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Mercury Mariner

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    tidestertidester Member Posts: 10,059
    Try this: Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute/Mercury Mariner: Prices Paid & Buying Experience

     

    tidester, host
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    pelachpelach Member Posts: 1
    I test drove a new Mariner today and armed with the information on this forum I was curious if the intermittent vibration issue would reveal itself to me. And it did!!! Sure enough as I approached 70 mph the steering wheel started to vibrate, not a whole lot but to unacceptable levels. And yes it is intermittent which makes the matter worse (frustrating). I think it might have something to do with the front wheel drive assembly on this car because it seems to be a problem brought on by just the right amount of acceleration at just the right speed (70mph). Whatever, it killed my interest in this car. For those owners that experience this problem, it is not acceptable and Ford Motor Co. should buy back the car.
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    housethouset Member Posts: 36
    I want to just add my opinion.. Not every Mariner has this problem. I have a V6 4WD Premier model and tested to see if I can achieve any vibration. Nothing.. I tried different rev levels and speeds above 70, but the steering wheel remained nice and still. Please post as to what type of Mariner you test drove to see if there is a correlation with engine types and drivetrains.
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    flasvtflasvt Member Posts: 64
    Exact same thing here. Can't get my Mariner (Premier FWD) to vibrate as described.
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    laughingboylaughingboy Member Posts: 1
    Purchased Mariner Luxury in Jan. w/FWD, V6, picking it up on 2/19. Wanted a combo cassette/CD rather than just CD offered w/car.Dealer has to contract it out to install this audio. Also got side rails, mud guards,bug shield (so females can see where front of car is), roof rack, and convenience storage. Bought because of all the positives I have been seeing on this site. Out the door, tax included = $22,750 after rebate. Did I get a good deal? Now I see hybrid coming out next year. Should I have waited?
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    tidestertidester Member Posts: 10,059
    You might want to check out this discussion: Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute/Mercury Mariner: Prices Paid & Buying Experience

     

    tidester, host
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    scape2scape2 Member Posts: 4,123
    of these Mariners around. I own an 01 Escape XLT V6 4Wd and it has been a good vehicle. Just wondering, has anyone compared the two? Is the Mariner interior more "luxurious" feeling? Ride different? More standard options?
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    housethouset Member Posts: 36
    I went with the Mariner for everyhing you mention above... Interior is higher quality and more luxurious. Ride however is the same as the 05 Escape. More standard options especially comparing the Premier to the Limited, and just about the same price. I think i was quoted about 300 less for an Escape Limited with the luxury package.
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    pats1fanpats1fan Member Posts: 18
    It is a Premier V6 4WD. When I demanded to drive another one, it too vibrated. Ford is refusing to do anything about this, and still consider it within "acceptable levels." The dealership offered to give me free oil changes (whoopie), however it is only a 2 year lease.
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    pats1fanpats1fan Member Posts: 18
    I just got off the phone with Ford. The final word is that Ford will not replace the vehicle. Again, both Ford and the dealer do not deny that it vibrates. The rep eluded to there being a problem with some of the Premier V6 4WD, but wouldn't elaborate. My only advice to a potential buyer would be to positively drive whichever one they give you on delivery at least 72mph BEFORE you sign the contract. The one you test drive might not have the problem, but the one they give you might.
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    flasvtflasvt Member Posts: 64
    Martin Padget from the Car Connection suprised us this morning with pearls like the following quote:
    "...It's like riding in a sport-ute made over by the cast of Designing Women, but even macho men will appreciate the Mariner's upgraded seats front and back..."

