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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  Great Van - 2002 Mercury Villager
  By C-man - May 27 - 12:16 am

  This is more comfortable and easier to manuver than the last 1998 Ford Arrowstar. Always tends to give plenty of warning before anything breaks or gives out so you can take it in and have it fixed before you are stuck. Could use more leg room for driver. A little better acceleration ability would be very nice, however it does seem to hold its own. Very nice manuverability and drives well in any weather. It is hard to do any of the work on your own under the hood as it is all compact and squashed together making it very difficult to do it yourself. It only has two key locks, one on the driver door, and one for the hatch. Would like to see one on front passenger door as well.

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  Never again! - 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By Sozo - May 23 - 5:30 pm

  Our new 93LS would put this 05 to shame. I thought theyd make the car better, not worse. Too much wind noise (mirrors & windshield) and a noisy low speed fan. The engine, transmission and exhaust noise is a total disappointment. The dealer said they now use thinner windows. But besides the overall cheap feel of the car we ended up with steel wheels that are “out of round”. Yep, shaped like an egg with the vibration and road noise to go with them. I spent my life in the tire business and know tires and wheels. The dealer replaced one wheel but it looks like it will take an act of Congress to get the rest taken care of. With 7,000 miles we’re stuck. My wifes Corolla is a much better car.

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  Not bad, but needs improvements - 2007 Mercury Mountaineer
  By Hinrich - May 19 - 4:30 am

  We had our Mountaineer for 10 months and 15,000 miles and the experience has been mixed so far. Its our 5th Mountaineer and we love the overall package (exterior size vs. interior space), the powerful V8 engine and the features (Navigation system, great audio system). But we had issues and some couldnt be fixed yet. The 6-speed transmission shifts hards after accelerating from a standstill and was checked twice. Fit and finish is bad, body panels and doors needed adjustment. Fuel mileage is poor at best, we average 13.5 mpg in mixed driving. Handling is worse than with our 2004 Mountainer (18" Michelin tires, dont work well in snow either). Overall no big improvement to the 2004 model.

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  Transmission Problems - 2002 Mercury Mountaineer
  By Ursula - April 21 - 10:56 am

  I have had many problems with my 2002 Mountaineer. I am so disappointed in my choice to purchase this auto. Soon after we bought it we had to pay almost $2000 to have the rear axles fixed, a couple years later we had to replace the back A/C unit & some other parts, and that was another $2000 +. I just found out yesterday that my transmission is going out! I am really frustrated with Ford.........I wont make this mistake again, its Nissan or Toyota for me!!!!!!!!!!

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  love/hate relationship - dont buy it! - 2005 Mercury Mountaineer
  By Lu - April 3 - 9:03 am

  I love all the bells and whistles on this SUV, but it is not worth the trouble. My first one was traded in under lemon law due to a sulfur smell that could not be fixed. My second one has been in the shop 5x after it keeps stalling/dying. (It currently has 26,000 miles on it.) At 20,000 it needed a new $1200.00 torque converter. It still stalls, they cannot find out why. It is outright dangerous. DO NOT BUY THIS SUV - you will love the features and not want to give it up, but it is NOT worth the grief.

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  Lemon any one? - 2002 Mercury Cougar
  By nichole57 - March 23 - 9:30 am

  This is the worst car ever! Ive had it four months and its a death trap. Ive already replaced the fuel line and pumps,spark plugs, cat. converter, starter, pumps and hoses that were fried by exhaust. I got into a bad accident due to the brakes,power steering and emergency brake failing. This car was a terrible buy. Its very comfy and sleek and OK on gas mileage. When not in the shop it is actually very fun to drive because of its pick up and go.

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  Fix to headlights - 1999 Mercury Villager
  By rlhslw - March 11 - 10:00 am

  My passenger headlight has had the wiring harness replaced by me 3 times now, it is a underrated ground on the plug @18 guage wire. I stapped a 12 guage from 1 inch behind plug w/ a strap and attached it to the fire wall due to its under rating to handle the current. Local dealer says ther are no known issues. Have had all 3 engine senors replaced, rear window switch broken(still) and now struts seem to be gone as it handles badly @ 100k.And radio controls on steering wheel shorted out. And my gas pedal sticks- How do you fix it!! Will buy Honda or Toyota next time!

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  Avoid Milan & Fusion with 5-speed Automatic Transmission - 2008 Mercury Milan
  By cesareoc - February 20 - 5:22 am

  This car looks great, drive decently, but it has a major problem: the Mazda built 5 speed automatic transmissions. This transmission seems to have a shorter life span than most modern transmission. Mine started to go at around 80k and completely shut down at 95k. It is a seal system that cannot be serviced, and it is expensive to rebuild. Even the used ones cost twice as much as any other used transmission. This along should be a good reason to avoid Milan and Fusion models with this part, and perhaps all Milan and Fusion.

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  Not my best choice - 2006 Mercury Mariner
  By Lyn - February 15 - 6:30 am

  3 months have passed since I bought my new Mercury Mariner. Not especially crazy about the vehicle. Somethings may not seem important but it is the little things that count. Do not like the hidden ignition. Very hard to find since there is no light to help find it, especially in a black interior car. I will put glow in the dark nail polish on the rim of the ignition. No lite under the hood. Car is very noisy. Could have used some sound insulation in the body of the car. The biggest problem I have had is the front end pulling to the left. Have taken it in 3 times. Have heard others with the same dangerous problem. Would I buy again? No!

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  Bad Car - 2002 Mercury Cougar
  By Bpkr103 - February 11 - 9:36 pm

  Ive had nothing but problems with this car since I purchased it. Had 40,000 miles when purchased and bought extended warranty ( thank God ) Had new transmission 2 months after I bought it and now the engine is blown. Dealer asked for receipts for oil changes after the car sat for 3 weeks. Poor services, so glad I got that extended warranty now ill see if they honor it !