1992 Mercury Cougar Reviews - Page 3 of 4

The power steering pump was replaced.

The typical Ford 3.8 V6 head gasket problem.

Overheating on different occasions. You couldn't leave it idling for more than five minutes during the summer, even when new. The temp gauge would just creep higher and higher.

The cruise control always changed speeds irritatingly as if it had a mind of its own.

The stereo crapped out about a week before we got rid of the car.

Everytime that we (my mom, sister, and I) tried to take it on a long trip, we would get halfway there and it would start skipping and sputtering. It would do this for the entire trip until we were forced to limp back home and take it to the worthless dealer for a costly, unsuccessful visit to their shop. Ironically, our mechanic who specializes in foreign cars was the only person who could do anything with the car.

When we bought the car, it was considered to be a very good car that was highly recommended by a lot of people. It was good for the first two years and then it started having all of these chronic problems.

The trim all looked like hell after year one. The cheap chrome peeled and the paint on the surrounding trim faded. The actual body paint held up well though. The black mirrors turned gray.

The car was beautiful when it was new and it did take us many miles, just with a lot of headaches. The resale value was HORRIBLE. $2,000 after 7 years, 145,000 miles, thousands of dollars in repairs, and meticulous maintenance.

My '94 Cougar XR-7 V8 was a MUCH better car. It was fast and very reliable, with far less worries and far more goodies.

We bought a 1998 Buick Regal LS with 22,000 miles as the replacement for the '92 Cougar. What a home run! IT now has 140,000 miles on it; all without any problems. Drove it today after washing it for my mom and it still drives and looks like it did when we drove it off the lot. The Regal is still cosmetically and mechanically perfect and it has not required all of the hand-holding that the Cougar did.

My vehicle is leaking antifreeze. I found that the hoses and the water pump gasket are at fault. I will fix this problem as soon as possible.

I also have a problem with the suspension of the car. I was told that the ball joints have to be replaced. So far, the shocks, struts, and upper ball joints have been replaced. All I need now are new lower ball joints for the car.

Despite the problems mentioned above, this car gets good gas mileage. The interior is really comfortable for my passengers. I plan to keep this car until it won't start anymore.

I had to put in all new speakers

The doors are too heavy and starting to sag.

I had the transmission replaced at 130,000 (should have had it replaced sooner)

Seats are staring to wear.

Other than the faults listed above this is a very solid, reliable car.

It is fast and at high speeds handles great.

The 3.8 has enough kick to give the 5.0 a run for its money.

The interior is very roomy for a 2 door.

The trunk is very roomy

I did have to replace the rotors at 135,000.

I currently own the car and plan on driving it until the end of either me or the car.

The transmission had to be replaced at 150,000 miles. A cheap little plastic piece that controls oil flow to the transmission broke, denying oil to my transmission and ruining it within seconds.

The doors (it's a coupe) are huge. Huge. They go on forever. So when it hit 10 years, the door was sagging badly and I often had to put my elbow into the door to get it to open because the back end was resting on the frame. I had to hinges replaced, but that didn't last a year. It's sagging again.

Leather seats were a bad idea.

The radio became very moody. The power connection was faulty and would work intermittently, resetting my clock and my stations every time. I finally had it replaced.

The gas line completely fell apart at 164,000 miles. It was losing gas badly. One day I started my car up and noticed gas was pouring out underneath my passenger side door, leaking enough gas to fill a cup every 3 seconds. We had it towed in and the Ford mechanic said, "1992 Cougar - Did the gas line break?" I guess this is typical.

The car moved well. If you like to drive too fast, get the LS (luxury sedan trim) instead of the XR7 because a friend told me his XR7 has a governor. My LS went as fast as anyone should ever go. The acceleration was terrific for the first 140,000 miles.

My biggest annoyance was the rear-wheel drive. I either had to pack the trunk with junk and sacrifice gas mileage, or sacrifice traction whenever it got a little slick out. I'd rather walk a mile in the snow than drive a mile in traffic with this car in the snow or ice. The fish-tailing was a lot of fun, though, especially for those in the back seat.

Spacious trunk.

My passengers had no complaints about the back seat and I carried A LOT of passengers in the five years I had this car.

The electronic dashboard on the LS was cool at first, but very annoying after awhile. I always had to move my hand to see the speedometer, and now the light is out and I can only see the speedometer when I'm on a dark highway at night.