I love my Cougar (V-6)! The outside looks awesome, and since I've had this car it's untelling how many people have slowed down on the road to take a second look. This car is definetly eye catching, and not to mention gets pretty good gas mileage. I love the way it handles-and yeah I'm a chick but I love to race! I've had mine up to 140, but it hasn't maxed out yet.

The back seat is definetly not the most comfortable in the world, the console looks a bit cheap, and I have had trouble with the trunk release. But my main concern is the grinding noise that my kitty makes when I attempt to start it up. It could have more power, but hey I'm not complaining.

I haven't saw another car on the road that I'd rather have. As far as looks go, I'm hooked on my red Cougar, but there are a few things I'd change. Overall in my opinion this car is awesome, I look forward to just getting in my car of the mornings just so I can see people take that second glance. I've got one bad kitty!

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This is my first car actually, but I've drove one of the new Toyota Celica's and I have to say that my cat will run better than the Yoda.

Great Styling
Handles well at high speeds
Has plenty of pep for passing and rolling starts
Breaks on a dime
Catches eyes everywhere I go

Slide cover on sunroof and the trunk deck rattle on even small bumps.
Slow pick up off the line from a stop

The Cougar is a lot of fun to drive. It handles better than most sports coupes I have driven. However, it lacks power when you punch it from a stop. After you hit about 15 MPH, though, the car really performs.

The Duratec 2.5 L V6 is a good balance between economy and horsepower, packing 170 HP at 3200 RPM.

Provides a very stable ride and feels roadworthy even at 105 MPH.

Major drawback is the rattles. Like most sports coupes, the suspension is tight for good handling. Unfortunately, this causes every bump to be felt. The rear trunk deck and sunroof cover both tend to rattle even on small bumps. I took the sunroof cover off and replaced the rubber bumpers on the deck with taller bumpers and this solved the problem.

Overall, I feel it was a great value for my money and I really enjoy driving the Cougar.

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I used to have a TransAm and this car is actually just as much fun. Not as powerful, but still good for the price. For a V6, the Cougar could use a 3.0 instead of the 2.5 Duratec.

-Sound system
-Interior and Exterior Styling
-Drives nice
-Good handling.

-Weak power in the lower end.
-Somewhat noisy.
-Major reliability issues.

About 2 months ago I purchased a 1999 Mercury Cougar. Doing this meant trading in my reliable (140k+ miles) 89 Honda Civic. The Cougar was used, still under factory warranty, and had around 28k on it at the time of purchase. I was wooed by the nice looks, the great sound system, and the sporty handling of this car. Since my purchase I have been hanging out at the Mercury dealer allot more that I would have liked to. The troubles began relatively soon after I purchased the car. The electrical power in the car died while driving it. A sudden return visit to dealer revealed that the car had a bad alternator. The alternator and the battery were replaced and I was back in my new car 2 days later. This left me to ponder what was already a very unnerving beginning to our relationship. A few weeks went by before the next incident. I went out to start it one evening and the vehicle made a high pitch grating sound and refused to start. A retry got the car started and moving but this scenario would be repeated time and time again. After waiting a few weeks to get car into the shop the problem was revealed to be the flywheel. Thank god this is still under warranty. The day after I picked my car up from the shop the engine coolant reservoir light started coming on, and now I am about to take the car back for the 3rd time in 2 months. At this point I have to say the car is a abomination. I will never buy another Ford product and am considering what sort of action to take next to divorce me of my 14k mistake. My problems are not unique as I have found out by reading various complaints on other websites, mostly on www.nhtsa.dot.gov. I have seen literally dozens and dozens of testimonials from people describing the same problems I have had. Do yourself a favor. Don't by a Cougar, save your sanity.

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None really. I owned a 89 Honda Civic before this car. I never had near as many problems with it as I have had with the Cougar.

Handling, good fuel economy, appearance.

Electrical problems, awkward cupholder, rattles, not reliable.

Owning this car has been a nightmare! I have had it in the shop nine times for electrical problems. It has had three ignition lock cylinders (which means the door locks have had to be replaced), three stereos, a switch that goes to the lock cylinder, a door handle, an oil consumption test, the air bag warning light was blinking, the coolant light was blinking (it was fixed by draining some of the fluid from the reservior), now the seat belt light/chime comes on constantly while you are parked/driving whether you have your seatbelt on or not.
I e-mailed Ford about my concerns with the car and they thanked me for my input and then passed the buck to my dealer. I have talked to several mechanics about this car and it's problems, most of them told me I should get rid of it ASAP!
I am very dissapointed with my Cougar, If I trade now, I have to take a big lose since the first year's depreciation is terrible and it doesn't look like it will hold a very good resale value. Because of all the problems and hassles, I am sorry to say that I have looked very seriously at lemon laws. I think having the car in the shop 9 times for the same problems has proven my patience and willingness to keep the car but enough is enough. I wouldn't recommend this car to anyone.

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I bought the Cougar because I have always had Ford products, I did test drive a VW Bug and a Toyota Celica. I liked the looks / handling of the Cougar better.

It good looks and styling. The power is not to bad on the V6 manual transmission.

