IllustrationI HAVE HAD TO HAVE THE TRANSMISSION FLUID CHANGED NUMEROUS TIMES BECAUSE THE TRANSMISSION STUDDERS. THAT DOES NOT SEEM TO FIX THE PROBLEM. BUT NO ELSE CAN TELL ME WHAT I SHOULD DO.
1994 Mercury Cougar
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
Limited comparison data
There is not enough comparable history to draw a useful model-year comparison.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Cougar years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
Limited mileage data: 15 of 137 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Power Train. Review the 36 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Engine And Engine Cooling. Review the 32 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Service Brakes, Hydraulic. Review the 27 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
12 crash reports2 fire reports9 injury reports
Power Train complaints
36 reportsTRANSMISSION FAILURE. ALSO FRONT BRAKE ROTORS/PADS AND CALIPERS FAILED. IN ADDITION, DEALER REPLACED REAR DRUMS/SHOES AND REAR CYLINDERS.
TRANSMISSION BEGAN TO FAIL IN THE FALL OF 1996. IT WOULD SHUDDER SHIFTING INTO OVERDRIVE AND ONCE IN OVERDRIVE IT SHIFTED OUT OF GEAR ON IT'S OWN. JANUARY 1997 THE DEALERSHIP SAID THE PROBLEM WAS THE TORQUE CONVERTOR AND THAT THEY WOULD REPLACE AS IT WAS STILL UNDER WARRANTY. 6 MONTHS LATER THE TRANSMISSION STARTED HAVING THE SA…
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TRANSMISSION BEGAN TO FAIL IN THE FALL OF 1996. IT WOULD SHUDDER SHIFTING INTO OVERDRIVE AND ONCE IN OVERDRIVE IT SHIFTED OUT OF GEAR ON IT'S OWN. JANUARY 1997 THE DEALERSHIP SAID THE PROBLEM WAS THE TORQUE CONVERTOR AND THAT THEY WOULD REPLACE AS IT WAS STILL UNDER WARRANTY. 6 MONTHS LATER THE TRANSMISSION STARTED HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM AGAIN. SEPT 1997 I TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP AGAIN. THEY COULD NOT FIND ANY PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION. NOW JAN 1999, THE CAR IS UNSAFE TO DRIVE AND IS CONVENIENTLY PAST THE 12 MONTH/12000 MILE WARRANTY PERIOD ON THE REPLACEMENT PART. ON THE INTERSTATE LAST WEEK, MY WIFE WAS GOING 70 MPH AND THE CAR SHIFTED INTO NEUTRAL AND WOULD NOT GO BACK INTO OVERDRIVE. A SEMI ALMOST RAN INTO THE REAREND OF THE CAR. BOTH THE DEALERSHIP AND FORD REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE PROBLEM, EVEN THOUGH I BROUGHT THE CAR IN FOR SERVICE SEPT 1997 WHILE IT WAS STILL UNDER WARRANTY. IN 1997 THE DEALERSHIP TOLD ME FORD WAS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM WITH THE 1994 TRANSMISSIONS. LOOKING AT THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS ON YOUR WEBSITE, I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH THIS PROBLEM. NOW I'M STUCK WITH AN $1800 REPAIR BILL.
TORQUE CONVERTER FAILED CAUSING THE CAR TO SHUDDER WHEN SHIFTING FROM 2 TO 3RD, AND 3RD TO 4TH. PROBLEM REPAIRED, BUT OTHER TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS OCCURRED LATER. *ML
TRANSMISSION TORQUE CONVERTER FAILED.
TORQUE CONVERTER WAS SLIPPING CAUSING A VIBRATION WHEN SHIFTING GEARS. WAS TOLD BY SERVICE MANAGER THERE WERE TWO OTHER CARS COMING IN FOR THIS SAME PROBLEM THE NEXT DAY. WAS ALSO TOLD BY SERVICE TECH THAT THIS PROBLEM WAS FIXED IN THE 1995 MODEL. THIS IS A KNOWN DEFECT THAT SHOULD BE FIXED BY THE MANUFACTER
TRANSMISSION SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONS WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE WILL SLOW DOWN UNEXPECTEDLY WHICH MAY CAUSE AN ACCIDENT. REPLACED PARTS OF THE TRANSMISSION, BUT PROBLEM STILL OCCURRING. DEALER CANNOT DETERMINE PROBLEM. PLEASE PROVIDE DETAILS. *AK
I HAVE SEARCHED THE LIST OF COMPLAINTS AND FIND THAT THERE ARE MANY COMPLAINTS RELATED TO BOTH THE BRAKE AND TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS WHICH I HAVE EXPERIENCED. PLEASE REMIT THIS COMPLAINT TO THE MANUFACTURER AND ADVISE WHETHER OR NOT YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON WHETHER OR NOT THE MANUFACTURER IS DOING ANYTHING TO RESOLVE THESE CUT…
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I HAVE SEARCHED THE LIST OF COMPLAINTS AND FIND THAT THERE ARE MANY COMPLAINTS RELATED TO BOTH THE BRAKE AND TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS WHICH I HAVE EXPERIENCED. PLEASE REMIT THIS COMPLAINT TO THE MANUFACTURER AND ADVISE WHETHER OR NOT YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON WHETHER OR NOT THE MANUFACTURER IS DOING ANYTHING TO RESOLVE THESE CUTOMER COMPLAINTS. POWER WINDOWS REPLACE FOUR TIMES. BRAKES HAD TO BE REPLACED WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF OWNERSHIP. TRANSMISSION SLIPPING FROM DAY ONE BUT THE DEALER TOLD ME REPEATEDLY THER WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT. TRANSMISSION COMPLETELY REBUILT.
TRANSMISSION IS SHUDDERING AND SHIFTING ROUGH DURING THE 3-4 SHIFT.
TRANSMISSION/TORQUE CONVERTER FAILED.
Official recalls
0No recalls in this snapshot.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
1DP94005 · Engine Compartment Fire
Opened Jul 6, 1994 · Closed Sep 22, 1994
Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Engine And Engine Cooling
There is no summary currently available