Where each one leads
Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class
- Against cars of the same year, the Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class comes out better in New York safety inspections (fails 25% less often than average) than the Mercury Cougar (fails 42% more often than average).
Mercury Cougar
Ahead on none of the like-for-like measures.
Only measures that do not depend on how many cars were sold: pass and failure rates against cars of the same age, ratings, fuel use and CO₂. How we compare
At a glance
| Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class | Mercury Cougar | |
|---|---|---|
| Model years in the US safety record | 2000–2006 | 1981–2002 |
| Licensed in the United Kingdom | 19,859 | — |
| On the road in the Netherlands | 4,802 | — |
| In traffic in Finland | 1,647 | — |
EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).
Reliability and problems
| Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class | Mercury Cougar | |
|---|---|---|
| New York safety inspections failed | 1.6% | 1.9% |
| … against cars of the same year | −25% | +42% |
| Illogical odometer records (NL) | 12.3% | — |
| US owner complaints | 35 | 1,886 |
| Most complaints about | Electrical system | Engine and engine cooling |
| Model year with most complaints | 2001 (14) | 1999 (454) |
| US recall campaigns | 2 | 27 |
| Manufacturer service bulletins | 35 | 1,197 |
| NHTSA defect investigations | 5 | 41 |
Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).
Fuel, emissions and price
| Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class | Mercury Cougar | |
|---|---|---|
| Official combined fuel use, Canada | — | 9.5 l/100 km (1999) |
| Dutch list price when new (median) | €69,344 | — |
| Average odometer in Finland | 244,000 km | — |
Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).