1994 Mercury Topaz GS 2.3 from North America

Faults:

Nothing! The car is insane, I have had the car for 10 000 km and its still running. Warms up perfectly. As long as you don't abuse it, it will work forever. An american Civic.

General Comments:

Used to my 99 intrepid, this car is awful. (sold the intrepid in need for money - university).The car is noisy, shakes, bad cornering, bad everything, but it lasts and that matters. As long as I can get from A to B its all good, considering that I paid $800 for the car...

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 30th September, 2006

1994 Mercury Topaz GS 3.0 from North America

Summary:

Money pit!!!

Faults:

Almost everything has gone wrong with this car.. I already have 1 review on here and this is my updated second one. Let me go over the things that have gone wrong with this car. When I first got the car all it needed for safety was a ball joint and an e-brake cable. I bought the car On July 21st 2005. Since then I have replaced a rad, the same ball joint, tie rod, windshield, back shocks, springs and mounts, transmission gasket & filter & hoses & 2 valves in the transmission. (If your transmission is acting up and it shifts erratically and/or for no reason and sometimes your gas pedal feels stiff it is the valves in your transmission) it cost me $440.00 to have 2 valves replaced. I have also changed the two front tires, gas tank, fuel pump and gas lines, also I have replaced the rear brake shoes and wheel cylinders. I also needed an alignment etc... In total I think I have "invested" $4000.00 in this car... and have only had it 6 months.

General Comments:

I would probably never buy another mercury topaz/ford tempo again in my life.. I have done so much work and treated her with so much respect and all she does is break down on me... I think the next car I buy is going to be a new one with a lot less kilometers.. But she is ready to go for another 242,000 km, s.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 2nd February, 2006

3rd Feb 2006, 10:16

Uhhh dude I've been a Tempo owner for years and the only thing that went wrong was an alternator.

First of all you were definitely taken by your mechanic on at least half of those repairs. There is no way in heck it was necessary to replace all that stuff. I know the 92 to 94 ones weren't very reliable, but the 88-91 ones tied the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord for the top spot on the JD quality survey for that segment.

And why the heck did you spend 4 thousand on a topaz, that car is worth 800 bucks!! And what the heck are you doing replacing the gas tank, were you robbed.

3rd Feb 2006, 14:28

That seems to be a lot of things to go wrong with your car in such a short time and a lot of money spent, too.

I myself own a 1993 Mercury (Tracer), had it for 10 months. It now has 247,380 miles on it. It's a great car.

I have spent just $180 to date, excluding oil changes and transmission fluid change.

That was for to replace the heater core. And that is the only thing that has went wrong. So I'm pleased with this car.

This week my mechanic is going to replace the water pump/timing belt. Because of the high mileage the car has, I think it is a good idea to have these replaced.

I'm not sure if this car has a "motor wrecker" or not should the belt break. But the water pump is operated by the timing belt.

Parts and labor will be $175. This car has been reliable and money saving so far.

10th Feb 2006, 20:07

The Tempo/Topaz is a very dependable car IF it has had proper maintenance all of it's life. They have their little quirks, but what car doesn't? In it's day, it was a highly rated car in it's class. Just change the oil regularly, have the transmission flushed every 30000 miles and you will be good to go. Any good mechanic could have spotted all of the problems you have had with the car prior to buying it. Or maybe he did, and saw you as an easy way to send his kid to college.