1999 MERCURY COUGAR Complaints

ON 4 DIFFERENT OCCASIONS VEHICLE WILL SHUT OFF SUDDENLY ANDWITHOUT WARNING AS THOUGH SOMEONE SHUT KEY OFF, AND THEN EVERYTHING LOCKS UP/ LOSS OF POWER OCCURS, AND CANNOT EVEN SHIFT OUT OF GEAR. DEALER HAS REPLACED STARTER, BUT IT DID NOT FIX DEFECT.*AK

THE TIRES ON THIS CAR WERE NOT SEVERLY WORN OR CUPPED IN ANY WAY. I TOOK MY CAR HOME AND ROUGHLY A WEEK LATER A BULDGE ABOUT THE SIZE OF A HALF DOLLAR APPEARED ON THE RIGHT FRONT TIRE, LUCKILY MY FREIND CAUGHT IT BEFORE I DID AS WE WERE ABOUT TO GO ON A TRIP AND IT COULD HAVE BEEN BAD. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEN TO FIRESTONE DEALER, BOTH SAID I HAD HIT A POT HOLE, SPEAKING IT WAS MY NEW CAR, I KNOW I HADNT. THE DEALERSHIP AND FIRESTONE DEALER SAID TO JUST REPLACE THIS TIRE. SO I RELUCTANTLY BOUGHT A NEW SET OF GTA02 FOR MY CAR (LIKE AN IDIOT) AND THEN I GO HOME AND GET ON THE INTERNET. I FOUND THAT THE SIZE UP FROM MINE HAVE BEEN RECALLED FOR SOMETHING QUITE SIMILAR. NOT ONLY THAT BUT I HAVE FOUND MANY NEW FOCUS, CONTOUR, AND COUGAR OWNERS WHO HAVE FACED THE SAME PROBLEM. I JUST WANT TO BE SURE SINCE I WILL NOW START TO TRAVEL BACK AND FOURTH FIVE HOURS ONE WAY THAT I WILL BE SAFE. THANKS. *AK (TIRESIZE: 215/50R/16)

WHILE ON INTERSTATE 10 A VIBRATION STARTED, STOPPED AND LOOKED SEVERAL TIMES AND DIDN'T FIND ANYTHING, WHEN I EXITED THE INTERSTATE IT APPEARED THAT I HAD A FLAT TIRE, WHEN I PULLED INTO A GAS STATION THE TIRE APPEARED TO BE INFLATED, UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION I FOUND A LARGE SECTION OF THE STEEL BELT/TREAD WAS MISSING AND THERE WAS BITS OF METAL SHOWING THROUGH SIDE OF TIRE. AT THIS TIME I COULD HEAR AIR BEGINNING TO ESCAPE FROM THE TIRE. I HAD TO HAVE THE TIRE REPLACED. I HAVE TRIED TO DEAL WITH FIRESTONE AND HAVE GOTTEN NO WHERE.*AK (TIRESIZE: 205/60R15)

TIRE BLEWOUT SIDEWALL AFTER LESS THAN 10 MINUTES OF DRIVING. VEHICLE RECENTLY SERVICED AT A LINCOLN MERCURY DEALERSHIP TIRES WERE INSPECTED AND DETERMINED TO BE IN GOOD CONDITION. *AK (TIRESIZE: 215/50/16)

THERE WAS A RECALL FOR WIRING HARNESS. WIRING HARNESS SHORTED OUT WHOLE BRAKE LIGHT SYSTEM. DEALER ONLY REPLACED WIRING HARNESS. CONSUMER FEELS DEALER SHOULD HAVE REPLACED BRAKE LIGHT HARNESS, AND BRAKE MODULE. PLEASE PROVIDE ANY FURTHER INFORMATION. *AK

AIR CONDITIONER TURNS OFF AND ON WITHOUT MANUALLY OPERATING THE SYSTEM, ONCE AIR CONDITIONER TURNS BACK ON THE AIR IS NOT COOL.AIR BLOWS LIKE VENT IS CLOSED. ALSO, ENGINE WILL CUT OFF WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING. DEALER UNABLE TO DUPLICATE PROBLEMS. *AK

WHILE STANDING OUTSIDE OF VEHICLE WITH WINDOWS ROLLED DOWN WHEN DOOR CLOSED AND AUTOMATICALLY LOCKED. CONSUMER NOTED THIS WAS NOT A FEATURE OF VEHICLE. KEY FAILED TO UNLOCK THE DOOR, CONSUMER REACHED INSIDE VEHICLE TO MANUALLY UNLOCK DOOR. DEALER STATED IF A NEW ALARM SYSTEM WAS PUT IN TO REPLACE THE OLD ONE, PROBLEM MIGHT BE CORRECTED. *AK AIR CONDITIONER TURNS ON AND OFF. RADIO WILL NOT COME ON AT TIMES. MOTOR WILL DIE OUT. ALARM WENT OFF, DOOR LOCK BY THEMSELVES. KEY WILL NOT CRANK VEHICLE AT TIMES. VEHICLE JUMPED AND JERKED ALMOST HITTING CONSUMERS SISTER WHO WAS STANDING IN FRONT OF THE VEHICLE. *SLC

VEHICLE EXPERIENCED SEVERE LEAKAGE OF TRANSMISSION FLUID THROUGH VENT AND UP THROUGH DIPSTICK, EJECTING ENOUGH FLUID WITH ENOUGH FORCE TO RENDER VEHICLE INOPERABLE WITHIN LESS THAN 5 MINUTES. THIS MAJOR LEAK OCCURRED UPON PARKING OF VEHICLE, BUT MAY ALSO HAVE BEEN TAKING PLACE WHILE DRIVING. A FORD-ISSUED TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN REPORTEDLY RECOGNIZES THE VENT DESIGN AND SIDE COVER DESIGN ON THIS MODEL AS DEFICIENT/FLAWED AND IN NEED OF REPLACEMENT WITH NEWLY DESIGNED PARTS (RELATED SERVICE BULLETIN NUMBERS MAY BE: 99249, 12119, 985136 - I HAVE NOT SEEN THE ACTUAL TSB). SAFETY CONCERNS ARE OBVIOUS; SLIPPING/FALSE SHIFTING OF TRANSAXLE WHILE DRIVING, SLIPPING OR FAILING TO FULLY ENGAGE WHEN DEPARTING A PARKED POSITION, DANGER FROM LEAKED FLUID ITSELF, ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION, ETC. FORD MOTOR COMPANY REFUSED TO REPAIR THIS DEFECT AT ITS OWN EXPENSE. MINE IS A HIGHER-THAN-NORMAL MILEAGE VEHICLE FOR THIS YEAR, AND MAY BE ONLY THE FIRST OF MANY THAT WILL EXPERIENCE THESE DANGERS AS THEY REACH THIS LEVEL. OUT-OF-POCKET REPAIRS FOR THIS DEFECT ARE APPROXIMATELY $350-500 FOR THE CONSUMER; LESS THAN $25 IN PARTS AND 4-5 HOURS LABOR FOR THE MANUFACTURER. PLEASE CONTACT ME WITH ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS. *AK

FIRST TIME MY WHEEL BEARINGS WERE REPLACED 08/30/00 UNDER WARRANTY.I THINK THAT WHEEL BEARINGS SHOULDN'T HAVE TO BE REPLACED WITH SUCH LOW MILEGE. *AK

CONSUMER RECEIVED RECALL NOTICE (01V-032) ON THE BRAKE LAMP SWITCH. CONSUMER TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER FOR THE SERVICE, HOWEVER THE DEALER DIDN'T HAVE THE PART. *YH