    For those interested in the whole article:
    http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=8187&sid=181&n=- 157
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    larry51klarry51k Member Posts: 35
    Has anyone had a remote starter installed on their Mariner? By the dealer or elsewhere? My dealer wants $100 more than I can get somewhere else. My other concern is warranty questions.
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    keh0508keh0508 Member Posts: 2
    Don't know if this is the same problem you're having, but I've noticed a whining noise in the front end while I'm driving (I also have the Premier 4wd). I ended up taking it to the dealership 2wks ago because my transmission broke- haven't been able to fix it yet, and 'by the way' the part to fix that front end noise hasn't even been made yet. I've had the car only 3 months.
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    housethouset Member Posts: 36
    Can you explain your transmission issue? My tranny had done something strange.. It didn't kick into gear and when it finally did, it caused the car to "buck". Just want to see if this is the start of something.
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    pats1fanpats1fan Member Posts: 18
    I haven't had the noise, only the vibration. I have had a few instances of the transmission being slow to respond, but not enough to warrant a service appointment. My newest repair is now the Mach 300 stereo which started displaying words like "ibbas bu" for songs on the radio. That, and it tends to send all of the music forward and shuts off the sub woofer. Anyway, they are replacing it. While in service I received an update that the replacement brakes (and anyone in a cold climate should have the brake noise/crunching/rubbing issue)have been delayed for one month.
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    keh0508keh0508 Member Posts: 2
    Yes, the transmission problem... we were driving about 65mph and all of a sudden, the engine revved up to 5-6000rpm, like it was stuck in 3rd gear, and the overdrive light started blinking. After that, we couldn't drive it above 40mph without the engine revving up that way. The dealership rebuilt our entire transmission and found that some of the parts had been assembled incorrectly in the factory, and they repaired those. But when they went to bring us our car, they couldn't get it to go in reverse, so, needless to say, it's still in the shop.
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    clariosclarios Member Posts: 19
    After many trips to the dealer for this noise, we now know that it is the Mach 300's cooling fan. We tested a different Mariner, and it had the same noise. Ford says that is part of the design of the stereo system, and there is nothing that can be done. I have listened to many car stereos, both cheap and top of the line. I never heard a noise like the one on the Mariner, which I think is unacceptable. Has anyone else had any experiences with this high pitch noise?
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    flasvtflasvt Member Posts: 64
    I have Mach300 with a Sirius Tuner and I did experience that noise for the first few weeks of ownership, then it faded away. I bought my car the last days of November so by mid December the noise was gone until today.
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    clariosclarios Member Posts: 19
    Lucky you... I bought mine back in mid-November. The noise has not gone away.
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    flasvtflasvt Member Posts: 64
    Now that I think of it it may have gone after the Sirius tuner was installed. I did get the tuner that goes with the Mach300 so I wouldn't have two radio units. The fan may have been poorly grounded and the technician may have fixed it in the process. This is just a theory since the technician didn't mention a thing about it.
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    nortsr1nortsr1 Member Posts: 1,060
    Just completed a 1070 mile trip, Melbourne ,Fla. to Southern NJ.(mostly all the way on Rt.95 at approx. 65 to 80 mph.)(if you dont go 80, you get tailgated). My mpg average was 25.2 mpg. No problems except for the DC beltway traffic.
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    rgwrgw Member Posts: 6
    This is a heads-up. I ordered my Mariner 2 months ago. As of this date the vehicle is still sitting at the Ohio plant, along with many others, for a quality problem. Mercury cannot give a date as to when the vehicle will be shipped.
    The fun will really start if the dealer refused to return my deposit. Anyone else have this problem?
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    nortsr1nortsr1 Member Posts: 1,060
    Does anyone know of a website that sells the window deflectors for the 2005 Mariner. I have tried several and telephoned them...but no one seems to carry them except the Mercury dealers (about $77.00). I tried to find out if the deflectors for the Ford Escape and the Mazda Tribute will fit the Mariner...but...no one seems to know. Any input would be appreciated.
    Also the same question for a hood bug deflector!!!
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    clariosclarios Member Posts: 19
    I'm glad you mentioned that the noise went away AFTER you got the Satellite tuner. I'll see what the dealer has to say about that. Thanks.
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    flasvtflasvt Member Posts: 64
    Let us knw what they say
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    theman123theman123 Member Posts: 170
    Wassup everybody, I know I'm probably a little late when I tell you all this, becuase you probably already know. But the Mercury Mariner has landed a consumer reports Best Buy for 05. Your thoughts

    http://auto.consumerguide.com/Auto/New/reviews/full/index.cfm/id/37768/Act/Showall/

    :shades:
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    mphxazmphxaz Member Posts: 27
    As well as it's siblings, the 05 Tribute and 05 Escape ...... :)
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    "Every year the editors at Edmunds.com vote on the "most wanted" vehicles. Now it's your turn. Forget about what you think ought to win based on stats and specs; choose the vehicle you'd want parked in your driveway. Vote today: this survey will only be available for a limited time."

