Overview & Reviews

Mercury was a division of Ford Motor Company marketed as being somewhat more upscale than Ford. Throughout the latter part of its 71-year history, Mercury's vehicles were essentially Fords with unique styling details and special features meant to enhance their desirability relative to similar Ford products.

It all started in the 1930s, when Edsel Ford, Henry Ford's son, saw an opportunity to create an additional brand within the Ford hierarchy, one that would exist between the everyman Ford Deluxes and premium Lincoln Zephyrs. To achieve this, Edsel felt the vehicles of this new brand should offer distinctive styling along with innovative features and better capabilities. He named the new division "Mercury," after the Roman mythological god. The 1939 Mercury Eight was the division's first car. It distinguished itself from similar Ford products via a 95-horsepower engine that offered 10 more horses than the Ford V8.

The Eight proved to be a hit, with more than 155,000 sold by the early 1940s. Production stopped during World War II; after the war, the brand was realigned more closely with Lincoln. The company grew from strength to strength in the '50s, establishing itself as a maker of vehicles offering style, performance and cutting-edge technology. A dash of glamour was added to the automaker's image when James Dean appeared onscreen in a Mercury in the film Rebel Without a Cause.

The 1960s saw the introduction of Mercury's Comet and Meteor vehicles. The Comet featured diminutive dimensions and luxury accoutrements, while the Meteor was a midsize family car that followed the trend toward more reasonably sized cars. Racetrack wins boosted awareness of the Comet and helped the model make a big splash in terms of sales. By the end of the decade, the iconic Mercury Cougar, a variation of the Mustang, had been rolled out, its Eliminator version taking its place in the pantheon of legendary early muscle cars.

Hit hard by that decade's oil crisis, consumers during the 1970s were hungry for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. Mercury responded with a new, smaller Comet and the Bobcat, the former a fancier version of the Ford Maverick, the latter a fancier version of the Ford Pinto. The brand's sales grew during a decade that was filled with turbulence and uncertainty for many competing marques. Mercury further expanded its lineup in the '80s, this time including the small, Ford Escort-based Lynx. Mercury enjoyed success with the 1986 launch of the Sable, a fraternal twin to the Ford Taurus whose sleek, aerodynamic lines and futuristic "light bar" front end styling set it apart from the Ford.

Mercury's sales hit an all-time high during the 1990s that would never again be matched. Minivans and SUVs were a big reason for that as Mercury introduced its Villager minivan and Mountaineer SUV. Late that decade it introduced a new Cougar, which differed from its predecessors by being a front-drive sport compact that also holds the distinction of being the last Mercury that wasn't a rebadged Ford.

The years following the new millennium were challenging for the brand, as changing consumer tastes and a lack of differentiation between Mercury and Ford vehicles hurt sales. Pundits often proclaimed the end of Mercury was near, but Ford kept stating it would keep Mercury around despite offering no hope for any unique future vehicles from the brand. Finally in 2010, Ford pulled the plug on Mercury, putting an end to more than 70 years of car-making heritage.

User Reviews:

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  The Death Trap - 2009 Mercury Sable
  By tyler - September 19 - 4:23 am

  Very nice car on the outside, ice blue color i loved the car. Bought it used with 90,000 miles for 8,000. Didnt even make it home and the transmission was just acting funny. Then it started dying out when i would reverse and not engage gear when i would go to take off. And i live in Chicago. Busy traffic all the time, it became a everyday thing. Then a month in the strut blew out, it popped everytime i would turn, it was just comical at that point. No warranty or anything, i was SOL. The dealer took it back fixed the strut, and the transmission. Then the strut blew again, within a week. They fixed it again. And then the transmission started again, and it was worse than before. I was so angry the car only had 99,000 miles. i told them im bringing this death trap back and they let me trade it for a Toyota. Never again will i buy a ford product. Beware of these money pits, if you have one just sell it. I know its a very comfy car. But seriously, you will have issues.

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  I WOULD NEVER BUY ANOTHER MERCURY/ FORD - 2001 Mercury Cougar
  By xrpmnkwx - December 9 - 2:00 am

  I HAVE A 2001 ZN. I LOVED THE CAR WHEN I FIRST GOT IT. I LOVE THE STYLE AND LOOK OF IT. THEN ALL THE PROBLEMS STARTED. MAJOR MOTOR TAP AT 20,000 MILES THEY REPLACED THE MOTOR AFTER ALL THE HASSEL THEY PUT ME THROUGH. 2 WEEKS LATER TRANSMISION WENT. 2 MONTHS LATER LOST 2ND GEAR AND THE TRANS WAS REBUILT. NOW AT 36,000 IT HESITATES THROUGH ALL THE GEARS. I CANT GO OVER 3000 RPM WITHOUT IT BUCKING AND HESITATING. I ACTUALLY CANT STAND THE CAR ANYMORE. PROBLEM AFTER PROBLEM ITS REDICIULOUS!!!!!

