1999 Mercury Cougar V6 review from North America

I must say with this car I've been semi-lucky considering some of the problems others had. I didn't have to pay for something out of my pocket until about 110,000 miles when I had to replace the alternator (400 dollars without a new battery after having to really yell at them about the price), now reading the reviews most people were replacing theirs around 60,000 miles.

The first month I had my car a vacuum went out in my car. Not even a year later I had to replace the brakes on my car and 2 rotors because the brake censor had went out (worst invention ever made considering it's only on 3 wheels and the one that it isn't on is the one that goes out first), also two catalytic converter censors went out (750 dollars per censor covered in warranty).

About a year later the whole fuse panel went out, along with having to replace my first set of tires. The tires on this car are outrageously priced on the v6 17" wheels, they average between 140-170 dollars. If you just bought this car I recommend making friends with a small tire company, you'll get to know these people well, very very well, and you're definantly going to need for them to discount you and not charge labor. I was having to replace a tire once a month mainly because I lived on gravel road and the tires that belong on this car are only a 2-ply tire designed with a strong side wall. In one year I spent over 2000 dollars on tires. Even after moving to a land of paved roads I was still having to replace tires so I decided to place the rods. Not even a year later I was replacing the tires again. After all the frustration I decided to go to Walmart. I had them put on the wrong tire for my car, and there's mild rubbing when I turn sharply, but I am more happy with this.

The check engine comes on and goes off, I've realized it has a lot to do with the oil I'm using. When I use all synthetic oil it will stay off 90 percent of the time. When I use a regular 5w-30 (Valvoline High mileage) the engine light burns with fury until the next oil change. It has on and off days literally. Some people try to tell me that it's an oxygen censor. But I think it's the oil.

Now the only problem I have is the switch for my air conditioner seems to be broken and won't work on the first three settings, the fourth setting is the only one I really need, but with that comes downfalls with the radio, when on the fourth setting the radio gets insanely bad reception. It's aggravating to either be cold/hot or bored. Invest in a CD player if you don't already have one.

I really do enjoy my car a lot, but I don't recommend buying this car unless you have a decent job. This definantly is not a car for a teenager that is having to pay the bills on it.

People also have said this car is uncomfortable if you're tall. I'm 6'1 and it was uncomfortable at first because you really have to search for the steering wheel adjuster, I didn't find it for 3 months. I thought the car had just came without one.

If performance tires aren't a big deal to you, go to walmart and have them put on the cheap tires and just deal with the mild rubbing. I tried to keep up with performance tires for 3 1/2 years, thousands of dollars.

People with other brands seem to have more problems with their cars then I have ever had. It makes these problems seem like a walk in the park.