What kills the Cougar?

Capriman

Capriman

Forum user
Nov 20, 2010
16
1
Yorkshire
Hi Everyone - my first post - and first Cougar, can't say I've even noticed one (Had my head up a 2.0sCapri exhaust for the past 9 years) That is until just before Christmas when I flashed one out of a side road and followed it for a while. I've always liked a tidy rear end and fell for it straight off. Couldn't believe my luck when I started browsing Ebay and saw the prices.
Within 2 weeks I'd bought a 99 2.5 with 55k on the clock, fsh, leather interior, every MOT, and put a smile on my face.
What I want to know is why, when I'd never even seen one, either before or after my purchase (now I'm really looking) are there at least 3 a week being broken and bits up for sale on Ebay? What makes people scrap them at the drop of a hat? - apart from the obvious upside down in a hedge ones.
Please let me know the coming pitfalls.
Oh and yes - the Capri's gone now - couldn't have parted with it had I not got the Cougar. Am I looking forward to blasting off to Cornwall this year! Might be able to stand up when I get there.
 
The engine's a common problem, if the V6 isn't kept topped up with oil, it has a habit of lunching the bottom end. Clutches although not expensive as parts, are quite expensive to change if you go to a garage. Rust is now starting to become an issue, especially the on the rear subframe. All that being said, a well looked after Cougar will last for years, and give you a great deal of enjoyment along the way.

BTW welcome to the forum. :D
 
welcome to the forum, as stribo says rust can be an issue, (beginning to get some on mine), other probs are repair costs, even though its a mondeo chassis, if you bring it to a garage for repairs, they tend to pump the price up...
 
I'm a new owner too, but I propose these answers;

1) There were only 12,000 made for the Euro market, making them as rare as fairy farts. That's why you never see them, UNTIL YOU HAVE ONE YOURSELF at which point you see millions of the things.
2) The sort of person who bought one originally will have held onto it. And when scrappage came along, they destroyed their Cougar in favour of a new car.
3) Like a Mondeo, it's possible that they live forever, meaning some people keep hold of them and change the air freshener occasionally.

I could be totally wrong on this, but as a new owner myself I did wonder why I never saw them*, and am making assumptions.

Hope yours is as lovely as mine and gives you a great run South later this year.

* I saw three on Saturday.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. Most of the underpinnings are standard Mondeo but the wishbones are the same as ST200 ones making them rarer and hence more expensive. You shouldn't have any worries with them at 55k though.
 
Common v6 faults...

Wishbones £300 for set
Engine big ends if the oil isn't kept at max using the correct grade
Rear subframes are now starting to rot
ABS pumps failing due to water ingress £1500 from ford! (this doesn't affect the zetec as they are a different make)
 
I'd say the two main things are wishbones & rear subframe.

They seem to have a good body, I've never seen a spot of rust on any cougar, so you just have to make sure it's not rotting underneath whilst looking pretty on top.

The reason they get scrapped is simple, the cars are cheap to buy and if you get a few repairs in at once then it seems expensive compared to the value.

I bought mine cheap (2.0l zetec) and the price is basically disposable motoring. When it comes to needing repairs for MOT I'll have to make the choice between paying the repairs, or getting what I can for it and buying another car with the money I would have spent on repairs. I paid £750 and it came with £100 worth of tax - so in reality I paid £650. It came with 3 months MOT and passed straight off with a page of advisories! When the next MOT comes round in a few months if it needs wishbones, full set of discs and pads, brake lines, rear subframe, plus some minor bits etc then it may become uneconomical, then again it might just pass!

In reality at the moment my subframe looks quite rusted but seems solid, so I'm going to go under and give it a good paint. I've got to sort the handbrake before the MOT. Rear discs might need changing but may just get away. Wishbones didn't get an advisory last time so fingers crossed - the car has only done 70k.

Anyway enough rambling hopefully you can see my point - and I'm only considering parts - add in labour as well and it just isn't worth repairing if you get a few of the big bits at once. - You can just pick another up!
 
One of the members on here owns half the Cougar population (Scunny ;)) and, Like Cougar said, considering they are so cheap to buy people will just replace them with another Cougar if semi-expensive repairs pop up.
 
That's why this club is such a fantastic place everyone is willing to help out when and where they can.

When I joined I had minimal mechanical skills but now I'm swapping gearboxes, engines, wishbones etc the bits that have been mentioned are fairly easy to fix and for me I think there is not a better looking affordable car on the Market and I like the feeling that I can fix most things on it and for the rest I turn to the forum experts!
 
