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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  good family ride - 1995 Mercury Villager
  By RB - December 10 - 2:00 am

  bought used in 1997 with 27000 miles on it.. now has 107000 miles & still going strong..has been very reliable with only minimum maintenance & few repairs required... worst problem would be that rear AC unit went out & had to be replaced a couple summers ago..

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  good family ride - 1995 Mercury Villager
  By rb - December 10 - 2:00 am

  bought used in 1997 with 27000 miles on it.. now has 107000 miles & still going strong..has been very reliable with only minimum maintenance & few repairs required... worst problem would be that rear AC unit went out & had to be replaced a couple summers ago..

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  Junk-Do Not Purchase - 2001 Mercury Sable
  By molesnevich - December 10 - 2:00 am

  Rotors warp every 8,000 miles. Poor braking distance. Transmission shift bad, sounds good but goes no where & I feel it will not make to my 60,000 mile lease end like my Tauras, Constantly out of alignment. Eats Tires every 12,000 miles even if rotated. Poor handling car. Rattles underneath.

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  Great Car Terrible Dealership - 2003 Mercury Mountaineer
  By Bobby Baddeal - December 10 - 2:00 am

  The overall look and performance is top notch. Premier package has everything that Lexus, BMW, Mercedes, and Acura have at a fraction of the price. Add rear seat entertainment system and you have a vehicle the whole family will enjoy.

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  The Marauder is a Machine! - 2004 Mercury Marauder
  By Digital Man - December 8 - 9:06 pm

  Very cool, very powerful, very fun, very big. It is an extremely comfortable car to drive, and gives you the power on the road when you need it. It turns heads!

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  transmission problems - 2006 Mercury Mariner
  By 9102 - December 8 - 3:55 pm

  Car was great for the first 3 years then at 78,000 miles and all at once the front and rear differential went out, rear main oil seal was leaking, exhaust manifold leaking and an a/c line was leaking. $ 4800.00 later it seems to be all fixed. I really hope there are no more issues with this vehicle. I have never been a big fan of Ford products to begin with. Better off staying with the foreign brand vehicles, they seem to know how to make them last.

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  What an improvement ! GES - 2004 Mercury Mountaineer
  By GES - December 7 - 10:00 am

  Just traded in my 1998 Mountaneer V8 AWD, and the improvement in ride and on the road feel is immense. I even notice a slight increase in the interior width of the vehicle.The Body style is a knockout. I do believe that I notice a very slight improvement in Gas mileage over the 1998. It could just be my imagination because I like this one so much better.

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  The Best I Ever Had - 2000 Mercury Mountaineer
  By Trevor - December 7 - 6:50 am

  I have owned my Mountaineer for two years and NOT ONCE have I had a problem with it, other than the MACH radio screen going out, and that was quite minor. Mine is the Monterey edition (equivalent to Eddie Bauer edition of the Explorer). It has AMAZING acceleration, and gets decent gas mileage on the hwy, but not so much in the city. I plan to drive mine until the wheels fall off. Ive had a Nissan coupe and a Chevy Blazer, and this is BY FAR the best of the best. Contact me if you want to know anything about it.

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  Bortz Review - 2002 Mercury Mountaineer
  By Bortz - December 5 - 2:00 am

  I was pleasantly surprised as to the ride, comfort and feel! I especially like all the special features that come standard with the Mountaineer! Most of all I am very surprised how quick this SUV is... Very impressed with its accerleration. My disappointments thus far are with the poor gas mileage and with all the rattles the interier has. The workmanship is not as good as I had hoped. Overall, I am very happy with this SUV.

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  mer marq - 1999 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By wcs - December 5 - 2:00 am

  good quality love the large room capacity. Gas milage is much better than expected and is better than many smaller cars.