Love my 2002 Grand Marquis (and the 94 I owned before the 2002). Continuous upgrades and refinements every year, but nothing flashy - why mess with a good thing?
I'll buy another one when this one is worn - normally a minimum of 150,000 miles before that becomes an issue. Current one has 60,000 miles and still on original brakes, tires, etc. Never been in the shop other than for fluids.
After seeing the 2007 Mercury Grand Marquis and comparing it to the 2006 year, the changes, make me glad I bought the 2006 and did not wait for the 2007. In 2006 there were four trim lines, GS, GS CONVENIENCE, LS PREMIUM AND LS ULTIMATE. In 2007 there are only two, GS and LS. In 2006 the 'rear stabalizer bar' and 'rear air suspension' and 'wood grain/leather steering wheel' came as standard on the LS ULTIMATE. The 2007 has the 'rear stabalizer bar' and 'rear air suspension' only available as part of the 'road handling package', which deletes the 'wood/leather steering wheel', plus on models without the road handling package, the wood/leather steering wheel is a extra cost option, and of course the 'road handling package replaces the nice looking whitewall tires with blacksidewall tires. The 2007 has a option package, 'palm beach', which includes 'cashmere leather with embroidered "palm beach logo', satin interior applique in place of polished wood looking trim on the dash, front seat air bags, unique exterior badging, 16" 9 spoke chrome wheels, power heated sideview mirrors with chrome caps and a leather wrapped steering wheel. The 2006 had all of these as standard or optional, with the exception of the 'palm beach badging', and I have looked at both leather interiors on the 2006 and 2007, both look identical except for the palm beach logo. The chrome caps on the side view mirrors was not available on any 2006 model. My 2006 Mercury Grand Marquis Ls as equipped had a MSRP of $34,110. A 2007 model, without the 'road handling package', which I did not want and would not have some of the features I considered as must have, like 'rear stabalizer bar', 'rear air suspension', and the preferred wood/leather steering wheel would have a MSRP of $32,270, equaling a savings of $2040 on the MSRP price. At the time I bought my 2006, Mercury had sent me a $500 inducement voucher to encourage me to buy from dealer stock, plus there was a publicly announced factory to customer rebate of $5000. Thanks to Edmunds,no other internet or other source was giving this information, there was a $2500 marketing factory to dealer rebate. The dealer I bought from honored all of those rebates on a car her had in stock with just exactly what I wanted, plus some options that I would not have paid extra for, like the chrome wheels and full size spare, and the 6 in dash CD, those additional options had a extra cost MSRP of about $1470, and considering the $2500 marketing rebate made the in stock car a better buy than ordering a car and missing this because it would have expired before a ordered car could be built and delivery taken. Not known to me buy pursued by my dealer, Mercury included and 2 year/25,000 mile no charge scheduled maintenance as part of the purchase. My car does not have the 5 year/60,000 mile power train warranty, just the usual 3 year/36,000 mile bumper to bumper, but I do not think this is a loss, my 94 has over 130,000 miles with no power train problems.
New car buying is so much easier to get the best or close to the best price than buying a used car to me. On a new car, you can go to any dealer selling that make and know you can get just what you want and are not tied to a dealer because you can always order the one you want if he does not have it in stock. On a used car, chances are that only one dealer has exactly what you want in a car. In my two new car buying experiences, after taking plenty of time to make sure of what make and model I want, I get all the information possible about it, then even take time to read the new car owner information at a car dealer to make sure I know all the available options, I have found some salesmen do not know their product as well as they should. I even take time to talk to a dealer's service manager and try to get a feel for how their service department treats customers. I always start at invoice price and negotiate from that point, I also have not traded in a car in buying a new car, but would not indicate that until I had my best price quote and then you find out what a dealer is really giving you as trade in on your old car. I have found that there are dealers that do not belong to the Manufacturer's advertising group and those dealers can usually beat the dealers that do belong. My latest car purchase involved a dealer that did belong and like most other dealers he at first included the $500 plus advertising fee in his price, after serious back ahd forth discussions, that amount dropped to the actual $366 he paid the manufacturer. I never found one dealer that belonged to this advertising group that would agree to eliminate this charge. To me it is his choice to belong and I still do not feel I should have to pay for his cost of doing business decision. The other fee that gets my objections is the DOC, or documentation fee that all dealers add on. This fee is set by the dealer and it ranges from the unconsiounable to outrages in price. I paid, less than $50 on my last purchase, but the original figure was $399, and all this is for is the paperwork in sales contract, and the temporary tag fee. I drive my cars until they are ready for retirement, my previous car is a 94 crown vic and kept it because it has and is such a good car, after 12 years and wanting a newer car with some newer comfort and safety features, buying new makes sense for me, I outdrive the depreciation and trade in factors of buying new versus buying used.
