechanically skillful person though. It is not a good car for your mom, most girlfriends, wives or young people who do not know about basic car mechanics and troubleshooting problems.

To own and enjoy these cars, you need to be mechanically inclined or have enough money to pay someone who is to fix them.

A lot of the smaller problems; I just let them be. The car still runs, and gets me and my family around safe and reliably for now. Likely though, in a year or two, I will need another new used car, or maybe a new new one.

I would like to thank everyone who took the time to list their experiences with their Cougars here. I hope my experience may help someone, or be enjoyable for someone to read.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 12th August, 2010

11th Apr 2011, 15:27

From the problems that you've listed, I strongly suspect that the car had been wrecked at some point before you bought it. It probably should have been "totalled", but likely still had enough value that the insurance company decided not to do so.

8th Nov 2012, 12:17

Got our 1999 Mercury Cougar with approx 60,000 miles in 2009 as a ten year old.

Starts up in 3 seconds, one turn of the key every day, including in the cold winter with 18 inch snowfall.

Summer time the windows are up and down, but I don't drop them down because the window might not go back up without back and forth on the buttons. I don't know why they put power windows in any cars, they are plastic, with tiny contacts; trouble waiting to happen.

The tire wear was bad (waited until 2012 to replace the tires with 4 brand new ones). This is when all goes bad. Found myself braking and the car pulling as if the one brake was stopping before the other side brake. Took it to brake experts; they did everything they knew of to fix the problem, not caused by brakes. Got the alignment done after the tie rod was replaced; rusty and bad. Ends up the sway was caused by the suspension; the 2 front bushings are bad; that caused the sway when braking. Welding was done for the tie bar, and who knows where the sparks touched and melted wires.

Then next, the car does not start and squealed. Wonder why my starter went bad? I didn't keep trying to start it once it didn't kick in to start. This is a turbo starter. Do not press the gas pedal to start it. Had a bunch of different people starting the car doing other repairs. I don't know how they started it. I wasn't near the car. New starter was put in. The belt tore up. The belt runs the engine and air conditioner. The air conditioner locked up (think a switch might be bad, because the A/C worked and was cold). The mechanic didn't repair the A/C, he just by-passed the A/C. Put a shorter belt on the engine, and now have no use of the air conditioner. No use fixing the A/C till I find the starting problem.

The car runs for several months, but the engine light comes on and stays on a week at a time (I read of other Cougar owners complaining about). It clears itself from either pot holes or good air flows (who knows?). Drove it home, and then within minutes it does not start, gets spark but no fuel. Never smell any gas leaks, must not have any pressure via a vacuum or false readings by sensors. Magnetics maybe involved, causing things to trip the shut off switch. Had fuses and 6 wires to the rear fuel pump replaced. A week or 2 later, the same thing... drove it, came home from several other places. Try and start the car, it tries to run on what's left in the fuel line, and then no fuel. The reset button that cuts off the fuel during an accident to prevent fuel to engine turns off. Security system stops the owner from starting their own car. Did all the procedures in the repair manual to make it turn back on. So need the designer, wirer and mechanical experts to work together to troubleshoot the real problem is for this car. Switches and relays, corrosion of wires pins / socket have to be just right. After all, the car companies are putting too many computer systems in to run the cars. Making them into robots. They shut down, just like a computers do with a virus. So until I can find an expert team to fix the car, it sits waiting. When it started, it ran smooth and handles good as long as the rust isn't eating it away.

That's the story on this Cougar. I'm not fond of cats. Unreliable.