Sorry to hear about the damage to your car. It might actually cost more than your deductable though to have it fixed.
I just bought my Cougar a month ago and it was nailed in the door by a shopping cart in Wal-Mart two weeks after I had it. The cart put a baseball sized dent at the front leading edge of the door and left two 1" scratches that took off the paint down to the bare metal. The estimate was $582.74
Sorry to hear about the rogue cart that hit your car. That is exactly why I park as far out in the lot as humanly possible. It kinda stinks on a rainy day, but it has kept my car looking good.
At least on a rainy day, it saves you the trouble of taking a shower!! ;-)
At last!!!!! After 29 calendar days, I'm getting re-acquainted with my cat. The final tab came to nearly $7,000. They did a great job though, you'd never know that it had been hit.
Now, all I have to do is figure out what that extra pedal and the wobbly pole between the seats are used for.
Gustafsc, glad to hear you have your Cougar back. Congrats!
I always park way out in the boonies anywhere I go as well, but I still got nailed. Either someone just sent the cart flying across the lot or somone did it on purpose. I was even parked on a row that didn't have a cart corral thing. The lot didn't slop down towards the car or anything, so I have no idea how it happened.
Either someone didn't give a crap or someone dinged my Cougar on purpose. Either way it ticks me off and I miss my Cougar. I'm on my 2nd day with the rental piece of crap Chevy Prizm.
Well, about the time that Gustafsc got his car back, mine went into the body shop for 2 weeks worth of repairs/repainting from my encounter with a county curb.
I got the check from the county (for about $2300) and nearly endorsed it when I noticed that they had included a neat little legal stamp. Long story, short -- if I endorsed the check, I couldn't ask for ANYTHING else. Needless to say, I'm holding onto it until after my rental is complete and any supplemental repair checks have been received by the body shop.
Speaking of rental, I started out in a 2001 Mitsu Galant DS which flat out MOVED down I-285 here in Atlanta. I was impressed. Too bad Enterprise hadn't gotten the front end aligned/tires balanced/tires rotated in 25K miles worth of rental abuse. I had to take it back to get another car. I begged for a new 2002 Dodge Stratus sedan, but some woman and her ugly kid got the last one.
I was offered a burgundy 2000 Saturn SL to replace the Galant. I took it, and suddenly found myself wondering why a mid-size sedan (intended to compete with Accords and Camrys) has a 4-cylinder engine with the horsepower of a much smaller Corolla or Focus. The acceleration in the Galant was non-existent in this competing Saturn model. Pathetic. The stereo speakers have also been blown out in the car, which means some moron decided to use it as a hooptie ride for a week.
Otherwise, the car is MUCH SMOOTHER on the highway than the Galant. I can live without tunes for 2 weeks. I cannot live without a safe ride. Besides, I'm not paying a penny for any of it. That's for the county to handle :-)
Talk to y'all later!
Sincerely, burnsmr4
P.S. - Fish8, the car is at Pugmire. They are EXCELLENT so far!
Short notice, and they sent me to Ft. Worth, Tx., and I'm trapped and can't get out!!!
At least not until tomorrow. The product that I was supposed to evaluate got hung upat the rail yard, so, I waste 24 hr and a bunch of $.
On top of that, my rental car is a Buick Century. It's been a long time since I've driven a real "Land Barge". Seems like I need to throw a mooring line over a bollard every time I park. NO FUN!!!
I'm on a borowed computer, and it took me three tries to remember my password. To much automation.
ksuwildcat001: Things like that really annoy me. I truly believe what comes around goes around. So you can take some relief in the thought that this individual will get whats coming to them in one form or another.
After 2.5 years of ownership I still get rave reviews from total strangers. Yesterday I had to take my car for an insurance inspection. The guy at the garage raved about the look of the car. After a few minutes of conversation he said that in his opinion "the Cougar is one of the best kept secrets". Needless to say, we got in to a HUGE conversation about the lack of advertising.
On Aug 11th at 2:55 pm, my new son was born. I just wanted to let everyone know the great news. I probably won't be driving the Cougar as much since his arrival. The last time I drove my car was last Friday.
After catching up on several months worth of posts - a couple comments....
fish8: Congrats on the new guppy!
burns: Have you ever considered driving a sherman tank or something indestructable? It wouldn't have solved the pickle problem - but you sure seem to have "stuff" happening. Maybe it's not just the cougar out to get you if curbs and gravel roads are attacking you. What did you do in a previous life?
