1996 Mercury Mystique GS from North America - Comments

Brakes needed to be replaced at 90K and needed replacement again at 150K.

At 90K, the coolant light kept coming on. I had to take it in 3 times (car was still under warranty) but they could not diagnose the problem. Had to pay diagnosis every time they had to look at the problem, but got somewhat of a break as under warranty. Since they could not fix, I just ignore it now. I got some ideas from the other postings of what the problem could be, but the car is no longer under warranty.

Air Conditioning needed repair at 110K, since the car was under warranty, I took it back to the dealer, who said they found a leak and filled it with freon. By the following summer it did not work anymore, dealer wanted to charge $170 just to look at problem.

At 110K I also had a problem with the CV joint. This had to be fixed at $700. This was fortunately covered under warranty. I do not think that I corner this car hard at all.

At 120K I had to replace the muffler. The real part from ford cost over $1K. So I took it to a local shop, where they put on a retrofit. I had to replace it 3 (last change at 140K) times! Who knows how long it will last.

At 170K, I began to notice a problem with the transmission and the check engine light comes on. The car jerks between first and second gear. The OD light flashes every now and then. I took it to dealership who charged me diagnostics ($100 including tax) but said that it would require more time to look into this. If the transmission is gone, of course I do not know this as the dealer did not look into it, will cost over $1K to fix. They said I had to pay $100 to look into every problem.

They were able to diagnose the check engine though (this is where my $100 went), but it will cost $800 to fix. (The diagnosis on the check engine is faulty intake valves, also my ignition wires need replacement.)..which would still leave a problem with the transmission.

There has also been a loud vacuum noise coming from the hood, which has been happening since about 110K. I asked the mechanic to look into it, and they could not figure it out, so now I just ignore it.

I have also had a problem with the battery, which has to be replaced every two years. I put in a new battery in 2000 and then had to put in another one in 2002. These batteries are special and hence can I can only get them from the dealer at $140 a shot. They also build up sulfur on the terminals.

There are so many problems with this car. I am tired of wasting money fixing it. I waste so much time at the dealership service instead of doing other things.

I am very disappointed in this vehicle as it is not that old. I put a lot of care into this vehicle, cleaning it, doing regular maintenance etc.

Seriously considering selling it if anyone will buy it or scrapping it. I do not want to put serious money into this car as it will likely have another problem short thereafter.

I will never buy a mercury/ford again.

I agree with everything. I have a 1995 Mercury Mistake. Transmission replaced at 60,000 miles. Currently has 121,000 and is shifting hard again. Transmission gets flushed and new fluid every 30,000 miles. Constant cooling problems, that nobody can seem to fix. I will Never by a FORD product again.

I totally agree with your assessment of this vehicle. I bought my 1996 Mystique GS brand new. It was OK for the first 4 years then started to self-destruct. It has engine oil leaks which would cost over $1000 to repair. Electrical problems have shorted out the instrument lighting and back-up lights. I have replaced numerous oxygen sensors. The latest is, the catalytic converters are plugged sending exhaust gasses back through the engine compartment and into the cabin. That's it! At approximately $3000 to repair, it is going to the scrap yard. Too bad; it was fun to drive and had lots of power.

I own a 1996 mystique and it has been nothing, but trouble!I have to replace the brakes every 40k and the rotors are replaced every 60-70k. I have had a CV joint replacement and I don't remember how many senors, My engine light is always on and no one can find out why!From what I hear this is common for these cars. The trunk leaks and the push tab for the gas tank sticks!The back springs are forever breaking and I drive very slow as I have children in the car with me all the time! My engine coolant light was coming on a lot and after taking the car to my dealership and forking out a couple hundred I still did not know what was wrong! As time went on the car would hit the red line on the heat Gauge, Back to the dealership... I was told it could be the thermostat, cost $16.00 plus labor, for a total of $120.00. All for nothing! The problem still was not fixed and they spent 2.5 hours tinkering with it!I did however find out what was wrong. I hope that the person who wrote his coolant light was on and didn't know why is reading this, because I am going to try and help him out with this problem. I took my car to a radiator place and they told me in 10 minutes what the problem was! At no charge! The problem that no one could figure out at the dealership and hundreds of dollars and parts that "It might be..." later, The water pump was gone! $90.00 later for the part from a auto store and 20 minutes in the yard My problem was no more! After all the problems I have had with this car and I have only named a few, I can say with all honestly that I will NEVER own another Ford/Mercury car, truck or anything again! I hope that I have helped someone with this information about the coolant light and overheating!

