The Mercury brand is used in the United States, Canada and Mexico. In 1999, Mercury models were renamed as Fords in both the Mexico and the Canada. The Mercury Grand Marquis, Mountaineer, and Monterey are exported to several countries in the Middle East. Mercury is an automobile marque of the Ford Motor Company established in 1939 to market near-luxury cars slotted between entry-level Ford and luxury Lincoln models, similar to General Motors' Buick brand and DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler brand. Till today most Mercury models are based on Ford platforms. The Mercury name comes from the "messenger of the gods" of Roman mythology, and during its early years, the Mercury brand was known for its performance, with that being briefly revived in 2003 with the Mercury Marauder.

As of 2006, Mercury's range is quite small and very similar to those sold under the brand "Ford". Many industry observers have questioned whether Mercury will survive in the long term, but Ford insists that there is no intent of letting the brand die. The introduction of new models, such as the Montego, the Milan, the Mariner, and the Meta One concept would seem to bear that out. Its alliance with Lincoln has helped to keep the brand alive; all Lincoln dealers also sell Mercury vehicles, as they desire some lower-priced vehicles in their showrooms. As part of their effort to re-assert the brand, Mercury has begun implementing design elements common to all of their vehicles to create a more "unified" marque. These include an update of the signature "waterfall" front grille and badge lettering on the basis of last generation Cougar.

Mercury sales peaked in 1978 at 580,000 and again in 1993 at more than 480,000. Since then, sales have declined by more than half to roughly 200,000 per annum. In the mid-1990s the Mercury car brand received some good PR when country music star Alan Jackson scored a hit with a cover of KC Douglas' "Mercury Blues", a song, which heaps complimentary praise on their vehicle range.

Tips to Buy Used Mercury Cars

The purchase of a dependable, reasonably priced used four-wheel drive is not a matter of chance or luck; instead, it is a matter of knowledge and understanding. Doing some research is one of the most important factors in successfully purchasing a dependable used Jeep at a good price.

Narrowing down your dream list is a bit more difficult for used cars than new cars because there are so many used vehicles available on the market. Talk to your friends or acquaintances who drive cars that appeal to you; word of mouth is often one of the best ways to gather information about reliability or quirks of certain used cars. You can find more about Mercury used cars at http://www.usedcarx.com.