KSU: We had a similar incident at Nebraska Furniture Mart. We parked as far away as possible but had an enormous ding when we returned. (It drives me nuts every time I see it.) The person responsible had to have been either totally oblivious and therefore really, REALLY stupid or it was intentional. As Badulah says - you can only hope everything that goes around, comes around.
Malibu: Is all well with the new house, car and pets? We've had a couple fires displacing families here in the past few months and I think of you each time it happens. Hope everything is back to normal.
Badulah: Did you get a new job? Are you settled in and doing what you want to do?
Dasaint: Did you ever sell your cav and get the Subaru?
Which leads me to my non-scientific comparison after nearly two years of Subie vs. Cougar. We bought the Impreza about two months after the cougar, both are 2000 and only have about 5,500 miles on them, mostly city driving.
The Impreza has rattles all over the place. The only sound the cougar makes is the A/C chirp. We still enjoy driving both of them, cougar with a manual and impreza with an automatic. The AWD really lets you buzz around, is fast off the mark and accelerates and maneuvers nicely. The cougar is a little less quick but feels more solid at higher speeds. The brakes on the impreza don't react anywhere as smoothly as the cougars (non-ABS) and I feel much safer in the cougar.
My personal preference is the impreza for driving to work, the cougar for road trips. This is solely based on stop and go city traffic, non-synchronized street lights and having to shift every two blocks to get where I'm going. At this point I wouldn't give up either car. The impreza is cute and fun to drive, has great storage space, is practical in snow and has a fairly comfortable back seat. The cougar is a great car to drive, has similar storage but I wouldn't take it out on one or two days a year in snow and wouldn't force someone in the back seat for long trips. The Subie can only be classified as cute, not at all in the same league as the cougar which still gets comments all the time. If I had to choose between the two - I couldn't.
The vehicle curse for my involvement with the Ford Pinto, or the Saturn SL? Or both? Personally, the Saturn is a little over the top in terms of second-life punishment :-)
Fish! What a joyous time, having a kid and all ... Hope everyone is doing well. Have you gotten much sleep lately? ;-)
Hey all, I'm really close to having all the CSG's CF pics edited and ready to post on the site. I'll post again when they're ready. Sorry I haven't had much time to post recently, but I've been really busy on the job.
Anyway, I won't keep rambling, but wanted to mention that I recently bought two of the 1/18th scale Cougars from Dellergo, and they are really nice! I have one on my desk at work, and one at home completely taken apart so I can repaint the body in Rio Red, and do the interior in the correct colors. The only thing I'm trying to figure out is how to build a spoiler ... Hmmm.
I used to build models a while back, so I shouldn't have too hard of a time once I find the materials. Is it me, or have all the hobbie stores closed their doors and moved online?
How did you take the car apart without breakage. I've pulled the screws, but don't want to have to do any major re-construction of the plastics.
The way they snap the things together, it becomes a real Chinese puzzle to pop apart.
I've got nearly a quart of ash gold left over from my recent rebuild, and am dying to run it through my airbrush after stripping the Merlina Blue off. Don't want to get an excess paint build-up.
As far as building a spoiler, some Evergreen strip plastic should do the job, The stock Cougar spoiler is a pretty simple design. Anything else, might take a little sculpting skill.
Congratulations Fish, just the first of many to come!!!! ;-)
Well......since I am leasing my Cougar and I have over 1 year left, I will probably get a new car sometime in '02 or '03. My wife is pretty fed up with the number of times I need to take my car to the shop for warranty items, so next spring or summer we will probably look into trading it in (if financilly able to). We'll see!!
By that time, you'll have all of the nagging items fixed, and the car'll be good for the next 10 years. Then, it'll be much cheaper to just keep it and save for a college fund (the joys of parenthood).
Skip G.
(In my case, I'm saving for my old age! The kid's on his own)
My Cougar will be ready sometime tomorrow. I'm SO ready to get out of the Saturn SL. Not since my 1984 Buick Century have a realized how much GM truly sucks [non-permissible content removed].
Later, burnsmr4
[Slamming door echoes for long period afterward...]
