In my quest for a fun cheap 30mpg-ish car i came across a 99 Cougar zetec manual. Ive heard some bad things about them in the past, how bad are we talking?
Or should i stop being impatient and wait for a good zx2? Last one was near perfect, right price, not beaten to death, a manual, no sunroof, decent stereo, a/c........and the engine had blowby plus the tranny had some gear whine above 4k (the car lot left me unsupervised i had to see how it handled higher revs)
How cheap? Have you looked at the Focus SVT? Contour SVT? If you like cheap ford stick shift fun.
Also the Mazdaspeed protege
Saturn Ion Redline
Cobalt SS
ect...
Is the Aftermarket for that platform any good? I don't know too much about the cougars.
Price range is under challenge cap on a few ive seen
In reply to Antihero :
They weren’t horrible cars, but they’re comparatively on the heavy side & a rather uninspiring chassis.
Ford completely denies ever having built that car when you walk up to a parts counter.
Ford denies building almost anything built before eight years ago, really.
Streetwiseguy said:Ford completely denies ever having built that car when you walk up to a parts counter.
Ford denies building almost anything built before eight years ago, really.
unfortunately, Ford is very good about dropping and destroying all spare parts as soon as they are legally able.
Pete Gossett said:In reply to Antihero :
They weren’t horrible cars, but they’re comparatively on the heavy side & a rather uninspiring chassis.
Yeah i see that its 400 ish pounds heavier than the zx2 with the same engine..
Whatever happens, if it’s a V6 car, hope the starter doesn’t go out on you, it’s a bitch to remove.
SyntheticBlinkerFluid said:Whatever happens, if it’s a V6 car, hope the starter doesn’t go out on you, it’s a bitch to remove.
its a 4cyl zetec.
How bad are we talking?
It's a Contour underneath, so a decent FWD chassis by 90s standards. Not something I'd seek out these days, though. Honestly, you'd probably be better off with a 2nd gen Probe GT, and I can't imagine they cost any more.
Tom_Spangler said:It's a Contour underneath, so a decent FWD chassis by 90s standards. Not something I'd seek out these days, though. Honestly, you'd probably be better off with a 2nd gen Probe GT, and I can't imagine they cost any more.
You aren't wrong although the ones I've seen at comparable prices are beaten to death
Antihero said:SyntheticBlinkerFluid said:Whatever happens, if it’s a V6 car, hope the starter doesn’t go out on you, it’s a bitch to remove.
its a 4cyl zetec.
How bad are we talking?
Well I imagine it’s easier, but the V6 has the starter on the firewall side. It requires disconnecting some of the suspension on the passenger side and pulling it out through a hole that’s barely larger than the starter itself.
There were 8 generations of Cougar!?
STM317 said:There were 8 generations of Cougar!?
I can only assume that there is some generous application of the word "generations" with regards to the 70s cars. These are the generations I can recall:
In reply to Tom_Spangler :
There were a couple generations in the 70’s, though I don’t know the exact details. There was the shared T-Bird/Cougar platform that was like 20’ long, then it was built off either the Grenada or LTD II platform IIRC. Though there was certainly some commonality between them.
SyntheticBlinkerFluid said:Antihero said:SyntheticBlinkerFluid said:Whatever happens, if it’s a V6 car, hope the starter doesn’t go out on you, it’s a bitch to remove.
its a 4cyl zetec.
How bad are we talking?
Well I imagine it’s easier, but the V6 has the starter on the firewall side. It requires disconnecting some of the suspension on the passenger side and pulling it out through a hole that’s barely larger than the starter itself.
what an idiotic design.....
The Caprice i own had every imaginable thing, exhaust, fuel lines, brake lines etc, running right below the starter.
The other side was obviously totally clear of obstructions, a small child could have climbed thru on that side
Don't the v-6 starve oil in long right hand sweepers?
Cougars are fun for screwing with the people who help load your car at Home Depot. If you're redoing a bathroom, you can buy a new bathtub and fit it in the back of a Cougar to bring it home, though IIRC the hatch won't quite close. The worker almost refused to help me load it because he didn't think there was any way it would fit.
I can't speak specifically about the zetec, but my v6 99 Cougar was a decent car. It wasn't terribly fast, but with upgraded suspension handled fairly well. It was fairly reliable, except for the alternator, which won't be an issue with the zetec. A lot of people found the seats very uncomfortable after an hour, I never had an issue with them.
If the Cougar is the only thing available, it's not a bad car, but a Focus hatchback with a Zetec or Duratec 4 cylinder will be a much better car. If you dont need a hatch, a ZX2 will be more fun, but my Cougar was more comfortable than my friends ZX2.
STM317 said:There were 8 generations of Cougar!?
Came here to say the same thing. I remember that chassis, but didn’t think there was 7 before it. My hazed memory goes “that one that looks like the mustang”, then the one from the 90’s, and then the fwd embarrassment from the early 2000’s.
Trackmouse said:STM317 said:There were 8 generations of Cougar!?
Came here to say the same thing. I remember that chassis, but didn’t think there was 7 before it. My hazed memory goes “that one that looks like the mustang”, then the one from the 90’s, and then the fwd embarrassment from the early 2000’s.
FWIW, i thought the same
My curiosity got the best of me. I was half right - the 3rd gen was on the Torino platform, while the 4th gen was the LTD II. I’d completely forgotten about the 2nd gen cars from 71-73 though.
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