2002 Mercury Cougar XR review from North America

At 44,000 miles, the engine locked up. The dealer said that the catalytic converters insides "disintegrated" and the metal shavings blew back into the motor and scarred the engine beyond repair. Little did I know that there was a converter recall. The total repair costs were just under $8000 dollars. It's a good thing that we bought the 5 year, 100,000 mile warranty.

The paint started to peel on the mirrors and the nose of the car around 70,000 miles or so.

There was another major issue with the engine that no one could ever figure out. It went to the dealer several times for it. But anyway the engine would be running fine and then all of the sudden you would have to put the pedal half way to the floor just to keep the same pace. It was very noticeable when you would downshift from 5th to 4th at about 65 MPH. It felt like you were losing something like 40-50 HP. It would slow down it lost so much power. I despised the car for that.

The spoiler was dry rotted and came off when we hit a hard bump. Warranty covered it.

There was a fuel pump recall. Which I found out about as I was sitting on the side of the highway.

The leather seats started to fade really bad toward the end of my ownership of the car.

When something has to be fixed it will cost a small fortune to get it done, cause there in not a whole lot a do-it-yourselfer can do on these engines they're so tight.

It was an absolutely beautiful car with XR package. Black leather interior with red inserts. Leather wrapped steering wheel and shift knob. Faux hood scoop, large spoiler.

When the car worked right it was wicked fast. So fast that I could outrun older V-8 Mustangs, and all of the new V-6 ones. Top speed is 135 MPH at just over redline in 5th gear.

The sport suspension on the XR Cougar was the bomb! It would hug corners like it was in love with them. Although it did give it rougher ride.

Nice 17" aluminum rims with matching center caps.

The car just plain looks fast, and if you get a cat back exhaust for it, it it sounds great too.

Has 170 HP, but drives and handles like it has 300.

It might as well have just been a 2 seater; there was so little leg room in the back.

The trunk was ginormous.

Good sound system for only being 4 speakers.

Great gas mileage 27-32 MPG.

Cool interior.

SUMMERY: It's a cool car for looks and performance, but it comes with a price tag that rears its ugly head every time the car hiccups.

I would not recommend this car to anyone that needs a dependable daily driver. It is fast and all, just not dependable enough or well built enough to sustain a good rep.

DO NOT GET ONE!!!