We're still here, we're just being," vewy, vewy quiet while hunting wabbits". (E. Fudd)
Amen to your impression of small GM cars. I was stuck in a Pontiac Sunfire for 4 weeks while my cat was having it's major surgery. The little 4 in that thing acted like it was ripping it's guts out everytime I got on the gas. To make it worse, waiting for a downshift seemed to take forever.
The construction was pretty cheap, too. The whole front suspension rattled everytime it hit a small bump. And, it was virtually brand new, only 2500 on the clock when I took it over.
Not a good impression for the future.
Fish: How's your sleeping patterns these days? ;-)
Somebody is actually alive. I got a new PC and since then everyone went away. Fish and Burnsy and Skip nice to here from the group. Finally saw an actual TV ad for the Cougar last week. Wow!!! Anyway it sure is nice to hear from the group =^..^=
Mouse409: the ad you saw must have been local. It's not like Ford would actually promote Cougars... If they did that, they might start SELLING Cougars and they don't want that to happen, do they?
As far as the group goes, I check in every workday morning to see what's going on. Sometimes I don't have much to impart, but at least I'm around.
Seems to me that they've sold a lot of Cougars in NW Chicago suburban area. I must see at least 3 everyday while commuting or buzzing around town. Wonder what would have happened had they really pushed them.
I have to agree with you, Gustafsc, on the GM comments. The Saturn LS rattles over EVERYTHING! Furthermore, the wind noise is hideously annoying. My fiancée -- a pickle-peddling woman who wouldn't hear a dump truck hit the ground from 25 stories up unless I told her to listen carefully -- even noted that the car sounds like the windows are ALWAYS open.
This joke got even funnier when, during a rainstorm where all windows were rolled up, her window started leaking water onto her shoulder.
At least GM has a sense of humor. According to either AutoWeek or C&D (can't remember which), GM is hoping a redesign of the Pontiac Aztek will improve sales. The snickering may now commence.
I know that the group is nearly dead if I'm the only one posting ;-)
Seriously, I got my car back from Pugmire Collision Center in Marietta, GA today. I actually went to pick it up yesterday, including returning my rental, only to discover that the car was still being worked on. So, I was left without a rental and no repaired car. The body shop re-rented the car from Enterprise for me (still stuck in that hellish Saturn LS) and had the car ready for me this morning.
If you need body work done in the Atlanta area, I highly recommend this body shop. Fish8 swore by them, and, other than some minor trim and cleanup issues, I can say that they were attentive, helpful, and performed quality work (at first glance).
The only concern I had regarded some excess wind noise coming from the passenger side (far right) vent area. Is there sound deadening material in the door or dash there that might have been overlooked? I mean, it's really a loud whooshing sound when I get up to speed. As soon as I can find someone to drive the car while I ride shotgun (none of my friends can drive a manual), I'm going to see if it's actually coming from the vent. Any suggestions, however, in the meantime would be nice.
Bottom line -- it was VERY NICE to be able to pass folks on I-75 without having to wait on an anemic GM automatic and 4-cylinder engine.
Glad to hear about you car. I would suggest taking the car back to Pugmire and asking them to diagnose your noise problem. While you were in the area we should of gotten together and done lunch. Have you seen the building off of 75 (where 75 and 285 meet) that has the big Worldspan sign on top? That is the building where my office is. Very close to Pugmire.
Unfortunately, I have decided to take my car to Kennesaw Lincoln Mercury's service ceneter instead of Pugmires. I was tired of bringing my car into Pugmire for a problem and them come back and say they couldn't find it.
I just recently noticed that where the dealer (Pugmire) drilled holes in my front bumper to put their license plate when the car was new, the clear coat around the drilled holes is peeling. I will probably let this go unless it gets much worse. Anyone else have this problem?
I so wish I hadn't been a Ford Pinto engineer in my previous lifetime...
I've taken a closer look at the trim issues on my Cougar, Fish8, and I think I should meet with you to compare cars -- to see what's missing. Check your e-mail :-)
For those of you who won't be attending this little meeting of '99 Mercury Cougar owners, I think I know where the noise is coming from. It appears that there is sound deadening material hanging out from underneath the dash. The carpet is also not tacked down in the back of the footwell.
Finally, my front driver's side speaker doesn't work. Odd, considering the fact that they worked on the passenger side of the car. It appears that they disconnected the battery, and I'm wondering if anything got shorted out during other electrical work. Any ideas?
