Faults:

I bought a '96 Mercury Mystique and have had nothing but problems. The check engine light comes on not a week after buying the stupid thing, and a half an hour after that, the damn thing really starts to go downhill. Whenever I accelerate, it's like the engine keeps giving out power in intervals... once every about second, it'll pull forward really hard, than the engine will completely cut out, and I'll get no power out of it at all. After three trips to the mechanic's (the dealership was a useless waste of large amounts of money and time), two spark plugs were replaced. It worked for awhile, then the engine light came on again, and no one can seem to figure out why. Whenever they plug in their little computer-thingy into my car, it says it needs a check-up...the same thing it said when the spark plugs needed to be replaced. So for now, I'm just ignoring it, I've experienced no ill effects on engine performance, and it seems to run fine, but that damn light is kind of annoying.

So a couple of weeks ago, around the time when I noticed the engine light had come on again, I take it out, and when I pull up next to another car, I can hear a bad squeaking. I thought it was the engine, but today I take it out, and the damn brakes barely work at all. If I pump the brakes as hard as I can, I can get a moderate effect out of them. Now, I don't know a whole helluva lot about cars... computers are my thing, but I suspect the pressure in the brake line is down, because now I have to push the brake pedal all the way to the floor just to get any kind of effect out of the brakes, and if I need to stop quickly, I yank the handbrake as hard as I can, though I'm not really sure if that helps or not. I've spent over a thousand dollars on this car. Now, reading some of the other postings, that's not a lot, but I'm only 18 on my own going to school, I just can't afford that kind of money! It's damn-well insane! My last car was the first one I've ever had; it was an old piece of crap, but it was at least reliable. I only ever had one problem with it, and that was it's age (it had 250,000 kilometers on it!!!)! And it ran perfectly for over a year and a half. It was a 1991 Plymouth Acclaim, and with proper maintenance, it worked fine. But this thing's been nothing but trouble.

General Comments:

Other than the aforementioned problems, I actually like this car. It's sporty, fun to drive, it's got lots of power (when the damn engine actually works properly), the seats are comfortable, it handles great, it's got good brakes (again, when they're working right), and it has lots of room. But that just doesn't outweigh the problems. I don't think I'd ever buy a Ford vehicle again. Stick with Dodge... my family always has, and we've never had a problem with any of the vehicles... Chrysler and GM. They're the way to go.

Faults:

License plate holders rusted out at the bolts, and we had to drill them directly into the bumper to get them to stay on.

Check engine light is constantly on.

Lost several hubcaps.

Cup holders completely broke apart and can't be replaced without a good chunk of money.

Trunk has been leaking every since I got it. Replaced the seal several times and it still leaks. All of my lining inside the trunk has mold growth from constantly being wet.

Fan for the heater/air stopped blowing air.

Door locks located in an awkward place where your elbow bumps the door a lot - making it very easy to lock your keys in the car... for instance you push the door, open with your arm, it hits the lock button without you knowing it; you close the door, and you are suddenly locked out.

General Comments:

The car drove nice, but always had problems. I didn't like the car from the minute I got it.