Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-52
99 cougar 4 cylinder. Would not recommend this car. Trans problems and lots of different noise coming from engine. I have had it for about 4 months and put about $800 into the car. Brakes and oil leaks seem very common. Overall just a bad car and very difficult to fix.
I purchased my 99 cougar in 2001 and it had 54,000 miles I think. From that point to now this is what has gone wrong - Sunroof broke, the starter has been making a noise for the last 4 years almost, but the car people said its fine, 2 new sets of tires, the radio is possessed. It turns up all the way about 5 times every time I get in the car. The truck doesn't pop open and I have to press the button the on key over and over while I'm opening it. The air conditioning stopped working on levels 1, 2, and 3 and now only works on 4. That's great. I believe the world would be a better place without this car.
We bought this car for our niece and 1 week later the transmission went out, the coolant and check engine lights are on. The dealer has it back and is still considering what to do. We just want our money back - STAY AWAY!
I have had my 99 cougar (V6) for almost 2 years. It does great, I found that you only get out what you put into it. I do regular maintenance on my cr when its needed and haven't had a major problem yet. Tha check engine light is getting on my nerves, and the coolent light you just have to make sure coolent is always at the max to keep it off.
I am the owner of a 2000 Mercury Cougar that I bought brand new. At 61000 thousand miles my transmission had to be rebuilt. It cost me $2400.52. I was told by the mechanic that it had been built very poorly. He told me that there was steel being held by alluminum. He could not understand how or why someone would design a transmission that way. From what I have heard that problems with transmissions are quite common. Why isn't the company owning up to the mistakes.
I own a 99 cougar and the engine just blew the car was always in the garage it is a nice looking car and handles well, but there are too many problems with it I need to now replace the motor and have to find the number on the motor and don't know where to find it any clue... please email me at lolano44@yahoo.com..it is a 2.8 v6 thanks.
I bought a 99 Mercury Cougar just a couple of weeks ago. Two weeks in to it, my transmission blew out. The CV axle came out of the transmission in the middle of the freeway. I had a power train warranty on it, but, it only covered $2000 of the $3000 expense. So far, that's not a good sign. According to these previous comments about the car, it seems like I'll be in for a long ride. Also, today I just found out the A/C is not working very well. Hopefully that's not a big problem. I just wanted a car that could take me from point A to point B. I'm a starving college student and am hoping nothing will happen to this car ever again. Please pray for me!
I bought a used 1999 V6 Mercury Cougar in 2001. The car handles great while driving, but it seems that it spends more time in the garage then with me. I have put two alternators ($400 plus for each) and a battery in it. Interesting enough I had it tested prior to paying for the second one and mechanics said it was working fine, This was after I had put the new battery in and it was thought by a different garage (Who could put in alternators) there was a problem with thee alternator. At that time it would have still been under warranty. It broke down about three months later and surprise it needed an alternator and it was passed the warranty period. I have also put in two oxygen sensors and had one cleaned (over $400 to replace each one and $300 plus for cleaning). Since then it has been back and forth to the garage. It has had two Internal air control motors put in this year. I glad because I only had to pay for one and it was less than $200. It broke down while we were moving to a new state. This time it was a fuel pump, which was expensive not to mention having to pay for a rental, because I had the car loaded with our electronics. The garage told me the fuel pump has been a common proble with the cougar. The light has been on at least another four time since our move 5 months ago. I just got it back from the garage a weeks ago and now today it is back in the garage for the check engine light and a squeak that sounds like a belt problem. Last week it was a $200 plus problem with a valve the needed replaced. There have been numerous other problems also. I take good care of my cars and keep them maintained as recommended, so that is not the problem. I bought the car, because I like the looks of it like so many others and it was a front wheel drive sporty car, which was needed in the snowy winters. I did not know about the rust issues until I saw it on this chat. Now I am at wits end. It is paid for, but is costing me more than payments on a new car. I do not want to start making payments now. The interesting thing is the state I moved to charges yearly property tax on vehicles and the state thinks the car is worth $5600. What a joke. Too me it is worthless, because I cannot depend on it the way I have previous cars. This was someone else's lemon that I am stuck with. I used to look at it with admiration, now it has turned to discuss and my husband calls it a piece of crap.
I bought a 99 Mercury Cougar 4 cylinder from my best friend's sister a year and a half ago in January of 2006. The brakes were fixed right before I got it, but apparently there were no other problems with the car. Three months after I bought the car, my best friend and I were attempting to drive from Indiana to Florida for spring break. The transmission went out in the middle of the interstate somewhere near Manchester, Tennessee. We had to spend four days in the Economy Inn waiting for a local mechanic to fix the problem by replacing a gasket that had blown out of the transmission or something like that. After he fixed it for 160 dollars, we took off down the interstate for Florida, intent on making it to Miami. Not ten miles later, the same problem occurred again. The transmission went out and this time there could be no easy fix. The same local mechanic, refusing to give me a refund of the 160 dollars, said I would have to replace the transmission entirely and this would set me back 2200 dollars. Well, at this point, I called my mother, she and her boyfriend came down in his rollback and drove me, my friend, and my car back to Indiana. I bought a used transmission for 1300 dollars and my mom's boyfriend had it installed. Not two weeks later, it went out again. I took it to Precision Transmissions in Bloomington, IN and they said the transmission needed to be rebuilt. So they did that for 2400 dollars. And now, a year and a few months later, the transmission has been acting up--difficulty shifting when I accelerate, physically shaking as I come to a stop, and taking a moment to kick into reverse. I only had the money to afford all of this due to a student loan, all of which is long gone now. I regret spending any of my loan money on this particular car. Save yourself the trouble, don't buy this car.