Come on. Post something. You guys started a new non-burnsmr4 conference, didn't you? I'm all here alone posting to absolutely no one. OK, joke's on me. Fun's over. Come back and post. Anyone. Anyone?
[Sniffles.]
I'm gonna keep trying. My earlier post-body shop repair issues have been solved as of this morning. I was pleasantly surprised. They fixed up the carpet, re-connected a loose speaker wire, and installed a missing piece of sound insulation from inside the fender. All in about 45 minutes.
If you need a good body shop, I highly recommend Pugmire Collision Center in Marietta, GA. That's TWO folks who've been relatively well impressed by the shop's work.
Just back from the U.K. and catching up on the posts.
Fish8: Congratulations on your new addition to the family. Does the little tike have a name yet.
All,
Saw quite a few Cougars in England but not one with the rear spoiler. They do look very different without it. Saw even more Pumas. They seem to be very popular.
Got a chance to drive on the M-25 and what a blast that was. With a speed limit of 130kph (not like our wussy 100 kph) and the quaint English habit of keeping ones distance, it was the most stress free driving I have done in years. Wish I had had my Kitty with me.
Well, I'm happy to say that my Cat is still running just fine. I guess that's why I haven't posted recently. No news is good news!!!
dgemini: Don't they know that the Cold War is over. Koreans should just unite, and then we could send all the GIs back home. I hope you're at least driving a Humvee.
Yeah...I know...I just got it back. I should be patient. Understanding. Willing to forgive.
Not.
I discovered that the body shop left a lot of overspray underneath the car this morning on the passenger side. Is this going to hurt the resale value of the car? Any more than the hole in the side already did? ARRRGGGHHH!!!
Also, the passenger side marker light is loose. Doesn't want to snap in completely. They goofed that up too.
Finally, the passenger side door didn't cause the chime to go off with the key in the ignition. That's not right -- right? I checked the little bumper on the door latch -- pressed it to see if it was stuck. It wasn't, and the chime never came on. However, when I closed the door, the alarm system didn't work -- it honked the horn erratically after I walked away from the car.
SOB!!! (Sorry to copy you, there, dgemini.)
So...anyone interested in a used Cougar?
Nah...I didn't think so either. Oh, well.
Later, burnsmr4
P.S. - Anyone going to comment on C&D's new car issue comment on what's NOT going on at Mercury these days? Pretty telling, if you ask me.
The model Cat was definately a chore to take apart - you know? I don't think they want you to take it apart! At least that's what I thought about half way through with the separation. The trick is this: There's a third screw under the tire-well in the underside trunk area. Have some really nice model glue (like Tenax-7R) and genly pry the wheel off the bottom (it looks like it's molded, but it's not).
From there, it's just tedious screw removal and disassembly. Then you get to the windows and the lights. At that point I realized that they riveted the back side windows in, as well as the overhead console and mirror (the windshield slides out from underneath the sunvisors). Needless to say I had to break the tabs where the windows were attached to remove them. The headlights and taillights were a snap, er, scrape - on the inside of each bumper, you should see a blot of plastic. That's the melted end of the post that holds the lens in place. The front license plate bracket came from the factory though - complete with two holes in the bumper ;-)
Beyond that, label the parts and gently pry the doors apart, and paint away!
Burnsmr4,
Geez. I didn't think that a reputable body shop would forget and/or mess up so many things. It makes me nervous because I'm getting ready to take my Cat into the shop for minor touch-up on the rear bumper after my accident in April (can you believe it took this long?).
To reassure you, however, I recently got all four of the recent recall notices in the mail, and have to get them taken care of too. I guess I've just been waaaaay too busy this summer. I'm glad you're finally out of that LS though - man, how did you put up with it?
Hey everyone! It's good to be back for a change. Take care and Happy Cougaring!
Folks...today's events are horrendous, and we probably haven't heard the last of it. My prayers for the safety of you, your loved ones, and for us all.
Tuesday morning I was in my kitchen when I felt the whole house tremble and heard a faint low "boom" sound. Thought to myself, "What the hell was that????"
A few minutes later, I found out. Scariest part of the day for me was knowing there was still one plane in the air heading towards DC and wondering if the planes I was hearing were military aircraft in defense or the hijacked plane.
