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Cougar Support Group - Bigger & Better
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Comments
willhh3
I'm sure you're going to pleased with your acquisition. Be sure to let us know of your first driving impressions of your new Cat.
Take care, and welcome to the CSG!
Have not heard the sound again in my Cougar, although sometimes I think I do. If it is it, it is very, very faint.
I'd bring it in and have it checked out. Chances are you will get the same "Cannot duplicate," but if they actually hear it, let us know what it is.
I have finally taken delivery of my 2000 Cougar (Dark Tourmaline, V6, everything but the in-dash cassette/CD and polished wheels) out of dealer stock after selling my 96 Contour (good car, just wanted a better toy). I'm very pleased with the "Cat", except for it keeps fighting me to stay below 5k rpm.
I have checked out the CSG site and read most of the posts over the past month or so. I look forward to hearing about and sharing future experiences and perspectives.
See ya'!
Welcome aboard! I'm sure you'll find that the CSG is more than just another auto-enthusiasts club. We pride ourselves on being a community, and we're glad to have new members all the time. I'm happy you were able to find the CSG web site.
Camelard:
I agree. I wish they let me ride with the mechanics sometimes so I can point out variances in sound, feel, etc.
I think the reason they don't hear much is because they are desinsitized to problems.
C.G.
I'M BACK!!! From now on you can just call me the "Tan Man". I havn't been this tan since my surfing days back in college.
I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing well. I'm also glad to hear from all of these new members!!
It stinks to be back at work, but it's good to be back with the CSG.
Welcome to all the new members! We hope you enjoy your Cougars as much as we do. Any info you need re: your cats can be found here. We have some very knowledgable folks here.
Palm Springs was great...I actually got Max up to 100! on hwy 10 at @8:00 at night there was noone around. The few cars there were crusing at about 90 so I wasn't too obvious. I just had to try it to see how it felt. Very smooth I couldn't even tell I was going that fast. I sure couldn't do that in the old 4-runner. On the way home I was at a signal when a new silver corvette pulled up next to me, rolled down the window (mine were down) and yelled "nice car" I was shocked. I said thanks and he sped off. I thought it was pretty cool that a guy in such a nice car would compliment Max like that.
Overall the trip was great, 5 1/2 hours very comfortabe, 28.4 mpg avg. speed 80. stared about 100! a couple showoffs wanting to race I just smiled and let em go by!
Denise
Anyone else on this issue?
Just as a note, the web site has been updated slightly. CSG Decals are now available in the catalog section.
Thanks!
-Rob
Thanks. Anyone want some bulbs?
Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Benisem, Happy Birthday to you!!!!!!
Cheers,
Denise
Just back from a short vacation. 750 miles on my kitty, and poor Adelaide is grungy with road grime and it's going to rain all weekend so I won't have a chance to clean her up until Monday.
Had that little wrench light up in the ceiling indicators, so rushed to look it up in the manual. Just telling me to get the 5000 mile service done -- which I had done at 4600 miles, but they didn't reset the light. Oh well.
Congrats to the new kitty owners!
Oh, and I found a good home for my old Cutlass, so it was a profitable trip all in all.
=^..^=
How's the collection for the CSG website going? Do we need to dig a little deeper?
It was almost as if they were saying it isn't refined enough to compete against the imports.
I guess the one problem I have is that you would expect a car with 275 horses to get better than a 6.2 0-60 time. However, SCC did admit they probably could have posted better times if they would have taken of in 2nd gear.
As Christina Agulera would say, "I Turn To You" guys in a time of need.. I'm negotiating a deal on a 2000 Cougar (the Yellow sun and fun pkg actually) Been negotiating over the phone primarily as my sporadic work schedule permits. Anyhoo MSRP is $21,700 they wanna sell it to me for invoice which is $19,519. (the sales manager at my work is friends with the sales manager ther and got them down to invoice forme, originally they copped the whole "it's a special edition, very rare" crap on me and wouldn't budge alot off of MSRP)
OK my question is 1 are there any current rebates or anything and 2 if so can they be applied to the invoice price in turn getting me the car for UNDER invoice. I am curious because it is my understanding that the rebates come from FORD so the dealership doesn't lose money by selling for invoice and then slapping a rebate on top of that.