I just read the rest of these comments and I couldn't help, but add my two cents. I got my first car on Easter of '02... a very sleek looking 99 Cougar V6. It was awesome... until it stopped starting. I took it in and they fiddled with the starter and flywheel. That was about $1200... and the same thing happened a year later! And this is on top of the sunroof track shattering and the trunk latch having to be continually raised so it wouldn't rattle. So I fixed it again... no problems the next year (except one random day). Then because of my own bad care my engine blew. So I got that replaced, but just this past weekend the transmission started going bad! There are error codes for the second and fourth gears and it has always taken forever to get into first gear after reverse. I'm trying to decide what to do about the car now. I'm not about to put another couple thousand dollars into this car that is not going to get me anything in return... so it looks like I'll be getting a new car soon, and not soon enough in my opinion. Stay away from this car at all costs!!!
So like above... I couldn't resist complaining about my car... I got a 99 Mercury cougar a little over 3 years ago, it ran amazing for about 2 months then I ran into my first problem with the transmission, then my alternator went out, then it went out again, then my starter, then problems here and there, and now it is currently in the shop for another problem with my transmission. This car has been a hefty investment as now the warranty has expired, I feel bad selling it to another person as it is a really awful car in terms of maintenance. I also during this period tried to really maintain the car. It is fun to drive though when it works...
I loved my 99 Cougar until June. I spent about $700 in getting the timing chain guides, tensioners, and several other things replaced... please keep in mind I got a major discount on all the parts that were ordered thru the auto store (my boyfriend works there) and all the dealership parts I paid for at cost... nothing extra.
The guy I took my car too is great, I have also known him a while, so he only charged me 400 in labor... he had a lot of trouble getting this thing fixed and had to tear it all down at least 4 times. So I got a great deal...
So it ran great... I fell back in love with it. Until 3 weeks later when the whole motor blew. While it was being worked on 3 weeks prior, he had spoken with a local Ford/Mercury dealer; they told him for me to sell that car ASAP, and they only made that motor for 3 years because of all the issues they had with it!!!
So now I am stuck with it sitting at his shop. I still have a loan on it, and due to that I have to pay full insurance on a car that I can't drive... over $400 a month! I am a single parent I can't do this much longer.
So now I am looking for a motor to throw in it so I can trade it in for anything that I can get off of it. The used car that I bought isn't going to last much longer.
Reading all of the above comments doesn't surprise me at all. I feel for ever person that has this car with all of these issues, or if you have this car and have not had any issues at all, get rid of it ASAP for any amount, or it will cost you.
Ha, ha... Sorry fellows, I don't mean to laugh, but I though I was having a bad day, since I just found out from the mechanic that there's something more serious with the trannie than he had concluded.
Here's the lowdown: In late '05, I was forced to buy this used beauty with 90K miles because my significant other decided she had to have it, and we needed something more economical yet stylish (no one can disagree that it is a nice looking beast, specially after I added matching tint to the already sophisticated dark green).
We moved to a different location where the underground parkings are very narrow, and while coming out of one, I gave it too much gas and dented the passenger side (you all know, I almost cried, fortunately it was a clean dent, but I was too lazy to take it out and left it as a reminder to be more careful).
Of course, the starter grind has always been there, along with the unwillingness of the trunk to pop up on its own on the first try, and some annoying useless warning light coming on from time to time.
Anyway, getting back to the point. For the past two years, between my wife and I, we have managed to pop the rubber out of the wheel (she likes to hit the curb), slightly dent the roof (she decided that she could stop right in front of the train tracks and the bar came down on it cuz she panicked), slightly loosened the front/rear bumpers (I wanted to test the limits by driving over the sidewalk to get across faster), busted the control arm on one of the wheels (I slid on a turn on a rainy day and the passenger side ended completely on top of the side rail), and until now the trannie failed (she decided that the engine light staying on for a month was just a suggestion, and not enough reason to get it checked).
So, in conclusion, I believe that my car came out dark green cuz it was cross-bred with an armored vehicle. After reading all of your comments, I've decided that I will take a chance and commit to it for the first time that it asks for some TLC in about two years. I'm sure that if everything goes as it's gone for most, the trannie will be the car's last hoo-rahh, but that's the least I can do to honor its ability to 'stay strong' in spite of all the abuse. Maybe next year I'll be writing a different comment.
I have a 99 cougar with 105 thousand miles. Every thing works great have yet to have any problems. I change the oil every 2900 miles and use synthetic oil. The only thing I've replaced is the alternator and spark plugs and spark plug wires and intake, none of it went bad just went with high performance to give the cougar alittle more prep. With little maintenance cougars can be fun quick cars the most important thing is changing the oil on time, keeping the air filter clean and a tune up every 30-40 thousand miles.
I also own a 99 cougar. my first one the window on the driver side wouldn't go down I spent over a $100 trying to get it fixed and it still didn't work. Also my sunroof would not open more than an inch I could leave it open in the rain and my car still wouldn't get wet! Also my coolant light is constantly on as well as my engine light. I had to have all new brakes and rotors put on. I traded for another cougar and now am experiencing all the same problems: (but I don't want to sell it because its such a great car and it looks nice on the outside but i wouldnt recommend this car for anyone