1999 Mercury Cougar review from North America

Where to begin. Well let's start with saying that I haven't really had any different problems with my "investment". I bought it used from a dealer 2 years ago. It had 39000 miles on it, and they were only asking for $7k. Little did I know that would be the worst $7k OF MY LIFE!

First of all, I noticed right after pulling off the lot that between about 7/8 tank and 2/3 tank, my car would get approx 3mpg (that's 3 (three), not 30). So I really only filled it up to about half full most of the time for fear of wasting money on gas.

The next problem I noticed was the fact that I was having to buy a new battery every 7 months. Assuming this was my alternator, I just replaced the batteries, after receiving a quote of $600 to replace it because of its terrible location under the hood.

Next to go was the driver side power window, it just stopped working. That was going to cost me $70 for the motor, plus labor fees. So I just dealt with it.

Lastly, that stupid yellow-orange light from hell just wouldn't go away. The code said that there was an oxygen problem, and a "too rich/too lean" issue. I replaced the gas cap, fuel filter, 2 of the O2 sensors on the car (because those are the only ones I could get to myself), and still NOTHING!

I finally just pulled into a dealership (first resetting my check engine light) traded it in, and walked away.

My $7k "investment" turned out to be approximately a $10k headache.

DON'T EVER BUY A 99 COUGAR!!!

I now have sympathy for every Cougar owner I see on the road.