I was able to get on the internet without a problem, but couldn't get a regular phone connection. I had to IM a friend in NC to call my mother to ease her worries. Today, finally, I'm able to get calls through outside the local area.
Thanks to God that all of my friends and family here and in NY have been spared. And thank you all for the prayers.
Has anyone heard from Badulah or Lefty? Check in, oh fearless leaders.
I can't think of any words that can truly express the heartfelt sorrow, terror and awe that I feel and I know virtually everyone in the US, Canada and around the world feel as a result of yesterdays tragedy. I pray all of you and your loved ones are okay.
I hope everyone you know and love are okay after tuesday's horrible events... though through the "six degrees" I'm sure we've all lost friend's parents or relative's friends... I'm legitimately scared tonight. I guess I will be scared for many days, until the angry government figures out how they will retailiate aganist whomever they think is responsible. I do believe that if we are not careful, this will begin WW3... it may not be a war as history has described before, but a war nonetheless...
I hope that no more innocient people, anywhere die because of this...
Comments
I just bought my Cougar a month ago and it was nailed in the door by a shopping cart in Wal-Mart two weeks after I had it. The cart put a baseball sized dent at the front leading edge of the door and left two 1" scratches that took off the paint down to the bare metal. The estimate was $582.74
At last!!!!! After 29 calendar days, I'm getting re-acquainted with my cat. The final tab came to nearly $7,000. They did a great job though, you'd never know that it had been hit.
Now, all I have to do is figure out what that extra pedal and the wobbly pole between the seats are used for.
Skip G.
I always park way out in the boonies anywhere I go as well, but I still got nailed. Either someone just sent the cart flying across the lot or somone did it on purpose. I was even parked on a row that didn't have a cart corral thing. The lot didn't slop down towards the car or anything, so I have no idea how it happened.
Either someone didn't give a crap or someone dinged my Cougar on purpose. Either way it ticks me off and I miss my Cougar. I'm on my 2nd day with the rental piece of crap Chevy Prizm.
Well, about the time that Gustafsc got his car back, mine went into the body shop for 2 weeks worth of repairs/repainting from my encounter with a county curb.
I got the check from the county (for about $2300) and nearly endorsed it when I noticed that they had included a neat little legal stamp. Long story, short -- if I endorsed the check, I couldn't ask for ANYTHING else. Needless to say, I'm holding onto it until after my rental is complete and any supplemental repair checks have been received by the body shop.
Speaking of rental, I started out in a 2001 Mitsu Galant DS which flat out MOVED down I-285 here in Atlanta. I was impressed. Too bad Enterprise hadn't gotten the front end aligned/tires balanced/tires rotated in 25K miles worth of rental abuse. I had to take it back to get another car. I begged for a new 2002 Dodge Stratus sedan, but some woman and her ugly kid got the last one.
I was offered a burgundy 2000 Saturn SL to replace the Galant. I took it, and suddenly found myself wondering why a mid-size sedan (intended to compete with Accords and Camrys) has a 4-cylinder engine with the horsepower of a much smaller Corolla or Focus. The acceleration in the Galant was non-existent in this competing Saturn model. Pathetic. The stereo speakers have also been blown out in the car, which means some moron decided to use it as a hooptie ride for a week.
Otherwise, the car is MUCH SMOOTHER on the highway than the Galant. I can live without tunes for 2 weeks. I cannot live without a safe ride. Besides, I'm not paying a penny for any of it. That's for the county to handle :-)
Talk to y'all later!
Sincerely,
burnsmr4
P.S. - Fish8, the car is at Pugmire. They are EXCELLENT so far!
At least not until tomorrow. The product that I was supposed to evaluate got hung upat the rail yard, so, I waste 24 hr and a bunch of $.
On top of that, my rental car is a Buick Century. It's been a long time since I've driven a real "Land Barge". Seems like I need to throw a mooring line over a bollard every time I park. NO FUN!!!
I'm on a borowed computer, and it took me three tries to remember my password. To much automation.
See you all tomorrow, or Monday, depending.
Skip G
Glad to hear you got your car back!!!!
ksuwildcat001:
Things like that really annoy me. I truly believe what comes around goes around. So you can take some relief in the thought that this individual will get whats coming to them in one form or another.
But, I'm outta here this evening, come hell or high water (and with the way it's raining, it'll probably be the latter).
Skip G.