Hello everyone,

although I read all the comments, I still purchased a Mercury mystique 96, GS, from a friend, but relatively cheap 2K, and the car is like brand-new, so I took the risk. I knew from your comments that there would be either a transmission or check engine light on. And this is what happened. I just wanna learn if there is anything that I can do before my transmission is gone, currently if I drive more than 15 minutes the O/D will blink, and the car would jerk from the 1st shift to the second.

Kind regards

kemal.

I bought a 1996 Mercury Mystique GS (Green) On December 26th 2001! I had the car about a year and had trouble with the Starter and Alternator, Replaced it and it was great. It is now 2004 and the car is still running! It needs that Catalytic Converter replaced, and a couple of gaskets replaced, Nothing major since I found the Catalytic converter on-line for $170. I also have to have it aligned. This has been the best car, All in all I have put maybe 1000 into it for repairs/parts, and I've put 100,000 miles on it myself. I am very hard on vehicles, so for it to last is amazing! I would recommend one to anyone! Cheap on the pocket, and Fun to drive!!!

I have a Mercury Mystique and I have put 115.000 miles on it. I have surpassed what the dealer expected, however, I had to replace my idle, which isn't made anymore, so I had to get a new manifold because the new one Ford makes doesn't fit. Luckily they paid for most of it, however, it still cost almost $1000.00 for me. The engine light came on shortly after and I still drove it.

At about 100,000 miles it started to have the jerking feeling when it shifted and I couldn't even get it into high gear. I had to get a transmission censor that cost $300.00.

Just recently it started over heating on me and after replacing radiator, all hoses, battery, and 3 sensors. my engine light is on again. Ronnie's Radiator doesn't know why. Coolant kept leaking out. I give up.

I just recently acquired a 2000 Mercury Mystique with under 50,000 miles and it has been nothing, but trouble. My transmission is shot, the car can barely make it up a hill, it is beyond just jerking, to the point where it will shut off, the steering wheel locks, the brakes lock and there's nothing left to do, but wait and hope it will start up again. The radiator light comes on sometimes.??? The oil light comes on even though it just had an oil change, and the check engine light comes on. The diagnostics showed no problems. I'm hoping to trade it up within a couple of weeks... if it makes it that long. I will never buy a ford or mercury.

I have a 1996 Mercury Mystique and I LOVE it. NO JOKE! I have had it 3 years now and have not had a single problem aside from regular maintenance. The A/C still works great, it runs and shifts like a champ and I cannot say enough good things about it. I'm sorry that everyone else's car doesn't work very well, but I am more than happy with my White Angel and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Hi, I bought my mercury mystique in 2004. I had to get the water pump fixed, catilytic converter, and one O2 censor. A total of about 1000$. I really like the car, it seems to be driving well and, that check engine light finally went off when I put the O2 censor in. I just don't like that sometimes the car has pepp in it and, sometimes it feels like it is dragging along. It doesn't seem to have that jerk when switching gears. I love the car, but, I would recomend someone getting something better if they can. Honda lol.

The radiator light came on @ 95,000 miles for no reason. Bad coolant level sensor (which I can't find or replace) so I unplugged the sensor and used a staple to jump between the contacts in the connector. Light's off now, but if there's ever a leak I won't know unless I check the levels myself. Check engine light's been on forever, replaced 2 O2 sensors (there are 4?) had to clean EGR system, code says catalyst is bad (but it's not). Don't ever, ever buy one of these. They are fun to drive when they're working properly, though.

I have a Mercury Mystique 1998 LS. I love the car despite it's problems. Since I am very car savvy I have never taken it to the rape-u-ship (aka dealership). Let me list the problems with the car and how you can fix them yourself or have a motorhead friend help you.

Problems:

1) Brakes - Replace them every 20,000km

New Bendix Titanium-metal brake pads ~$100

Jack up and remove each tire. Use a 3/4 socket to remove the nut holding the caliper. Remove caliper clips. Replace brake pad. Bleed brake fluid to adjust to new brakes. Re-fill brake DOT3 fluid.

Time: 4hrs.

2) Leaking Engine Oil - Occurs when engine seal cracks ~ 5,000km

Gunk Engine Sealant (or EngineMedic Oil) ~$20

Drain old engine oil out. Use an engine oil cleaner. Fill with 1 bottle of Gunk Engine Sealant and top up the max level with 5W30 Synthetic Engine oil.

