1991 Mercury Cougar problems
NHTSA has received 98 complaints about the 1991 Mercury Cougar, and 21% of them involve engine. After that come electrical system (13%) and brakes (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 98 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 21% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 5 and 8
- Injuries and deaths
- 10 and 0
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
What the data shows
Safety-related details: 5 complaints mention a crash; 8 complaints mention a fire; 10 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 84% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1991 ranks 8th most-complained-about out of 12 model years of the Mercury Cougar with enough data (43 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Made a sudden stop on dry pavement the vehicle skidded 100 feet, hit a curve, the vehicle hydroplaned. Occupant had automatic shoulder belt on, driver was ejected out of the vehicle. The vehicle flipped over, landing on the occupant.
While parked in front of home, owner heard explosion sound; came out to check; vehicle was engulfed with flames inside and outside, underdash/underhood.
Dt: the contact stated car was revving when starting it up. When putting it in drive in went down somewhat. It felt like it was going to take off by itself. This happened on 8-31-05. Back in 1998 the contact was having the same problem. She took it to a dealer, and they replaced a chip that had broken under the hood. She felt this was same problem that she experienced in 1998. The contact was planning to take vehicle to a dealer close to her as soon as possible.
Headlights go out for various intervals and is preceded by flickering and/or blinking which causes loss of visibility which increases my risk of a crash. Also note a burning smell from vents when this happens. My vehicle is a 1991 cougar and I went online to see if there was a recall for this problem. Noted recall for same problem on 1992 and 1993 models not for 1991. Called ford motor company and asked if there was a recall for my model since it has the same issue as 1992 and 1993 cougars.