2001 Mercury Cougar V6 from North America - Comments

Needed new alternator after only 40,000 miles.

Needed new fuel pump after 45,000 miles.

Fuel gauge does not work correctly, hence I run out of gas often, and need to tow my car.

I take care of this care very well, oil changes every 2,500 miles and service when needed.

When I first purchased it, everytime I accelerated it would smell like rotten eggs, that faded with time.

Now that I'm past my warranty, I'm having all sorts of problems, most especially with the fuel lin.

I also own a 2001 Cougar. I had my alternator go out at around 20,000 miles and now the fuel pump has been recalled. I am almost at the end of my warranty - how much is all the future problems going to cost me.

I've had the same problems. I'm disgusted!

The coolant light is always on and never goes off even thought it's full.

The fuel pump was recalled after about a year

It has a problem jumping into gear

My alternator went up after only 15,000k. I've needed a new battery which isn't covered under the warranty.

I can never get an appointment to get my car in to get it fixed because my dealership does horrible business.

I've had my car for 3 years and I don't drive it much, and for it be having all these problems, is just ridiculous.

I still have my warranty for 1,000 more miles and I'm just wondering how much I am going to pay when my warranty is up. I'm trying to get rid of it, but I'm losing hope. : (

Well, if you were smart you would realize that a fuel pump is designed to pump fuel, not air. When a fuel pump is starved it does not have the resistance to keep it from over revving, causing bearing damage. Bottom line... keep gas in your tank and it won't kill fuel pumps. As far as the alt. goes. If you would take the time to make sure your alt. connection is tight it would not burn up on you. For crying out loud, there was a recall about the alt. wire not being tightened enough... fix it before it becomes a problem. I love my cougar and I take care of it, not one problem to date with 113,000 on it. If you guys would learn a little car maint. everything would work so much better!

Ford did not recall the fuel pumps at a huge expense to them due to owner error (example running tanks dry). If that were the case, every manufacturer would have to do the same. Because people who run their tanks low drive many brands of cars. I have the supposed redesigned pump setup from Ford and it has just failed too. That is my third pump in the car, and they were all installed by Ford via. warranties. I also always keep plenty of fuel in my gas tank. The pump sucks air (new design) /clogs (old design) due to improper design. Other manufacturers are able to design tanks/pump assemblies that do not have to be half full all the time. I have owned many cars both good and bad, and the cougar is the worst I have owned.

By the way I had the recalled wire fixed and torqued by Ford as soon as I received the recall. The alternator still has failed. Which would not be such a big deal given the mileage on my car at the time, but it is a huge pain to get to on this car. I have been working on cars of all kinds for myself and friends for at least 10 years. I also sold auto parts for many years as well. I have no problem working on cars. The problem with this car is once you fix a problem something else breaks.

Please do not blame the drivers for manufacturer problems.

I used to love my car my silver cougar, but that was before I had the alternator replaced 3 times in 6 months! Oh and get this brand new battery dead again! Oh yeah... this is from a chick that does know about rides, and the car is the biggest piece of junk I ever had in my LIFE! I had 2 mustangs previous to this junker and never had problems, my last a white stang black rag top never problems... gave to brother and got a what I thought would be a safe ride since I was pregnant, the long doors that lock your kids in safe with no ay to roll windows down in the back, like I said LOVED it felt SAFE and still had a COOL ride, this COOL ride is a JUNKER and I wish I never would have gotten it! Try being out in the middle of NO WHERE with 2 to 5 & under children, in The SNOW 17 degrees and have your alt go out COMPLETE BS> PERIOD! They knew there was a major problem with these rides and that's a FACT don't let all the liars trying to cover for the company FOOL YA!

Just put gas in it and leave it in it, don't run it dry

stupids.