1990 MERCURY COUGAR — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 86 complaints · 3 recalls
Most-reported system: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (15 complaints · 17.4%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 8
  • Fires 9
  • Injuries 4
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1989 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution ELECTRICAL SYSTEM appears in 15 of 86 owner complaints (17.4%) in this vehicle snapshot. ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 15 complaints, 17.4% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 15 · 17.4% · 6 fire reports SEAT BELTS: 15 complaints, 17.4% of reports SEAT BELTS 15 · 17.4% · 2 crash reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 14 complaints, 16.3% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 14 · 16.3% · 3 crash reports ENGINE: 9 complaints, 10.5% of reports ENGINE 9 · 10.5% · 1 fire reports SERVICE BRAKES: 7 complaints, 8.1% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 7 · 8.1% · 2 crash reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 5 complaints, 5.8% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 5 · 5.8% FUEL SYSTEM: 4 complaints, 4.7% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 4 · 4.7% · 1 fire reports STEERING: 4 complaints, 4.7% of reports STEERING 4 · 4.7% · 1 crash reports 1 fire reports VISIBILITY: 4 complaints, 4.7% of reports VISIBILITY 4 · 4.7% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 50 complaints, 58.1% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 50 · 58.1% · 6 crash reports 6 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 15 17.4% 0 crashes · 6 fires
SEAT BELTS 15 17.4% 2 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 14 16.3% 3 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 9 10.5% 0 crashes · 1 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 7 8.1% 2 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 5 5.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 4 4.7% 0 crashes · 1 fires
STEERING 4 4.7% 1 crashes · 1 fires
VISIBILITY 4 4.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 50 58.1% 6 crashes · 6 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 1995; the first recall shown was reported in Feb 1990. 1995-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 1995-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1995-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1995-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 1996-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 1996-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 1997-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 1999-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 1999-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2000-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2000-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2018-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Feb 1990 Jul 2018 Recall campaign 90V026000 ◆ Recall campaign 90V026000 Recall campaign 91V076000 ◆ Recall campaign 91V076000 Recall campaign 96V071000 ◆ Recall campaign 96V071000 Investigation PE90073 ● Investigation PE90073 Investigation EA90034 ● Investigation EA90034 Investigation PE93075 ● Investigation PE93075 Investigation EA93033 ● Investigation EA93033 Investigation PE95019 ● Investigation PE95019
  • Campaign 96V071000 was reported 428 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 7
1995-Q2 Owner reports 1
1995-Q3 Owner reports 2
1995-Q4 Owner reports 3
1996-Q1 Owner reports 2
1996-Q3 Owner reports 6
1996-Q4 Owner reports 6
1997-Q1 Owner reports 5
1997-Q2 Owner reports 1
1997-Q3 Owner reports 5
1997-Q4 Owner reports 4
1998-Q1 Owner reports 4
1998-Q3 Owner reports 3
1999-Q1 Owner reports 5
1999-Q2 Owner reports 4
1999-Q3 Owner reports 1
1999-Q4 Owner reports 2
2000-Q1 Owner reports 6
2000-Q2 Owner reports 4
2000-Q3 Owner reports 1
2000-Q4 Owner reports 4
2001-Q1 Owner reports 1
2001-Q2 Owner reports 1
2001-Q3 Owner reports 1
2002-Q2 Owner reports 1
2004-Q3 Owner reports 1
2010-Q2 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 1
2017-Q3 Owner reports 2
2018-Q3 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 90V026000
Recall campaign 1 91V076000
Recall campaign 1 96V071000
Defect investigation 1 PE90073
Defect investigation 1 EA90034
Defect investigation 1 PE93075
Defect investigation 1 EA93033
Defect investigation 1 PE95019
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (3)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 90V026000

    Report date
    Component:
    ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
    Consequence:
    CABLE PROTECTIVE COVERING AND INSULATION COULD WEAR THROUGH AND CAUSE A DIRECT SHORT TO GROUND, RESULTING IN OVERHEATING OF THE CABLE INSULATION AND POSSIBLY A UNDERHOOD FIRE.
    Remedy:
    REPLACE BATTERY TO STARTER CABLE WITH CORRECT LENGTH CABLE.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 91V076000

    Report date
    Component:
    VISIBILITY
    Consequence:
    CHANGES IN THE WIPER PATTERN OR JAMMING OF THE WIPERSWOULD RESULT IN REDUCED DRIVER VISIBILTY IN INCLEMENT WEATHER CONDITIONS.
    Remedy:
    APPLY TORQUE RETENTION MATERIAL TO WIPER MOTOR STUDS AND NUTS AND RETORQUE.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  3. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 96V071000

    Report date
    Component:
    ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
    Consequence:
    THIS CONDITION COULD CAUSE OVERHEATING, SMOKE, AND POSSIBLY FIRE IN THE STEERING COLUMN AREA OF THE VEHICLE.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE IGNITION SWITCH.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 86 complaints · page 1 of 4

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources