About to purchase an '01 Cougar. Help!

[Nick]

So, my trusty 96 Taurus finally died, after a whoppin' 150k miles. She was a good car :( .

By the way, I'm Nick from Michigan. Been lurking for a few days now :) .

Anyway, it's time to move on. I've found some really good deals on Cougars in my area. One of the most interesting ones is a 2001 V6 ATX, moonroof, spoiler; real nice looking car, with 53,000 miles for about 5,000 dollars. I haven't gone to check it out yet, but alot of mechanics I have talked to have told me to stay away from Cougars, due to numerous problems, most of which are very, very, very difficult to fix. I did all the work on my Taurus (from brakes to radiator to water pump) and it was all relatively easy. However, many tell me working on a Cougar is a pain because of the cramped engine bay. That, plus the known problems I'm continuously hearing about are shhying me away form this nifty little car :( :( .

Like I've said, I've always done my own work on my cars (aside from the Taurus trans), and if I have to pay out the rear to have this car fixed, then I just can't do it. I only have a year left in my mechanical engineering degree, and need this car to last me a few years while I start paying off loans.

Help me out, NECO!

[Goldie]

there really are not that may issues with the cougars. probably most common is the alt., expecially if you have extra audio equipment.
most everyone here would say it's a great car.
good luck! (and welcome :wave:)

[scrupul0us]

most everyone here would say it's a great car

yea i agree... if u take care of it and invest in preventative maintenace youll be fine... but most common issues:

1) Alternator
2) Fuel Pump on the returnless fuel models
3) DPFE
4) Sun/moon roof tracks
5) Dimming headlights

-they suck for our car.... the initial vendor that built ours blew... alternator issues are slowly dropping off due to a new vendor that supplies our odd-ball alts

-fuel pumps were widely recalled and replaced for free

-the dpfe is a wierd little do-dad that tells the egr how much recirc to pass back to the system... it fries and your out ~50$

-early tracks were plastic and broke.. there are replacement metal ones

-power issue related to the alternator... big three will typically fix it... but it could be a shot plug on the alt itself...

thats about it... just do reg maint., tune ups, and oil changes and you'll be fine... if you plan on going hardcore with your audio think about a high output alternator and possible rewiring the engine bay (search for "the big three")... def do a carfax and have a trustworthy mechanic look at it!

good luck and WELCOME

[JacobS]

if i were you id look into an MTX....because IMO they are much better.....but thats just me

[scrupul0us]

i tend to agree again... many folk who have a ATX kick themselves foir not gettin a MTX... go for it!

[carajo]

The 01's do not have moonroof problems :)

Ask if the fuel pump was recalled and replaced.

The engine bay is like a sardine can - I can't even fit my hand in to change the serpentine belt.

Timing chain, not belt :thumbsup:

Alternators...I've only had to change mine once...I had it done at a dealer because it went on the highway and they were open... It involves putting the car on the lift, taking the wheel off, standing in the wheel well, and fumbling around on the other side of the wheel well, not seeing what you're doing. In '02, it cost me $450 to have it replaced. But, unlike other people, I've only had to replace it once - at around 50K miles, I'm now at 104 and there are no "I'm about to die!" signs coming from it.

You're looking at an ATX :( which means you don't have to worry about replacing the clutch, like I do, which I found out is an estimated $1000 job (parts 400 - clutch and slave cylinder, 600 for labor) because it involves removing the axle and hoisting the engine.

Other than that...I have a 99 and I've had relatively no problems. I was crawling around underneath it a couple of weeks ago, and there is surprisingly little rust for spending 7 winters in the northeast (and 1 on a lot here...it's a 10/98 build date and I bought in 6/99). My first set of brakes lasted 70K miles. Tires are expensive - for 16's, oem specs, I've paid around $500-600 for the whole job - but that's all relative (it's not a Subaru Justy where you can go to Walmart and get 4 tires for $60 all together). The oem spec tires don't last long - 20-30K miles on average.

There are bad cars out there of every single make and model, you never know. There are people here who've had a rotten time with their Cougar. It's either a Love it or Hate it kind of thing. If you like the car, and it seems in good shape mechanically, go for it.

Definitely go post in MC Neco (Motor Cities) - we have some great members there who do a lot of work on their cars together. You might feel better about the car after seeing pictures of all the work they did at their meet a week or 2 ago.

[Moraki]

Welcome aboard :wave:

I do not believe the cougars have any more problems than the average car. Yes the engine bay is tight, but alot of modern cars are also. Replacing Alts are easy... done 4 of my own so far... last one went in to the car in under 1hour 15 mins.

All in all i really love the cougar, nice styling inside and out, nimble and quick enough to be fun, but not fast enough to get me into too much trouble ;)

[LadyX]

I agree! Come check us out in Motor Cities. Depending on where you located, maybe a mechanically inclined cougar owner could go with you to check out the car, prior to buying it.

Oh, and Welcome to Neco!

[MaverickFlyer]

Welcome to the board!