Last Learn Me: 8th Gen Mercury Cougars

In my quest to find a good daily driver, I came upon this:

Seller said: 1999 mercury cougar 5 spd 200k miles runs great drives great little rough around the edges but car has been every were been very dependable !!! driver window of track nick name "ole faithful" cheap on gas!!! for sale or trade call billy no texting 423 394 1017

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/cto/3156154732.html

I know it's kinda known to be a chick's car, but I don't care. If it runs, gets good gas mileage and parts are cheap, I'll rock it!

Any info you guys can give me with these? Those little Zetecs last a long time?

Thanks guys!

IIRC . . . Think 2 door Contique . . . .

i hate them.

hate hate hate.

if it is the 4 cylinder, that's at least easier to work on. it's basically a contour coupe.

hate.

besides being a huge piece of crap, they suck to drive too.

If its a zetec......at 200k I'd be waiting for the timing belt to snap or the tensioner to go bad......

If its a duratec 2.5L v6, and it hasn't died yet, I doubt it will. If it does, get a 3L block, and csvt heads, cams, ecu and intake.

Otherwise, aren't these a cross between the contour's drivetrain options and the suspension setup of the zx2?

I am assuming it will need a timing belt, tensioner asap.

yamaha wrote: If its a zetec......at 200k I'd be waiting for the timing belt to snap or the tensioner to go bad...... If its a duratec 2.5L v6, and it hasn't died yet, I doubt it will. If it does, get a 3L block, and csvt heads, cams, ecu and intake. Otherwise, aren't these a cross between the contour's drivetrain options and the suspension setup of the zx2?

Its a Euro Ford underneath; the ZX2 is a BG Mazda and they share very little anything except a similar 2.0 Zetec. FWIW BAT-INC sells a lot of Contour/Mystique stuff (or did sell).

My coworker at my last job he had one he bought new and had racked up 300k on it doing nothing but maintenance. Pretty impressive I thought. Still cleaned up really nice too! Totalled by an accident or it would still be on the road.

DukeOfUndersteer wrote: I am assuming it will need a timing belt, tensioner asap.

If its a V6, like most were it has a timing chain.

Interesting fact, for a relatively small V6 at 2.5L they hold 6 quarts of oil. My friend managed to leak and burn off enough oil to starve that engine and kill it.

I never understood why they were that bad. The Contour SVT was a great car, and the chassis was basically the same. It's a shame they never did an SVT version of the coupe.

I had 201,000 on my Mystique V6 when I sold it and it never burned a drop of oil. Very stout driveline but wow, was it a bitch to change the alternator. 4.5 hours and I have small hands!

you can only see it from below, and can only reach it from above.

my favorite is WHEN the idle control motor fails it causes them to MOOOooooooo.... Like a cow or something.

seriously though, worst steering fel ever, amiright?

If its a 2.5 and a 5spd it ought to be reasonably good in a straight line.

Although.. if you're looking at these things.. can i recommend Tiburon instead?

belteshazzar wrote: i hate them. hate hate hate. if it is the 4 cylinder, that's at least easier to work on. it's basically a contour coupe. hate.

^^ this

Folks, he talking about a DD.

"Cheap on gas" probably means 4 cylinder.

And that don't look like no ferrarrri.

spitfirebill wrote: And that don't look like no ferrarrri.

Maybe they are selling it due to cataract (sp?) problems?

I have a 4 speed to make that zetec rwd. All you need is a rear axle...and a bunch of time and effort and ... and...

Vigo wrote: If its a 2.5 and a 5spd it ought to be reasonably good in a straight line. Although.. if you're looking at these things.. can i recommend Tiburon instead?

I need an "usable only by me" picard facepalm for that comment....

And i DONT need to spend the time explaining my perspective as a professional tech who actually works on things other people might want to own.

then I don't need to explain the whole "choose very carefully the correct set of options(and model years)on the tibby".....

Actually i was just on my way back into this thread to specify that i was talking about an early 4cyl car. hehe

Or just take the shotgun approach to cars with issues and buy three of them so that one can always be running. You can find SHOs for a grand too.

Vigo wrote: Or just take the shotgun approach to cars with issues and buy three of them so that one can always be running. You can find SHOs for a grand too.

I don't wish that pain on anyone....I just like not getting pulled over anymore for passing most stuff on the road.

Oh, and DD, project, and parts car

Edit: and thank you for pointing out the earlier ones.....I still wouldn't recommend the later v6 ones, even to people I extremely dislike

IF, if, you really wanted one of these, supposedly, the '99s are THE worst built of the lot, with '02s being better-built, but not all that much.

But, considering what's available for under a grand....almost nothing, this wouldn't be too bad, I guess.

Yeah, the $1k car market has gone to complete E36 M3. Its tragic.

Ok Cougar nut (own an MN12 and Fox will own a little one soon) chiming in here. The little Cougars are the perfect example of luck of the draw. Ive known people that have put over 300k on both the 4 and 6 cyl models with no major issues, ive also know people that have had nothing but problems. The '01-'02s are by far the best, and the 4 cylinder models are your basic econo motor in a sporty car. The v6 models on the other hand are a major PITA to work on. Parts for either are expensive because even though they are a Contour alot is different. All in all unless you know the cars history id look at something Japanese. Now if you luck out and find a Cougar S jump on it, its an SVT Contour in a Cougar body.