How do you like your Grand Marquis??

[tune1552]

I am in the market, have owned a Ford and a 65 Merc. I want to know what the feelings are on the Grand Marquis......I like the car, just wonder about the quality, life I can expect to get out of it? Any major problems with this line? Thanks everybody........

Mike

[reekor]

The grand marquis and crown victoria (ford's sister car) are based on the Lincoln Town Car major differance is the most of the Town Car's base options are optional on the grand marquis and crown victoria. As for the quality, I think they are solid cars, I just retired a 89 crown vic that I bought 4 years ago for $800, other then a tune-up, brakes and tires, it didn't cost me a thing in the 4 years i had it. Just replaced it with a 97. I also own a 94 vic, only had it a year now no problems yet. The 92 grand marquis I have had for 5 years now and had to repair the air-ride, front breaks twice, a rad replacement and normal tune-up stuff.Of and the A/C compressor died at 220,000km no plans to repair it. The car still runs great at 260,000km and it didn't score much worse then my 94 vic with 117,000km on the drive-clean test. The only thing the I have found is that the 4.6 models 92 and up have more power and get better gas mileage then the 91 and older 5.0 models. If you want a real opinion on these cars ask a cop or a cab driver they spend more time then
anyone in these cars.

Originally Posted by tune1552

I am in the market, have owned a Ford and a 65 Merc. I want to know what the feelings are on the Grand Marquis......I like the car, just wonder about the quality, life I can expect to get out of it? Any major problems with this line? Thanks everybody........

Mike

[HEMIDAZE]

My wife drives a 1998. It's pushing 100,000 miles with nothing but regular maintenance. 1 battery, 1 alternator, fan belt and idler pulleys, 1 set of brakes and it's on it's second set of tires. She loves it but is thinking about getting a small SUV when she trades in a couple of years. It's a great car for the money. You can fit four dead bodies in the trunk (so I am told). We were in Paducha last July and they were advertising new leftover 2005s for $16,900.

[timdaley]

I have an '89 Grand Marquis, I love it, and just like everyone else has mentioned, regular maintainence and they will run and run, and run. With my '89 I have a few problems trying to find parts, - (Cosmetic stuff) My glove compartment is broken, I'd like to get that fixed, the Front end assembly has a Crack in it I'd like to repair that at a resonable cost, Power door locks don't work all that great, just stuff like that, but besides that I will take my '89 Grand marquis over anything on the road. and best of all you can't beat the payments. $0.00 a month.......

[Marco Sr.]

I have had an 86 GM Wagon now for more than 5 years, It was given to me as trade off for work that I had done and has been quite a reliable vehicle over the 5 years.

I have only put 1 set of tires on regular oil changes and 1 ignition coil and module and 1 set of brakes, other than that I did have to replace the alternator twice but to no fault of the vehicle.

Since my daughter jump started the vehicle after running the battery down (by leaving the lights on all day) and she hooked up the cable backwards which is what popped the first alternator, the second one was just defective from the day I put it in although the store I bought it from tested it several times and thier tester said everything was in spec except the amp light wouldn't go off so i finally told them I'm not about to go through winter with a potentially bad alternator so they gave me another one and that has been working fine since.

I would rate the longevity of the vehicle very high, but the costs of parts are equally as high of course, I am an old mechanic and can remember when almost all parts were well under $100.00 and when alternators ran about 35.00-40.00 not the 116.00 that this one cost.

I did a little checking (out of curiosity) the front brake pads for the GM cost me 35.00 for the mid grade pads and after matching my old ones to and LTD of the same year they were the same pads but the cost of replacement parts were 22.00 for the mid grade pads on the LTD. So this means that you are also paying for the name as well as for parts.

Marco Sr.

Originally Posted by tune1552

I am in the market, have owned a Ford and a 65 Merc. I want to know what the feelings are on the Grand Marquis......I like the car, just wonder about the quality, life I can expect to get out of it? Any major problems with this line? Thanks everybody........

Mike

[Huney1]

Senior citizen and owned 3 Crown Vics 3 Marquis and love every one of them. They're set on a Lincoln frame and they're the last of the big highway cruisers with rear wheel drive. For what they cost they're very safe and a hard value to beat and like the man said, ask a cop or cabbie what vehicle they prefer. Lots of them go 300K miles and I read in the cities Crown Vic cabs do 500K miles. For it's size our GS gets 16 around town and 23 on the road, but it only has 6K miles on it and they don't get broke in good until 20K miles. Everytime I floor the 4.6 V8 it never ceases to amaze me how fast it is and I love to hear that big engine growl.

Crown Vics are fleet cars therefore cost less and depreciate faster but if you're planning on keeping it a long time depreciation shouldn't matter.

