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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  Very Pleased! - 2010 Mercury Milan
  By jege - August 3 - 1:00 pm

  Got my Sterling Gray I-4 Premier 012210 after trading my 2008 Mariner Premier. With approx. 1500 miles, all is great. I had a 2005 Mazda6 (the base for this car) before my Mariner and Im enjoying the same feeling the Mazda had. Great ride/handling with excellent brakes and very quiet. Fuel economy in town is about 24mpg so far. Fit & finish is comparable to imports. Leather is luxury car quality.

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  Comfort and value - 2009 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By Ben - July 26 - 8:13 pm

  When I bought the Grand Marquis I knew what I was getting: an old fashioned, large, comfortable cruiser. I like the simplicity and traditional design. Edmunds review is too harsh. Not everyone wants a $50k BMW or Mercedes. Try it out for yourself and see what I mean.

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  Put some work into it and its way better - 2002 Mercury Cougar
  By BS - July 25 - 2:20 am

  I bought this car with stock (V6) features a bit under a year ago with 30,000 miles on it and it was ok i guess, performance wise. It could beat a V6 mustang anyway (yea woo-hoo). Since then Ive spent maybe $1500 on performance parts off ebay and installing them myself and its made a world of difference. The Dual Exhaust with a couple of flowmasters and the cold air intake (about $500 for both) really add a lot of power, and a decent suspension that went for about $450 made this thing handle turns easily at 45+ mph (although it doesnt balance well). A few other small mods and this cars performance can keep up with its fast looks. Keeps up with a friends souped-up RSX easily!

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  Great Work Car! - 2008 Mercury Mariner
  By T-Man - July 20 - 8:10 pm

  I traded in a Lincoln Mark LT for my Mercury Mariner to get better gas mileage to and from work. For a small SUV, I am impressed with the room and amenities provided. Stepping down to the Mercury, I still opted for leather, moon roof, and six disk CD.

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  Our Sable LS Wagon - 2003 Mercury Sable
  By sultanik - July 19 - 10:00 am

  We like our wagon for convenience, style, and practicality. The features and options are very good and we like them all. For the money we feel we are getting a lot. The only complaint is that we feel the ride is too stiff and not as smooth as we would like on rough road.

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  Reliabe - 2008 Mercury Sable
  By aarttek - July 18 - 5:03 am

  The car drives well, it is comfortable and handles easily. I use it to transport seniors from place to place and they have complemented on the Sables comfortable ride.

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  Impressive for a Domestic - 2008 Mercury Milan
  By Andy - July 14 - 7:10 pm

  Having driven a Nissan for the past 4 years and have BMW and VW, I was very apprehensive to go domestic. I needed AWD for weather and this is the best value car with AWD in mid-size. Altima, camry do not offer AWD. Car is built very well, I have no rattles, interior design is classy and clean. Full mileage - difficult to say on 1000 miles driven but AVG. of 23 for mixed driving is not great (our 535i gets 26 avg) - but with a AWD drivetrain it is much better than SUVs Highway is over 30 mpg.

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  Help on gas mileage - 2009 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By robert crawford - July 8 - 11:26 pm

  it handles well and the overall performance is great except for the gas mileage which is between 14-15 miles per gallon. I average driving about equal city and distant and have also tried high test gas to see if this would improve my mileage but to no avail. please give me so ideas to increase the gas mileage as i have a 1996 ford truck that does this well. thank you

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  I wish Ida had a V8 - 2004 Mercury Mountaineer
  By jefferyg - July 4 - 11:46 pm

  The Mountaineer is a great vehicle for taking long leisurely trips. We usually get about 21 mpg on the highway and have gotten as good as 23. However, it is impractical as a day in/day out grocery getter. We get only 14.5 mpg around town with the V6. I believe the V8 would have done just as well. Other than that it is a great SUV. Its quiet, comfortable, and my wife loves it.

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  Not the Best, but Good - 2006 Mercury Mariner
  By NZ - July 4 - 6:46 pm

  Our Mercury Mariner is a good SUV. Weve had no problems with it in our 3 months of having it. Its fun to drive and is comfortable for its price tag. It has okay fuel economy (theres other small SUVs with better fuel economy). We get about 20 miles per gallon overall. I am very happy with the interior room it has. Ive been in a Jeep Liberty and I love the fact that I can stretch out more in the Mariner. The leather seats are firm, but can be irritating at times. The Mariner is a nice affordable small SUV. If your in the market for a small SUV, look at this one!