I have the Cougar back and the body shop did a GREAT job on getting her all fixed back up. She looks good as new.
The employees all raved about how great the new edge Cougars look.
Now I just hope she doesn't get attacked by another shopping cart.
After 2.5 years of ownership I still get rave reviews from total strangers. Yesterday I had to take my car for an insurance inspection. The guy at the garage raved about the look of the car. After a few minutes of conversation he said that in his opinion "the Cougar is one of the best kept secrets". Needless to say, we got in to a HUGE conversation about the lack of advertising.
Just wanted to give everyone an update.....later
Hope all the family is doing well.
fish8: Congrats on the new guppy!
burns: Have you ever considered driving a sherman tank or something indestructable? It wouldn't have solved the pickle problem - but you sure seem to have "stuff" happening. Maybe it's not just the cougar out to get you if curbs and gravel roads are attacking you. What did you do in a previous life?
KSU: We had a similar incident at Nebraska Furniture Mart. We parked as far away as possible but had an enormous ding when we returned. (It drives me nuts every time I see it.) The person responsible had to have been either totally oblivious and therefore really, REALLY stupid or it was intentional. As Badulah says - you can only hope everything that goes around, comes around.
Malibu: Is all well with the new house, car and pets? We've had a couple fires displacing families here in the past few months and I think of you each time it happens. Hope everything is back to normal.
Badulah: Did you get a new job? Are you settled in and doing what you want to do?
Dasaint: Did you ever sell your cav and get the Subaru?
Which leads me to my non-scientific comparison after nearly two years of Subie vs. Cougar. We bought the Impreza about two months after the cougar, both are 2000 and only have about 5,500 miles on them, mostly city driving.
The Impreza has rattles all over the place. The only sound the cougar makes is the A/C chirp. We still enjoy driving both of them, cougar with a manual and impreza with an automatic. The AWD really lets you buzz around, is fast off the mark and accelerates and maneuvers nicely. The cougar is a little less quick but feels more solid at higher speeds. The brakes on the impreza don't react anywhere as smoothly as the cougars (non-ABS) and I feel much safer in the cougar.
My personal preference is the impreza for driving to work, the cougar for road trips. This is solely based on stop and go city traffic, non-synchronized street lights and having to shift every two blocks to get where I'm going. At this point I wouldn't give up either car. The impreza is cute and fun to drive, has great storage space, is practical in snow and has a fairly comfortable back seat. The cougar is a great car to drive, has similar storage but I wouldn't take it out on one or two days a year in snow and wouldn't force someone in the back seat for long trips. The Subie can only be classified as cute, not at all in the same league as the cougar which still gets comments all the time. If I had to choose between the two - I couldn't.
Just my two cents. Next report in six months....
Hence my cursed Cougar...or any other vehicle I drive.
:-)
Later,
burnsmr4
P.S. - The Saturn SL still bites [non-permissible content removed].
KarenS
Host
Owner's Clubs
:-)
Congratulations, Fish8 -- we need to get together at The Varsity in Gwinnett County.
Regards,
burnsmr4
Hey all, I'm really close to having all the CSG's CF pics edited and ready to post on the site. I'll post again when they're ready. Sorry I haven't had much time to post recently, but I've been really busy on the job.
Anyway, I won't keep rambling, but wanted to mention that I recently bought two of the 1/18th scale Cougars from Dellergo, and they are really nice! I have one on my desk at work, and one at home completely taken apart so I can repaint the body in Rio Red, and do the interior in the correct colors. The only thing I'm trying to figure out is how to build a spoiler ... Hmmm.
I used to build models a while back, so I shouldn't have too hard of a time once I find the materials. Is it me, or have all the hobbie stores closed their doors and moved online?
Take care everybody, and Happy Cougaring!
How did you take the car apart without breakage. I've pulled the screws, but don't want to have to do any major re-construction of the plastics.
The way they snap the things together, it becomes a real Chinese puzzle to pop apart.
I've got nearly a quart of ash gold left over from my recent rebuild, and am dying to run it through my airbrush after stripping the Merlina Blue off. Don't want to get an excess paint build-up.
As far as building a spoiler, some Evergreen strip plastic should do the job, The stock Cougar spoiler is a pretty simple design. Anything else, might take a little sculpting skill.
