1992 Mercury Cougar LS 3.8 review from North America

The power steering pump was replaced.

The typical Ford 3.8 V6 head gasket problem.

Overheating on different occasions. You couldn't leave it idling for more than five minutes during the summer, even when new. The temp gauge would just creep higher and higher.

The cruise control always changed speeds irritatingly as if it had a mind of its own.

The stereo crapped out about a week before we got rid of the car.

Everytime that we (my mom, sister, and I) tried to take it on a long trip, we would get halfway there and it would start skipping and sputtering. It would do this for the entire trip until we were forced to limp back home and take it to the worthless dealer for a costly, unsuccessful visit to their shop. Ironically, our mechanic who specializes in foreign cars was the only person who could do anything with the car.

When we bought the car, it was considered to be a very good car that was highly recommended by a lot of people. It was good for the first two years and then it started having all of these chronic problems.

The trim all looked like hell after year one. The cheap chrome peeled and the paint on the surrounding trim faded. The actual body paint held up well though. The black mirrors turned gray.

The car was beautiful when it was new and it did take us many miles, just with a lot of headaches. The resale value was HORRIBLE. $2,000 after 7 years, 145,000 miles, thousands of dollars in repairs, and meticulous maintenance.

My '94 Cougar XR-7 V8 was a MUCH better car. It was fast and very reliable, with far less worries and far more goodies.

We bought a 1998 Buick Regal LS with 22,000 miles as the replacement for the '92 Cougar. What a home run! IT now has 140,000 miles on it; all without any problems. Drove it today after washing it for my mom and it still drives and looks like it did when we drove it off the lot. The Regal is still cosmetically and mechanically perfect and it has not required all of the hand-holding that the Cougar did.