22nd Jun 2007, 15:59

I have a 99 cougar and its been a nightmare replaced alternator, engine, shocks , water-pump, egr valve, O2 sensor, clutch, sway bar rack and pining and today I replace the bushings not to mention the countless tires I bought plus breaks. The good news I think I rebuilt just about the whole car and I only have one more payment on it. My gold cougar should be the color yellow. lol. On top of that the air conditioner does not work. to the rest of the cougar owners happy fixing.

9th Jul 2007, 13:04

I've had a 2000 Cougar, with all of the problems stated above.

One thing I can say "Good" about Cougars is that they "Burn Well" then call your insurance company.

3rd Aug 2007, 18:59

I have enjoyed my 1999 Mercury Cougar. It is a V6 automatic. It has 105,000 miles on it and I have never had any major repairs. It needs its catalytic converter replaced now. This is the first thing on it that has gone out and it is how I found this site--trying to get a price estimate on the catalytic converter.

I have treated the car well and I do have a 50 mile commute each day. I think highway driving does it good and I have far fewer car repair bills than the people I know who just drive in town. I read car articles, but I am no mechanic so I can't add any good information that those of you who know cars inside out could appreciate. However, I do respect something that runs well and my Cougar has performed better and lasted longer than any car I have previously owned and I have owned a few.

22nd Aug 2007, 13:14

I have already replaced; sensor, driver side window's motor, tires all the time, brake pad and motor, and etc.

Now I have to fix; flywheel, starter, get new tires, and other delightful things...

I rather ride a bike than drive this car...

7th Sep 2007, 11:47

I own a 1999 Mercury Cougar V6- I love it's looks and the way it drives, however, when I bought it, the "tool" light was on. The dealer told me it was for routine maintenance. That same light has been on for 3 years now. Just recently, my moon roof broke. It's stuck open, cost to replace $1,200.00. Cost to get it glued shut: $90.00. The technician said these parts are extremely difficult to find- best luck would be on E-bay. He said 99-00 Cougar's are notorious for it's moon roof problem. For some reason, lately, my hood won't open right either, I have to manually yank it up. The trunk is tricky to open as well- sometimes it takes 3 or 4 hits on the interior knob to open it. PLUS, it's TERRIBLE in the winter!! If frequently won't start- 3 different repair shops could not pin point the problem. It rides well once you get it started in the winter- not too light, as long as you have good tires. I love my cougar, but am looking for a more reliable one now:- (

16th Sep 2007, 16:20

My 99 Cougar has actually been pretty good to me. I have 114k miles, and except for the starter going out on it this week, and the AC needing recharging, it still drives/rides very well.

I've never had problems with any lights, but had same problems with the trunk as everyone else, replaced the motor in the drivers side window twice, and the passenger side window switch is bad; had to get a new transmission last summer, replaced the tires twice and had something done to the tie rod after hitting a pothole. Luckily I have a great mechanic that is pretty cheap; The trans. was a little costly, but it was the biggest repair I've had, and for an 8 year old car with almost 115k I really can't complain - especially considering the car is paid for and still in good shape.

We just traded in a 99 Blazer that was a piece of crap - it never cost less than $900 when it when in the shop! All in all, I LOVE MY CAR!!and I have no desire to get rid of it! I'm trying to keep it glued together so my son can have it when he turns 16 (in 2.5 years). Yay Cougars!

19th Sep 2007, 06:22

Wow.. I found a 1999 cougar with about 112,000 miles on it. I'm 16 and I like it a lot. But after reading this...

22nd Sep 2007, 20:15

I own a 2000 Cougar and am having problems with the exterior and interior lights pulsing. It is so bad that I may have to give up driving it unless I can figure out why it is doing this and fix the problem. The alternator has already been replaced.

According to my manual if your tool light is on it can be turned off by holding the unit and select buttons on the trip computer for 5 seconds.

10th Oct 2007, 17:28

Okay, first of all I love my cougar. She's all dinged and banged up on the outside from hitting a deer and getting banged by shopping carts in parking lots, but I still love her. Unfortunately, she's a pain in the ass. All her parts are expensive. Had to get new O2 sensors, new gaskets, new alternator, new battery, new rims since one of them was cracked and kept slitting my tires, check engine light is still on, broken brake pad sensor, blinkers stopped working, had to replace 2 parts to get them to work which cost 150 bucks, and now finally my driver's side window will not BUDGE!!! It's 90 degrees out in October and I can't get my window to go down!!! Oh and did I mention that my air conditioning is broken?? Yeah I think that basically sums it up.

11th Nov 2007, 00:04

I bought my 99 black Cougar six months ago. I was excited when I got it, but a couple weeks later the engine light came on and it misfired at 70k miles. New plugs and wires fixed that, but that was a pain to do.

I got some noises in the front left tire area, but not bad.

The moonroof always worked, the trunk sucks (if I push the button in the car, I have to literally run to the back to open it before the motor locks again).

If I could get the engine light to shut off, nothing would be wrong with it. It runs fine, I don't know why it is on. I took just the positive battery terminal off and left it for about five minutes put it back on and the engine light was off for about an hour.

But other than that, I love my Cougar. From what I have heard with these cars, it's either a hit or miss from the good ones and bad. I just got lucky compared to your cougars. After the 02 I hope they come out with another Cougar.

22nd Jan 2008, 12:40

My 99 Cougar has 126,000 miles on it. No real problems, I replaced tie rods and a water pump at 124k. Not surprising for a car of its age. It's a great car, accelerates well, good handling, fun. My ONLY COMPLAINT is the crazy cupholder in the front, though Ford did redesign this for the later models.

People having problems with the trunk: it is on a timer, if you don't get to the back quick enough after hitting the inside button it will lock. This is to protect whatever you may have in the trunk from being stolen.