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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  2002 Mountaineer - A very good car! - 2002 Mercury Mountaineer
  By Joey Thomas - June 11 - 3:06 am

  The car has been an excellent familty SUV. Very reliable and the V6 gets roughly 18 mpg overall. We currently have 65k miles and experienced our fist real problem - fuel pump. The exterier has been excellent and the AWD goes through any kind of snow/standing water.

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  Happy owner - 1999 Mercury Villager
  By chas36 - June 10 - 12:04 am

  Bought the Villager new in 2000 as a leftover 1999 for a good price. You can put 7 people in the van, or their luggage, but not both at the same time. Its a little small. Its short on power too, but thats about all the negatives there are. The ride and comfort are great. Its been very reliable. I replaced the cvu joints at 80,000. The radio lights are intermitting. The throttle sticking is a very common problem. The solution is not that bad. Get a can of throttle body cleaner and spray around the edges of the flapper in the throttle body. Overall Im well pleased.

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  2004 Mercury review - 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By Joseph Moore - June 9 - 12:23 am

  I am happy with my mercury GS,it is fun to drive, handles well, pretty good gas mileage, need a little more leg room if you are riding in the front center seat. but all in all, the car is a good automoble. Ride a little hard on the road. It is a roomie car for five passagener.

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  Survey - 1995 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By jcarmo40 - June 8 - 10:00 am

  I have only had great experiences with this car. It is very reliable and gets many good comments from passerbys.

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  Car caught fire - 1999 Mercury Mountaineer
  By flaming - June 8 - 10:00 am

  The vehicle was great to drive, very reliable. The problems started occuring about 45,000. The windshield wipers came on sporatically. Later there was a recall for this problem. After a few months of driving the LCD radio light went out as well as the horn. Before I had a chance to get this fix less than a week later the car caught fire while sitting in the parking lot overnight. Determined to be an eletrical fire. Buyer beware, I beleive sometime in the near future there may be another recall on these models and year.

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  Best Ride Ever - 2000 Mercury Mountaineer
  By TreeHug - June 6 - 12:26 am

  This is my most favorite vehicle I have ever owned. I enjoy the stylist leather interior, the beautiful dash and the cargo space. I often time have to haul items for work and it makes it so easy to get things in and out. Being a V-6 the good gas milage for this size of vehicle is wonderful. It was great having 4- wheel drive this winter. I live on a - dead-end gravel road that lacks snow removal and my Mountaineer got me through what ever snow. I am having problems with the radio display.

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  I must have found the one lemon! - 2002 Mercury Sable
  By Matt - June 4 - 5:03 pm

  Within 6 mos. the heat started coming on when we turned on the A/C. It still does this. No one can find the problem. Sometimes the heat comes on with the system off. My wife went to start the car in the parking lot at work and the air bags deployed. Glad she wasnt driving down the highway. Im about to buy a Subaru. Maybe the air bags will wait for an accident to work. I will contact Ford about the issue. This car must have been built slowly on Mondays so everyone else got a good one. That would be a good plan to keep the workers with hangovers busy building lemons. Im glad to here no one else has lived our nightmare. We still owe $3,500 on it. Anyone want a Sable for parts?

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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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  Milan V6 Premier - 2006 Mercury Milan
  By Bob - June 2 - 7:13 am

  Great Mid-Size car to buy. Very Pleased with the handling and overall performance.

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  Get a Clue - 2003 Mercury Marauder
  By Bob R Turbo - June 2 - 2:00 am

  Anyone who dislikes this vehicle, probably works for another manufacturer, or is afraid that their precious Impala is going to lose a ton of value (which it will). Why would someone sell this vehicle, after finding out it only comes in black? Low ratings on this board equal that persons PANIC. Gorgeous looks and super comfortable. Whats not to like.