1997 Mercury Villager

Summary:

Fantastic!!!

Faults:

Dash lights have gone out despite changing the fuse.

Remote sometimes doesn't unlock driver's door.

Still doesn't burn old or leak.

Muffler is beginning to get noisy.

The car has been reliable and wonderful.

General Comments:

Great vehicle.

Reliable, easy, low maintenance vehicle.

We love it.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 2nd November, 2015

1997 Mercury Villager GS 3.0

Summary:

OK thus far

Faults:

I just bought this van used, and I am having issues with putting the van in reverse. 3 times in the last 2 days, putting the van in reverse instantly killed the engine. Setting the SE light as well as others on. But I have turned the van off and restarted, and none of the lights come back on.

Can someone tell me what this problem is??? I am hoping it's the tranny.

General Comments:

Great clean, high mileage, but outside looks like brand new.

Could use a carpet cleaning on the inside, but that's minor.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 26th March, 2012

1997 Mercury Villager GS 3.0 V6

Summary:

One of the most reliable minivans, along with Toyota and Honda

Faults:

Alternator, approx 180K.

Several front end parts.

General Comments:

I had three Villagers (93, 95, and right now, a 97).

Best Mercury ever made, because all running parts are made by Nissan, and most of them are Japanese made.

Hard to find one with major problems. Engine and transmission goes forever.

Some electrical problems due to poor Ford quality.

ALL OF THEM HAVE AN EXHAUST LEAK PROBLEM (this is a design problem by Nissan!). Expensive to repair and the problem appears again. You have to live with that problem.

Very reliable. Drive from Ontario to British Columbia and back without any problem.

If you need parts, try Nissan; cheaper and easy to find.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 8th November, 2011

1997 Mercury Villager GS

Summary:

Van is reliable, but falling apart slowly

Faults:

I have a 1997 Mercury Villager. Still own it, still running. I have the same sort of problems with this vehicle. When taking off from start, it shifts hard.

Check engine light was on a couple years ago, but mechanic fixed problem. Now check engine light is on again and I believe it may have bad 02 sensor. I am trying to find it on the engine. Anyone have a photo they can post of where it is located on the engine?

Well it has got us from point A to Point B for many many years, but same problems such as doors sometimes lock even with keys in the ignition. Had to call for help one time. Passenger window only goes about half way. If I roll down all the way, it gets stuck. Driver electric seat motor must be going bad, because it moves extremely slow if at all.

General Comments:

Can someone post where the 02 sensor is on the engine?

Has been reliable for many years, but of course the small problems.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 31st October, 2009

1997 Mercury Villager LX V6

Summary:

Liked it so much we bought another one

Faults:

The only non wear/tear items to be replaced have been the throttle position sensor, ball joints and half (drive) shafts.

When we got rid of it the dash lights had burned out, and the rear air had never worked, but that was due to a damaged window seal that allowed water to drip on to the control. We never bothered to have it replaced.

General Comments:

We were very happy with this vehicle, to the point that we replaced it with another used (2002) Villager.

It was pretty trouble free considering its age. The body was still in good condition, it never failed to start nor did it ever leave us stranded.

It has always driven smoothly and comfortably, gas mileage was reasonable, and it did everything we ever asked of it with no fuss.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 4th February, 2009

1997 Mercury Villager LX 3.0

Summary:

A super buy!

Faults:

I had the water pump replaced at 75,000.

The air conditioning compressor was replaced at 200,000.

The engine would misfire when warmed up. My mechanic tried many different parts of the ignition system. The change out of the distributor repaired the problem. It seems that the photo sensor, in the distributor had caused the problem. The amount of change out was $250.00.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 6th June, 2008