23rd Jan 2010, 23:15
I have a 2002 Mercury Mountaineer. My boyfriend warned me not to buy a Ford, to get a Chevy. He didn't even want me to put it in the driveway! Guess what? I have had all the problems previously listed on this website - I have gotten rid of this lemon. My boyfriend drives a 95 GMC pickup with 300+ miles that stills runs like new! Just regular maintenance. There are still good American products out there, but unfortunately not a Ford! Ford SUCKS!!!
3rd Mar 2010, 10:31
We have a 2002 Mercury Mountaineer, and have owned it since 2004, and have had all of the problems previously stated, and have had them repaired. We however have a problem not addressed yet -- when we stop at a stop sign, the car sometimes lunges forward when we have our foot on the brake. Is anyone else having this problem?
3rd Mar 2010, 15:04
In November, I bought a 2002 Mountaineer just to have something to haul my dogs around in.
I have loved it until today. The "Service Engine Soon" light came on, so I took it to my mechanic to have it hooked up to the diagnostic machine. Within a few minutes, the guy came back saying that it was off the chart, that he didn't know what to do and suggested I take it to the dealer to a specialist. I haven't sensed any problems with the vehicle except a clicking sound when the SUV is idle. I am afraid to drive it now after reading all the other comments. Guess I just need to bite the bullet and take it to the dealership, but at least I have some pointers from the other comments. Thanks.
8th Mar 2010, 19:04
5 years ago, I bought a used 2002 Mercury Mountaineer with about 35k miles on it. It was a beautiful vehicle and drove great for about 2 years.
At about 75k miles, the tranny went out. Luckily, I had it under warranty so I didn't have to come out of pocket at all for a $3k transmission repair!
I drive a lot and now have 160k miles on the vehicle, and the trans is slipping again. My mechanic says it doesn't have much life on it, and will go out again. Besides the trans, it's been a relatively good vehicle. However, my next SUV (I'm an SUV junkie) will be a Yukon or Tahoe, which I've owned before, and was much better to me.
11th Sep 2010, 09:11
I too have joined in all of your misery with the 2003 Mercury Mountaineer. My previous 97 was tough and I loved it so much, I made the mistake of buying a brand new one.
I have had sensor issues many times. You don't know if it's the sensor or if the real issue is the brakes wear out ridiculously fast.
But the big issue has become the transmission slipping and not shifting (at only 76000 miles). In the first six months of owning this vehicle I began having the car jump forward and always shift hard. It would roll back on a hill like a standard if you allowed it to. I discussed this with my dealer many times and they were nice people in the service department, but the issue never seemed big to them. Now it is. I also think it is ridiculous that there is no way for the owner to check their own transmission fluid. I could not believe it when I couldn't find the dipstick. All the mechanics I have seen think it's stupid too.
I could go on and on. I wish for all of you and myself that Ford/Mercury would do right by us all. 35000.00 is a ton of money to pay for a vehicle that isn't made well. Unfortunately like many, my dealer has gone out of business, so I don't have their help either.
I hope this becomes a recall and plan to look into my options soon. It's either get the new tranny or bite the bullet and buy a new SUV.
The whole thing makes me sick.
12th Sep 2010, 18:38
"I have had sensor issues many times. You don't know if it's the sensor or if the real issue is the brakes wear out ridiculously fast."
Check the pads yourself. All you have to do is remove a wheel and LOOK. It takes less than 5 minutes. Most sensors are designed to start sounding when the pad is 40-50% worn out to get more income for the dealership. I generally disable the sensors and just manually check the pads every 6 months or so. I virtually never replace brake pads on my Ford and GM vehicles before 100,000 miles. My only recent exception was my last Pontiac. I had to replace the front pads at just past 70,000 miles at a cost of $17. For me that is way too soon. I sold the car shortly thereafter. Our current GM SUV is just shy of 100,000 miles, and still has plenty of wear left on the original brake pads.
1st Oct 2010, 10:13
My wife's 02 Mountaineer was bought used in '06. It had worked well for a full 3 years before having some of the exact same issues I see here. The front bearings have gone out and been replaced, the transmission slips and the gear shift locks up. Although a little more fortunate than most who have posted here (and many who haven't), I will be wary to buy most Mercury/Ford products again. (exception F-150s)
14th Jan 2010, 11:11
We bought our 02 V8 Mountaineer new in '02. We had several mechanical issues with it in the first 2 years we owned it, all paid for by the warranty.
It's shifted the same all along - the infamous shudder. At about 25,000 we had the transmission light come on when we were 200 miles from home on a weekend trip. We couldn't get anyone to look at it where we were, so we limped it home at 25 mph. At that time Ford was OUT of transmissions for Mountaineers, so we were given a choice to wait 6 months or more, or let them rebuild the tranny we had. Unfortunately we chose to have it rebuilt, not knowing it would go out again.
In the meantime, we've replaced wheel bearings, struts, windows, rear coil springs, etc. and yes the steering 'grinds' when you turn.
Now at 140K miles, the tranny light came on again, it's slipping like crazy, and we're told the tranny cylinders (in the housing - which WASN'T replaced) are worn out from the solenoid rattling against it, and that buying a used one is a waste of time, because all of them have tranny problems. They want $3900 to put a new tranny (housing and all) in. I've got a guy who will do it for $2500, but knowing what I know now, I'm going to take a $2500 hit and dump it.
I've owned 3 new Fords previously, and been satisfied with them. I'm just shocked that a major car company could design a vehicle with such inherent defects, and then ignore them or hide them when it is obviously poor workmanship. I'd like to buy a Ford again someday, but I just can't risk it.
Fool me once, shame on you... fool me twice, shame on me. And SHAME ON FORD!