One problem related to paint has been reported for the 1999 Mercury Cougar. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
I have always had my car washed and rust proofed during the winter ever 2 weeks. Last December the paint under the bottom of both the drivers and passenger doors started having the paint bubble up on both rocker panels. It started bubbling up then curling and the pain started coming off. Ive seen many other Cougars with this same problem and feel it is due to a defect in the paint that was used or something missing from the paint job that was done.