The Mariner is far from the late 60’s Mercury Cougar I always loved.

-sorry for lighting, I was filming in the late afternoon.
Top 4 Reasons to buy:
1. Affordable
2. Reliable (Generally, cars built year after year on the same platform means the manufacture trusts it)
3. Hybrid offers good MPG
4. Very comfy seats with leather trim.

Top 4 reasons not to buy:
1. Boring to drive.
2. Tacky interior lighting (very toy like)
3. Other options like Ford or Mazda might be offering better lease of Finance 
4. staple welding, plastic fit and finish, just not work the price point.

Other cars to consider: Mazda Tribute and Ford Escape (pretty much exactly the same) Honda Pilot

Some links maybe you should look at as a consumer:

2010-2009 was unchanged

Pricing info: autos.yahoo.com/2010_mercury_mariner/
usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Mercury_Mariner/

Hybrid Review:
hybridcars.com/suvs-minivans/mercury-mariner-hybrid-overview.html

Consumer Guide- Pick your poison:
consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/all-mercury-mariners.htm

Toyota is in big trouble. This video touches on why.

Here are some really good links to look at!

Which cars are currently not for sale, and some more info from Toyota:
pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/toyota/toyota-consumer-safety-advisory-102572.aspx

Stuff on GM’s offer:
wot.motortrend.com/6601321/auto-news/gm-offers-toyota-lexus-owners-incentives-for-their-recall-woes/index.html

This is a break down of what is really wrong and models that are affected by it:
abcnews.go.com/images/Blotter/ToyotaAcceleratorPedalDealerDailyMessage20100122.pdf

Lexus recalls:
lexusenthusiast.com/lexus/es/5/