Hi All, went to look at a cougar this evening. 100k, manual, 1 years MOT and a very good and comprehensive service history. Some bubbling of paint at left rear arch and some surface rust in the arches. Took it for a test drive, getting into third was slightly awkward but engine management light stayed on. Owner says it come on sometimes but goes off. He is looking 795 for it. Should I go for it or walkaway?
Opinions please
- Thread starter clonmel
- Start date
Hello and welcome to the site,
Personally i feel its a little too much money for that mileage with problems, especially the EML being on, if it were me i'd walk away, but as a failry new Cougar owner i'm probably not that well versed in Cougerism !!
But to give you an idea i paid £750 for my 1999 2.0 zetec with 39,000-ish end of last year, no rust but it has required a few things doing to get it up to scratch, and probably will still need a few more things doing, but i'm a picky bugger,
There are a few cars about for less money with less faults, IMHO
Good luck
Personally i feel its a little too much money for that mileage with problems, especially the EML being on, if it were me i'd walk away, but as a failry new Cougar owner i'm probably not that well versed in Cougerism !!
But to give you an idea i paid £750 for my 1999 2.0 zetec with 39,000-ish end of last year, no rust but it has required a few things doing to get it up to scratch, and probably will still need a few more things doing, but i'm a picky bugger,
There are a few cars about for less money with less faults, IMHO
Good luck
I'd walk away. There's plenty out there to chose from and some for a couple of hundred less that are in better nick that what you've described. Check as many sites as you can like eBay, autotrader, preloved, gum tree, loot, piston heads, motors.co.uk etc and see what's out there.
Walk away,once the rust sets in its on its way and the engine could be a big problem- plenty out there for less money with minor problems
Walk away from that one. Bubbles under the paint are rust holes in disguise and over the arches can be especially bad as there are no replacement repair panels, so you are looking at either chopping out and welding/filling/painting etc etc, or a straight forward old fashioned bodge job. Then there's the mechanical/engine fault? Treat it like a hot potato.
Walk away mate, if it's hard to get into gear then it could be a clutch or a gearbox on the way out.. both expensive jobs!! There are tons of decent Cougars out there for cheaper prices than that to be honest
As has been said, there are a lot of Cougars for sale now in that price range so you can be picky and get the best one you can, have a look around the forum and get yourself an idea as to what are common faults and issues with the cougar. Subscription is £18 which will get you access to all the technical information you will need, quite a low price for enabling you to get a thorough understanding of what to look out for when making a purchase that if you get wrong could easily cost you hundreds to put right.
I would advise against really low milage cars if you want it as a daily driver as they are likely to have dried out oil seals, best advice I can give you is get a Cougar with as good a body as possible, if your going for a 2.0L check when the cambelt was last changed, if you go for the V6 milage is not really a conscideration as the engines are pretty bullit proof (if you remember to keep them filled with oil ) roughly around 80,000 miles and the front wishbones will need replacing which are roughly £130 each plus fitting so can easily run up a £400 bill. Get yourself under the back of any cougar you look at buying and look at the condition of the rear subframe, there are a few of these starting to come up as advisories in MOT's
I would advise against really low milage cars if you want it as a daily driver as they are likely to have dried out oil seals, best advice I can give you is get a Cougar with as good a body as possible, if your going for a 2.0L check when the cambelt was last changed, if you go for the V6 milage is not really a conscideration as the engines are pretty bullit proof (if you remember to keep them filled with oil
) roughly around 80,000 miles and the front wishbones will need replacing which are roughly £130 each plus fitting so can easily run up a £400 bill. Get yourself under the back of any cougar you look at buying and look at the condition of the rear subframe, there are a few of these starting to come up as advisories in MOT's
I would personally walk away it sounds like its past it's sell by date. To get it back into any reasonable condition ya looking at nearly triple the cost
I am picking up a V registration V6 in Ebony tomorrow with 180K miles on it and a full service history. Got it for 100 quid, so, if it is not any use to me I can get my money back from the scrappy and some.
If its any help, mine has also done 180,000 miles and has never put me wrong in 2 years of ownership. Keep on top of them and they will keep going as long as you need it too 100 quid sounds like a bargain for any cougar by the way! Thats below scrap value.
100 quid sounds like a bargain for any cougar by the way! Thats below scrap value.
S
smithtrevor
Yep..i agree with the rest of the members, i paid £200 for a 70,000 mile MOT failure (rotted rear sub frame). Body wise i can't fault it no rust in the usual places and since removing the rotted sub frame and a chance to really look at the back end i am really surprised how this 13yrd old cat has survived salt, snow, mud etc....by the time i'm finished replacing all the bits "i don't like the look off" and including the cost of the car with a new MOT i reckon £1200 but i have a cat ready for 2023 !!!!
TS
TS
Couldn't make it to pick up the car the other day as my mates trailer electrics were wiped out. Fixed the electrics for him yesterday and went to pick up the car today only to find out he had sold it to someone else. I knew he wanted more money for it.