1999 Mercury Cougar review from North America

Since I have owned the car, it has had some problems. The dealer put new tires, new battery, and I think brakes and front rotors when I bought it which was nice. About a week after I bought it the dash LCD displays went bad, but the dealer fixed it after arguing about it for a while. Since then I have put new tires on it after about 20k miles, but is probably due to my driving habits.

I replaced a tie-rod end ($30) in the process of figuring out a vibration in the front end which turned out to be the passenger side wheel bearing ($15). As a precaution I replaced the timing belt and idler pulleys (~$150) which I could have gotten away without as only one idler was even a little noisy at about 65,000 miles. At the same time I replaced the accessory belt and idler pulleys (~$60) since I had it apart at the time.

At about 80,000 miles during state inspection, my mechanic replaced the rear brake slave cylinders and rear struts, about $400 for parts and his labor.

Going to school in Erie, it snows a LOT and this winter it was warm which meant lots of rain. After setting for a couple weeks rust apparently built up on the front rotors to the point it was unbearable to drive. I replaced them ($40) and the pads still looked very good so I put them back on.

At the end of last year the AC stopped working, so I decided to wait till spring to recharge it since I figured it would leak out in the cold months. Turns out the filter/drier ($100) needed replaced and I had to flush the system with brake clean. After recharging ($20 for refrigerant plus $5 for stop-leak) the system, the pressures still seem high which means the system probably has some blockage I missed.

Battery went bad around 2 years due to lack of water which was probably my fault because of a big stereo and I never checked it.

Overall, I would recommend the car to anybody. I love driving it and it turns heads after a nice wax job. The factory spoiler is a nice addition, not too big. The hatch could use stronger springs, when sitting uphill, you have to use the key fob to release and lift at the same time. The brights make the road like day. I can fit SO MUCH in the back with the seats folded down.

Definitely get the manual transmission if it's an option. The 2L engine is great with the 5sp transmission, but would probably be disapointing with an automatic.