19th Sep 2008, 19:45

So I too bought a 1999 car. The car had a little over 123k miles and got it about 2 weeks ago. I like the car, and well honestly I don't have as many problems as the other people who got their cars earlier and newer. Everything within the car works fine. It could just be that the car was well taken care of by its previous owners. But... the car does have a problem and it could be worth over 1k dollars of repair. I hope to only have to pay that much money now, and not have to pay more money in the future. I still plan to keep the car and I'm hoping to use it for a while.

14th Dec 2008, 12:50

Bought my loaded V6 Cougar new in mid 1999. For the first 5 years (70K) the car performed great. The last 4 years a different story.

- occasional grinding sounds when starting the car

- I'm on my 3rd alternator (car died once while going 120k/h on a highway)

- 3rd battery

- 2nd set of tires (this car needs special tries, very expensive!)

- A/C stopped working few years ago

- terrible cup holder design, I ripped it out long time ago after constant drink spills while turning

- driver side power window stopped working (managed to fixed my self)

- last two years rims started to leak air, I now own a compressor and add air 2/3 time a week to 3 tires

- power steering is terrible, noisy and hard and now leaking fluid, needs new pomp

- CD changer went dead long time ago

- changed fog light bulbs too many times to remember and finally just gave up on using them

- in cold temperatures the car makes a moosing sound on idle or stops, very embarrassing

- engine light on for last 3 years

- other small issues yet very annoying

It has 150K on now and it's at the end of it life, I should have sold it long ago. Now its going for parts on scrap yard.

Over the 9.5 years that I owned it, I have put in less than $3,000 in repairs and maintenance into it, mainly because I didn't bother fixing stuff that didn't matter, as long as it started and run it didn't get fixed.

Overall I give 8/10 first 5 years and 6/10 the remaining, maybe I was just lucky and didn't get any serious issues with it like most of the people here.

Replaced it with a new Honda, no more Ford or GM for me. My other car a Pontiac G6 will also be replaced with a Japanese brand at the end of its lease next year.

BTW. I never received any recall information from my Mercury dealer.

17th Dec 2008, 21:51

I purchased my 1999 Cougar in Jan 08. Since then I have a couple of problems with it. There were only like 70,000 miles, and at the time I thought it was a good deal, but now I see someone just got rid of it.

Well it started with the check engine light that came on 2 weeks after I got it. I was told it was the O2 sensor, got that fixed, and then 2 weeks later the light was on again. This time I was told it was the gas cap was not tight enough. This was fixed, but was on again a couple days later.

I just started to figure that the light was going to stay on, but then the coolant light came on, even though there was coolant. Also the gas gauge would go from full to empty and the gas mileage display would go blank.

The final straw was the battery light that recently showed up followed by the air bag light, that resulted in the power inside the car going out. I can't roll the windows up and the warranty has expired. I am told now that the alternator needs replacing and there is a leak in the intake pipe. I hate this car and would never get another one. I just want to get rid of this thing.

22nd Dec 2008, 13:42

I totally agree with every issue that has been mentioned above.

I have a 99 Cougar that I purchased in 2004. I learned the cup-spiller lesson early on, adapted to it by holding the cup myself while turning.

The moon roof never worked. Oh well.

The trunk latch is an inconvenience. I have to open the trunk with the key.

Oh yeah, and if I open the trunk with the car locked, the alarm goes off.

The AC went out the year after I bought it. Got an estimate of $800 to fix. I sweat in the summer.

Spent $1700 on sway bars and tires and miscellaneous other items in Feb of 2008. Then the engine died.

Hadn't read these comments before or I would've pushed the thing to the scrap dealer. Alas, I put in a new engine (I do LIKE the car when it runs)...

And then one thing after another happened. Right now, it's in the shop getting a new alternator and probably a battery too.

The car has been a nightmare. It has been soothing and frightening to read of so many other in the same situation.

I have probably spent 11,000 dollars in repairs over the last year and a half. It makes me sick to think about.

The manufacturers of these cars should be ashamed of themselves. It's malpractice.

9th Jan 2009, 00:24

I have a 2000 Cougar purchased brand new in 2000. I had to replace the battery 5 times and alternator twice. I had all the recalls done. However, I ONLY have 22,000 original miles, and if the car sits for 4 days everything is dead. Sometimes it may click click and then go dead... or it's just totally DEAD. I thought the alarm system maybe was draining something, but this wasn't an issue the first 2 years. The issues started like 5-6 years ago. I dread going to my car after it sits for a while because I KNOW I'm going to have another dead battery. I can't keep replacing 2 times a year!

I don't know what to do anymore. The car is in mint body shape and I love it. But it's killing me with the battery and alternator problems! Anybody have any ideas what to do besides GET RID OF IT? That's not an option now! Thanks!.. ps. I'm a female so please don't get too technical! I do understand a lot of things, but I can't be taking the car apart! :) Help!!!

11th Jan 2009, 17:54

Well, my car is a 99 Cougar, that has about 110,000 miles on it, and it's working great. I love it. I would just sell it to buy a new car of the year, but I can't complain about my lil Cougar; it hasn't let me down.

Yeah one time I did have to get it a new transmission, but it cost me $400, so I thought it was a good price. Besides, there are always malfunctions in all cars, but I know there are more in Ford cars, and we all know our Cougar is made of Ford parts, but I still wanna buy a 2009 Ford Mustang :) Good thing I'm surrounded by mechanics in my family; if anything goes wrong I can get it fixed quick and cheap. ;)

I bought my car for $4,800, so I thought it was a great price for my first car, and it looks brand new so I'm just so happy planning on putting new good things on it, and then when I sell it get some money for it.