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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  What was I thinking - 2002 Mercury Mountaineer
  By WHAT WAS I THINKING - February 28 - 1:33 pm

  I just bought this truck in May of 2007 with less than 50k on it have 80k+ on it now and I have already had to replace the bearings and now the front differential. My mechanic says it is because the all time awd is not good on the highway vehicles are not made to be in 4 wheel at such high speeds. The transmission is now slipping. And I still owe $9000 on it. Do not buy this truck you will regret it. I bought myself a beater as it is much cheaper to fix than the problems with this truck meanwhile I own a 13,000 dollar paperweight!

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  Mistake - 1998 Mercury Mystique
  By Christy08 - February 8 - 10:00 am

  Purchased car from dealer used as a fleet vehicle with 24K miles. Car ran great up until 03 with barely 90K miles transmission completely failed! Tranny man tells me "I see alot of these things with exactly same milage... transmission is full of weak parts" Had him put in used mystique tranny with 60K on it. Only got 12K more miles off it. Ford has lost me for good. I will stick to Honda/Toyota from now on.

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  New car experience - 2004 Mercury Sable
  By kcsoa22 - February 8 - 10:00 am

  I am writing this review for 1 reason. Torque steer. This vehicle exhibits an extreme amount of torque steer when accelerating hard from a stop light. Even when cruising at 50 mph and giving it gas the car pulls to the right fairly hard. I thought it may have been the alignment but if you let off the gas the car tracks very straight! I find this flaw very annoying and spend most of my day making a left hand turn to keep the car straight!

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  Not so happy - 2007 Mercury Milan
  By hockey mom - December 16 - 5:36 am

  I have had my Milan for a almost 2 years now and cant wait to get rid of it. We travel a lot, and the passenger seat is terribly uncomfortable. The seats are not designed very well and the headrest is not alligned properly. The handling in the snow is the worst I have ever dealt with.

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  Monterey Experience - 2004 Mercury Monterey
  By Renee - November 9 - 2:30 am

  Beautifully designed minivan with great standard features. However with very poor gas mileage, much lower than what the sticker stated. Brakes also tend to be squeaky after van sits for greater than 6 hours. Drivers seat isnt very comfortable. Foot pedals need adjusting.

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  jury still out... - 1998 Mercury Mystique
  By Anne1062 - October 30 - 2:00 am

  I purchased my Mystique new. Since 98 I have had several recalls, problems with the AC leaking on the floor board runing the carpet beneath. Sensors, check engine lights etc.The plastic headlight covers fog over, a local company repaired them for 150. Something like that should be covered by mercury, for safty if nothing else. It soes effect your night vision. The grill had to be replaced due to pitting, they were suppose to put a silver one on and put a smoke color instead, said they no longer carried the silver!! Go figure!! HOWEVER, my favorite is the Transmission falling apart with only 60,000.!! Im sure I am missing something.....

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  Transmission Problem - 2000 Mercury Sable
  By PFA - October 30 - 2:00 am

  Ford has a real issue in a faulty differential. 33 months old and $2400 later. Only highway miles and no hard driving. Think twice and dont buy new or used!!!

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  Love-Hate - 2004 Mercury Mountaineer
  By Love-hate - October 12 - 4:03 pm

  I love the cars ride, features, looks, comfort and value. I have the V8 with poor gas mileage. 14mpg around town and 17mpg on the highway. Had transmission problems (solenoid) replace at 20,900mi under warranty. Rides fine now but searching the web revealed that this may reoccur on 2004 Ford Explorers and Mountaineer and costs approx $1000 to replace if not under warranty. Had I know about the transmission issue I would have bought another SUV.

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  Not happy with transmission - 2004 Mercury Mountaineer
  By dinger22170 - October 4 - 6:06 pm

  bought a 2004 mercury mountaneer in 1- 06 with 26000 miles had a front wheel bearing go out at 35000 miles now at 71000 miles transmission broke i have never towed anything with it the transmission has no dipstick i am very un happy with this vehicals powertrain transmission is very week and this vehical is suppose to have the towing package and is the premiere package with the v-8 and AWD i am not very impressed with mercury will never buy another one

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  our mountaineer - 2004 Mercury Mountaineer
  By deaconruss - September 26 - 10:00 am

  ok it could use better materials. interior looks cheap. dont like fake aluminum trim.