[tune1552]

Thanks for the feedback everybody......Today I purchased my first Grand Marquis.....Its an 03 LS, blue with tanish/grey leather. I really dig this car, rides so smooth, I think we will be together for a long time! She looks so good sitting next to my 65 Mercury Comet!

[Huney1]

Congraculations, you made a wise decision. Don't get overzealous changing oil and if you're not driving under adverse conditions oil change every six months or 7K miles is OK. We put 6 to 8K a year on ours so change oil every six months. Not because it's dirty but because short trips back & forth to work puts more contaminants in the oil and the engine doesn't get hot enough long enough to burn out the oil crud.

[cobradude360]

i do mine bout every 2k useing quakerstate high milage oil i love it reason being is cuz i burn oil dang valve seals and im one of the only people in my class who can drive so being 16 and having a gf just costs u more plus my work is 10 miles aaway so it adds up all stop and go so yea and btw i love mine

[Huney1]

Hate to bust your bubble there CobraDude, but you aren't doing your car any favors by changing oil every 2K miles. Say WHAT? Yup, all you're doing is wasting your money putting more money in the Arabs pockets. http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/mobil1.html Engine wear actually decreases as oil ages. This has also been substantiated in testing conducted by Ford Motor Co. and ConocoPhillips, and reported in SAE Technical Paper 2003-01-3119. What this means is that compulsive oil changers are actually causing more engine wear than the people who let their engine's oil get some age on it.
Topping up the crankcase is a critical component of extended oil change intervals, and frequent filter changes are most likely the key to extreme-length intervals. The cumulative effect of even minor top-ups, let alone a filter change, substantially increases the longevity of the oil.

I guess everyone has to do what they think is right but according to the article if you change the fliter at 5K mi then top off the oil you can easy go 10K mi between changes. Not much highway driving, mostly short distance and around town.I use WalMart SuperTech full synthetic 10W-30 and change oil & filter every 5K mi or six months. I think about the high price of oil and I try and conserve not only gas but any kind of oil based lubricant or product. By the way, SuperTech full syn oil is made by Warren Oil Co $12.88 for five quarts and meets the same API specs as Mobil1 and Walmart SuperTech Filters about two bucks made by Champion Labs.

If you're *really* interested in educating yourself about oil, here you go: www.bobistheoilguy.com http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/...1;t=010523;p=0 http://www.gm.com/company/gmability/...or_041603.html

http://www.filtercouncil.org/techdata/tsbs/94-1.html "For instance, for a number of years, most new vehicle owners' manuals have recommended oil changes every 7,500 miles (12,000 km) or 12 months, and oil filter changes at the first oil change and thereafter at every second oil change, or at 15,000 mile (24,000 km) intervals for "NORMAL" service. For diesel and turbocharged engines, the owners' manuals recommend more frequent oil and filter changes."

[FTLOSM]

Had my Marquis about 2 yrs now, its a 97 so it has its minor quirks being used and all but at 68,000 it is still overall a very nice sold full body smooth fast car.

Would recommend to anyone in the market for sure to have them at least drive one, if you get a LS with digital dash and leather with full power options its not much different than a Lincoln except in pricetag.

Bill

[richter111]

I have a 1990 Merc with 72K on it. I love it

Ive also owned a 1986 Merc Wagon, 249 K before the rust ate it alive. I live in Wisconsin

a 1984 GM, traded it for a aero star (yuck)

and a 1992 Crown Vic. 149 K currently own the car as well

Loved every one of them. The usual Ford repair items, alt, trans flush (be religious about this) otherwise good reliable transportation

Ric

[tune1552]

Since I bought it I have got the oil changed, I had them do a trans flush and they dropped the pan and replaced the gasket.......Soon I will get the coolant flush done. I plan on rotating the tires every other oil change or so, I always do this with my cars. I really hope I get the miles and years that I hear so many on this site talk about. I guess I am one of the kind of people that only puts full trust in a Honda or a Toyota, but they just dont have the room and comfort of this kick ass Grand Marquis. I really love this car.

Thanks for the info, Take care.

Mike

[tune1552]

Since I bought it I have got the oil changed, I had them do a trans flush and they dropped the pan and replaced the gasket.......Soon I will get the coolant flush done. I plan on rotating the tires every other oil change or so, I always do this with my cars. I really hope I get the miles and years that I hear so many on this site talk about. I guess I am one of the kind of people that only puts full trust in a Honda or a Toyota, but they just dont have the room and comfort of this kick ass Grand Marquis. I really love this car.

Thanks for the info, Take care.

Mike

[grandman04]

I Just Got My Grand As Well, 04 Limited, Wit 16k, I Really Lik This Car, I Wuz A Chevy Man 4 A While, And I Decided 2 Giv Ford A Chance, So Far, It's Been Good, I Use Castrol 5-20 Syn !!! I'll Put My Pic Up N Alil, Cleanest Merc In D-town !!!! Holla