l have a '99 mercury mystique. love my car to death, it is amazing and so good to me. BUT, lately it is been ''hesitating''... like, it will take a couple extra seconds to kick into gear when l accelerate. It also is making a sort of whurring noise, but it is running just fine, except for the hesitating part. Could it just be that it is an older car, the whirring noise? It just sounds a bit weird i'm not so sure how to explain it. l dont think it is the fan belt. Im thinking that the hesitation in switching gears could possibly be the transmission? if anyone has any advice, it'd be great, thank ya. l already took it to the shop they said there is not much wrong but it was like a month ago, l know my baby and l know what it is supposed to sound like and this is NOT how it is :-[
okay.
first off, l dont give a sh!t what you think about my car. i'm asking for advice, not opinions. my ''mercury mistake'' is something that l saved up to buy myself, because my first car got totally f0uccked. l do not need your opinions on the car, sorry if mommy and daddy bought your car, l bought my own and as long as i'm happy with it that is all that matters, thank YOU very much. let is grow up now, shall we? :-]

and thank you everyone else. getting good feedback so far.
it is a 6 cyc

when was the last time the transmission pan was serviced? like replaced the filter and fluid and gasket or a transmission flush??? try flushing out your tranny this could help with the hesitation of gear shifting

The sound is more then likely the fan belt if it has not been replaced in a while being 50k or so give or take

If not it could be a NUMBER of things from bad bearing, etc, etc, etc

While not super popular in North America an excellent car in my opinion. But then l do prefer European cars.
The whirr may be the electric fan.
Consider a complete tune up to eliminate the hesitation. This may involve replacment of some of the rubber hoses in case u have a vacuum leak & cleaning of the injectors which l highly recommend & the O2 sensor. This may run u up to $1000 for the complete service so be prepared but the car should run as good as new when complete.
if u r on a budget consider a basic tune up & service the car in stages until the hesitation is eliminated.
A good shop should be able to test & eliminate such things as rubber hoses, vacuum leaks, & O2 sensor.
When u take the car in only ask for what u need. do not give them any ideas!!!
If u r doing this youself do an oil/filter change, replace the air filter, the spark plugs & see what happens. Then check & replace the rubber hoses to & from the throttle body as well as any vacuum lines.
If u can remove the injectors & take them in to be cleaned. Expect to pay $25 to $35 each.
And a good intake & throttle body cleaning using an O2 sensor safe product.

is it the 4 or the 6 cyc? budy of mine had the 6 and it ran like a top, till the computer fired for some reason. take it to a dealer or some where that has a code scanner and see if it throws an codes. you could just need to change your trans fluid, spark plugs, timming belt/gears, just a general tune up.

if you do discover it is your transmission and the car has quite a bit of miles dont bother with the fluid change and get it rebuilt, when you remove the fluid that the car is used to having in it, it will make it slip worse, and or operate not as well

These cars are famous for timing belt, timing belt pulleys making noise

Katie, unfortunately the nickname, ''Mistake'' is well-deserved with these cars.

When they get some age & miles on them, they have LOTS of problems. Some r mentioned here already. Contour/Mytiques had recall after recall, & problem after problem.there IS a reason Ford only made them for 4 years.

Without seeing the car myself, it sounds like the beginnings of a transmission problem.
Basic things to check r trans fluid level, & what the fluid looks & smells like. Is it red, or is a darker & smelly?
Getting a diagnostic run might be a good idea, too.
The noise.well, it could be the transmission, timing belt, fan. Lots of things.

And l know u might not want to hear this, but l really would not spend much money on fixing that car. It is simply not worth it, & something else expensive will likely break or cause trouble before u can get ur money is worth out of the first expensive repair.
If it needs transmission work or something else expensive, take it as a lesson learned & trade it while it still runs.