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  Was Good, Then A Moneypit - 1998 Mercury Sable
  By londonlad1 - December 6 - 12:06 am

  A horrible aberration. Previous Fords, even oldies have been rock solid. I paid $2300 for this, 1 owner, full history 73k on the clock. Was great for a year, then it started to mug me on a regular basis for repair money. $1200 (steering rack), $300 (water pump) $170 (serpentine belt & tensioner) $600 (2 wheel bearings) $500 (front calipers & pads) $100 (EGR valve and perished vacuum hoses - did that myself) $300 (removal of throttle body & cleaning clogged air intakes, $1200 (aircon evaporator) $1200 (aircon compressor) and $100 (headlamps, did those myself) What was a bargain has cost me a fortune. Next time, Ill buy an old Jag. At least Ill go broke in style.

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  2004 Grand Marque GS Convience Owner - 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By Frank J Marchetti - November 22 - 2:00 am

  This Automobile Has a Very hard ride, you feel every bump in the road, (small or large). It being a large 4 door sedan the ride is a big disapointment. I will not own it very long. Before you buy one give it a good test drive!!!!!!!!!!

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  Just be aware of a problem - 2006 Mercury Montego
  By swiftone - November 16 - 9:23 pm

  I took delivery of my Montego in October 2005. While my wife and I love the car the quality is not there. Since October the car has had struts replaced, ABS repaired other things that dealer cant find, Main issue is that the Main airbag warning light has come on 4 times and Ford is unable to fix. They have replaced the OCM module and yet the problem still exists. Now they will be replacing the sensor under the seat. Wont be keeping the car as we are not sure of the reliability of the vehicle.

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  Dashboard unglues Mercury does NOTHING! - 2000 Mercury Mystique
  By Laura Belfiore - November 5 - 10:00 am

  I am happy with the performance of the vehicle, but am very distressed over the fact that a four year old cars dashboard has become unglued, unsitely and unsafe! I went to Lincoln Mercury and they also told me there was nothing they could do and it would cost me 1350.00 to replace and there were no guarantees. I feel that there should be a recall on this because the guy Linc/Merc told me he has seen a alot of this and that there should eba recall. Anyone that is interested in getting together to write to Ford/Lincoln Mercury about this particular problem, please email me at Awaken59@aol.com

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  Nice looking car, Major Problems - 1997 Mercury Sable
  By bobsfl - October 16 - 10:00 am

  Hey, The car is a nice looking car and very comfortable, but I think I must have purchased a lemon. Starting at 20K miles the A/C went, then at 30K the A/C went again, then at 60K the Transmission went, Then at 75K the A/C went again, 80K the alternator went, 100K the engine went....and the list continues. I wrote ford and they were like tough luck. I have never missed an oil change and have always kept up on the so called preventative maintenance. That didnt seem to prevent anything... Anyways be careful with this car.

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  Gone for a reason - 2008 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By j_rob82 - October 2 - 9:44 am

  I write this tonight as we have just sold our 2008 Grand Marquis LS. Its pillowy ride can lead to car sickness if you drive it on a curvy road. It wallows and bounces up and down like an ocean liner in a bad storm. Speaking of storms, it does horrible in adverse weather and to top it all off, we had a few quality concerns, though the drivetrain has ran flawlessly. Our previous Mercury, a 97 Sable, was the exact opposite experiance. The ride and handling were ballanced well and traction was never a problem. It also seemed to have more leg room which is why we sold the Grand Marquis and are purchasing a 2012 Taurus tomorrow. The quality of the leather alone in the Taurus is 10X that in the G

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  The da!~ gas pedal - 1999 Mercury Villager
  By K Logie - August 30 - 10:26 am

  Purchased 99 Villager w/ 46,000 miles last year, seemed like a great used vehicle (clean, good shape, no accident history). Brought back to dealer b/c the gas pedal was stuck. "Supposedly" it was fixed, when I picked it up, after them having for a week, I had to drive from MA to MO and realized the tachometer stopped working and the gas pedal was still sticking! The vehicle has 79,000 miles on it, pretty much everything on the dash has stopped working, except the speedometer works about 50% of the time. Getting rid of it now before something else goes wrong! Previously owned a 96 Villager, other than gas pedal it was a great van!

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  Never again... - 1997 Mercury Sable
  By jsez - August 22 - 2:00 am

  I have had this car for several years now, and have had nothing but problems with it. I have replaced the O2 sensors, the cam shaft position sensor, and now it needs a new transmission. All of the interior A/C control knobs have broken off. The flip out cup holder is a pain, you have to hold anything in the cup holders to complete a turn unless you want your drink in your lap. NEVER AGAIN will I buy this car or its twin, the Taurus.