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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  My 07 Mercury Montego - 2007 Mercury Montego
  By JOSH - August 26 - 7:33 pm

  About a week ago i purchased a 07 Montego and its awesome. it has great features like HID Headlights and LED Tailights and a Navigation System and Sirius Satellite Radio and dual power heated Command Seating and a powerful DOHC 24V V6 Engine. And the interior has room galore and so does the trunk and the 18" Rims and Tires look awesome and the dark blue paint looks great along with the all black leather interior. oh and i almost forgot the rear seat DVD system is awesome if you go on trips or if you have kids and along with the smooth quiet ride you have got a great luxury sedan that is sure to win your heart and soul and sure to impress your family and friends GREAT job Mercury !!!!

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  I Love my Mariner - 2008 Mercury Mariner
  By Tom - August 25 - 1:23 am

  I traded a Chevy S-10 pickup. I love the features of the Moon and Tune package. The V6 has plenty of power and for two weeks the average gas mileage is 22mpg with mixed driving. The price/value is among the best values on the market. This is my first SUV and my wife likes driving it.

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  average car - 2003 Mercury Sable
  By Eric - August 24 - 6:36 pm

  Bourght in late summer 03, had 7000 miles on it. This is not a bad car but I would not buy it again. Bought with extended warantee. Went back with paint peeling on front air vents. They said car was in a accident Repainted front bumper. They did not tell me this when I bourght car. Would not make good on warantee. Transmission had to be rebuilt at 35,000 miles. Had better cars.

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  Great Car - 2008 Mercury Sable
  By RCS - August 23 - 9:33 am

  Bought new for my wife because of the seat height. Drove to Memphis, TN for vacation and averaged 36.3 mpg for the trip, a total of 1875 miles. Plenty of room and large trunk. Like the styling of the Sable better than the Taurus and interior is more upgraded. Ride is great, almost as smooth as the Crown Vic I had. Recomend car very highly.

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  Big Merc - 2003 Mercury Marauder
  By BigMerc - August 23 - 2:00 am

  Overall a great car to drive, will tinker with it a bit just for some more low end horses, but a satisfying car overall, those who dont like it are chevy guys just crying in their beer (because they are unemployed too)

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  owner - 2006 Mercury Montego
  By joe - August 20 - 4:26 pm

  Very good quality auto, ride is very smooth, power is ok. plenty of torque for hill driving. great auto and fun to drive. gas milage very good for auto of this size. 25 mpg should get better when broken in

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  Great Car - 1997 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By High Gear - August 20 - 10:30 am

  I bought this car new and after 7 yrs passed it on to our son. It has the HPP which makes it fun to drive. Gas mileage is respectable considering the weight of the vehicle. Front seats sagged within a year and the dealer had them rebuilt to my satisfaction( I like a firm seat). Its a real sleeper and fools many with its power. Well here it is 12 yrs later and it still turns heads. Gripes are intake manifold failure ( very common) the happened out of warrenty , ball joints and tie rods, steering arm. You can thank greaseless joints for that. Intake was a known problem and only cop cars got a free warrenty on it shame on ford for this. Id buy another but I like my f150 to much.

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  Reliabile - 2006 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By Rolf Potsch - August 19 - 11:26 pm

  absolutely no problems. Is not a Mercedes Benz like our other 2 cars. It is a good reliabile car for the price

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  Still Rolling Along @ 371,538 Miles - 2006 Mercury Mariner
  By Bill W - August 18 - 9:25 pm

  I am the original owner of my 2006 Mercury Mariner SUV (4 Cylinder / 4WD). I purchased it brand new back in 2006. It has been my daily driver to and from work, I drive 92 miles each way in good weather and bad weather. I wanted to share my feelings, this has got to be the BEST VEHICLE that I ever purchased. I am very proactive on maintaining my vehicle, I have changed the oil every 5k miles along with tire rotations, knock on wood that I have not really had anything major happen since buying it other than replacing the tires, front brakes, back brakes only 1X, the serpentine belt 1x, plugs 2x, the battery 1x, the windshield from a stone crack, the alternator 1x, wiper blades many times and the AC Compressor just died, no biggie ..... Also back in 2010 I got rear ended and I thought the insurance company would have considered it a total loss, they ended up paying more for repairs that the value of the vehicle, crazy ! My paint is smooth as glass and the interior is pretty much mint, I really keep it detailed all the time ! Mercury did a great job on the build on this vehicle, I would purchase another if they continued selling them, but the product line got the axe. The engine runs awesome and the transmission is perfect ! Yes, I had the fluid drained from the tranny 2x, no pressure flush, just a drain and fill, same with radiator, no pressure flush, just drain and fill, fluids always look clean. Thank You, Mercury !

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  Good workhorse car - 1999 Mercury Sable
  By robroyal - August 18 - 2:00 am

  This is my fourth Sable/Taurus wagon, and Im shopping for a new one now. The earlier models were plagued with transmission problems, but at 98k, the transmission on the 99 is doing just fine. I only do required maintenance. The only problem I had over the last four years was an intermittant electrical problem; turned out to be a loose battery post. Anyway, nothing but praise for this old workhorse. I load the back with forklifts, I carry my bikes on top, its my restaurant, and dormitory.