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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  Problems, problems - 2000 Mercury Cougar
  By Midge - September 27 - 10:00 am

  The car has been in the shop for numerous rattles, one air conditioner squeak. And, it has broken down three times for the brake safety sensor failure, thus leaving me stranded. The car will not go into gear when the sensor and brake lights fail. The service department doesnt know what is wrong. The car has been in the shop, maybe, 19 times for various repairs.

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  BAD TRANSMISSION - 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By BERNIE FOSTER - September 27 - 10:00 am

  I TRADED MY PERFECT 2001 MARQUIS IN ON A 2003 MARQUIS. IN THREE MONTHS THE CAR HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP 3 TIMES FOR A TOTAL OF 35 DAYS FOR TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS. IT IS IN THERE NOW & WAITING FOR A NEW TRANSMISSION TO ARIVE FROM THE FACTORY. I HAVE GOTTEN ONLY LIP SERVICE & VERY POOR SERVICE OTHERWISE.

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  no wonder they were discontinued - 1999 Mercury Cougar
  By cougarmuscle - August 29 - 10:00 am

  My cougars history...headlights and covers were replaced within 6 months of purchase...transmission went up at 19,000 miles(transmission slipped into neutral on highway, was nearly run over by big rig), sunfroof was replaced within 3 years, electrical and computer problems too numerous to list...it is sitting in a repair shop as I write this critique for same problem...and there were countless recalls issued..in general fun to drive when its operating but Ill never by another Ford or Mercury product......

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  good to be gone! - 1999 Mercury Cougar
  By kittykila - August 15 - 10:00 am

  Fun to drive but too expensive to maintain. I have nearly 100K on mine and have put in 4 alternators and one converter. Radio will short out at times. Airbag and check engine lights come on in cold or wet weather. Bought the extended warranty up to 75,000 and quite glad I did! Still lost an addl alternator at 90,000. Will sell it to a teenager soon.

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  05 Merc Montego in shop - 2005 Mercury Montego
  By montego crap - August 1 - 11:00 pm

  Currently my 05 mercury is in the shop with a bad strut mount. I have gingerly gone over bumps so to not have this problem. Im in my early 40s and have driven cars up to 225,000 miles, and never needed to buy a strut mount. The gas mileage is also so, so, Ive been getting about 19 city, and possibly 26 highway. Boy my next car is going to be a Toyota.

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  mystique, or trique - 1998 Mercury Mystique
  By masss29 - July 12 - 10:00 am

  Man i thought this car was gonna be the bomb when i bought it, but it turned up to be a disaster. I paid 4000 dlls for it and i had to waste about 2200 more in the a.c., transmission, and several electric shorts that happened in the first 3 months that i had it. I gotta give it to the car that it was pretty fun to drive, because you could go about 100 and it wouldnt even tremble. But after about 3 months of 100 mph drives, the poor car ended up in the shop with damage of about 1500 dlls. if you want good advice, take it from me: never, if you can help it, buy a Mercury Mistique. it will cost you!!!!!!!!!!

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  Junk! - 1999 Mercury Cougar
  By lawree - July 9 - 2:00 am

  I just traded my Cougar in & couldnt be happier! Fun fact...when I went to get my trade-in value the car chose not to start! I only had 40K miles on it and cant even tell you how many times I had to walk to work b/c the car was at the dealers. They, of course, never found anything wrong with it. Apparently, it was my fault that the check engine light and the airbag light would occasionally come on - that it would occasionally just choose not to start - that neither the hood/truck releases worked. And so on... Once I got the car back it would be fine for 2-3 months and then start again.

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  I wouldnt buy another - 1998 Mercury Mystique
  By beg23 - July 5 - 1:16 pm

  I bought this car in 2006 with 30,000 miles on it for about $4000. It is a nice looking car and it drives nice, but i have had problems with it. Although it drives well, it likes to lock up and cut off on me; this is due to the full pump problems (just like the ones in its sister car the ford contour) that cant be pin-pointed. I have also had to replace the brakes shortly after purchasing it. Recently, it has been eating gas, ive put about 1000 in repairs in it in the last year, and my transmission just died on me a few days ago! Im not happy with this car and i have only had it 2 years. I wouldnt reccommend it useless you know how to fix cars.

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  Just Say NO - 2000 Mercury Cougar
  By No Thanks - June 2 - 7:53 pm

  Cougars are really beautiful cars. BUT dont let looks fool you! Mechanically, this car is awful. The interior & exterior lights would flicker horribly. At night, I could barely see. & eventually, it got to the point where I wouldnt even drive the car at night. I would feel the car begin to sputter & shake whenever I drove uphill. I tried to help these problems but after 4 alternators, a complete rewiring, new struts & a new rear axle: I traded it in! It was so disheartening to think that I had such a hot car but I didnt feel safe in it. I hated driving it so much that in the 4 years I had the car, I only put 20,000 miles on it. I would not recommend a Cougar to anyone.

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  Peace of Mercury/ Ford junk - 2002 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By Toyota - May 30 - 4:20 am

  This piece of junk handles horribly and has horrible gas miles. Why cant Ford start making some cars not cruises. I also own a Toyota Avalon which is ten times better. The Mercury takes 9.7 seconds to get from o-60 with a v8 engine with 224 HP and the Avalon takes 8.5 seconds with a v6 engine with 210 HP. If you want a big boat go Linclon, Toyota, Lexus, or Acura. This car has been in the shop ever 40,000 miles. It has mainly been in the shop for electric problems and loud radding. Go Toyota Boo Ford!