1978 Mercury Zephyr review from North America

Carburetor broke - no idea what was wrong, just didn't work.

Fuel pump broke.

Water pump broke.

Radiator hoses cracked.

Electrical system has been total crap.

- Head/tail lights occasionally failed

- Electric starter often didn't get enough power, it would make a clicking noise

- Sometimes the power to the radio would go out

- Right blinker stopped working.

The switch for the blinker broke off one time.

Horn hasn't worked for 6 months.

Brakes went out, replaced master cylinder.

Door locks have been a constant problem.

Today it just overheated for no apparent reason, so bad it may have cracked the block, done something to a piston, and something else. Pretty much when I try to start it it turns over, the whole body shakes violently and an ungodly roaring noise comes from under the hood. It won't go over 20, and when I have to stop at a light, smoke rises out of the hood and smoke shoots out of the exhaust pipe. I'm going to have to go try and find a new car tomorrow, I can't deal with the service this car is going to require.

This was my first car. I love this car. Even with all these problems, the car has never left me completely stranded.

Before I replaced the carburetor, it literally fell off one time, the only thing keeping it attached was the weight and proximity to the hood of the air filter. I unscrewed the air filter holder and I picked the carburetor up right off the engine. The car was running through this, I did have to pump the gas and it was dying, but it got me home.

I have driven this car 20 miles with NOTHING in the radiator, it didn't die until I was a 10 minute walk from my house where I could get new radiator hoses and water to repair it. Ran fine since, that was probably 5 months ago.

I put in a decent sound system, CD, 2 full range speakers, 2 woofers, 2 four way speakers, and 2 three way speakers. It sounds great, I'll probably buy another beater car and install the same sound system, maybe with a sub if there's room.

I have gone 6000 miles plus without changing the oil, ran just fine. As I paid $400 for this car off ebay, I have treated it like complete crap and have more than gotten my money's worth. It's gotten me to work, play, and everything in between. I'm sad to see it go.