2000 Mercury Cougar from North America - Comments

I had an extensive list of problems with my Cougar. These included:

- starting issues. The car would not start several times. It even left me stranded in another city and had to be towed to the nearest dealership where it remained for one week. The transmission had to be removed two times in less than two weeks to access the starting components so that they could be replaced or fixed.

- a loud noise when backing up.

- rattling under the hood after the transmission was removed.

- leakage in a hose related to the air conditioning.

- the brakes were worked on several times and parts of them were replaced. They continued to squeal.

- there was a problem with the trunk latch.

- the driver's side window was replaced because it would not go up properly. The passenger side window also caused problems and had to be looked at.

These are the problems that I can remember. There were so many that I already forget some. I was in the shop at least once a month.

The car was very unreliable and not good value for the money. It was a complete disappointment to me as a first-time new car owner. Ford's lack of empathy towards the problems also discouraged me from purchasing another Ford product.

I took Ford to arbitration and won my case. Ford was forced to buy the car back because of the extensive list of problems. I am glad to be rid of it.

I own a 2000 Cougar and I love it. the car is great. You must have got one that the previous owner treated it badly because mine is great. There is never a bad car just a bad owner. If it is taken care of and sold, the new buyer will get a good car. If the owner treats the car badly and sells it then you get a lemon.

I believe it says that the car was purchased new. It seems you have some bias. There are no bad cars, just bad people? Nuts. I have this car, and have plenty of problems with it. I blame the car, and the manufacturer. Thanks.

I have a 2000 Cougar, as well, and it looked liked it was taken very good care of before I bought it 3 yrs old and with 30000 miles on it. However, there was a problem with the alternator connecting to the battery or some nonsense like that. I took it to a Ford dealer, who didn't seem to do anything, but replace the alternator. This happen about 4-5 times with the same results. I looked up recalls on my car and it turns out there was a problem with a switch or something that needed to be replaced, but when I told the dealership this, they said it didn't apply to my car, something about my car being built at a different plant or month or something. However, when I mentioned this same recall to a private shop, they fixed the car right away and it has since been running perfectly for the last 50,000 miles. I think Ford just a made a bad batch, and didn't want to admit it. I'm glad that you won your case, and they were forced to buy it back, even though that doesn't pay for all the time and effort it took to get to that point.

All in all, I don't suggest buying this car, especially from a used car dealer. If you research online, you'll find many problems, and you'd be better off finding a different car.

I have had numerous problems the driver door is never completely shut so it dings and I had to tape it up the trunk has to be opened manually the alternator just went out I got it replaced now I'm told there is an electrical shortage, the lights go dem, it burns a lot of gas, the moon roof won't open, the brakes always squeak, the battery light won't go off and I have replaced the battery, it makes a loud cracking noise when I back up and I will never buy a cougar again.