What kills Cougars? The owners usually.

For some reason some people aren't very good at primary school level economics, and think that spending a couple of hundred quid at a car worth a few hundred quid is folly, so they scrap their car and spend an equal or greater sum on a replacement car, which 6 months later needs a couple of hundred quid spent, so they scrap it and buy another etc etc.

They wonder why they're always skint!

In all seriousness though, other than killing engines due to total neglect, wishbone bushes don't last forever. The bushes are only available attached to a new wishbone (which makes fitting cheaper and easier, and is good because the balljoints don't last forever either). The wishbones are actually really cheap compared to most cars with the sort of looks and performance the Cougar has, but because many owners are coming from Fiesta sort of class of cars they are appalled at the price. You tend to observe that some people carry MOT Advisories year in year out, only replacing what they are legally forced to. Suddenly a more exacting tester fails the car on a catalogue of faults which are the accumulation of 12 years of wear and neglect, so the car gets scrapped.

Sad really, given how rare the car is.
 
The flip side to look at is that OK my car cost £650, and if it needed £650 worth of parts I'd be thinking of scrapping, but then I'd just be going out and buying another that may need the same repairs in a years time, or I could spend the money on mine providing I was fairly sure it would then last atleast another year.

When I was looking for mine I was desperate for a V6 with leather, but failed to find one so made do with the 2.0l Zetec, I'm now glad I did. The cougar is only a daily run about for me and spends most of it's time stuck in traffic. I've also read about lots of V6's dieing but hardly any zetecs, maintenance also seems a little easier on the zetec. Only thing I did do was buy a set of leather seats for it for £75.00!




Jamie beat me to it there, but basically along the same lines, except I'm one of those people who leaves the advisory for as long as possible ;) It depends on what it is though, if I got an advisory on brake discs or tyres or something like that I'd get them sorted pretty soon. But something like wishbones, I'd probably leave providing I couldn't notice any problem with the car.
I did notice that my car has had an advisory for a misting of oil on the rear shock absorber for the last 3 years, but it seems to work perfectly and hasn't got any worse. I guess I may be setting myself up for a big bill as you say if the next tester is a bit strict.
 
Burger28 said:
One of the members on here owns half the Cougar population (Scunny ;)) and, Like Cougar said, considering they are so cheap to buy people will just replace them with another Cougar if semi-expensive repairs pop up.
Click to expand...

So it would seem!

I have never owned more than two at any one time.

Cat1 (c2v6) is now owned by another member - that had to go due to personal circumstances at the time
Cat2 (c2v6) is being broken for spares due to shell bearing/clutch failure (very expensive fix)
Cat3 (c1v6) is running lovely
Cat4x4 (c1 zetec 4 x4) is coming to its new home soon
 
I am a firm believer in "Better the devil you know, than the devil you don't". Hence why I don't get rid of cars willy nilly.

Heck, my new van has thrown up quite a few problems, but I am getting them all sorted for a cheapish price, and then I will know exactly what I am driving.
I could sell the van, at a loss, then buy another one and be in the same boat !.

At least doing it this way I will end up with a nice van with new springs, wishbone bushes, front and rear anti roll bar bushes, track rod ends, shocks, and stabiliser links. I have also had the CV joints stripped, cleaned and regreased and fitted with new boots. That lot should keep the van going (suspension wise) for a fair few years.

I could have ignored the last "advisory" of "Worn suspension componants" and simply replaced the CV boots, but you are only delaying the inevitable, so why not get it all done and out of the way in one hit!!!

Take my mate with his Cougar. IMRC was not working and nor was his ABS pump. Me and Rob were going to fix it for him for the cost of a full tank of fuel, but then his alternator went. He is now scrapping the Cougar ! Makes no sense to me because who knows what state his next car will be in. this brings me back to my saying....Better the devil you know, than the devil you don't.

Each to their own.
 
You make a fair point Paul, and this is one of the reasons I ummed and arred about breaking cat2.

It came down to economics in the end for me.

With everything i would have needed to spend, I have almost paid for the car's replacement, coming from someone i trust (Mark/Nick).

Then I can sell the parts of cat2.

In theory, I could come out with a slight profit!

I simply didn't have the several hundreds of pounds+ to repair cat2....which has had so much time and money spent on it, adding to your argument.
 
