30th Jul 2001, 19:58

I am glad I got the 6 cylinder manual. Not bad to drive at all... I think the tires wear too easily. I've gone through 2 and haven't hit 9K miles. I drive all city, though, no HW. I got the 6 changer CD, tape deck stereo- wish it sounded nicer loud. Overall, nice car, looks good.

29th Jul 2002, 13:38

I loved my 1999 cougar, despite many small problems, until I found out that I would need the transmission replaced after only 44,000 miles on the car. I am not under a warranty and expect the company to pay for this defective transmission. I will not purchase another car that has such a short warranty. Now I understand why they do. Mercury will not back what they sell, nor will they correct their defective parts. Sounds like a good way to run a business. Ha! Ha!

28th Sep 2002, 13:31

I just got a mercury cougar that is a 99. I am just getting my license and was seeing other peoples view points, but so far my cougar is great!! I'm excited that I got this car because this car looks very very spectacular!! I hope it last me awhile.

4th Nov 2002, 23:09

I just bought a 1999 Cougar V6 and at 58,000 miles, the starter is grinding. From reading other comments about this problem, I am not the only one. I purchased a new starter and hope it will fix the problem. I will also be purchasing a new water pump with a metal impeller because the factory water pump may malfunction after 50,000 miles.

21st Nov 2002, 11:47

I also drive a '99 Cougar. I had trouble with the air conditioning and the power window. Also the idle intake valve broke ($250).Now both of my headlights are full of condensation. According to Mercury this is not a warranty problem.

There is no crack in the plastic nor did I have any accident. Each headlight assembly costs $ 300.

I have now 76000 miles and drive a lot. The comfort is fine, but the repairs are expensive.

20th Dec 2002, 15:08

I drive a 99 also. It started out great then the engine light came on. Well I was told not to worry about it. I needed new tires anyway so I took it to the shop. $3,897.52 later I get it back. A day later the light pops back on. I take it back and they tell me to take it to a dealership, they do not have the expertise. All in all I got 4 new sensors, EGR valve, throttle fixed, cat. converter, and now I am on my way to a dealership. I was told I would possibly need the electrical replaced. Fun Fun Fun, but I look really cute in it!!! (When I am able to drive it)

26th Jan 2003, 09:58

I bought a used 99 Cougar V6 in February 02 with 28,000 miles on it. I love the look of the car, but have been somewhat disappointed in acceleration and most of all the unbelievably loud "squealing" of the brakes, even after having rotors and pads replaced. A friend with a 99 Cougar had the same problem and told me a process called "deglazing" may take care of the problem, but to wait until I need new pads again because it could be costly. Overall, I have enjoyed the car, but did expect more in terms of performance. I just past 40,000 miles and plan on keeping the car awhile. I have never bought a used car before and probably will not in the future.

9th Feb 2003, 12:10

My 99 cougar needs a new "idle air valve" as well. The factory charges $300.00 to fix it. It is a very loud problem which reminds you every time you crank up your car to get it fixed. My window sqeaks still even though the dealer told me everything is OK with it.

I can tell this is the beginning of a slow degradation and every six months something new will come up. I'm now on a long road ahead...

2nd Mar 2003, 04:41

At 76,000 miles I've got a broken moon roof that is going to cost at least $2K to fix; we've had the entire starter and flywheel replaced at a cost of $763; and recently the alternator went out. Our local garage will no longer work on the car after the recent repair. According to the tech, they ended up taking off part of the lower engine along with the quarter panel, just to get to the alternator. On top of the frequent visit to the garage, we have to put up with condensation in our headlamps and a window vent that won't stay in its slot. My advice to any potential buyers- avoid at all cost.

28th Apr 2003, 17:26

I have a 1999 cougar as well. It has a V6 and it seems to be just falling apart. The engine is not fun to work on. I have replaced all the hoses to due to human error. One of the hoses costed $50. The alternator went out and cost $250 to replace. The check engine light is on and won't go off and there is now the smell of burnt rubber after driving it for a while. They built these cars a lot better back then.

6th Jun 2003, 08:13

I own a 99 Cougar and have had quite a few problems as well. Upon purchasing the car from a local Ford dealership, I drove it for 3 days, and the transmission locked up. I was told that the transmissions are very poorly designed on that year, and it was recommended that I go with a 2000 model trany. Since then, I have had a few minor problems, one of which being my engine coolant light coming on for no apparent reason. I have had the computer reprogrammed and still have the issue. There is also a noise coming from the trunk that sounds like a strut may be bad. But for only being a 4 year old car, it should not be having this problem. To top it off, I have had problems with leaky injectors, after having them fixed, I found out that the mechenic that I had this work done at, has ran into the same problem with a few other Cougars in town.

17th Jun 2003, 08:01

All that I can say is thank God that I am mechanically inclined. I bought a 99 cougar in 2002 and have since had to replace tires, brakes, rotors, axles, and the alternator. The check engine light is on and the care makes a loud noise when it is first started and the engine is cool. The noise sounds like a foghorn. As if that wasn't enough yesterday my axle fell out of my transmission. I inspected the problem and noticed what seemed to be some type of race bearing that had fallen apart inside the transmission. This car is killing me. I am a die hard Ford person, but I have to say don't ever, ever buy one of these cars.

20th Jun 2003, 11:36

My boyfriend purchased a 99 Cougar in the Spring of 2002 upon buying this car he has had to replace 3 sixteen inch rims due to them being warped, he has went through 2 brand new sets of tires. His check engine light NEVER goes off, he has an emissions leak, and on top of that all I was driving it today to work and the car just stalled in the middle of the road, the mechanic thinks it's the ALTERNATOR! This car was manufactured very poorly and although the cougar might be nice to look at it is not worth your time OR your money!