Mercury Electric Seat Belt Blues: 1989 Mercury Cougar vs 1993 Mercury Villager

Sbsd 2 1 2024
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Good morning! Today we’re going to take a look at two vehicles from Ford’s orphaned middle child, Mercury. They’re both pretty nice vehicles in reasonable shape. So what would stop you from going downtown and buying one (or two)? Well, they both have those silly automatic seat belts. But hey, it means you can’t consider one over the other for that reason alone.

Yesterday, we ventured into the world of Werther’s Originals in the glovebox and tissue boxes on the rear deck, and looked at two probably-elderly-owned American sedans. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but there wasn’t as much outright disdain for them in the comments as I expected. The strongest charge that could be leveled against them, it seems, is that they’re boring. There are worse crimes.

The Chevy won by a bit, but personally, I’d rock either one of them for cheap daily transportation. Given the choice, I think I’d lean towards the Spirit, for ease of repair and maintenance, and I think it will stay nicer longer. But either one would do.

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One car cultural phenomenon that never ceases to amaze me is the battle over seat belts. In my household growing up, it was never a question: First thing you do when you sit down in the car is fasten your seat belt. It’s ingrained, and now I feel weird even backing the car out of the garage without fastening it. But I know there are some drivers, even now, who refuse to wear them, even though it’s the law in every US state except New Hampshire.

Federal laws have stopped short of requiring seat belt use, but they have made every effort to make it hard to not use them. Buzzers and chimes, interlocks, red lights on the dash, and – starting in 1989 – a requirement for some sort of “passive restraint system” in cars have made it impractical, but not impossible, to avoid seat belts for whatever reason. By far the most irritating of these systems was the motorized automatic shoulder harness, which still required a lap belt to be fastened manually for any real protection in a crash. Of US domestic makers, Ford embraced this “solution” most strongly, and both of today’s cars, I’m sorry to say, are so equipped.

1989 Mercury Cougar – $2,700

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Engine/drivetrain: 3.8 liter overhead valve V6, four-speed automatic, RWD

Location: Vallejo, CA

Odometer reading: 129,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives great

The Cougar nameplate jumped around a bit over the years: It started out as Mercury’s version of the Ford Mustang, then aligned itself with the Torino and Elite, then the Thunderbird for many years. In 1989, when the Thunderbird graduated from the ubiquitous Fox platform to its own independent-suspension MN12 chassis, the Cougar came along for the ride. Like the Fox generation, the MN12 Cougar and Thunderbird had different rooflines – the Thunderbird had a sleeker fastback style, while the Cougar retained a more formal upright rear window.  Personally, I like the Cougar better; it looks like its own thing, rather than an imitation of a BMW 6 Series.

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In 1989, the Cougar was available only with Ford’s Essex 3.8 liter V6, or a supercharged version of the same, in the sporty XR7 version. Theoretically, you could get a Cougar XR7 with a five-speed manual, but I’ve never seen one. Ordinary non-supercharged Cougars like this one were only available with an automatic. This one runs and drives well, according to the seller, and is currently registered.

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Inside, it looks comfy, and has the typical uneasy blend of traditional and high-tech elements so common in American cars of the late ’80s. There’s a digital dash, but lots of fake woodgrain also. The matching blue leather upholstery is in decent shape, and the seller says all the power toys work – yes, including those silly seat belts.

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Outside, you’ve got shiny paint, straight sheetmetal, and nice alloy wheels. If it’s as solid mechanically as the seller claims, this could be a good deal on a car that kind of flies under the radar.

1993 Mercury Villager – $2,500

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Engine/drivetrain: 3.0 liter overhead cam V6, four-speed automatic, FWD

Location: Garden Grove, CA

Odometer reading: 178,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives “just fine”

The Villager is one of very few Mercury models with no corresponding Ford model at all. Ford’s introduction to the minivan market was the rear-wheel-drive Aerostar, but Mercury joined forces with Nissan to create the Villager, which Nissan sold in its own dealerships, wth a few changes, as the Quest.  The styling inside and out is very Ford-like, but the mechanicals underneath are all Nissan, based on the Maxima sedan, including its VG30E three-liter V6.

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Ford appears to have taken a belt-and-suspenders approach to passive safety with the Villager; if I’m seeing it right, this van has both motorized seat belts and a driver’s side airbag. Which is curious, because I thought minivans were classified as light trucks, meaning it wouldn’t have needed any passive restraints at all until 1995. It looks pretty clean inside, especially for a thirty-one-year-old minivan.

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The seller says it runs and drives well, the air conditioning works, and they also mention something I don’t think I’ve ever seen in an ad before: they say the interior is odor-free. After some of the things I’ve smelled in used cars over the years – cigarette smoke, mold, pets, and once what I can only describe as sweaty feet – hearing that the interior of this van smells like nothing at all is definitely a selling point.

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Outside, it has a few dings and dents, but overall it looks pretty good. And I feel like Jason needs to discuss these taillights some time; there’s a whole lot going on back there. Up front, of course, the Villager features Mercury’s signature light bar, and I guarantee one bulb is burned out in it, because one bulb is always burned out in those.

I’ve owned two cars with automatic seat belts before, both Fords actually, and you do get used to them after a while. They’re an annoyance, but I wouldn’t turn down an otherwise nice used car because it had them. These both look like pretty nice used cars. Which one are you willing to overlook the motorized belts for?

