2000 Mercury Cougar SE review from North America

After I had the car for one month, the car was taken into the dealership where they had to replace the alternator due to the lights flickering (headlights, dash etc.) At this time there was about 2,500 miles on the car.

The second time the car was taken in was for the fuel pump, which had to replaced, at this time there was 5,500 miles on the car.

I had to return the car a month later for a recurring problem, the lights were once again flickering and dimming. The dealership (which made me pay for my own rental car) had to replace and reroute the wiring from the alternator, at this time there were 7,500 miles on the car. This appeared to be a major electrical problem which the dealership could not ever completely fix even if they would have had the car 365 days out of the year. I still had some dimming of the lights when I would accelerate the car, which was embarrassing having a new car that didn't work correctly.

Recently the car stalled going down the road and caught fire underneath the engine (which appears to have been a short). The car is currently sitting at the dealership as of today. The dealership will not fix the car and insurance will not fix the car due to this being a mechanical problem. This occurred at about 37,000 miles.

My first comment would be don't buy a Cougar, unless you would like to pay for something you are not going to get. I plan on letting the car be repossessed, unless I could find some more information on these matters to get a lawyer.

There have been several recalls on these cars for wiring problems which cause them to catch on fire, or if your lucky will not start.

The car seemed nice when I was not paying for the car to be fixed when it was under warranty, it felt like I was getting my money worth out of the car, but is defiantly not worth it.

My two cents would be if you have a "NEW" Cougar don't let what happened to me, happen to yourself, sell it.

If you have any information that could help me in my case, or would like to be involved in the case, email me at cpqa_1@hotmail.com.

Thanks for reading.

Chris Patton.