There are always times when cost is and should be the deciding factor, I agree 110%
My mate with his cougar.....£150 for the alternator and then a day of cursing and swearing as we fit it........ or save £150 and scrap the Cougar which even when selling off the parts, will still make him a loss of a couple of hundred quid. Makes no sense to me at all. He thinks the car is a money pit and despite me telling him a million times that alternators, ABS pumps and IMRCs are known weak spots on 99% of Cougars......he wont change his mind. In black and white, for a tad over £200 he could have his car back on the road 100% fine. Heck, it only past it's MOT 1st week of Jan (thanks to me covering up the ABS warning light) so it even has 11 months MOT remaining !

For me and Stan the Van it was a no brainer. With some carefull use of Google and ebay where needed, I managed to source everything I needed suspension wise for less than £200 (Springs were most expensive at £120) and that price includes garage labour of £40 to clean the CV joints and replace the bushes and boots. I did all the donkey work to save money, hence me taking the wishbones and CV joints off the van and dropping them off at the garage, as well as purchasing parts direct from companys to reduce any mark ups.

Paul
 
jamie_duff said:
What kills Cougars? The owners usually.

For some reason some people aren't very good at primary school level economics, and think that spending a couple of hundred quid at a car worth a few hundred quid is folly, so they scrap their car and spend an equal or greater sum on a replacement car, which 6 months later needs a couple of hundred quid spent, so they scrap it and buy another etc etc.

They wonder why they're always skint!

In all seriousness though, other than killing engines due to total neglect, wishbone bushes don't last forever. The bushes are only available attached to a new wishbone (which makes fitting cheaper and easier, and is good because the balljoints don't last forever either). The wishbones are actually really cheap compared to most cars with the sort of looks and performance the Cougar has, but because many owners are coming from Fiesta sort of class of cars they are appalled at the price. You tend to observe that some people carry MOT Advisories year in year out, only replacing what they are legally forced to. Suddenly a more exacting tester fails the car on a catalogue of faults which are the accumulation of 12 years of wear and neglect, so the car gets scrapped.

Sad really, given how rare the car is.
Click to expand...

Yes! The NUT behind the wheel (y)

Absolutely agree with this. The cougar is no different to any other vehicle on the roads, if it's not cared for, it WILL die. Daily, weekly routine maintainence is the way to keep things ticking over. Check all fluid levels regularly, replace/fix anything that needs replacing/fixing as soon as possible. If something is bumping/knocking, find out what it is before something drops off :( I would always recomend people learn the basics of car ownership (i'm an old fart but i thought these basics were now a part of the driving test?)
 
bobster1982 said:
Common v6 faults...

Wishbones £300 for set
Click to expand...

Huh. I was told that they were different from the Mondy ones, and the price would seem to confirm that. I used to pay £65 a pair for my Mk1 Ghia X. They were pressed steel things and you had to jack the engine to get the nearside bolt to clear the gearbox... :oops:

ETA: The bushes were allegedly replaceable, but since the balljoint gaiters rotted like a gutted fish, it made no sense to bother. Tip of the hat to jamie_duff there.

bobster1982 said:
Engine big ends if the oil isn't kept at max using the correct grade
Click to expand...

In fairness, that's true of pretty much anything. I want to do an oil drop on mine because although I have the history, I'd rather start from a clean slate.

bobster1982 said:
Rear subframes are now starting to rot
Click to expand...

Again, I guess that's probably true of anything. Get to it in time with a wire brush and some anti-corrosion paint and presumably you could get more out of it. I'm speaking generically, rather than about the Cougar itself since I have zero experience of them and they might be more complicated than that. :p

Anyway, I've been into bangernomics for years and I agree with every one of you that said or implied, "One man's money-pit is another man's car for a couple of years." My car that went bang last Wednesday cost me only £380 because the ZF autobox had blown. I snapped it up because I had a spare box and the ability to replace it. I drove it for a year, (to the day, oddly enough) it died, and now I'm parting it out and scrapping the rest.

The car owes me nothing, and if I'm very lucky I might just have had a year's totally free motoring.

My Cougar likely won't break even, but it's still an 11-year-old car, immaculate, only 70k on the clock and with all depreciation paid. And cap-ex to me was £1600 (including a year's tax and test), followed by a desperate race to get to a petrol station! The lady who owned it before is probably happily wombling around in something brand new that she took a loan out for. o_O

Sorry - long post.

TL;DR version: I agree, and would never buy a new car.
 
Mako said:
Ta! Just six words needed to answer a question I felt needed over 50 to ask. Sorry about that. :rolleyes:
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Lmao no worries mate whatever anyone says they are cougar specific and bushes cannot be replaced so it is a full wishbone change when it needs doing not a hard job tho half hour a side me and bro can do it in and most of that is trying to get the jack under my car lol.

JJ
 
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