Ford Cougar

JonathanA

Anyone got any experiences with a Ford Cougar 2.5V6? Positive or negative? Am toying with the idea of buying one to run for a while but just wondered if anyone knew much about them...

In particular, any pitfalls, gremlins that I need to be aware of? Many thanks in advance for contributions.

Jonathan

Hammyman

Rust. Apart from that, not much else.

Zero_Gravitas

Hi Jonathon,

My wife has had her X-plate Cougar V6 for 7 years now. It's the longest she's ever kept a car and she loves it.

Contrary to the last post, there's no rust on it. Consumption is about 25mpg around town and 35mpg on a long run, and I'm paying just over £200 pa for fully comp insurance. It's comfortable (although the rear bucket seats can be a bit cramped for taller people), has got a huge boot, handles well and makes a really nice V6 noise .

Two small concerns - I think the road tax on post-2000 models is significantly higher (I'm sure someone else can confirm); and the tyres are an unusual size (215/50 16 IIRC) that not many places stock and they can be pricey if you go for Pirellis etc - although I got Kumho Ecstas from Blackcircles for about £70 each fitted, and they are fine for the way we drive.

Apart from that - enjoy!

Best Regards,

Zero Gravitas

Exemplar

I had the boggo 2.0 one and I would, without even thinking, buy another! I personally think they are stunning to look at and a great drive. Way ahead of their time style wise and they have standard Ford parts other than those listed above.

ukjoel

Drive it before you buy.

The car was a total flop when it came out with half the UK allocation being self registered by manufacturer or retailers. The employee discount on them was absolutely massive.

The main recollection I have of the car is the seating and drive is far more American feeling than most european cars.

It feels like your sitting in a sofa rather than a car and while the engine is gutsy (and drinks accordingly) the handling is pretty soft. Its a big car but still only has 3 doors. Never really found a market over here.

It came out at a similar time to the Puma and although they are different size cars they were chalk and cheese to drive.

They are cheap to buy and its worth paying a couple of hundred extra quid to get a decent example otherwise they can be moneypits.
Parts readily available but check body panels closely as availability of replacements could be scarce.

blue_haddock

ukjoel wrote: »

Parts readily available but check body panels closely as availability of replacements could be scarce.

they do share a lot of parts with the Mondeo but also a lot of parts are specific - make sure the front wishbones are in good condition as they are ford only parts at a cost of approx £150 each.

JonathanA

Thanks for all the responses. Plenty of food for thought there. Don't want to spend a huge amount, but similarly don't want to buy a complete dog of a car! They certainly seem to be value for money & talking to a couple of Ford mechanics the only issues they highlighted was brake calipers and exhausts (catalytic converters).

Did think about a Puma, but being based on the Fiesta, they are much smaller & although this is going to be a weekend car, i do want to be able to get the kids in if we need to.

All I need to do is find a good example - unless anything else presents itself in the meantime! Did think about a Vauxhall Calibra, but not too sure about that...

Thanks again for the input.