I recently had the misfortune of my SUV ending up in the shop for a prolonged period of time. (Hopefully I'll find time to write about that later this weekend).

After some sweet talking by my wife, I was able to get a loaner from the dealership. They kept insisting they could just drop me off at work, but the vehicle was in the shop for the whole week and my job requires me to drive back and forth between hospitals all day. It's not like I stay in one place!

Anyway, the loaner I received was a 2001 Mercury Mountaineer with many options. It was an automatic with leather seats, AM/FM/cassette and CD player, compass, climate control, speed control, outdoor thermometer, and much more. I'm sorry I don't know much about the engine. I only drove it for a week.

Overall, I'd say it handled pretty good. It is bigger than my Isuzu Rodeo, but the ride is still fairly smooth. It doesn't have a very good turning radius, and sometimes I felt like I was driving an 18-wheeler! The ride was not very bumpy, however.

The fuel economy is poor: I was getting 17 mpg. This of course was in town in stop-and-go traffic. (One feature I liked was that it tracks your gas and mileage for you so you don't have to calculate the mpg).

A few details that bothered me:

1. The console between the driver and passenger seats is a little difficult to open. I felt like I was going to break it.

2. Recycled air? I didn't think this was a big feature on cooling systems (it's offered in both my SUV and my wife's Honda), but I like being able to flip on the "recycle air" button. If I get behind a truck that has bad exhaust, it is nice to prevent some of the entry into the vehicle. However, I do not believe this is possible.

3. The back end: The back of the vehicle opens up like a huge hatchback. You need a lot of clearance to get this to open. Makes it difficult if you have a shopping cart near the back end.

4. Mercury: I've never been really impressed with the Mercury name, so I guess that's another fault.

5. It locks the doors every time you start driving. I suppose this is a safety feature, but I wish it automatically unlocked when you came to a stop and put it in park. I always need to get things out of my back seat, and every time I got out of the car to do so, it was locked!

The last thing I did like was that there are controls for the temperature, fan, and stereo right on the steering wheel. This allows for less reaching over to change radio stations, etc. However, it also seems to be a distraction that could take someone's eyes off the road.

I don't think I would ever buy a Mountaineer, but it was nice to drive for a week.
Amount Paid (US$): loaner