Well, its time for my girlfriend to look at getting a new (used) car. She loves the Cougar V6 (manual, of course) but I know it shares alot with the Contour. Needless to say, I'm a little worried seeing as how I had two 2.5 Duratec engines from my SVT die on me. Are the problems mostly only for SVTs or all Duratecs? Also, were any of the *other* problems fixed for '01+?

Also, if anyone else has any good suggestions for a low (<50k) mileage used car in the 8-12k range? Must be manual, must not be japanese or korean, must be decently reliable. She doesn't drive the hell out of her cars or even drive "sporty" like I do, but she does like pretty cars. Other cars we've considered were the Saturn SL2 and the Ford ZX2.

My brothers 01 MTX has been a great runner. I think his only issue was the POS DPFE sensor.

Edit-It would be nice to get her a car you already know. That's part of the reason my bro got his. I did the tranny cocktail, Magnecore wires/Autolite's and Stazi brakes. Just routine maintenance you know. He probably has 70k on it by now.

stay away from the early model Cougars.
01+ have less problems than the earlier models (plus they just look sexier, IMO)
Alternator and fuel pump issues are the biggest on people's lists on www.fastcougar.com/forums

my 01 has had zero problems since I bought it brand new.

Ask Zum about her Cougar experiences.

I was at one time looking at a cougar to, it comes down to what frenchblueC2, look through the forums and try to find a 01+ cougar

on a side note my ZX2 is over all nice veichle but compared to the cougar

Acceleration I find to be close. but the cougar pulls ahead by a small bit
- the zx2 may have less horse power and torque but its lighter by 549lb, I believe the cougar weight:power ratio runs 1:17 while the zx2 runs 1:18 (these horse power ratings are at the crank)

-size, the zx2 is smaller thats all that needs to be said

-Zx2 seats lack latteral support witch causes you to slide in corners while the cougar hugs you quite nicely. after market seats sujested if going to be taking corners fast

-The the zx2 is a nice handler, on par if not better then a tour/cougar

-I have never pulled less then 30 mpg on the ZX2

-ZX2 can be had cheaply with low miles ($6000 with 19000 miles) of course this is a base model.
- Ztech takes nicely to mods, not say that the duratec doesn't eitehr

Basically the Cougar is more of a car, but the zx2 is a nice sub if need be.

Has she looked into a FSVT or a ZX3 perhaps.

All those things would be great for me, but you gotta think like a girl.. she's not going to be racing, not going to be "taking corners".. which one is prettier and which one would be more reliable?

On the Focus: I bought my FSVT brand new, I don't think I would ever buy a used Focus because of the bad reliability reputation. Plus, what kinda nerds would we be if we had matching cars!

I'd say a v6 mtx cougar would do more than pull ahead by a small bit. Not gonna kill it, but still better than a small bit.

Foci don't have bad reliability. First year had a buncha recalls, that's it.

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

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I'd say a v6 mtx cougar would do more than pull ahead by a small bit. Not gonna kill it, but still better than a small bit.

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Agreed. Buddy even had an S/R. No dice on beating or getting close to worry about against my lowly 2.5 SE when it was close to stock. Disliked all the ZX2's I've been in except his S/R. His S/R shifted like total arse with the B&M and Centerforce clutch. A girl I used to work w/ was looking for a new car. Went with her to test drive some ZX2's. All were crap. Rattles, falling off parts, etc. I'd check a ZX3 or Cougar before a ZX2.