1999 Mercury Cougar from North America - Comments

Almost a year and a half ago, my daughter totaled her 99 Honda Civic and the insurance company gave us $7000. Thank God, she suffered only minor injuries. Like now, the gas prices were way up so unfortunately we couldn't find anything comparable to what she had for that. So... we bought this 99 Cougar with 98k miles. Beautiful car, she loves it. However, the individual we bought it from never came clean on the dashboard lights not working because we bought it from him on a sunny day and never noticed. This is very worrisome as she has had several speeding tickets at night b/c she can't see the dashboard. (No excuse according to the law) :(' Also, the sunroof stopped working right at 100,000 miles so we feel he knew that too. Overall, the car runs really well.

Our biggest concern... we had to just buy new tires...AGAIN, second set in 1 1/2 years... she probably puts no more than 100 miles a week on the average. We would really appreciate feedback on the dash lights never working and quickly worn tires. An alignment was done and they said it could be the roads, but she drives I-20 all the way in from college and drives very little around her school/work schedule. The radio is also quirky and front seat passenger cannot roll down the window. I appreciate any comments, thanks!

Bought my 1999 Cougar new. At 84,000 miles my engine light came on. Repair cost was $109. Engine light remained on. I went back to dealership and they wanted to replace another part for a cost of $240. - I refused and the engine light has remained on since then. Now a state emission test is required for safety inspection. Due to the engine light and associated codes I had two O-2 sensors replaced for $253 at a private quality mechanic. Engine light still on. I took it to the dealership. So far the cost has run $1300 including replacing the 2 new O-2 sensors (think about that one!) and still the engine light is on and they are still working on it. For the person above who is asking about the car he bought for his daughter, my advice is sell it as soon as you can. If it has the low profile tires, they do wear fast and so a 1-1/2 year longevity is not uncommon. In my opinion this car should have been recalled by Ford for this engine light defect or they should have used quality parts to begin with that may be causing the code problems. Ford Motors is in financial trouble nowadays - I wonder why!

Interesting, I'm in the UK and our Cougars tend to have the following

Dash dials all sweep when the ign turned on = low battery.

'The rattle of death' = dead big ends.

Wishbone bush failure.

Aircon clutch causes what feels like a missfire, switch it off and it runs real smooth.

No one seems to suffer from US based problems

Our Cougars were all US built.

Alternative tires are

225/50/16 or 205/55/16 mixing sizes upsets the ABS and traction control systems above 60mph = the power gets cut, the brakes come on etc.

I have a 99 cougar with 75,000 miles and have had no major problems with it. I just have to let it warm up properly before driving, drive it easy and bring it in every 3,000 miles for a checkup. I don't allow time for problems to build. You just have to take take extra preventative care and treat the engine like it is fragile. You can beat the cougar problems this way...

My 99' 2.5l V6 manual, got stuck in 2nd gear today on the way home from work. Not looking forward to seeing what this will cost me... My light has been on for two years. So did anybody confirm any recalls that can help us all out?

Offtheright@yahoo.com.

I have never had a problem with my manual '99 cougar until now. It has well over 100,000 miles and just the other day it died as I was backing out of the garage... then last night when I stopped at red lights or stop signs the gauges would all max themselves out without me doing anything and the engine would rev up by itself so the gauges read I was going way over 100mph, RPM was to the max, and my fuel tank was suddenly full (I wish)...but my car stayed stopped at the red light. I am unsure, but I think this may be related to the battery problem? If anyone knows for sure please respond. Also, I have so much mileage on this car and my engine light has never been stuck lit on, but it seems a lot of people are having this issue.

I bought my 99 Cougar for 4 grand w/115,000 miles, cute car fun to drive----->money pit. 1 alternator, 1 battery, brakes, check engine light (gas cap) check engine light again (cat. converter, plus the pre-cats need replaced at 1500 a piece) Major oil leak, car dies whenever it wants for no reason, crappy gas mileage I'm always putting gas in her, tensioner pulleys need replaced, lights flicker constantly, tranny has issues, cd player rarely works. I have only had the car for 3 months. I'm really getting tired of fixing this car, and as for the one post about going to a real mechanic and not Autozone, mine has all been done at the Stealership. Still have check engine light on.

Like many others, my check engine light is on AGAIN and I am $1000 in the hole and not ready to put more. At first review it was the DPFE so they replaced that and a few hundred miles later it came back on. So I took it to another mechanic who said at 69K miles it needs a tune up to replace plugs (which mercury claims to be 100K plugs) and wires. The tune up made the car run better, but now a few hundred miles the darn light is on again. I am at my wits end, car is in nice shape and want to keep it longer (1999, but great body shape since I've babied this car). Any ideas?