It is always in the shop. I had my car about 15 times in the 15 months I had the car. Problems ran from the alternator (4 times) to brakes and shaking of the car (3 times) to air conditioner noise and heat coming from the pedal area. I complained and Ford agreed to get me out of the car. It only cost me $2,700 with all charges and taxes to upgrade to an identical car (model year 2001). Email me if you need advice or questions.

Be sure you purchase an extended warranty, you will need the rental car coverage when it is in the shop!!

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None

I love the body styling and the way it handles. Has pretty good top end speed without modification. If you slap a K&N Air Filter and some Split Fire Plugs in it your doing much, much better. I also love the MTX.

Let me put it to you this way. Door Locks, Door Locks, Door Locks, oh yeah did I mention Door Locks! That and the trunks spring are the worst things with this car. I am pursuing the Lemon Law in OH and the dealership is being as helpful as possible but I have had it.

I love the look and feel of the car but would hesitate buying a first year model ever again.

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None. I owned 2 Taurus' before this.

the 5 speed mtx would have to be my favorite part of it, loaded down leather and all the good stuff and still under 20000,

i have heard horrer stories, so far i have had no problems with it.

i am not a car person, all i have ever owned is a truck, but when i drove this car 1 time i was hooked.

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chevy blazer, ford ranger

It's a good looking car I turn a lot of heads at stoplights. Could be for me though. Ha Ha!
Pretty good on gas mileage
Very affordable

Moisture has been getting in, poor weatherstripping on doors
Not much room in backseat

Very reliable car so far. I just hit 30,000 miles and no major problems yet. I guess that won't happen until after my warranty is up. Fun to drive and is a very popular car on the road

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Previoulsy owned a piece of crap 94 Talon
Much nicer and roomier than that car

I love the the exterior and interior looks. I get alot of great comments from people. I love the power driver seat. It makes it easier to adjust if someone else changes it when they drive it even though I don't allow anyone else but me to drive it. It has lots of space. Even the back seats have a little more room than most cars in its class. Great gas mileage. Stock, I got about 30mpg on the highway and now get anywhere from 34 to 36mpg on highway after I lowered it and put intake on it. Even though it does not really look like a luxury car like it use to, it as all the cool stuff inside that a luxury car has. It tells you how many miles you have left to go before your gas tank is empty, it tells you the mpg, the average speed and the outside temp. The insurance companies (well at least mine did -CNA) consider it a luxury car, not a sports car so you save a little money. I got a 45% discount for all the safety features my car includes-passive anti-theft system, meaning that with out the key which has a computer chip in that is programed to only your car, the car cannot be started or hot-wired because once the key is out of the ignition, the fuel system is shut off. No fuel, no starting the car. The radio has a anti-theft system- preset 2-5 can be removed and with out that the radio is useless. It also has door beams that give the car more sturdiness when hit. And it has dual second generation air bags. I believe this car would do well in a bad accident. It has excellent control and handling.

Rear brakes stick and make a funny noise when backing up when it is moist outside. Brakes squeak when slowing down from a average speed to a stop. Dealership said it was because of the metallic brake pads and nothing can be done unless i buy some expensive brake pads that are not metallic. The piece up on the dash for the defrost popped up on me when I turned the defrost on to the 3 setting. it has been glued down by the dealership but has come back up. It has expensive parts. I got in a fender bender and had to replace the hood and the passenger head light. The head light was more than the hood. (Head light-$270+ and the hood-$240). The rear driver side speaker blew out and had to have it replaced. The station presets 2-5 on the radio were hard to use and some stopped working and had to have my whole CD player replaced. it could use a little more power, but I am modifying my car to give it more horsepower. I have intake and have lowered it 2 inches using Eibach springs. I have a performace underdrive pulley and plan to get exhaust. I also have a ground effects kit but it is not on yet.

Even though I have had some minor problems, I would totally recommend this car to anyone who loves cars and likes getting attention. I get alot of looks and attention with this car. The dealership I bought my car from have been great. They have fixed most of the problems that i have had with my car and have made it worth while. If you plan to purchase one or already own one and what to modify it for performance or looks, good luck because it is hard to find things for this car and if you do find it, it will most likely be expensive. I plan on showing my car this next July and I hope it will be ready. I bought a hood scoop thinking that it came with the hood and I paid $971. It turned out that I paid that much just for the scoop. I sent it back of course hoping the price would go down. Any way, I would highly recommend this car but in a manual five speed. I made the mistake of buying a automatic.

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Ford Mustang, Eclipse, Cavalier

Very good pickup, unlike people say the V8 can smoke alot of the rice burners, including the accord V6. Confortable, roomy and nice leather seats.

Does not corner as well as I would like it too. Needs a larger selection of aftermarket performance parts.

I would recommend this car because it is very well rounded and dependable. It can beat alot of coupes that are out on the market. Im going to clarify this up, there is no way in hell this car goes 0-60 in 8.8 seconds...these people (carReview.com) are pretty much saying that the PT crusier can beat it (its time is 8.6 seconds) I know for a fact this car hauls butt. This car offers overall good performance and room while not being the size of a boat.

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Mustang V6-smokes it
Camaro V6- beats it
Firebird V6-its sucking on the cats exhaust fumes