2nd Mar 2005, 15:17

99 cougar 4 cylinder. Would not recommend this car. Trans problems and lots of different noise coming from engine. I have had it for about 4 months and put about $800 into the car. Brakes and oil leaks seem very common. Overall just a bad car and very difficult to fix.

17th Mar 2005, 12:01

I purchased my 99 cougar in 2001 and it had 54,000 miles I think. From that point to now this is what has gone wrong - Sunroof broke, the starter has been making a noise for the last 4 years almost, but the car people said its fine, 2 new sets of tires, the radio is possessed. It turns up all the way about 5 times every time I get in the car. The truck doesn't pop open and I have to press the button the on key over and over while I'm opening it. The air conditioning stopped working on levels 1, 2, and 3 and now only works on 4. That's great. I believe the world would be a better place without this car.

9th May 2005, 21:34

We bought this car for our niece and 1 week later the transmission went out, the coolant and check engine lights are on. The dealer has it back and is still considering what to do. We just want our money back - STAY AWAY!

12th Jun 2005, 04:00

I have had my 99 cougar (V6) for almost 2 years. It does great, I found that you only get out what you put into it. I do regular maintenance on my cr when its needed and haven't had a major problem yet. Tha check engine light is getting on my nerves, and the coolent light you just have to make sure coolent is always at the max to keep it off.

18th Oct 2005, 17:59

I am the owner of a 2000 Mercury Cougar that I bought brand new. At 61000 thousand miles my transmission had to be rebuilt. It cost me $2400.52. I was told by the mechanic that it had been built very poorly. He told me that there was steel being held by alluminum. He could not understand how or why someone would design a transmission that way. From what I have heard that problems with transmissions are quite common. Why isn't the company owning up to the mistakes.

14th Nov 2006, 01:31

I bought a 99 Mercury Cougar just a couple of weeks ago. Two weeks in to it, my transmission blew out. The CV axle came out of the transmission in the middle of the freeway. I had a power train warranty on it, but, it only covered $2000 of the $3000 expense. So far, that's not a good sign. According to these previous comments about the car, it seems like I'll be in for a long ride. Also, today I just found out the A/C is not working very well. Hopefully that's not a big problem. I just wanted a car that could take me from point A to point B. I'm a starving college student and am hoping nothing will happen to this car ever again. Please pray for me!

26th Jul 2007, 13:03

I just read the rest of these comments and I couldn't help, but add my two cents. I got my first car on Easter of '02... a very sleek looking 99 Cougar V6. It was awesome... until it stopped starting. I took it in and they fiddled with the starter and flywheel. That was about $1200... and the same thing happened a year later! And this is on top of the sunroof track shattering and the trunk latch having to be continually raised so it wouldn't rattle. So I fixed it again... no problems the next year (except one random day). Then because of my own bad care my engine blew. So I got that replaced, but just this past weekend the transmission started going bad! There are error codes for the second and fourth gears and it has always taken forever to get into first gear after reverse. I'm trying to decide what to do about the car now. I'm not about to put another couple thousand dollars into this car that is not going to get me anything in return... so it looks like I'll be getting a new car soon, and not soon enough in my opinion. Stay away from this car at all costs!!!

6th Sep 2007, 22:19

So like above... I couldn't resist complaining about my car... I got a 99 Mercury cougar a little over 3 years ago, it ran amazing for about 2 months then I ran into my first problem with the transmission, then my alternator went out, then it went out again, then my starter, then problems here and there, and now it is currently in the shop for another problem with my transmission. This car has been a hefty investment as now the warranty has expired, I feel bad selling it to another person as it is a really awful car in terms of maintenance. I also during this period tried to really maintain the car. It is fun to drive though when it works...

7th Dec 2007, 15:18

Ha, ha... Sorry fellows, I don't mean to laugh, but I though I was having a bad day, since I just found out from the mechanic that there's something more serious with the trannie than he had concluded.

Here's the lowdown: In late '05, I was forced to buy this used beauty with 90K miles because my significant other decided she had to have it, and we needed something more economical yet stylish (no one can disagree that it is a nice looking beast, specially after I added matching tint to the already sophisticated dark green).

We moved to a different location where the underground parkings are very narrow, and while coming out of one, I gave it too much gas and dented the passenger side (you all know, I almost cried, fortunately it was a clean dent, but I was too lazy to take it out and left it as a reminder to be more careful).

Of course, the starter grind has always been there, along with the unwillingness of the trunk to pop up on its own on the first try, and some annoying useless warning light coming on from time to time.

Anyway, getting back to the point. For the past two years, between my wife and I, we have managed to pop the rubber out of the wheel (she likes to hit the curb), slightly dent the roof (she decided that she could stop right in front of the train tracks and the bar came down on it cuz she panicked), slightly loosened the front/rear bumpers (I wanted to test the limits by driving over the sidewalk to get across faster), busted the control arm on one of the wheels (I slid on a turn on a rainy day and the passenger side ended completely on top of the side rail), and until now the trannie failed (she decided that the engine light staying on for a month was just a suggestion, and not enough reason to get it checked).

So, in conclusion, I believe that my car came out dark green cuz it was cross-bred with an armored vehicle. After reading all of your comments, I've decided that I will take a chance and commit to it for the first time that it asks for some TLC in about two years. I'm sure that if everything goes as it's gone for most, the trannie will be the car's last hoo-rahh, but that's the least I can do to honor its ability to 'stay strong' in spite of all the abuse. Maybe next year I'll be writing a different comment.