(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)

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74 thoughts on “Mercury Electric Seat Belt Blues: 1989 Mercury Cougar vs 1993 Mercury Villager

  1. The Villager is a better car. Nissan was actually good back then, and the Quest/Villager version of the VG30 is non-interference, a revision that Ford demanded.

      1. Ford *USA couldn’t comprehend building a timing system that wouldn’t explode

        Ford Europe had interference timing belt engines. The Zetec came out around this time, and it is interference in Europe, while the US-market Zetec is non-interference. That engine was designed by Ford Europe, but Ford USA demanded they change the US version to non-interference. They were made in different factories. The Euro Zetec was made in UK, while the one we got was made in Mexico.

  2. Will SWG drive 3000 miles across the country to buy another Mercury Cougar? Will he then write a 4 billion word post that will make you laugh, make you cry, make you hurl? Will SWG’s mom show up in the comments again? Tune in next Saturday to find out

  3. I had a 96 Villager once. I really wanted to like the vehicle, as both kids were small and these were the station wagon of the day. The lack of a driver’s side sliding door made access to the child seat difficult as the interior had quad captain’s chairs. They were nice but impractical with a child seat and no door! The 3.0 was seriously underpowered, making highway merges on our much-too-short on-ramps are carefully planned but still very white-knuckling event. Then throw in the random electrical issues the dealer either could not or did not want to find (we’d hear it randomly locking and unlocking its doors at night, the steering wheel switches for radio and cruise control often did unintended things, the rear wiper would work halfway or not at all, etc.) made it all untenable. I fell out of love with it as quickly as I fell in.

  4. We had a villager for a while, it was a fine vehicle, the lack of dual sliding doors is annoying; but being a non interference engine is a definite plus for those who forget that timing belts are a regular maintenance item. Never have been a fan of those cougars.

  5. Really hard choice. I’m one to enjoy a personal luxury coupe, and a van.

    But I really like that Villager, I personally think it’s one of the better minivan designs of the 90’s. I also really appreciate the 190″ length of this thing versus the 200+” length of modern minivans. I probably would have gone Cougar with the Villager being white and all (booooo white) but those graphics save the paint color choice for me.

    1. The Villager/Quest was one of the first minivans to focus more on comfort than pure utility. It drove more like a car than a utility vehicle, thanks to much of the engineering coming from the Maxima.

  6. Drove a ’96 V8 ‘Bird for about 5 years, the MN12’s are fabulous highway cruisers. The 3.8 Essex engine isn’t the most refined and you won’t win any drag races with it, but the car should cruise comfortably all day and then some.

  7. I vote Cougar because of minivan depreciation. Once they reach about 15 years old, all minivans fall to the same floor value of a couple-few grand. So you can get a much newer (and larger) model than this one for the same $2500.

  8. An old minivan that doesn’t smell like 30 years of old french fries, random cheerios, and spilled pop that have all congealed together under wherever the kids sat? That’s a bold claim.

  9. My family had a ’95 Nissan Quest, it went 365,000mi on the original engine and trans. I went to elementary school in it and it moved me into college. Eventually a sticking thermostat caused it to overheat and blow a head gasket. Most reliable vehicle my family has ever had.

  10. Quest/Villager. Not that the Cougar’s awful (it isn’t), but if I’m going to drive something that casts a large-ish shadow, it had better be able to haul stuff.

    The Villager is a decent piece anyway, driving nicely — at least when new — and well put together. Altogether useful, and not ugly.

    Cougars were posh, if not terribly fast if not supercharged. Unlike Mark, I prefer the ‘Bird’s looks. If this were a T-Bird SC, I’d change my vote quickly. But that would cost more if in comparable condition.

    Can’t go wrong with either.

    1. I think that’s where I’m at. The Cougar is a decent deal, but not really my style. I could make use of the Villager. Were I in the market for a minivan, I might consider it.

  11. My first car was a 1994 Villager. My parents bought it when I was 10, and 9 years later it had a student parking sticker on the back and about 150,000 on the odometer. The only big differences between it and the one in this ad are that mine had 2nd row captain’s chairs and a digital gauge cluster. The old battle wagon hauled a dorm room’s worth of stuff and put up with my inexperience in car ownership without breaking a sweat. I have to go with the Villager today for nostalgia alone. The Cougar is a better choice if you want to go cruising.

    1. Oh crap, and mouse fur! Our Villager had the mouse fur upholstery and a super snazzy inflatable bag lumbar support for the driver. It had some options over the base model but not the Nautica package with leather and little sailboats on everything. My parents were willing to pay extra for ABS and power niceties, but not enough for the branding.

  12. Those were the “nice” minivans at the time. I grew up in a fairly well off area and they were really common among my friends families. Still voted cougar because the upgrade possibilities are almost endless. I’ll ignore the fact that I wouldn’t get around to any of those upgrades and dream that I would. Also should be able to find the parts to make it a manual belt fairly easily up here in Canada.

  13. I was ready to pick the Cougar without even reading the write ups. I’ve always had a hankering for one. If I was in the market, this one would merit serious consideration, even if I had to go to California to get it.

  14. Maybe it’s because I was just young enough when motorized seatbelts were new (my aunt had an early Saturn, I later had an early 90’s Escort), but they’re fun novelty to me rather than stupid hassle.

    Now, the Villager looks like a fantastic time capsule, but even with the 3.8, and even if I prefer the Walmart 6-Series, I’m not passing up the MN12.

      1. With the front seat shoved all the way forward or removed, I bet this thing could move most couches. But you are right, these older minivans are a whopping foot shorter than modern ones.

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