Hey everybody. I'm a brand new member to these forums and the new owner of a '96 Mercury Mystique GS/Spree. I recently bought the car while on vacation in Florida. I was in the market for a small, relatively inexpensive used vehicle and this Mystique was quite clean with only 48 thousand miles on it.
I bought it from a dealer, so while only paying $4700 for the car itself, the final price turned out to be more like $5500 after dealer fees, taxes, et cetera. It drove back to Michigan flawlessly and got decent gas mileage so I really had no worries about the car at all. That is, until I began to search for more information on it. After reading some of the reviews and discovering the plethora of recalls and TSB's related with this vehicle, I find myself at a crossroads.
You see, I am attending Western Michigan University which is a little more than 30 minutes from where I live. I drive to school everyday, and I must have a reliable vehicle. My last car was a '92 Taurus with 158 thousand miles on it, and that car put me through hell. Needless to say, I lost a lot of money when I finally had the chance to off that sucker. I am very weary of repeating that process all over again with the Mystique.
So my question is this: Supposing my Mystique has no outstanding recalls and will be well cared for under my supervision, is there reason to believe that I will have a lot of issues despite the fact that it only has 50 thousand miles on it? I mean, I understand that parts wear out, and I'm not against replacing a $50 dollar part on occasion. But I am against constantly having to replace the O2 sensor (which I've read in reviews to be a reoccurring problem) or other expensive repairs on a normal basis. I can't afford to have my transmission go at 100 thousand miles or whatever. All of you who are especially familiar with this line of vehicles should have some insight into the service problems I might be facing. Is this really the Mercury 'Mistake?'
If it is the case that I will be up against a slew of service problems in order to get this car ready for the school year, then I'm afraid I'm going to have to get out while the getting good. I?d love to think this car will go another 80 thousand miles with the proper maintenance, no racing, and perhaps minor repair from time to time.
Any insight will be more than appreciated.
Dustin