I bought my 1999 Cougar brand new. When I read others comments I thought they bought lemons and I was the lucky one. Other than a few recalls, the only money I put into the car was for routine maintenance, i.e. tires, brakes, a new battery. Three years ago the engine light went on and I ignored it. It went away after 3 months and didn't come on again for another year. It's now been on now for over a year and a half. Last year I was able to get my car inspected because someone was able to reset the light and it stayed off long enough for the inspection, but showed up again after I drove 8 miles. A month ago after no indication of anything anything being wrong with the car, the engine gave out (it did have 174,456 miles on it since I drive 90 miles a day to and from my job) Okay, so I can't give up my cougar. They just don't make cars with this shape anymore - they are all boxes. I had a new engine put in, but guess what? The ENGINE LIGHT REMAINS ON! The garage who replaced the engine has changed the O2 sensors and something to do with the EGR (code PO401). After the O2 sensor replacement I drove the car 65 miles before the light came on again. After he did the EGR thing, I drove 110 miles and the light came on again. I have about 2 weeks left to get my car inspected in PA. Although the new engine feels fine after putting 400 miles on it , I feel I wasted so much money putting in a new engine. My car may not pass inspection because of the STUPID ENGINE light. Reading all your stories makes me really angry. Guess we just weren't meant to drive these cars over 65,000 miles.

I have a 2000 cougar with 86,000 miles. I purchased the car a few years ago and it had 54,000 miles. I have had no major problems with the vehicle. I change the oil every 3 months and I've replaced the battery and 4 tires. The only problem is the CHECK ENGINE light goes on and off every few weeks. I've had electrical tape over the light for the past year, so it hasn't bothered me too much. About 2 weeks ago, I took the tape off and had a mechanic service the vehicle. They were able to get the light off by cleaning something. It remained off for 1.5 weeks and then came back on. I just purchased electrical tape for 50 cents and put it over the light again. Problem solved!

I have a 1999. Just last week, my car started hesitating when accelerating. The mechanic replaced the O2 sensors since he said they were malfunctioning. It did not fix the issue. It only made the engine light be OFF for 1 day and a half.

Now, after reading this site, I will get all the 3 fuel parts replaced, and hopefully it will take care of the problem, before it leaves me stranded. Of course, I called Ford, and they said my car is not part of the recalled. :(

I will post again after I get my car fixed to let you know if the issue has been taken care of. Even with all its issues, I still like my car a lot! Wish me luck!

I have a 1999. Just last week, my car started hesitating when accelerating. The mechanic replaced the O2 sensors since he said they were malfunctioning. It did not fix the issue. It only made the engine light be OFF for 1 day and a half.

Now, after reading this site, I will get all the 3 fuel parts replaced, and hopefully it will take care of the problem, before it leaves me stranded. Of course, I called Ford, and they said my car is not part of the recalled. : (

I will post again after I get my car fixed to let you know if the issue has been taken care of. Even with all its issues, I still like my car a lot! Wish me luck!

UPDATE:

After replacing the complete fuel system the issue still exist. Could it be the computer? Or maybe water in the gas? Any input would be great!

I do love my car, but well I bought my 1999 cougar and the 6 disk CD,changer no longer works my moon roof won't close my censors are now going bad 3 days ago I put 371 dollars for a new water pump so it would keep the coolant light from coming on and my check Eng, light has not shut off yet at first it was saying that it was the gas cap, but now no one can tell they said replace censors well my heat and ac won't work until it's on 4 and my defrost doesn't work at all I can't go anywhere if it rains however I do look good in it, but I just wish it would work for me than me not getting to work to just to work to repair it oh one good thing I don't have to past any test to drive it and that's good sorry to all that does.

I own a 1999 mercury cougar. I like it, however I am having problems with it. The exhaust was very tricky to modify. I custi=om built and installed a much better setup ending with dual hyabousa motercycle mufflers they look nice and are extremly quiet! . The biggest problem is the leaning of bank 1 and 2 resulting decreased preformance. I would say around 25 -35 horsepower. I get good gas milege around 27 -32 mph on the hughway. I cannot figure the problem out niether can the ford dealer. I cannot find any vaccum leaks the O2 sensors are good and the fuel system is functioning fine. The codes are the po171 and the po174 I see many people having similiar problems with these codes and lean conditions. My spark plugs look fine as well. Fuel filter etc replaced and the enginee is in good quiet running condition. If the codes are reset then they are on again within a few days at most. The engine is mostly stock with the 170 horse v6, and a k&n air filter. Any help or ideas is appreciated, I have tried many things to correct this problem so far withou success!

Wow...where to begin?

I bought my car 3.5 years ago used. It only had 60,000 miles, now it's well over 146,000. In that time, I have replaced:

-three batteries

-the alternator

-too many front tires to mention

-the serpentine belt (4 times)

-the water pump, hoses and belt

-the ac compressor and manifold

-the engine mounts

-the brakes (twice)

-the passenger window motor

-had to jimmy rig the moon roof so I could get it shut (the rain is a deterrent to leaving it open all the time) and it remains broken

-spark plugs and wires

-various sensors, etc.

Currently, I need to replace my brakes (again), just got another set of tires, have a massive oil leak that no one seems to be able to find, need new rack bushings, inner and outer tie rods, and the heat doesn't work. The check engine light is always on, no matter what sensors I change or what I get cleaned. Also, when I try to coast, the engine will buzz until I hit the gas again. Not a big issue unless you are braking for traffic.

Still...can't afford to replace it right now. Just finished paying off the bank and still owe a friend money for the down payment. Can't believe how much money I've spent on this car, especially since I do most of the work myself!!