Since day one there was problems. Annoying alarm pitch. e ven when in the car. Doors would lock whenever they wanted. The Famous Trunk latch not working properly.
UIM and LIM had both gaskets replaced 30 miles after warranty was up at around 57000 costing aroud $600.
Trans went out shortly after throwing the p1744 p0751 and p0756 codes. which is PCM determed that voltage from shift solenoid a and b are inadequate that was around 57500 costing $3500.
All was well for about a week. except the coolant light and CEL which are always on... no big deal drove it anyways. common problem.
Bam. Next week alt. went on the fritz and cost about $300 for the part. with me doing labor. that was around 58700 or so.
Drove it for about 3 weeks. put about 3000 miles on... had to replace 2 tires at $260 for both.
Ah summertime, what could go wrong right? WRONG driving home onenight and all the lights including brights blow on my way home $500 to fix the wiring which caused them to short and fry the circut.
OK. that deal is done. still summer. ah. crap guess what. sunroof is no longer fuctional. $2000 to fix.
Car now has around, 88500 miles. and. yet another tranny goes going for yet another $3500.
The seats are VERY uncomfortable if you are 6 ft or taller... backseat? what backseat if you aren't a midget. you won't be comfortable.
Had new wheelbearings on both sides... at $360 for the set.
Drifts horribly in the snow for a fwd vehicle. I had a better chance driving my t-bird and getting there.
6 months or so go by. I put about about 1000 miles a week on my car. I commute to work so the car has about 119000 on it. and yet another trans is out on it. and the price has actually gone down a bit. $2700 but I'm at whits end with this car. I can't do it anymore.
As you can see... the car in less than 4 years has cost me more than 10k to keep it running. that's not including reg. tune ups oil changes ect.
Had to replace 2-3 alts. don't even remember anymore.
The car is fairly quick. but still junk imo I will NEVER buy another cougar. unless its older than the new 99+ body styles. I think mercury needed to work out more bugs on there cars before they released them to the public. handles like crap. seats are uncomfortable this was my dream car when it first came out. and now I understand why everyone was trying to sell there. I paid 2x the amount for repairs then the car.
MY OPINION IS NOT TO BUY A 99 COUGAR ATX... I heard the atx's aren't bad. but the transmissions in the 99 cougars are junk. the first one that went out the the car wouldn't engauge into reverse.
Sorry to hear about your problems. These cars and many others made by ford/lincoln/mercury are cookie-cutter automobiles massed produced while sacrificing quality in the name of profit. I highly recommend going with a Honda, Nissan, or Toyota next time.
It is 2009 and my '99 Cougar just hit 70K miles, however, I've gone thru two fuel pumps, both head gaskets, four sets of brakes PLUS the rotors, two hood latch cables, the driver's seat is busted, every imaginable part of the emission's system, wiring harness (the radio is still blown), brake light switch. Just picked it up to the tune of $1101.00 for brakes and emissions parts. Told the mechanic that if the engine light comes on and I don't care when, I'll drive it thru the showroom window.
Oh, and let's not forget the tie rod ends. Gettin' hard to see @night since the cheap a$$ lense covers look as if someone 'sanded' them. And in all my years of changing oil in vehicles, I've never seen sludge buildup as bad as in this car.
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