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:

• 

  Its great - 2008 Mercury Mariner
  By Ann - September 8 - 12:40 pm

  I had a 2001 Tribute that I got rid of in 2006 when I purchased a V6 RAV4. I was never really happy with the RAV4, it just didnt have the things on my Tribute that I liked so I went back and found the Mariner and love it. Its like coming home. I will admit it does not have the pick up that the RAVhad even though I have a V6 currently. But besides that it got lots of room and comfortable seats. We just drove 8 hours in one day for a vacation and had no problems with our backs.

• 

  Love this car! - 2008 Mercury Milan
  By Pam - September 7 - 2:16 pm

  Ive had my Milan for a week now, and love it. On my first tank of gas I am getting 23.9 MPG city. Have not had a chance for Hwy yet. I test drove several vehicles, 08 Fusion, 09 Sonata, 09 Corolla, 08 Malibu, 08 Optima, some were better buys I will admit, however, I love the way this car drives and is very comfortable for me. I really wanted a sunroof and heated seats, however, there were none available at this time in the area so I gave them up because I really wanted this car for the comfort. I purchased the White Suede Metalllic with Camel Leather Interior. I would definitely recommned this car.

• 

  I Love This Car - 2006 Mercury Montego
  By kathy - September 7 - 10:43 am

  Great car for family of 5. Lots of room, lots of comfort. Plenty of power. Lots of fun to drive. I love the high set front seats. Theyre great for short people. The leather interior is wonderful. With all the luxury features this car has, it is really a great value. And it looks great.

• 

  Did I get a lemon? - 1995 Mercury Villager
  By Indygal59 - September 7 - 2:00 am

  Problems from the day I bought it with emissions: Rotten egg smell, burning smells, etc. Had it into dealer many times-no fix has worked. Have had fuel pump replaced twice (per dealer recommendation). Front AND rear windshield washer pumps have also been replaced. Too many expensive problems for a low-mileage car with faithful maintainence by owner.

• 

  Love it! - 2009 Mercury Milan
  By Skeeter - September 2 - 11:33 am

  I have had my 09 Milan for 3 months. We have taken one long trip in it. The rest of the time has been spent driving within 50 miles of home. Right now I am getting 30.4 mpg with a cruising range of over 500 miles. With employee pricing and rebates, I was able to buy this awesome vehicle for less than $20,000. We live in the country so Sirrus radio is wonderful since we cant always pick up a good radio station.

• 

  Green beauty - 2006 Mercury Milan
  By lucky46 - August 30 - 5:40 am

  Fun to drive, fantastic handling. Bought the 4 cylinder for fuel economy. It has adequate zip. I got 34 mpg on a long highway trip through PA. Quieter than my 2003 Sable, handles like a smaller car, very maneuverable and yet with a very comfortable ride and more than adequate interior space. I am 6 foot 4 and I love the telescoping steering wheel.

• 

  Pretty Good - 1999 Mercury Sable
  By BK - August 29 - 11:50 am

  I bought mine 6 years ago with 28,716, it now has 195,000. The tranny can be hard to shift when parked on a slope, but it has held up. The cars engine is solid and has been no problem what so ever. The wipers go off every so often. I have had problems for the past two years with the fan not blowing heat when on high, maybe crud in the lines again. It can really be hard to get anything in that trunk opening and folding mirrors would be nice also. The car has had its share of problems with stuff that has failed but never all at once and only a few hundred bucks, nothing that would break the bank. Junkyards, good auto repair shops, parts stores and plus any maintenance I do keep it running.

• 

  Fun to drive - 2001 Mercury Cougar
  By philly79 - August 28 - 10:00 am

  This car is loads of fun to drive. The pickup is lacking slightly but you can definitely get it cruising. The handling is excellent and the hatchback is key. I just hope that some of the horror stories Ive read regarding reliability arent true.

• 

  03 Grand Marquis Ultimate Edition - 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By hjones4841 - August 27 - 9:03 pm

  This is my fifth Grand Marquis and wont be my last. Reliability is excellent, with one exception - at just over 36,000 miles the right rear wheel bearing started whining. I found out that this was a problem for 03 Crown Vics and Grand Marquis built prior to Jan 03, which mine was. Both rear axle bearings and the spindles were replaced. The car was out of warranty, but since I was a regular customer of the dealer, I got a pro- rated partial warranty payment. Fuel economy tops out at about 25 highway at cruising speed of 75 or so. Best ever fuel economy was on my 99 Grand Marquis on a cool morining, driving 70 mph - 29 MPG! Seats are comfortable,even with my wifes and my back trouble.

• 

  Excellent Vehicle, great value - 2000 Mercury Villager
  By MercuryFan - August 27 - 10:53 am

  This was our first Mercury purchase and its been an excellent vehicle. We purchased it new and it has 136K miles on it now. Excluding maintenance items, its never in the shop and has never let us down. Make sure you use Motorcraft oil. Ill probably drive it another 100K or so but Ill definitely buy another Mercury/Ford product. I have an F-150 with 160K miles on it and no problems for it either. Ford makes a great product. My father has one with 400K miles on it. Buy American....Buy a Ford!