Owner-reported complaints naming the brake system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Reports naming service brakes, the antilock braking system, brake hoses, master cylinders or the parking brake. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 1994 Mercury Cougar submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 30 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
The 25 most recent of 30, in the owner's own words
3RD BRAKE LIGHT/HIGH MOUNT STOP LAMP IN THE REAR WINDOW. THE EXCESSIVE HEAT FROM THE BULBS THAT ARE USED CAUSED THE PLASTIC HOUSING THAT THE BULBS ARE IN TO MELT AROUND THE BULB ALONG WITH THE ACTUAL HARNESS THAT THE BULB IS PLUGGED INTO. SINCE I AM NOT THE FIRST OWNER OF MY CAR, I'M SURE THE INCIDENT DATE IS NOT TODAY BUT HAS BEEN AN ONGOING PROBLEM. *JB
VEHICLE BEGAN SPONTANEOUS ACCELERATION WHILE IDLE AND STOPPED ON 10 OCCASIONS SINCE 5/1/2002. IT TOOK ALL OF MY STRENGTH TO DEPRESS THE BRAKE TO KEEP THE CAR FROM JOLTING FORWARD AT A HIGH SPEED. WHILE PULLING INTO MY GARAGE TODAY, TRAVELLING AT LESS THAT 1 MPH, THE CAR ACCELEARATED ON ITS OWN AND I HAD TO SLAM ON THE BRAKE TO PREVENT FROM CRASHING INTO A HEATING OIL TANK. VEHICLE HAS BEGUN TO RANDOMLY SHUDDER WHEN APPLYING BRAKES AT VARIOUS SPEEDS FROM 10 TO 65 MPH. THIS IS NOT A CONSISTENT PROBLEM BUT VERY DANGEROUS WHEN IT OCCURRED ON HIGHWAY YESTERDAY. POWER WINDOW ON DRIVER SIDE NOW RANDOMLY SHUDDERS WHEN LOWERING. THIS IS NOT A CONSISTENT PROBLEM AND IS NEW. THE PASSENGER POWER WINDOW IS INOPERABLE AND TOO EXPENSIVE FOR ME TO HAVE FIXED. THIS APPEARS TO BE A VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH OTHER OWNERS OF THIS VEHICLE. THE "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT HAS BEEN ON SINCE 1997 AND THIS IS ALSO A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THIS CAR, FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND. I WAS TOLD THAT IT WOULD COST ME $150 TO FIX AND THAT IT IS MERELY A SENSOR DEFECT AND NOT A AFETY ISSUE. HOWEVER, IF THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM, FORD SHOULD OVER THE COST FOR REPAIR, NOT THE CONSUMER.
NO SUMMARY
CONSUMER WAS COMIMG OUT OF A PARKING LOT AND APPLIED BRAKES, PEDAL WENT ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR. SHE PULLED THE EMERGENCY BRAKES, AND THERE WAS NO BRAKIN GPOWER. SHE TURNED VEHICLE OFF, AND CALLED DEALERSHIP. *AK
THE CARS ENGINE HAS BEEN REPLACED(SO THEY SAID) ON JULY 1997 AND NOW THE ENGINE IS GONE AGAIN. THE SPEED CONTROL DOES NOT WORK. WE HAVE HAD TO REPLACE THE BRAKES 4 TIMES ALREADY. THE DOOR ON THE DRIVERS SIDE THE WINDOW SOMETIMES DOES NOT WORK THE WINDOWS ARE POWER AND WILL NOT GO UP OR DOWN.ALSO THE TRANSMISSION HAS BEEN REPLACED ALSO THE CAR HAS TIRE VIBRATION THANK YOU THIS CAR IS NOW BROKE DOWN AGAIN AND WE STILL ARE MAKING PAYMENTS I CALLED THE DEALER ON 4-5-2000 AND THEY SAID THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO THANK YOU AGAIN FOR LOOKING AT OUR CAR PROBLEMS. *AK
I HAVE CONTINUELY HAD THE BRAKES REPLACED DUE TO WARPED ROTORS AND GLAZED BRAKE PADS.
BRAKES PULSATE STRONGLY, EVEN AFTER REPLACEMENT. INSTRUMENT PANEL HOOD DOES NOT PREVENT SUN FROM REFLECTING TO DRIVER. *AK
BRAKE SYSTEM FAULTY CAUSING THE STEERING WHEEL TO VIBRATE AND SHAKE ONCE APPLYING THE BRAKE AT SPEEDS OVER 30 MPH, IF AN EMERGENCY STOP HAD TO BE MADE THE BRAKES WOULD FAIL RESULTING IN CONSUMER HAVING TO STEER CLEAR OF THE HAZARD, VIRTUALLY EVERY PART OF THE BRAKE SYSTEM HAS BEEN REPLACED. *ET
TRANSMISSION FAILURE. ALSO FRONT BRAKE ROTORS/PADS AND CALIPERS FAILED. IN ADDITION, DEALER REPLACED REAR DRUMS/SHOES AND REAR CYLINDERS.
