Mercury Cougar

Price Paid:  $90000.00 from Your moms house

Year / Model Reviewed:
2000 cougar

Summary:
ITSSSS GREATTT and your mom is great too!

Strengths:
nothen

Weaknesses:
noythen

Similar Products Used:
your mom

Price Paid:  $8000.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
2000 2.5L v6 automatic

Summary:
great looking car. dash lights flicker like everyone elses cougars. transmission rattles when in gear at idle. highway acceleration is decent, accerleration from 0 is good but if floored at 20mph it doesnt kick down to 1st even though 1st gear winds out around 45mph. it would be nice if it had a redline on rpm gauge but its automatic so it isnt neccesary. sport package goes very fast governor is set very high (not that ive tested it)

Strengths:
power vs fuel economy. i get can get 28 mpg but if it can pull away from a light pretty quickly. handles curvy roads very well

Weaknesses:
terrible in snow. 4speed automatic is kinda slow. passengers in rear seat mus be under 4ft 6in. sport suspension is very rough in wisconsin potholes

Similar Products Used:
only other cars ive driven are malibu, corsica, and corrolla. cougar beats all of these in style and power but not in reliabilty

Price Paid:  $5500.00 from Local dealership

Year / Model Reviewed:
1999 Mercury Cougar

Summary:
Bought with 86,000 miles on the car. This car has been absolutely wonderful. Everyone that sits here and complains about the car, has no mechanical skills at all. The cougar is a nice car, you just have to know what the heck you are doing! The motor in mine started making a weird noise around 97,000 miles and it gradually became a bad knock. It sounded bad so I decided to look for a new engine. I found a used one in a junk yard for $500 from a wrecked cougar. It only had 45,000 miles on it. I did the engine swap myself in my grandpa's garage. No problems with the engine since. Wasn't that hard. I change all the fluids myself routinely. You will never diagnose any problems with the car if you take it to dealerships and never do any research your dang self. All problems can be solved if you look these forums over:
http://www.newcougar.org
The battery light usually comes on because of a wiring issue by the alternator. It's an easy fix, cut one wire and splice it into another. That fixes the common "pulsating" lights issue, and will keep your battery light from coming on, or blinking on at high rpm's. Also, the factory alternator used in the cougar often goes bad, and there are many theories why. These are discussed on the forums with many solutions listed. The trunk lid problem is also discussed, fuel pump issues, IMRC (intake manifold rudder control) problems, etc. The check engine light has been narrowed down to a few things. Either your O2 sensors, vacuum leak, various other little things. And there are many good sites for aftermarket parts. All of these problems you all are discussing are simple fixes, and if you take it to dealerships they often advise u to replace things that do not solve the problem. Overall, the cougar has some minor flaws, but it is an awesome car with a few little fixes that cost next to nothing. Do some research. If you have any questions, just visit the forums I mentioned above.

Strengths:
Peppy, solid engine that can take a lot of stress (nice quality parts used in the engine - ex. timing chains instead of timing belt) Beautiful looking car, tons of potential with 3L engine swaps and SVT parts. Fun to drive. Good gas mileage.

Weaknesses:
Several minor problems. Very creaky car when it gets higher miles on it.

Price Paid:  $5600.00 from Super Sercices

Year / Model Reviewed:
1999 Cougar

Summary:
OMG!!! This car is crap… I am so upset over this car. I paid way too much for the problem that accrued. First, the check engine light will not turn off. I basically replaced everything under the hood: alternator, battery, O2 sensors, (which this car has 3 and they are very expensive to replace) and etc. To top everything off the car has electrical problems, due to the electrical problem my left tail light didn’t work. The car has 131,000 miles but I replaced everything at 116,000 miles.. Car had regular tune-up and yet still run hard and make a nose. When it really cold out side the car shuts off; therefore, I always have to have a second bag-up for work. Maintenance, wow!! labor, parts expensive. The cup holder, don’t work, so “please don’t even try it”. Basically I paid $5600 for the car. When I want to trade it to the deal only offered me $1600, towards a new car. I only had the car for 2 ½ yrs. I sold the car for $3200. Put money into the car, and all the car give me was a small bank account.

Strengths:
none!!!

Weaknesses:
everything about the car.

Similar Products Used:
ford, escort

Price Paid:  $12000.00 from 29000

Year / Model Reviewed:
1999 Mercury cougar

Summary:
This car is a dream and a nightmare. I purchased the car at 29000 the sunroof stopped working within a week. The passenger side window only rolls down sometimes from the passenger side. Everytime I take it in the engine light comes back on. There seems to be something out of place with the starter, or altenator. When it runs it runs and it is a great car. But it seems to always have something needing to be fixed.

Strengths:
great look good passing gear great on turns fun to drive

Weaknesses:
cup holder spills over when you turn, sunroof, and mechanical. BOO