NHTSA lists 211 complaints for the 2000 Mercury Cougar, 18 of them mention a crash and 10 mention a fire. 11 complaints mention an injury, with 17 injuries and 0 deaths reported.
Data build 2026-10-08.
NHTSA lists this vehicle as MERCURY COUGAR.
At a glance
Complaints
211
With crash
18
With fire
10
With injury (complaints)
11
Injuries
17
Deaths
0
Recalls
3
Do not drive recalls
0
Park outside recalls
0
Recall potential units (maximum)
436,200
Investigations
0
Open investigations
0
Manufacturer communications
109
Complaints per 100k sold unavailable. No sales source is available for this record.
Where the complaints are
Top systems
System
Complaints
Share of this vehicle's complaints
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
63
29.9%
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
38
18.0%
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
26
12.3%
AIR BAGS
17
8.1%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
16
7.6%
VISIBILITY
16
7.6%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
12
5.7%
EQUIPMENT
10
4.7%
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
10
4.7%
POWER TRAIN
9
4.3%
Top subsystems
System
Subsystem
Complaints
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
DELIVERY
23
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
ALTERNATOR/GENERATOR/REGULATOR
20
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
12V/24V/48V BATTERY
13
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
ENGINE
12
VISIBILITY
SUN/MOON ROOF ASSEMBLY
12
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
IGNITION
8
AIR BAGS
FRONTAL
7
POWER TRAIN
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
7
STRUCTURE
BODY
7
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
WIRING
6
One complaint can name several systems, so shares can add to more than 100 percent.
Model-generated complaint tags: This model year has not been tagged.
Defect: ON CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES, CONTAMINATION OF THE FILTER IN THE FUEL DELIVERY MODULE (FDM) CAN REDUCE, AND EVENTUALLY BLOCK, THE FLOW OF FUEL TO THE ENGINE. (excerpt)
Consequence: THIS MAY CAUSE ENGINE HESITATION, LOSS OF POWER, SURGING, AND OTHER SIMILAR SYMPTOMS. OVER TIME, THE FILTER MAY BECOME SUFFICIENTLY BLOCKED TO CAUSE THE ENGINE TO STALL, WHICH COULD RESULT IN A CRASH. (excerpt)
Remedy: THIS ACTION IS DEEMED A SAFETY IMPROVEMENT CAMPAIGN AND IS NOT BEING CONDUCTED UNDER THE SAFETY ACT. ALL OWNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED OF THE PROBLEM, AND DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE FDM WITH A NEW DESIGN AT NO CHARGE IF THE OWNER REPORTS THAT THE VEHICLE EXHIBITS ANY OF THE IDENTIFIED SYMPTOMS. THE FREE REPLACEMENT WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR A PERIOD OF 10 YEARS FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL PURCHASE OF THE VEHICLE (excerpt)
Defect: VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH 2.5L V6 ENGINES. THE BATTERY CABLE WAS MISROUTED AND ITS ATTACHMENT TO THE ALTERNATOR CABLE WAS UNDER-TORQUED. IF MISROUTED, THE CABLE COULD CONTACT THE POWER STEERING LINE AND THE INSULATION COULD WEAR, RESULTING IN AN ELECTRICAL SHORT. (excerpt)
Consequence: THE SHORT COULD POTENTIALLY RESULT IN A FIRE, STALLING, OR A NO-START CONDITION. (excerpt)
Remedy: DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE BATTERY CABLE TO THE ALTERNATOR FOR DAMAGE AND, IF IT IS DAMAGED, WILL REPLACE THE CABLE. ADDITIONALLY, THE ROUTING OF THE CABLE WILL BE CORRECTED, AS NECESSARY, AND A ROUTING CLIP WILL BE ADDED. ALSO THE TORQUE ON THE ALTERNATOR ATTACHMENT OF THE CABLE WILL BE CHECKED AND, AS REQUIRED, WILL BE TIGHTENED TO SPECIFICATION. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN MARCH 22, 2001. OWNERS (excerpt)
Date: 2000-03-09. Systems: SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC.
Defect: VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER VEHICLES NOT EQUIPPED WITH THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKING SYSTEM (ABS). A PRESSURE CONSCIOUS REDUCING VALVE (PCRV) IN THE REAR BRAKES MAY BE SUBJECT TO CORROSION AND RESULT IN MALFUNCTION, WHEN OPERATED IN AREAS THAT USE SALT COMPOUNDS ON THE ROADWAY FOR DE-ICING OR DUST CONTROL.
Consequence: IF BOTH PCRV'S MALFUNCTION, VEHICLE HANDLING COULD BE ADVERSELY AFFECTED DURING BRAKING AS A RESULT OF THE REAR WHEELS LOCKING, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
Remedy: DEALERS WILL INSTALL IMPROVED PCRV'S IN THE REAR BRAKE SYSTEM. THIS RECALL WAS EXPANDED IN SEPTEMBER 2000 TO INCLUDE 1999 AND 2000 FORD CONTOUR, MERCURY MYSTIQUE AND COUGAR VEHICLES.
Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.
Investigations
0 investigations; 0 open.
Manufacturer communications
109 manufacturer communications.
Communications by system
System
Count
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
19
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
15
EQUIPMENT
12
POWER TRAIN
11
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
10
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
9
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
7
VISIBILITY
6
10014086
Date: 2004-12-13. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: POWER TRAIN.
GENERAL (PCM) POWER TRAIN CONTROL MODULE PROGRAMMING PROCEDURES. *TT
10013369
Date: 2004-11-01. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: POWER TRAIN.
GENERAL POWER TRAIN CONTROL MODULE (PCM) PROGRAMMING PROCEDURES. *TT
10013116
Date: 2004-09-06. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.
MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LAMP (MIL) ILLUMINATED - SYSTEM LEAN DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE CODES (DTC'S) - SERVICE TIPS. VARIOUS MODELS INCLUDING 2004 F-SERIES. *TT
10011159
Date: 2004-08-09. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: VISIBILITY.
Date: 2004-05-01. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: FUEL SYSTEM, OTHER.
ENGINE HESITATION, LOSS OF POWER, SURGING, AND OTHER SIMILAR SYMPTOMS AS A RESULT OF CONTAMINATION OF THE FUEL PUMP. THIS PROGRAM EXTENDS THE COVERAGE OF THE FUEL DELIVERY MODULE (FDM). *TT *MJ
10013115
Date: 2004-01-01. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: STEERING.
STEERING COLUMN SHIPPED WITHOUT CRUSH PAD - REUSE ORIGINAL CRUSH PAD IF NOT DAMAGED. *TT
10004886
Date: 2003-10-13. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.
MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LAMP ILLUMINATED WITH DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE CODES (DTCS) P0442, P0455, P0456, P0457 OR P1442 OR A CHECK FUEL CAP LAMP ILLUMINATED WITH DTC P0457 FOR THE EVAPORATIVE EMISSION SYSTEM. *TT
10004027
Date: 2003-09-15. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.
REMOTE KEYLESS ENTRY (RKE) - SERVICE TIPS. *TT
Notes on this record
Complaints from the API and bulk file are merged and deduplicated by ODI number; the API alone misses records.
System and subsystem counts are numbers of distinct complaints, recalls or communications that name them. One record can name several systems, so shares across systems can add to more than 100 percent; a single share never exceeds 100 percent.
Recalls are counted once per campaign, investigations once per action and manufacturer communications once per NHTSA id, even when NHTSA lists several model names for the same record.
A sales denominator is a calendar-year proxy, not the population of vehicles still in use. Rates are copied from verified pipeline output.