1999 MERCURY COUGAR — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 433 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (62 complaints · 14.3%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 23
  • Fires 3
  • Injuries 27
  • Deaths 1
Compare with 1998 →
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 62 of 433 owner complaints (14.3%) in this vehicle snapshot. ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 62 complaints, 14.3% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 62 · 14.3% · 1 crash reports 2 fire reports SERVICE BRAKES: 44 complaints, 10.2% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 44 · 10.2% · 4 crash reports ENGINE: 41 complaints, 9.5% of reports ENGINE 41 · 9.5% · 1 crash reports 1 fire reports VISIBILITY: 41 complaints, 9.5% of reports VISIBILITY 41 · 9.5% FUEL SYSTEM: 36 complaints, 8.3% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 36 · 8.3% POWER TRAIN: 35 complaints, 8.1% of reports POWER TRAIN 35 · 8.1% · 1 crash reports AIR BAGS: 21 complaints, 4.8% of reports AIR BAGS 21 · 4.8% · 7 crash reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 21 complaints, 4.8% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 21 · 4.8% STRUCTURE: 21 complaints, 4.8% of reports STRUCTURE 21 · 4.8% · 1 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 321 complaints, 74.1% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 321 · 74.1% · 15 crash reports 2 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 62 14.3% 1 crashes · 2 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 44 10.2% 4 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 41 9.5% 1 crashes · 1 fires
VISIBILITY 41 9.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 36 8.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 35 8.1% 1 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 21 4.8% 7 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 21 4.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 21 4.8% 1 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 321 74.1% 15 crashes · 2 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 Jul 1998. 1998-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1999-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 1999-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 1999-Q3: 16 owner reports 16 1999-Q4: 18 owner reports 18 2000-Q1: 19 owner reports 19 2000-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 2000-Q3: 27 owner reports 27 2000-Q4: 17 owner reports 17 2001-Q1: 23 owner reports 23 2001-Q2: 22 owner reports 22 2001-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 2001-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2002-Q1: 21 owner reports 21 2002-Q2: 16 owner reports 16 2002-Q3: 11 owner reports 11 2002-Q4: 10 owner reports 10 2003-Q1: 15 owner reports 15 2003-Q2: 13 owner reports 13 2003-Q3: 14 owner reports 14 2003-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2004-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 2004-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 2004-Q3: 13 owner reports 13 2004-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2005-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2005-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2006-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2006-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 2006-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 2006-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2007-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2007-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2007-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2008-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2008-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2010-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2012-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2013-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2014-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2015-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jul 1998 Oct 2017 Investigation EA01001 ● Investigation EA01001
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1998-Q3 Owner reports 1
1998-Q4 Owner reports 4
1999-Q1 Owner reports 7
1999-Q2 Owner reports 6
1999-Q3 Owner reports 16
1999-Q4 Owner reports 18
2000-Q1 Owner reports 19
2000-Q2 Owner reports 9
2000-Q3 Owner reports 27
2000-Q4 Owner reports 17
2001-Q1 Owner reports 23
2001-Q2 Owner reports 22
2001-Q3 Owner reports 9
2001-Q4 Owner reports 8
2002-Q1 Owner reports 21
2002-Q2 Owner reports 16
2002-Q3 Owner reports 11
2002-Q4 Owner reports 10
2003-Q1 Owner reports 15
2003-Q2 Owner reports 13
2003-Q3 Owner reports 14
2003-Q4 Owner reports 8
2004-Q1 Owner reports 9
2004-Q2 Owner reports 9
2004-Q3 Owner reports 13
2004-Q4 Owner reports 2
2005-Q1 Owner reports 6
2005-Q2 Owner reports 6
2005-Q3 Owner reports 3
2005-Q4 Owner reports 8
2006-Q1 Owner reports 8
2006-Q2 Owner reports 10
2006-Q3 Owner reports 9
2006-Q4 Owner reports 1
2007-Q1 Owner reports 7
2007-Q2 Owner reports 4
2007-Q3 Owner reports 3
2007-Q4 Owner reports 1
2008-Q1 Owner reports 3
2008-Q2 Owner reports 1
2008-Q3 Owner reports 3
2008-Q4 Owner reports 1
2009-Q1 Owner reports 2
2009-Q2 Owner reports 1
2009-Q3 Owner reports 1
2009-Q4 Owner reports 2
2010-Q2 Owner reports 1
2010-Q3 Owner reports 1
2012-Q1 Owner reports 3
2012-Q2 Owner reports 2
2013-Q2 Owner reports 1
2013-Q3 Owner reports 3
2013-Q4 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 2
2014-Q2 Owner reports 1
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
2015-Q2 Owner reports 2
2015-Q4 Owner reports 2
2016-Q2 Owner reports 2
2016-Q3 Owner reports 1
2016-Q4 Owner reports 1
2017-Q1 Owner reports 1
2017-Q4 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 EA01001
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA 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.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 433 complaints · page 1 of 18

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 Aug 21, 2026
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