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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  Penny Crowson,Owner - 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By Penny Crowson - June 17 - 10:00 am

  The Grand Marquis is the best car in its class because of value,design,performance,interior and exsterior gualty for your money!You get more value for your money!This auto looks nad drives just as godd as a Lincoln Towncar for less money. I will puchase another one next year. Penny Crowson

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  Very Impressed so far - 2007 Mercury Milan
  By Warren - June 16 - 2:33 pm

  After my last car which I couldnt wait to buy, and then couldnt wait to get rid of, I wanted a car that I didnt care much about. I never gave Milan any consideration, but saw this one and liked it. It has only been a month but it grows on me each time I drive it. The quality of it is as good or better than the Passat it replaced. It rides very smoothly and handles nicely. The steering is not overly assisted. The leather interior is beautiful and very comfortable. The exterior design is very good looking as well. It definitely looks more expensive. Im not sure why you dont see more of these on the road, but it is nice to stand out in a crowd of Hondas, Toyotas and Nissans.

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  A real disapointment - 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By Log01 - June 14 - 11:40 am

  I have one good thing to say about the car it does get pretty good gas mileage, I get 19 in town and 28 on the Highway. Other than that its a real disapointment. Road noise is excessive. The interior is cheap, the passengers seat rattles, it sounds line the window arent all rolled up. We wont even go into the ash tray/cup holder pain in the shorts. The passengers in the back see cant see around the head rests, not confortable on long trips, poor real leg room. If you open the trunk lid in the rain the water off the trunk lid drips into the truck. The car is lacks power for a v8. I dont like the car and would like to trade it, but with only 8 thousand miles on it it has lost $20K value

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  First Class Luxury! - 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By Alex - June 14 - 2:00 am

  I was looking for an inexpensive car and ended up with pure luxury. It has good power and a great ride. The finish both inside and outside is superb with quality workmanship. Cant believe they sell them so cheap!!! I had a choice between a GS with 15000 miles or an LS with the whole works including dual exhaust with 27000 miles....I chose the LS.

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  No complaints - 2007 Mercury Milan
  By scavio - June 10 - 6:36 pm

  I always said that if Ford came up with a solid AWD drive car Id buy it... and they did. Got a Silver one with all the options and couldnt be happier. Exterior is top notch and I liked the styling over the standard Fusion. Interior is solid (the stitching in the leather seating was impressive) and has plenty of room for my family of four. The engine could use a little more punch, but it has more than enough power for a mid size sedan. Handles extremely well.

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  a neat little suv. - 2005 Mercury Mariner
  By chas wright - June 9 - 2:53 pm

  performance comfort and handling all excellent for a suv. cannot fault anything except fuel economy and size of fuel tank. I drove houston to miami shortly after purchase and it felt like I had to stop at almost every gas station. w/o a/c on the trip average was less than 21.5 mpg. this is considerably less than advertised.Otherwise a driver friendly super little vehicle with excellent ride.

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  Fun Driver, Sync is great, reliability? - 2009 Mercury Mariner
  By B. doyle - June 8 - 11:50 pm

  Fun vehicle to drive, great gas mileage gets 27.9 mpg highway on trips. 4 cylinder runs rough at idle due apparently to trying to maximize fuel mileage, the hood even shakes. Also had computer controlling the transmission break causing the car to downshift 2 gears on the highway, scary. Brought it to the dealer and was fixed the same day, had to reset the computer.(Dealer says its a common problem with 09s) The car now has 6,000 miles on it and I truly enjoy it but be careful. At high speeds the vehicle feels like it is going to tip over.

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  Good & Bad - 2001 Mercury Cougar
  By jm3115 - June 8 - 10:00 am

  Bought as my first NEW car right out of college - within a year lost the master cylinder while driving - NO BRAKES!! Lots of problems with 6 CD changer/radio too - replaced twice. Depending on terrain, mileage ranges from 15-26 mpg. Overall - satisfied 1st car. Wouldnt do it again if I had to do over.

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  Bad Tranny - 2002 Mercury Mountaineer
  By Tom - June 7 - 6:16 pm

  Nice SUV, the V8 is a must. Lots of power for towing. I had a 1997 with the 5.0 and the 4.6L is a much better engine. However the transmission is aweful. Clunks, and has troulbe shifitng. Had it in several time and the problem is still there. Looking to sell.

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  Great reliability - 2000 Mercury Villager
  By Carol - June 5 - 3:23 am

  Have had this vehicle since new and have had no problems...Ive changed the timing belt every 110000 miles as suggested in my care booklet. Have had only 1 set of brake pads and 4 sets of tires. I routinely get 21 in the city and close to 26-27 highway. Really sorry they dont have any more!!