    Consumers' Most Wanted Vehicles for 2005

    Steve, Host
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    kcrainkcrain Member Posts: 4
    My wife and I just unloaded our Land Rover Freelander in favor of a 2005 Mariner Luxury V6 AWD. Specs are:

    -leather seats, moonroof, dynamic side impact airbags, lux enhancement pkg

    We had to pass on the first one we looked at...had cheesy custom pinstripes applied and the hood was visibly crooked. Fortunately another dealer had one on his lot, so we did the deal.

    Thanks to the great info on this site, I knew to road test at speed to check for vibration/shaking...none found at any speed.
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    nortsr1nortsr1 Member Posts: 1,060
    I have had my Mariner since Jan.(same model and extras as yours) and I now have over 5000 miles on same. I recently made a trip from Fla. to NJ and averaged approx. 24 to 26 miles per gallon and that was driving 70 or better most of the way.No problems and it handles very well.
    Enjoy your new Mariner.
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    kcrainkcrain Member Posts: 4
    Very good to hear, and thanks for the comments!

    The ride home from the dealer was definitely enjoyable, even compared against the Freelander. The non-Mach stereo is a vast improvement over the Land Rover equipment, the steering/handling is no less precise, the ride is a tad smoother over potholes, and the V6 answers the throttle fairly crisply. The leather seats are waaaay more comfy and supportive than the Land Rover chairs.
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    ANT14ANT14 Member Posts: 2,687
    Wow...Freelander... The Mariner is quite the improvement overall. I'm glad your enjoying your new Mariner. next Freelander actually will share C1 architecture (Focus based)... as well the next Escape/Tribute/Mariner.
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    tidestertidester Member Posts: 10,059
    You get the Creative Title Award for the day! ;)

    tidester, host
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    kcrainkcrain Member Posts: 4
    If it's got a Land Rover sticker on it, I'll skip it and move on. New rule I have following our experience. Sorry Land Rover, you blew it several times over.
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    ANT14ANT14 Member Posts: 2,687
    LandRover was posting some very unreliable ratings for quite many years already. Luckily the majority of their vehicles are being complete redesigned, therefore, reliability is being improved. It takes Ford about 5 years to complete improve reliability across the board. Not much effort has been placed upon the Freelander, since it'll go into a common Ford architecture shortly.

    All the new vehicles such as LR3, Range Rover Sport, are Ford engineered with the goal of improving reliability, and providing sufficient parts in a steady dealer network.

    The same issue occured with Jaguar, and with Volvo. Last generation VolvoS40 was a reliability nightmare. Now the new one (C1 Focus based) is posting very good reliability ratings all around. And the same will occur with LR, just gotta give it some time.

    But as for the Mariner, they all will migrate to the same C1 architecture next life cycle, although the Freelander will be the first vehicle to debut (out of the Quadruplets), then will enter the Tribute, Escape, Mariner respectively soon after.
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    rhouser2rhouser2 Member Posts: 114
    when will the escape/tribute/mariner get it's makeover? any idea if it will be similar in size to the current models?
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    ANT14ANT14 Member Posts: 2,687
    Your looking at 07-08', it'll grow just a tad. There will be a midsize-SUV FWD/AWD that will debute using the CD architecture (Fusion, Milan, Zephyr), that will compliment the current Explorer, therefore your not looking for much growth in size overall since that vehicle mentioned, will slot right above it.
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    flasvtflasvt Member Posts: 64
    Hey kcrain,
    I have had a FWD Mariner Premier with the Black Leather and light suede combo since November last year and have nothing but good things to say about it. If you enjoy your as much as I am enjoying mine you will be going back for more. One word of advise of you have long commutes: SIRIUS.

    Welcome :shades:
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    clariosclarios Member Posts: 19
    My latest update on the high-pitched noise coming from the MACH 300 stereo...

    Visteon, the manufacturer of the MACH series of stereos, issued a nation-wide bulletin to all its service centers about this problem. The service centers should take out the stereo's cooling fan, which is the culprit. Visteon has apparently done enough testing to know that removing the cooling fan will NOT cause over-heating. So now I need to take my Mariner to the dealer. They will take out the stereo, and the service center will pick it up on the same day (luckily, there is a service center in the same city, and the stereo slides out by pressing on a couple of pins). They said I should have it back in 2-3 days.

