OT: Mercury Cougar

[WookieOnRitalin]

What do you guys think of this car and what do you know about it.

Comparable to the new Mazda3, but being the car buyer on the market...I'd have to throw this in the mix. When you talk about dollars when it comes to cars then you have to look at the used and the new. A new Mazda3 with what I want on the car will be 19,300 (probably 18-7 or 18-8). Now, a used 2002 Mecury Cougar under 30k miles at 13,000 or less.

There's quite a nice gap in there for modding and adding.

I don't know a whole lot about the car itself so I wanted to know what yall thought about the car. Piece of crap? Unreliable? What?

Would it be worth it or should I just opt for a new 3?

 

[blynzoo]

Friend of mine had one, but he thrashed the hell out of it, so I dont know how well it would hold up normally.

v6 was fun, the stick was smooth (drove it several times). His only beef was electrical: the sunroof stopped working, albeit after about 3 yrs -- it was factory. The cig lighter stopped working as well.

Other than that, he enjoyed it a lot. The suspension was tight, but not mazda tight (Ford Probe 4-cyl tight). He tore the hell out of it as I said, so I dont know how much longer it would have lasted had he treated it as a granny daily driver. I can say it held up better than some fords I have seen to the beating, but then again it's the auto trannies that get weak in the first place.

If you find a manual that has had dealer service, I say go for it. I did research for him when he wanted to go F/I, and found 2 turbo and one supercharger kits for the car.

 

[Mr. Win]

buy a used msp...

 

[Jake1]

My sis has a V6 Cougar and she hates the thing. Something always seems to be going wrong with it. For one, I wouldn't wish having to sit in the back seat of one of those things on anyone. Secondly, for a V6, 2 litres seems pretty weak. Feels heavy to drive, the car looks way too big for a coupe, and I always see chicks driving them. Don't mean to bash on them too much, I just guess I'm biased ever since I got my 3.

 

[WookieOnRitalin]

On that note...I saw a 3 5-door on the road tonight on the way to school. The guy driving it was moving. Darting and accelerating quickly. It looks nimble, fast, and responsive. Of course, the guy almost ran into me trying to pass a truck. This guy had his turning light on and the driver side mirror was blinking as well. I didn't know that was a feature on the 3. Is it? Or did that guy just do it himself?

I just thought I'd see what people thought of the Cougar. Thanks.

 

[RonH]

My first hand experience with a Cougar was in 1968, a '67 Cougar which I bought. My next experience with a Cougar was a '68 in '1987 that I bought and dropped in a 5.0 HO, C-4 with a shift kit, Edlebrock intake, Holley 600 4 barrel and a few other goodies. It was fairly fast and looked good but my son wanted to buy it from me so I sold it.

My next experience with a Cougar was when the last one came out in the late '90's, which is actually a Mercury Mercur (SP).
My first impression was it looked pretty good, until I tried to sit in the driver seat, which I first moved back and still cracked my knee on the steering wheel. I then tried the rear seat and found it was also a tight fit. I then looked inside the hatch and stared in wonder what the engineers were thinking with that layout.

I then walked away.

 

[moxnix]

The newer(99+) cougar has a lot in common with with ford contour/murcury mystique 4 door cars.

Engines - V6 2.5L Duratec 170HP is what the contiques I drove had and I never had problems with it until it Threw a rod at 142,000 miles.

I4 2.0L Zetec (this is the same basic engine that was in most Focus's until this year) I dont remember the HP or anymore specs on this engine.

Tranny - Get the manual.

For more infomormation about them check out Neco http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/

 

[JOS3]

a cougar? wtf. that car is gay

 

[centsless]

have you ever driven one of those, they drive worse that those crapaliers out there.. hideous i would say..

 

[goldwing2000]

I can only add one thing:

They stopped making them for a reason.

Think about it.

 

[Mazda P5 driver]

My sis has a V6 Cougar and she hates the thing. Something always seems to be going wrong with it. For one, I wouldn't wish having to sit in the back seat of one of those things on anyone. Secondly, for a V6, 2 litres seems pretty weak. Feels heavy to drive, the car looks way too big for a coupe, and I always see chicks driving them. Don't mean to bash on them too much, I just guess I'm biased ever since I got my 3.

It's big becaise it shares the platform with the Contour. It pretty much was a 2 door Contour.

 

[Mazda P5 driver]

The newer(99+) cougar has a lot in common with with ford contour/murcury mystique 4 door cars.

Engines - V6 2.5L Duratec 170HP is what the contiques I drove had and I never had problems with it until it Threw a rod at 142,000 miles.

I4 2.0L Zetec (this is the same basic engine that was in most Focus's until this year) I dont remember the HP or anymore specs on this engine.

Tranny - Get the manual.

For more infomormation about them check out Neco http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/

The Zetec was about 130hp/135tq.

 

[Mazda P5 driver]

have you ever driven one of those, they drive worse that those crapaliers out there.. hideous i would say..

I used to own a Contour, and I can say it wasn't bad at all. If you think it was a bad ride you must have been in a badly modified one. The Contour had a pretty decent suspension and was pretty locked down. The Zetec was smooooth unlike the rough loud one the P5 comes with. On long sweepers I firmly believe it would kick the P5's ass quite easily. It felt much much more stable in cornering then the P5 does. Short corners the P5 can take it though.

I would like to know where you get your opinion from.

 

[Mazda P5 driver]

I can only add one thing:

They stopped making them for a reason.

Think about it.

The 2 door yes, the Contour/Mystique..yes..The Mondeo..not even close. AFAIK they quite because it was too closely priced to a Taurus which is bigger. Not a good thing really.

IMO, if they brought the Euro Mondeo here AS IS, Toyota and Honda etc would see sales drops.

 

[hworth18]

I can only add one thing:

They stopped making them for a reason.

Think about it.

I have to agree.. I haven't known anyone to have one that didn't think they were crap.. Poor sales reflected it also..

 

[goldwing2000]

The 2 door yes, the Contour/Mystique..yes..The Mondeo..not even close. AFAIK they quite because it was too closely priced to a Taurus which is bigger. Not a good thing really.

IMO, if they brought the Euro Mondeo here AS IS, Toyota and Honda etc would see sales drops.

The question was about the Cougar, not Mondeos or Cougar/Mystakes. That's what my post was in reference to.

 

[Mazda P5 driver]

The question was about the Cougar, not Mondeos or Cougar/Mystakes. That's what my post was in reference to.

They were pretty much the same car. And I love the blind statements being made. No one owned one yet seem to know everything about it. 3 years from now the Proteges will be in the EXACT same spot. POS that barely run. My Contour had 85k miles when I got the P5 and it was running strong.

I would like to know what problems about either car you think you know about instead of saying "I heard, my friend, etc." What have YOU experienced? This goes for anybody.

 

[Mazda P5 driver]

I have to agree.. I haven't known anyone to have one that didn't think they were crap.. Poor sales reflected it also..

Funny really...did you ever see them marketed?

How does one sell anything if the sheep public don't know it exists?

Everyone I have talked to that actually OWNED or driven the car says different than you non owners and nondrivers.

 

[goldwing2000]

People are giving you any input they have.

If you don't want people's opinions, don't ask questions.

Everybody that I know who owned one hated it but people I know who have owned Contours have loved them. Go figure.

 

[SilentSno]

The Cougar was actually the 3rd Gen Probe.