TRANSMISSION BEGAN TO FAIL IN THE FALL OF 1996. IT WOULD SHUDDER SHIFTING INTO OVERDRIVE AND ONCE IN OVERDRIVE IT SHIFTED OUT OF GEAR ON IT'S OWN. JANUARY 1997 THE DEALERSHIP SAID THE PROBLEM WAS THE TORQUE CONVERTOR AND THAT THEY WOULD REPLACE AS IT WAS STILL UNDER WARRANTY. 6 MONTHS LATER THE TRANSMISSION STARTED HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM AGAIN. SEPT 1997 I TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP AGAIN. THEY COULD NOT FIND ANY PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION. NOW JAN 1999, THE CAR IS UNSAFE TO DRIVE AND IS CONVENIENTLY PAST THE 12 MONTH/12000 MILE WARRANTY PERIOD ON THE REPLACEMENT PART. ON THE INTERSTATE LAST WEEK, MY WIFE WAS GOING 70 MPH AND THE CAR SHIFTED INTO NEUTRAL AND WOULD NOT GO BACK INTO OVERDRIVE. A SEMI ALMOST RAN INTO THE REAREND OF THE CAR. BOTH THE DEALERSHIP AND FORD REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE PROBLEM, EVEN THOUGH I BROUGHT THE CAR IN FOR SERVICE SEPT 1997 WHILE IT WAS STILL UNDER WARRANTY. IN 1997 THE DEALERSHIP TOLD ME FORD WAS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM WITH THE 1994 TRANSMISSIONS. LOOKING AT THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS ON YOUR WEBSITE, I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH THIS PROBLEM. NOW I'M STUCK WITH AN $1800 REPAIR BILL.
NO ONLY AM I DISOPPOINTED WITH THE BRAKES WHICH NEEDED TO BE REPAIRED 3 TIMES ALL TIMES ON THE SAME SIDE(DRIVERS SIDE ONLY) BUT I AM VERY DISPLEASED WITH THE PAINT JOB THAT MY CAR HAS. I WOULD HATE TO SELL MY CAR BUT NOW BECAUSE THE PAINT IS CHIPPING AND PEELING ON THE HOOD AND BUMPER TO THE POINT THAT WHEN I AM DRIVING PAINT CHIPS ARE FLYING UP AND HITTING THE WINDSHIELD. JUST RECENTLY AS WHAT I THOUGHT OF AS A CRUEL JOKE MERCURY CALLED ME AND THOUGHT THAT I WOULD LIKE TO TRADE MY 94 COUGAR(WITH BAD PAINT JOB IN FOR A NEW 99 COUGAR AND GUARENTEED THAT THE PAINT WOULD NOT PEEL. I THOUGHT WHAT A LAUGH!
ABS BRAKE PROBLEMS; WHEN APPLYING THE BRAKES ON ANY TYPE OF ROAD SURFACE, NO INCLEMENT WEATHER, THE VEHICLE SHIMMIES BADLY. THE VEHICLE HAS HAD A NUMBER OF REPAIRS, AND THE PROBLEM WITH THE BRAKES CONTINUES. PLEASE DESCRIBE DETAILS. *AK
I HAVE SEARCHED THE LIST OF COMPLAINTS AND FIND THAT THERE ARE MANY COMPLAINTS RELATED TO BOTH THE BRAKE AND TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS WHICH I HAVE EXPERIENCED. PLEASE REMIT THIS COMPLAINT TO THE MANUFACTURER AND ADVISE WHETHER OR NOT YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON WHETHER OR NOT THE MANUFACTURER IS DOING ANYTHING TO RESOLVE THESE CUTOMER COMPLAINTS. POWER WINDOWS REPLACE FOUR TIMES. BRAKES HAD TO BE REPLACED WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF OWNERSHIP. TRANSMISSION SLIPPING FROM DAY ONE BUT THE DEALER TOLD ME REPEATEDLY THER WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT. TRANSMISSION COMPLETELY REBUILT.
ANTI LOCK BRAKES FAILED TO STOP VEHICLE CAUSING ACCIDENT.
ROTORS CONTINUALLY FAIL CAUSING VIBRATION.
BRAKING PROBLEMS.
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION TENDS TO SLIP AND THEN ENGAGE INTO THE GEAR ROUGHLY WHEN SHIFTING. THIS IS MOST NOTICEABLE DURING ACCELERATION, SUCH AS IN PASSING SITUATIONS. ALSO AIR BYPASS VALVE MALFUNCTIONED. ABS BRAKES FAILED TO OPERATE PROPERLY DURING MODERATE BRAKING. IN ADDITION, MACHINED WARPED ROTORS AND REPLACED PADS. *AK
POOR BRAKE PERFORMANCE. DURING VEHICLE OPERATION, WITHOUT HAVING APPLIED THE ABS BRAKES, THE VEHICLE SLOWS DOWN ON ITS OWN.*AK
THE FRONT ROTOR WORE OUT. PLEASE DESCRIBE . *AK
PURCHASED CAR NEW THE FRONT ROTOR WAS CUT THREE TIMES. PLEASE DESCRIBE . *AK
EXCESSIVE WEAR ON FRONT DISC ROTORS AND PADS WHICH HAVE BEEN REPLACED WITH LESS THAN 30K MILES. *AK
WHEN YOU APPLY THE BRAKES THE STEERING WHEEL MOVES. *AK
VEHICLE WOULD NOT STOP COMPLETELY DUE TO MASTER CYLINDER FAILURE, CAUSING ACCIDENT. *DSH
THE ABS SYSTEM IS FAILING AND THE VEHICLE IS NOT STOPPING PROPERLY. PLEASE DESCRIBE. TT
THE DISC BRAKES ON THE FRONT TEND TO VIBRATE AND CAUSE LOSS OF CONTROL OF THE STEERING WHEEL. PLEASE DESCRIBE. TT
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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