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 a disappointment... - 1999 Mercury Cougar
  By BADKITTY - May 4 - 10:00 am

  I would discourage anyone from even thinking about purchasing this car. It has been vitually falling apart since I purchased it 18 months ago. On the outside, the trim around the window is coming loose, the headlights are full of condensation, the paint is easily scratched. On the inside, the defrost trim is constantly popping out, the sunroof motor fell apart, the carpet is pulling away, electrical harness falls out, the cup holder is useless. I have lights lit up all over the dash for no reason. Dont throw your money away. Worst car I ever owned by far and Ive owned a bunch.

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  Best Car Ive Ever Owned - 1999 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By bigcarsrule - May 3 - 11:14 pm

  Bought my 99 Marquis with 65K on it. Now has 275K and never left me stranded. It did require a tranny rebuild at 130K ($1800) but it and the engine run perfectly with just regular maintenance and small expected repairs that are dead cheap compared to other cars. Still my daily driver at the 14 year old mark with 23 mpg in half city, half highway miles. Ive gotten 29 mpg with cruise set to 65. Dont let the laughably adolescent "official" review deter you from buying. If you want a comfortable, reliable, and economical car with plenty of room for people, groceries, or other stuff, dont miss your chance to get one. (BTW, with Nokian snow tires, these are the boss in winter).

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  Rolling on incline - 2008 Mercury Sable
  By Disappointed - April 30 - 9:00 pm

  This car rolls on an incline when in gear. Need to use both break and gas to keep car from rolling on incline ( if in drive will roll backwards gain speed quickly, same occurs in revers if on downward incline). Ford has requested I take it to 6 different dealerships for repair. All of the dealership say they cannot duplicate the roll. I live in the mountains and this a huge problem I have nearly rolled into several cars/objects because of the rolling. It seems the dealership have their mind made up that there is not a problem before they test the car. The first time the car was serviced for this issue was at 1K miles.

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  Fits my personality - 2006 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By css140058 - April 30 - 1:09 am

  I truly love this car. Comfort, Size, Safety, Reliability, Decent MPG, Easy to read controls, feels like I am driving my couch down the road.

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  Lost love - 2010 Mercury Milan
  By gmarch - April 29 - 1:28 pm

  I have always been a Ford man and I loved my Milan Premier until recently. In the last three thousand miles (after it hit 50K miles) I had some kind of solenoid, a tail light, a throttle body, and a battery go bad, all common problems with this car. The one that really killed me was the tail light. Instead of replacing a bulb I had to replace the whole light assembly for $400. What kind of engineering is that? I am so turned off with Ford (and all American engineered cars).

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  Best Car - 2004 Mercury Marauder
  By Greg E - April 29 - 10:40 am

  Ive owned alot of cars over the years, and this is one of the best. I wish they were still made. You cant beat the combination of performance and comfort.

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  2002 Mercury Sable - 2002 Mercury Sable
  By Bryon - April 29 - 10:00 am

  This is an awesome car. Its rides so nice and has a lot ot power. Great car if considering new, or even used.

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  Great Value - 2003 Mercury Mountaineer
  By nvbanker - April 29 - 10:00 am

  Having now 26,000 miles on the clock and 2.5 years into ownership, Im impressed at how the MM is holding up. This was one of the first 2002s made and was actually acquired in May of 2001. It has amazing A/C, is the perfect size, the fold flat 3rd row seat and independent rear suspension are class leading, were industry leading at the time. Reliability has been flawless.

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  Realistic review - 1997 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By arlene capeluto - April 28 - 3:03 pm

  Car is comfortable in very good condition. I drove around town did my errands and it never let me down. I had no problems with it. Now I just want a new car. It is a dark blue with a blue interior the upholstery is in good condition, the radio works good and so does the airconditioning. It is easy to look out in all directions. The tires are in good shape and it heats up quickly in the winter. It is comfortable for passengers. I have liked owning this car it has been good to me. The pick up is good and it stops easily. I think it would make a good family car. There is a small oil leak and that is the only negative I believe. I hope who ever gets it, has as good luck with it as I did.

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  A Pleasant Surprise - 2009 Mercury Sable
  By MDNC - April 26 - 6:40 am

  Ill admit, the Mercury Sable wasnt even on my radar screen. Id fallen in love with the Lincoln MKZ and was shopping for a late model used one. In doing my research I ran across quite a number of very low mileage 2009 Mercury Sable Premier program cars. I liked the Lincoln a lot but the Mercury impressed me even more. Its a large car with great passenger and trunk space, it has great road manners, its very comfortable, it gets great safety numbers and the MPG is good for a large car. Its surprisingly quick and in some ways it reminds me of my a much more refined version of my old 1995 SHO Taurus. I am really happy with my purchase.