Here’s how the Villager minivan was far more Nissan than Mercury

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In this episode I provide the history of the Mercury Villager, Ford's first front-wheel-drive minivan that built in partnership with Nissan, who also offered the nearly identical Nissan Quest. Launched in 1992, it was intended to fill the gap left by the Aerostar for buyers who preferred a front-wheel-drive minivan. It reached a second generation in 1999, but sales never came close to rival Chrysler. Ford ended its partnership with Nissan in 2002, but Nissan introduced a third generation Quest in 2004, with a much more radical design inside and out. It failed to increase sales from the previous, leading to its cancellation in 2009. Nissan tried one more time with a fourth gen in 2011, but sales continued to far until its final cancellation in 2017.

[@anthonyrivera4735]

Do a video on the Ford Explorer sport trac pickup

[@spletest8977]

The 3rd gen Quest was definitely the best of the Quest minivans. I personally liked it's weirdness but what made it impressive was how it drove. It was quick, responsive, felt planted on the road, and handled extremely well. A lot of features on it were pretty cool too, it would have been nice to see the 4th gen retain some of it.

[@HoosierDaddy_]

Had a Villager. Went cross country with my wife and 5 kids aged 6 months old to 14. Absolutely had no problems with it. I had it for a few years. It was extremely reliable and very comfortable. I sold it at about 90k miles with no issues at all. I upgraded to a Toyota Sequoia. Another vehicle I loved.

[@Nate112780]

My parents bought a 1st year, 1st Gen Villager LS in 1992 that was emerald green with silver on the bottom. We used it to drive from Washington state to Washington DC that first summer. And a few years later, to drive to Alaska. It was a great van when it came out. As a kid, I remember the rear controls in the middle seat area for the heat/AC and controls for the radio with two headphone jacks. It was great for hauling stuff too.

[@Noah_E]

My mom bought a top of the line Villager brand new in 1995. She liked the adjustable pedals (she's 5'-2") but it started nickel and diming us after less than 40k miles. The leather seats even had to be redone despite her being the only person in it most of the time because my brother and I already had our own cars. It just wasn't a quality product and a family friend's Toyota Sienna was across the board better than it. After decades of owning Lincoln and Mercury cars it soured her on them and it was replaced by a Subaru Forester. She now has her 3rd Subaru and will trade it for a 4th soon. My dad had a Sable wagon at the time and traded it for a Grand Cherokee. That ended his streak of owning Mercurys too and he is now on his fourth Grand Cherokee.

[@trbstang]

It was a pretty good "starter minivan" back in the day. We got a nice mid level 95 GS model back in 94 after our second child was born. It was $19,990 with a sticker price of $22,605. I still have all the paperwork and brochure! One of the reasons we got it was the fact it was basically a Nissan Maxima power train. The sliding third seat was a good idea for us. We kept it until 2004, and it stayed in the family for another 10 years or so.

[@kaitospence18]

Trivia: the last Nissan Quest also shares with the Nissan Elgrand which rivals the Toyota Alphard/Vellfire/Lexus LM and as of today........it's still on sale in Japan

[@Itheman123456789]

Digital gauge cluster is one of my favorites of the time. Looked soo futuristic

[@marcberm]

I remember driving my parents' 2000's Quest. For some reason I could never get used to the ridiculously weird body shape and proportions, and I almost always found it nearly impossible to park straight.

[@kirkericson2722]

Gotta respect Nissan for trying different things with their styling in the early '00s - the Quest, Murano, and Maxima with the fixed longitudinal skylights definitely were unique, even if they were poorly executed.

[@davinp]

The second driver's sliding door became so popular, that Chrysler made it standard equipment. It was originally offered as an option.

[@warfighter4129]

My family owned a 99 Nissan Quest in Maroon. We had it running consistently for over 20 years with maintenance.. when things usually broke. It was old enough that when I was born, I was taken home from the hospital in it, and when I got my license I was driving it. Unfortunately the NJ Rustbelt had its firm grasp on her and she became too expensive to fix. The final blow was when I tried to stop while coming home from school, the breaks gave out and my foot went to the floor. Avoided any accidents, but most of the break lines were shot and we didn`t know how, or had the money to replace them. I really miss that Van sometimes, and she had the get-up and go whenever you needed it. Anyone who says cars can`t be a part of the family has no idea. ❤

[@legodude666]

I know this episode wouldn't focus on a particular old car, but have you ever considered doing an episode on the Cash for Clunkers program that pretty much took the bulk of these cars on the channel off the road?

[@votekyle3000]

The last generation Quest always felt like a cargo van converted to passenger use, we had them in the rental fleet rarely.

[@zoidzoid87]

My mom had 2 villagers. A 1997 fully loaded and a 1999 sport. Fun fact the villager sport and quest SE had suspension upgrades to make them handle better. I learned how to drive in that van. And I still want one to this day.

[@deaf2819]

People don’t realize what a status symbol some of these vans were in their time. If you had a long wheel base or grand caravan grand voyager and town and country you were the shit. If you had the short wb ehhhh depended on options. Same with Chevy venture lwb and short I thing the second gen quest and villager did nice slotting between and they sold well. Then the SUV’s started touting their “ commanding road views” and massive interiors which still sometimes were less ergonomic and useful over vans. I know people with Escalade esv’s that borrow Toyota siennas and odysseys for work.

[@FireAngelZero]

I actually learned to drive in an early 2000s Nissan Quest… one of my relatives had one and would let me drive it while I had my learners permit… good times…

[@Henry_Jones]

The problem with these were they were smaller than a caravan, more expensive than a grand caravan, and you couldt remove the 3rd row bench. They sold well because they were reliable, unlike most chrysler minivans.

[@kingkat8080]

I worked at a Lincoln-Mercury car dealer in the early 2000s and I saw a ton of these. I'm not big on Vans but I always liked these. Dark blue and black were the best colors IMO.

[@orangejjay]

I'm not sure why but knowing that we both grew up in the same area makes me love this channel even more.