Time: 5hrs (Mostly waiting for oil to drain... go do something else in the meantime)

3) Clogged Air filter - Occurs every 20,000km

Fram Air Filter ~$30

Unhook the Air filter case, remove oil air filter and replace with new one. Check for black carbon build up!!! (This is an indicator that the enginefuel system is clogged)

Time: 5mins.

4) Dirty fuel system - Occurs every 5,000km

Slick 50 Fuel Treatment ~$25

Use one bottle of fuel treatment with a full tank of gas.

Time: 5mins.

5) Clogged Radiator - Occurs every 20,000km

Radiator Flush fluid ~$20

Flush radiator with water. Fill up with radiator flush fluid and let sit for required time then flush the radiator again. Fill up with new 50/50 mixture coolant.

Time: 30mins.

6) Leaking Transmission - Occurs rarely

Gunk TransMedic ~$5

Add one bottle to transmission fluid. Should seal any leaks in the transmission valves. DO NOT OVERFILL PASS MAX!

Time: 15mins (You will need a long funnel to add transmission fluid)

I hope this helps with you problems. I personally don't trust the dealerships. Check with car parts supply stores for pricing and make sure you are not getting ripped off. Make sure to have schedule some maintance time with your car. I suggest getting a HAYES Car Manual and reading it.

Disclaimer: I am not a mechanic just a wannabe motorhead. Everything you do to your car is your problem not mine. Get a good mechanic friend that you trust to help you. Prices in CDN dollars and you can easily substitute the brands listed with other better brands.

I bought a 1996 Mystique GS with the "full load" for my wife 2 years ago. It had 90,000km on the clock, and I paid $5000 Canadian for it. I LOVE the handling, it has more than adequate power, and the overall build quality is better than average for an "American" car.

To be fair, it has given me some headaches. I KNEW it had a fragile water pump - and the first time I goosed it real good and got the tach over 6000 RPM, I had to replace the water pump. I got that out of the way within 2 months of purchase!! I had an intermittent check engine light - the code said it was running too lean. I replaced the intake manifold gaskets (which were awfully expensive) and the problem improved, but was not solved. I then found a soft hose on the PCV system that was collapsing on decelleration, and opening up a crack which made the engine run lean. Fixing that also killed the "moose" these cars are known for (loud honking from under the hood). I have replaced one axle bearing and the lower control arms (bushings got noisy - parts cost very reasonable, but the quoted repair time of 4.3 hours is insane. I did it myself in about 3 hours. The fog lights were a poor excuse, so I just replaced them with a good after-market set.

I need to replace the receiver/drier in the AC system (very common leak point - hard to find, but not hard to fix) and the pollen filter. Will likely put new rotors and pads on next year.

We have about 110,000km on it now and expect to have it for another 4 or 5 years. Perhaps not the best car made, but for me, definitely a good buy.

I have a 96 mercury "mistake" I was having a problem with my o/d light coming on and the car not shifting. The problem was a cheap one thankfully 120.00$ speed sensor was out not letting the transmission know when to shift. Good luck to all that own this car.

1996 Mercury Mystique (MISTAKE), GS 2.4 Double Overhead

Lesson learned: check your carfax report.

Should've known there was a problem when I test drove the car and the check engine light was on.

My transmission blew in November, I bought the car used in August. Only 62,000 miles on it. Really scary when your car speeds up on the highway-- even though you have CRUISE CONTROL on. Yep.

My window fuse blows all summer long and after every repair on the car. One of my back windows doesn't open most of the time. Sometimes, when I pop in a new fuse it'll work. Sometimes of course, the fuse immediately blows when I replace it or blows after a couple of hours.

Had to fix my alignment last summer.

And let's not forget the check engine light that comes on randomly. Mostly in the summertime of course.

And as someone else said, the button to pop my gas cap sticks. I spent five minutes pounding on it the other morning.

Long story short, this car is a mistake. Less than 100,000 miles and I can't wait to get rid of it. I doubt any dealer will buy it from me at a decent price, and I have too much conscience to pawn it off on some innocent person. Much like me.

Oh, and I forgot to mention: when they replaced my transmission they said they found metal in it. Yeahhhh.

And the only thing that helps is not using cruise control. And I totally hear the humming noises.

And the car generally dislikes the heat. Ailments including revving repeatedly when I start it.