1999 Mercury Cougar Body and structure Problems

“I have always had my car washed and rust proofed during the winter ever 2 weeks. Last december the paint under the bottom of both the drivers and passenger doors started having the paint bubble up on both rocker panels. It started bubbling up then curling and the pain started coming off. Ive seen many other cougars with this same problem and feel it is due to a defect in the paint that was used or something missing from the paint job that was done”

“I own a 1999 Mercury Cougar. I just bought the car in january of 2003 with 32,000 miles on the car. Two weeks after purchasing the car the alternator died, which is a common problem with this car, and the dealership replaced the alternator. But two or three weeks after that, my power sunroof broke, which is also a very common problem, and because the car was not under warranty anymore it cost me over $1200.00 with labor to fix. I have since learned that there are many Cougar owners that have had the sunroof break because the 1999 and 2000 cougars were made with plastic rails that easily break. …”

“1999 Mercury Cougar leaks water into hatch area directly onto the interior exposed electrical wiring and connections for tail lights and hatch release. Dealership cannot determine source of leak and therefore cannot repair. Mercury will not release blueprints of sheet metal layout to help in determining where water leak might be originating. Neither did Mercury cover diagnosis and will not cover repair even if problem source was identified. Significant water inside the vehicle and directly on exposed electrical components could easily result in a catastrophic fire hazard and loss of life.”

“When making a right hand turn, the contents my cup in the cup holder (usually hot tea) spills into my driver's seat when making a right hand turn. 30-35 mi p/hr is the minimum speed that I've noticed. This distraction causes me to take my eyes off the road to straighten the cup to stop the spillage. At times I've found myself swerving a bit in the turn because of the initial shock of feeling my hot beverage on my thigh.”

“The plastic sunroof transport mechanism has broken for the second time during the life of this car (I am the only owner). The first incident occurred early in my ownership and was covered under warranty. Dealership that fixed it the first time has refused to fix it again citing a 12 month warranty. This problem is a well known design defect in the 1999 and 2000 model year Mercury cougars and was addressed in the 2001 model year design. The cost for replacement parts is unconscionable considering the facts regarding this well known problem. …”