Waiting and Wondering,
Jimbo_G
Tell them ok Invoice, but no advertising charge, and to throw in
Oil changes for a year hehe.
Are you ordering this or is it sitting on the lot?
if its on the lot getting it for invoice is pretty good
ordering a car at invoice is pretty easy.
I was thinking (uh-oh its ok I put out the fire) Now most of us cougarites enjoy and love our cars, there are well established groups dedicated to this car a single model, now I know you are not allowed to comment openly on the future of this great looking beast. But how does FMC view an event such as Cougarfest? Surely 70+ Escort, or Probe owners don't show up at the factory yearly to celebrate ownership of such a car, I can think of only a couple cars that I know of that get recognized by FMC, mostly they are the SVT branded ones
and they get track days and stuff. I know a few things that could come from cougarfest.
1. FMC will actually see more of the demographic they missed, perhaps taking notes while we are there, who knows.
2. FMC could use it as great advertizing, what company wouldn't...(free "real" people) sure we aren't saturn owners standing where we got in accidents(probably cause the cat can avoid them better) but hey we love the cars.
3. FMC does hope that our love will die out for the car, so we don't show up again? iiick I hope not.
4.?
So you see, I'm just curious as to how FMC views 70 Drivers coming to the factory, this isn't a normality in the industry, right? aside from some corvette drivers who are invited down
to drive their cars off the line... hey now there is an idea.
Me Personally would view this with open arms, FMC can hardly expect to have Disgruntled drivers showing up we are all(most) happy ...heh as most of the problems don't occur here, but rather the middle man we call dealers...(on a side note, I may have good news about my dealership, stay tuned)
well i'll stop rambling its late, and now its your turn MWS....
Eric
I fell in love with the Cougar a couple of months ago; I had been trying to get the local Nissan dealerships to treat me like a human being and let me know on the availability of a 2K Sentra SE. AFter being given the runaround and the usual dealer questions (you want a stick? don't you know that sticks are inherently bad? SE, XE--same thing! what do you know? why are you so adamant on a 2K? a '99 is the same thing! We JUST SOLD an SE stick, and I don't lie!), I test drove the Cougar on a whim and, well, haven't looked back since! I believe I have found a decent dealer (he actually took the time to explain the car to me, and didn't just read the monroney sticker like a jerk), and I"m pretty sure the service department is okay (I work with service departments all the time on my job, and I haven't heard many complaints about them). Now I'm just waiting on my savings to grow (I want to put down a fat down payment) and to be pre-approved for a loan.
Now after all of that, here are my questions to all of you: are there any issues particular to the cougar i should be aware of before going in for negotiations? I've been reading up and down Edmunds how they might discontinue the thing, and sure enough some of them are slow sellers on the local lots. How close to invoice have you guys purchased your Cats? Do any of you miss having a back seat? Is the liftover as high as I fear for the trunk? Are those cupholders a pain? (I've seen the redesigned ones for the later part of this year--nice. But I'll probably have to dealer swap for mine since I'm so picky, and I don't know what I'll get.)
Sorry so long, and sorry so many questions. Thanks for listening (reading?) my long diatribe!
So far three members have sent in donations. Joe and I are working hard to get things settled for the new web space and we are also working on several CSG items we would like to offer to members on line. Donations are still needed at this time. If anyone would like to contribute to the future of the CSG, please send your donation to:
Cougar Support Group
Po Box 41
Hawthorne, NJ
07506
We will soon have a CSG bank account, but until I get that established, make all checks payable to me (Robert J. Kibler). Also, please include your name, address and Edmunds.com screen name. Any and all donation are very much appreciated.
CSG decals are also on sale for $5.00 each. Be sure to include your name, address and screen name along with your order.
There is now a $1500 incentive on the 2000 model. I placed my order in April when it was $1000, and made $500 for just waiting around.
I actually purchased my car 350 miles away. I was "home" visiting my family on vacation when I wandered into a Mercury dealer. I took the test drive and was ready to thank them for their time and leave when the salesman informed me that if my father (who was along for the ride) or I could present a Sam's Club card, he could sell me the Cougar for 1% over invoice. Dad had the card, I had my list of options and their invoice prices (thanks to Edmunds), and don't you know they offered me the car for the 1%!