Congratulations Fish, just the first of many to come!!!! ;-)
Skip G.
Skip G.
(In my case, I'm saving for my old age! The kid's on his own)
Anyone in here?
Well...um...anyway...
My Cougar will be ready sometime tomorrow. I'm SO ready to get out of the Saturn SL. Not since my 1984 Buick Century have a realized how much GM truly sucks [non-permissible content removed].
Later,
burnsmr4
[Slamming door echoes for long period afterward...]
Amen to your impression of small GM cars. I was stuck in a Pontiac Sunfire for 4 weeks while my cat was having it's major surgery. The little 4 in that thing acted like it was ripping it's guts out everytime I got on the gas. To make it worse, waiting for a downshift seemed to take forever.
The construction was pretty cheap, too. The whole front suspension rattled everytime it hit a small bump. And, it was virtually brand new, only 2500 on the clock when I took it over.
Not a good impression for the future.
Fish: How's your sleeping patterns these days? ;-)
Skip G.
burnsmr4: Good luck when you pick up your car!
=^..^=
Seems to me that they've sold a lot of Cougars in NW Chicago suburban area. I must see at least 3 everyday while commuting or buzzing around town. Wonder what would have happened had they really pushed them.
Skip G.
This joke got even funnier when, during a rainstorm where all windows were rolled up, her window started leaking water onto her shoulder.
At least GM has a sense of humor. According to either AutoWeek or C&D (can't remember which), GM is hoping a redesign of the Pontiac Aztek will improve sales. The snickering may now commence.
Later,
burnsmr4
P.S. - Anyone catch that wascally wabbit yet?
I know that the group is nearly dead if I'm the only one posting ;-)
Seriously, I got my car back from Pugmire Collision Center in Marietta, GA today. I actually went to pick it up yesterday, including returning my rental, only to discover that the car was still being worked on. So, I was left without a rental and no repaired car. The body shop re-rented the car from Enterprise for me (still stuck in that hellish Saturn LS) and had the car ready for me this morning.
If you need body work done in the Atlanta area, I highly recommend this body shop. Fish8 swore by them, and, other than some minor trim and cleanup issues, I can say that they were attentive, helpful, and performed quality work (at first glance).
The only concern I had regarded some excess wind noise coming from the passenger side (far right) vent area. Is there sound deadening material in the door or dash there that might have been overlooked? I mean, it's really a loud whooshing sound when I get up to speed. As soon as I can find someone to drive the car while I ride shotgun (none of my friends can drive a manual), I'm going to see if it's actually coming from the vent. Any suggestions, however, in the meantime would be nice.
Bottom line -- it was VERY NICE to be able to pass folks on I-75 without having to wait on an anemic GM automatic and 4-cylinder engine.
Later,
burnsmr4
Unfortunately, I have decided to take my car to Kennesaw Lincoln Mercury's service ceneter instead of Pugmires. I was tired of bringing my car into Pugmire for a problem and them come back and say they couldn't find it.
I just recently noticed that where the dealer (Pugmire) drilled holes in my front bumper to put their license plate when the car was new, the clear coat around the drilled holes is peeling. I will probably let this go unless it gets much worse. Anyone else have this problem?
I've taken a closer look at the trim issues on my Cougar, Fish8, and I think I should meet with you to compare cars -- to see what's missing. Check your e-mail :-)
For those of you who won't be attending this little meeting of '99 Mercury Cougar owners, I think I know where the noise is coming from. It appears that there is sound deadening material hanging out from underneath the dash. The carpet is also not tacked down in the back of the footwell.
Finally, my front driver's side speaker doesn't work. Odd, considering the fact that they worked on the passenger side of the car. It appears that they disconnected the battery, and I'm wondering if anything got shorted out during other electrical work. Any ideas?
Again, Fish8, check your e-mail.
Later,
burnsmr4
[Sniffles.]
I'm gonna keep trying. My earlier post-body shop repair issues have been solved as of this morning. I was pleasantly surprised. They fixed up the carpet, re-connected a loose speaker wire, and installed a missing piece of sound insulation from inside the fender. All in about 45 minutes.
If you need a good body shop, I highly recommend Pugmire Collision Center in Marietta, GA. That's TWO folks who've been relatively well impressed by the shop's work.
Later,
burnsmr4
Where is everyone???????
Fish8: Congratulations on your new addition to the family. Does the little tike have a name yet.