    Now, here is something I thought was interesting... Visteon, as I have found out, is actually owned by Ford. This being the case, why did the dealership not know about this? Even worse, when the dealer called the engineering hot line for dealerships in Michigan, why did they say that that there was nothing they could do because that was how the stereo was designed? Ford, Mercury, Visteon... all one company. Yet, one doesn't know what the other one is doing. I had to dig deep on my own to get this resolved.

    BTW, I will try to get the Visteon bulletin number and post it here, in case others have to go through this.
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    ANT14ANT14 Member Posts: 2,687
    Visteon was owned by Ford, till they decided to go there on way. A move I find rediculous anyways, since they are one of the largest suppliers for Ford and it's subsidiaries. Now Visteon can't make it on it's own, so Ford has gone back to bail them out. This decision was made after Delphi went it's own way from GM.
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    erics1erics1 Member Posts: 1
    My wife and I have 2005 Mariners. My Mariner has a hood mounted bug deflecter that was marked Escape 2001-2004 on the box. Perfect fit with no drilling utilizing the factory holes in the hood. My wife's Mariner has the stick-on window deflectors from a package marked Escape 2001-2004. Again, perfect fit.
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    cgr8golfcgr8golf Member Posts: 1
    This past weekend we purchased a Mariner, Premier- Satellite Gray (a really nice and different color). Thank you to all who have posted on this forum. It was very helpful to read all that you had to say, prior to visiting the dealership and doing a test drive. Our experience at this particular dealership was fantastic - maybe the best experience ever. It is early, but what a great car so far. Roomy, plenty of power and extra's, nice body style and overall look, the leather seats are extremely comfortable and the overall ride, in town, out on the interstate and on our country roads has been excellent.
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    nortsr1nortsr1 Member Posts: 1,060
    erics1...
    Thanks, I just called Fordpartsfast.com and ordered the side window deflectors and bug deflector. I saw the side window deflectors on sale on Ebay for $39.99 and when I called the Ford dealership that had them listed, they verified that... "yes"... the window deflectors and bug delector are in fact the same. Thanks for the follow-up. I will be installing same as soon as they arrive.
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Congrats Cgr8golf - the gray sounds nice.

    Please report some more of the details about your dealer experience over in Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute/Mercury Mariner: Prices Paid & Buying Experience. Thanks,

    Steve, Host
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    hershey4hershey4 Member Posts: 1
    My plan is to buy a loaded Luxury Mariner. Pull out the 6 disc changer and put in a new head unit that can interface with an iPod.

    I won't be doing the work myself. I'm looking into going to Best Buy or Circuit City. My question is if they haven't worked on a Mariner, and I hate being the first, is the "work" going to be the same for a Ford Escape?
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    ANT14ANT14 Member Posts: 2,687
    Being introduced one year before scheduled...

    http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=20922&make_id=trust
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Hollywood Fights to Score First Mercury SUV Hybrid (Inside Line)

    Steve, Host
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    theman123theman123 Member Posts: 170
    That's great news :)
    the Mariner is a shape little SUV and I hope it does well for Mercury. Following the success of the Escape Hybrid the Mariner might to better because of it's upscale looks and interior. The only thing I wish they'd do for the Mercury version is make it a Hybrid V6 it give her a little more power and great fuel economy. Also, the Mariner has been on the market for a year now I've started to see more and more of them on the road. Hopefully when the Hybrid version comes out they could drop the price a little bit to make sell even better. Question were is the Hybrid going to be built in the Avon Lake plant in Ohio or were ? Also, is there going to be a navigation system available in the Mariner Hybrid or does anybody know ?
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    is the Hybrid going to be built in the Avon Lake plant in Ohio?

    I don't know; that's where my Quest was built and it's holding up nicely at 105,000 miles. Remember the Nautica trim line of the Ford Villager, the Quest twin that was also made in Ohio? Maybe the Avon Lake factory attracts those maritime named rigs?

    Steve, Host
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    theman123theman123 Member Posts: 170
    Man all the misspelled words. It's not a shape little SUV it's a sharp little SUV.
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