I knew I was going to buy a Cougar because I had been charging my life away on a former Ford, now Driver's Edge VISA card (I'm not exactly a Mustang kinda guy). So this was another $2000 I could take off of the price!
The financing guy even found me a loan better than anything I could come up with myself (%7.99).
It was a good experience.
DOAN Lincoln/Mercury in Rochester (Greece) NY.
I'll save the "drive your day old car 380 miles so you can be at work on Monday" story for later.
Skip G,
WELCOME TO THE CSG!!
Like Skip said, neat story!!
When you get a chance, be sure to check out our web site at: http://home.att.net/~cougarsupportgroup
I thought about not using cruise control at all in order to vary my speed, but laziness and a tendency to drive too fast/slow according to the song on the CD eliminated that possibility. So I figured 20 min. intervals of speed might be OK. I may have been wrong. I think (hope) the problem I experienced was more cruise-control related than engine related. Let me know what you think:
On downhills, the cruise tries to maintain a lower speed and actually downshifts itself for a second (only revving up about 4-600rpm). Uphills aren't great either, but they rarely are in cruise. The downhill stuff concerns me. I received a check-up call from my salesman today, so when he reaches me, I'll be asking about it.
Anyway with only about 450 total miles on the engine, my car got to experience a 40 minute wait for the upper level George Washington Bridge, a brief section of road hell on the Cross Bronx (I found out that everything was attached correctly), and a 20 minute wait at the Triboro before I returned to my Island paradise.
I'm VERY happy with the car. Glad there's not a lot of green in "spruce green" (I think it looks pretty damn good actually). And once the CC problem is taken care of, everything should be way cool.
Thanks for the welcomes.
Andy
I just got the mail and my CSG check was sent back marked "No such address."
PO Box 4
Hawthorne NJ 07430
That's the address, Right???? (Geez, I hope I didn't copy it down wrong...how embarrassing!)
Hi All: I got back from a business trip yesterday and spent some time today catching up on all the posts. I was in Palm Springs, Ca Fri-Sun and it was HOT!!!!!! I am glad to see everyone is enjoying their summer.....later
Never mind. I went to the CSG site and got the correct address off of there.
Sheesh! Apparently it's time to take my brain in for servicing!
I went to my dealer yesterday to car shop with a friend, pulled up and what is sitting in front of the service dept. gate but a back special edition cougar like mine! I about died. My dealer assured me it wasn't from around here, he didn't sell it and when we looked at the tags it was bought in January. It didn't have the chrome rims like mine or the dash kit. It was FILTHY! I felt sorry for it, there was food wrappers all over inside and it looked like it had been driven through many mud puddles...it hasn't rained here in a long long time. It also had an auto trans. After looking closely at it I didn't feel so threatened! Max was clean as a whistle inside and out! my neighbor says I'm the only person he knows who washes there car twice a week...please tell me someone else out there is that obsessive.
Regarding the hatch it is a somewhat high liftover for large awkward objects. However I have found that, although I have to lift it higher than with my ZX2, the extra space makes it easier to get my Mom's wheelchair in. Just remember, bend at the knees.
If it's true, KEWL!!!!!
willhh3
Congratulations to all the new cougar owners out there...seems like we're growing with leaps and bounds.
Congrats on your new purchase!!
Be sure to keep in touch with us. We like to hear from Cougar owners from all over.
Also, be sure to check out our web site at: http://home.att.net/~cougarsupportgroup
It's filled with useful information for you and your Cat.
Anyway I asked my dealership about the Cougar S and they are getting Two, as well they have already gotten two Sound and Fun Cats(yellow one) and one was already sold and gone
Camelard: I live near the area you mentioned, but I don't have personalized plates. I think I may have seen the Cougar you were referring to though. What colour is your cat again?
Daexpert: I've never heard any sound from my clutch when it is not depressed, but I've notice for quite some time that the clutch creaks when I press it sometimes when the interior temperature is very warm. I figure the cable probably needs to be lubed or something. Has anyone else noticed this?
My cat is almost 1 year and 9 months old with about 31,000 km (19,000 mi). Runs awesome! Great car!
Cheers,
A.
They didn't show too much of the Cougar in the ad, though. A couple of quick shots of a silver one.