All,
Saw quite a few Cougars in England but not one with the rear spoiler. They do look very different without it. Saw even more Pumas. They seem to be very popular.
Got a chance to drive on the M-25 and what a blast that was. With a speed limit of 130kph (not like our wussy 100 kph) and the quaint English habit of keeping ones distance, it was the most stress free driving I have done in years. Wish I had had my Kitty with me.
Greetings from Korea.
It has been almost 4 months since I have driven my kitty, and I am going through withdrawals.
I am stationed in a place where you can't own your own vehicles, our even rent one.
When driving a military vehicle the fastest you can drive is 25 miles an hour, and only on the right side of the road.
Anyway, the traffic here is terrible anyway, even if you could drive faster.
I miss my kitty, I miss my wife even more
SOB!!!!!
dgemini:
Don't they know that the Cold War is over. Koreans should just unite, and then we could send all the GIs back home. I hope you're at least driving a Humvee.
Yeah...I know...I just got it back. I should be patient. Understanding. Willing to forgive.
Not.
I discovered that the body shop left a lot of overspray underneath the car this morning on the passenger side. Is this going to hurt the resale value of the car? Any more than the hole in the side already did? ARRRGGGHHH!!!
Also, the passenger side marker light is loose. Doesn't want to snap in completely. They goofed that up too.
Finally, the passenger side door didn't cause the chime to go off with the key in the ignition. That's not right -- right? I checked the little bumper on the door latch -- pressed it to see if it was stuck. It wasn't, and the chime never came on. However, when I closed the door, the alarm system didn't work -- it honked the horn erratically after I walked away from the car.
SOB!!! (Sorry to copy you, there, dgemini.)
So...anyone interested in a used Cougar?
Nah...I didn't think so either. Oh, well.
Later,
burnsmr4
P.S. - Anyone going to comment on C&D's new car issue comment on what's NOT going on at Mercury these days? Pretty telling, if you ask me.
The model Cat was definately a chore to take apart - you know? I don't think they want you to take it apart! At least that's what I thought about half way through with the separation. The trick is this: There's a third screw under the tire-well in the underside trunk area. Have some really nice model glue (like Tenax-7R) and genly pry the wheel off the bottom (it looks like it's molded, but it's not).
From there, it's just tedious screw removal and disassembly. Then you get to the windows and the lights. At that point I realized that they riveted the back side windows in, as well as the overhead console and mirror (the windshield slides out from underneath the sunvisors). Needless to say I had to break the tabs where the windows were attached to remove them. The headlights and taillights were a snap, er, scrape - on the inside of each bumper, you should see a blot of plastic. That's the melted end of the post that holds the lens in place. The front license plate bracket came from the factory though - complete with two holes in the bumper ;-)
Beyond that, label the parts and gently pry the doors apart, and paint away!
Burnsmr4,
Geez. I didn't think that a reputable body shop would forget and/or mess up so many things. It makes me nervous because I'm getting ready to take my Cat into the shop for minor touch-up on the rear bumper after my accident in April (can you believe it took this long?).
To reassure you, however, I recently got all four of the recent recall notices in the mail, and have to get them taken care of too. I guess I've just been waaaaay too busy this summer. I'm glad you're finally out of that LS though - man, how did you put up with it?
Hey everyone! It's good to be back for a change. Take care and Happy Cougaring!
KarenS
Host
Owner's Clubs
Be safe, and tell those you love that you do...
burnsmr4
=^..^=
Pat
Tuesday morning I was in my kitchen when I felt the whole house tremble and heard a faint low "boom" sound. Thought to myself, "What the hell was that????"
A few minutes later, I found out. Scariest part of the day for me was knowing there was still one plane in the air heading towards DC and wondering if the planes I was hearing were military aircraft in defense or the hijacked plane.
I was able to get on the internet without a problem, but couldn't get a regular phone connection. I had to IM a friend in NC to call my mother to ease her worries. Today, finally, I'm able to get calls through outside the local area.
Thanks to God that all of my friends and family here and in NY have been spared. And thank you all for the prayers.
Has anyone heard from Badulah or Lefty? Check in, oh fearless leaders.
Sincerely, Andy.
I hope that no more innocient people, anywhere die because of this...
We're proud people and we will prevail.
God Bless AMERICA!!