1999 Ford Cougar review from North America

Electrical problems with "check engine" light.

Gas tank fell apart.

Fuel pump died.

Timing belt problems.

Aerial fell off.

Door screws and screw top fell off for no apparent reason.

Back struts wear out easily due to poor weight distribution in vehicle.

Car heater died in the middle of winter.

My sincere apologies to others who are suffering with these hunks of junk. If you are considering buying one of these please listen to me and the others on these reviews and stay far, far away.

I bought my 1999 Cougar used in November 2004. I liked the look of it, the car was in great shape (at the time) and it was within my budget. It was also from what I'd read good on gas, and had a fairly roomy trunk.

In my first year and a half I had a few problems with it such as the wheels and alignment needed to be completely replaced and redone, and the heating system died completely. Considering the age of the car I didn't see that as too big a deal at the time.

The last few months the car has completely fallen apart. At first it was little things. The aerial fell off. A screw on the door and the screw covering both fell off for no apparent reason. The black lining of the bottom of the driver's side window popped up and needed to be constantly snapped back into place (this seems to be a common theme with this vehicle, as the windshield vent cover also will not stay in place).

Then the major repairs started. During my tune up the mechanic noted that before my next tune up the oil pan would need to be replaced as it was starting to rust heavily and that I would need a belt on the bottom of the car replaced (sorry, I can't recall the name of the belt).

A couple of days before I was to take the car to my garage it just would not start up in the morning. I had it towed and the problem was that the timing belt had died. I had the problems fixed and the car seemed okay. For a few days. Next, it died on the highway at great towing expense. Timing belt problems again. Fortunately the garage didn't charge me labour for these repairs. Around this time the "check engine" light kept coming on. Two mechanics looked at the car and could not figure out what the problem was - everything seemed to be fine.

About two weeks later I once again tried to take the car on a few hour drive down the highway. It got me to my destination just fine, but the next morning it kept stalling. Drove it around the block and it died three times on me. Towed it to a garage and now the fuel pump's dying. Pressure is only 17-26 when it should be at 45. Fix the piece of junk once again. By now I've renamed the car "the red lemon". During and after the repairs the "check engine" light comes. Mechanic inspects the car and says his best guess is that the gas cap is faulty.

An hour later I'm filling up the car with gas and the gas tank breaks and gas starts pouring out all over the gas station. Within minutes two fire trucks are there and area is completely shut down and evacuated (a lot of gas had leaked out). Fortunately no one on the busy pedestrian street lit a match or tossed a cigarette to the ground or there may have been a disaster.

Now my car is at another garage waiting for the shop to open on Monday and I'm left wondering how much it will cost to repair the car for the fourth time in six weeks, what kind of insurance issues I'll have to deal with for the gas station clean up, and if it's possible right now for me to find anyone to give this car away to just to stop the financial bleeding.

If you like your mechanic so much you'd like to frequently visit him and donate your pay cheques to putting his kids through college, you enjoy rides in tow trucks (I've had four of them in six weeks), or you want the honor of one upping your friends with "my car is worse than yours" stories, the Mercury Cougar is the car for you! In fact, I have one you can have.

I've driven eight to ten year old cars up and down the west coast on 24 hour trips and never had any problems other than your usual wear and tear repairs. Seems ridiculous that I can't drive the Cougar even a couple of hours out of town without it breaking down.

Other notes about the Cougar: I haven't sat in them since I'm always driving, but every back seat passenger I've had has remarked at how terribly uncomfortable the seats in the back are. If you are six feet or taller you can expect to hit your head on every slight bump in the road or lean forward the entire trip. Also, the back struts will wear down quickly because of, according to the mechanics I've discussed this with, the poor weight distribution. I was recommended to pick up at least one hundred pounds of sand to put in the trunk to try and weight it down a bit.

Thanks for reading and if I've helped one person think twice about buying a Mercury Cougar then the time has been well spent.