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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  Car caught fire - 1999 Mercury Mountaineer
  By flaming - June 8 - 10:00 am

  The vehicle was great to drive, very reliable. The problems started occuring about 45,000. The windshield wipers came on sporatically. Later there was a recall for this problem. After a few months of driving the LCD radio light went out as well as the horn. Before I had a chance to get this fix less than a week later the car caught fire while sitting in the parking lot overnight. Determined to be an eletrical fire. Buyer beware, I beleive sometime in the near future there may be another recall on these models and year.

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  I must have found the one lemon! - 2002 Mercury Sable
  By Matt - June 4 - 5:03 pm

  Within 6 mos. the heat started coming on when we turned on the A/C. It still does this. No one can find the problem. Sometimes the heat comes on with the system off. My wife went to start the car in the parking lot at work and the air bags deployed. Glad she wasnt driving down the highway. Im about to buy a Subaru. Maybe the air bags will wait for an accident to work. I will contact Ford about the issue. This car must have been built slowly on Mondays so everyone else got a good one. That would be a good plan to keep the workers with hangovers busy building lemons. Im glad to here no one else has lived our nightmare. We still owe $3,500 on it. Anyone want a Sable for parts?

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  I love it - 2005 Mercury Mariner
  By Sean Jester - May 29 - 12:13 am

  7 months in, I havent had a problem. Looks much nicer than the Escape or Tribute. Mercury has done an excellent job making the interior of their vehicles look very upscale. The engine has problems finding a gear and revs loudly a lot, but overall the ride is smooth and quiet at cruising speeds. Love the space, can easily fit 5 adults and luggage at the same time, however folding rear seats down can be a pain and over time could damage the leather. The suede seat insets are already getting dirty and I dont know how to clean them. CD/Stereo w/sub sounds great -- better than wifes Accord. Gas mileage is poor, but gas tank is small so it wont kill your wallet to fill up.

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  Flawless Thus Far - 2001 Mercury Sable
  By Jamestown Joe - May 25 - 12:13 pm

  2001 Sable LS premier purchased new and driven 56,000 to date without any mechanical issues whatsoever. Still has original brakes and rotors and all other original components. Drives, rides and handles exactly as when purchased. Great value considering all the options included with the Premium model. The 24 valve Durotec engine is smooth and powerful. Recently I have suffered from the new car itch so have been test driving new 2007 vehicles of similar size (domestic and foreign) and cant find sufficient differences to justify trading in the Sable. Perhaps I just " lucked out" but so this has been a great car.

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  A solid choice - 2008 Mercury Milan
  By Patrick - May 20 - 7:30 am

  Car is quiet at speed on the parkway. Handles nicely and never loses its composure. Rides smoothly. Disappointing 21 mpg so far with a lot of highway driving. Hope it improves to around 25 mpg combined. Sacrificed performance getting the 4cyl as the car must be revved high to pass and accelerate from a stop. Interior could be more modern but I am glad they didnt copy the Japanese and the guage cluster is a pleasant change from the super huge bright displays seen on the competition. Dash,armrest, and door sills are thickly padded. Do not buy without reverse sensing system as rear window is very high. Doors and trunk sound solid not tinny.

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  Mixed feelings - 2000 Mercury Sable
  By B.C - May 17 - 10:00 am

  I love the style, power and comfort of my Sable. It is fun to drive. What I have not enjoyed was the multiple trips to the dealer to fix problems. Most were minor electrical problems but 1 took 5 trips to the dealer to resolve the problem. The transmission needed to be replace with only 45,000 miles. The verdict is still out if I would buy another one. They would need to convince me that there quality control had improved.

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  Finally replaced my villager and WOW - 2004 Mercury Monterey
  By Heather - May 14 - 8:10 am

  The AC recently went out on my 93 Villager (I cried) and we made the desicion to start looking for a replacement. We looked at the Ford version of this, but were blown away by all of the extras that Mercury added. We got the Premire and it has everything. We took it to San Diego for a week from Utah and were surpised at how much more room it has than our Villager. Luggage for a family of Six with room to spare! The older kids love the captains chairs and travel through 105+ temps was a breeze! My in laws took theirs through the Mojave the week temps were 120+ and had no problems. If it is anything like our Villager it will be with us for a long time.

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  2003 Mercury Grand Marquis LS Limited - 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By Matt - May 14 - 6:00 am

  Beautiful car, comfortable, powerful, reliable. This is my second Grand Marquis (94). The best used vehicle you can buy period. Good choice for a new vehicle too, but they depreciate fast. Bought it with 30,000 now at 72,000. Only problem: A/C only blows out of defrost.

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  too many problems - 2000 Mercury Cougar
  By Nkb310 - May 10 - 4:06 pm

  the second day i braught it home, it has trouble starting, i got new battery, new starter, and it still wont start properly..its not reliable...i dont want to be stranded, a week after having it i had to get 2 new altenators put in...and it howls wich i dont like...i have had nothing but problems since the say i baught it which is too bad becuase i love everyhting else about it, i love the driving, the stereo, the appearance, and even the annoying cup holder...

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  Disenchanted - 1997 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By Old Coot - May 5 - 7:20 pm

  The car has had numerous problems. I could not have kept it without a warranty. Example, all four window regulators have failed at 300 dollars each to repair. Add the expected cracked intake manifold plus much else.