I was with you until the last sentence. When YOU buy new - who takes the first ownership depreciation of up to 25% and how do you figure you outdrive the depreciation? Amortizing the depreciation does not eliminate that first year depreciation, so you still pay more than had you bought one or two years old.
I can see your reasoning. In my opinion, the large amount of rebates given on the 2006 Mercury Grand Marquis that I bought, $500 inducement voucher from Mercury, plus the $5000 factory to customer rebate, plus the $2500 marketing rebate to the dealer that he agreed to pass on to me to make the sale for a total of $8000 off of invoice more that made up for the depreciation in my opinion. This $8000 would not be part of buying a car a year or two old. Plus there is an advantage for a buyer like me that intends to keeping a car for a long time in being able to know the car has been 'broken in' and maintained since it was brand new.
Minor improvements over the intial '98. Too bad it took 10 years to come up with this antiquated offering
I love this "antiquated" platform. I just wish Ford decided to offer a passthrough between the trunk and the cabin to make it more attractive to the civilian market (as in not just police and taxi).
I won't even mention the station wagon version that I would love to see, but Ford seems too protective of their rapidly disappearing profit margins on the SUVs to cannibalize that market by introducing something more useful in this era of high gas prices. Suicidal policy, if you ask me.
2007 Crown Victoria Country Squire with 300 hp engine will do fine if manufactured.
Any potential sarcasm is lost on me :P. And yes, I would love the above but with the current engine or even a smaller diesel to maintain reasonable fuel efficiency.
Meaningless to me where you detected any sarcasm. Stay in therapy.
First of all, I have no idea what "meaningless to me where you detected any sarcasm" means. And note, I said "potential". Second of all, what's all this nastiness about therapy? What's your problem? Did you miss the smiley in my post? Some people just have to walk around half-cocked.
I am proposing a bid for a maintenance and installation contract for a local police department. I will be re-wiring their computers. I am looking for any information or direction to find information regarding the electrical schematic for the crown vic interceptor. More specifically the draw and power requirements for the vehicle.
What's a country squire? Also when are they going to make a modernised version of this car? I see there will be a new rwd lincoln concept at the Detroit auto show...
Country Squire = top of the line station wagon. A woody.
Country Sedan = middle of the line station wagon. No wood.
Ranch Wagon = bottom of the line station wagon. Less chrome.
All of the above were passenger cars from the windshield forward. Our first was a 67 Country Sedan and our last was a 73 Country Squire replaced by an 80 Lincoln Continental Town Car option.
I would love to see a high powered crown vic. I would call it the svt interceptor. Big V8 maybe a supercharger and a few interior improvement and you got a new 300 killer! But would ford ever build it? :confuse:
I'm thinking of getting one later this year and have not yet sat in one. In the photos, it looks like the part of the seatbelt on the driver's seat where it clicks in, is in the part of the seat you sit on or your thigh goes. Is this an illusion? Would someone with a really big butt like me rub against that seatbelt?
Southern "good ole boy" Deputies whose diet consits of glazed donuts don't seem to have a problem or perhaps they just smash the connector into the seat so it is flush with the fabric.
Last week I rented a 2007 GM from Atlanta airport and the seat belts seemed to be exactly the same as in my 1999. In fact, everything was the same except a few modernizations, such as the CD player whereas the 1999 has a cassette player.
Comments
I'll buy another one when this one is worn - normally a minimum of 150,000 miles before that becomes an issue. Current one has 60,000 miles and still on original brakes, tires, etc. Never been in the shop other than for fluids.
I love this "antiquated" platform. I just wish Ford decided to offer a passthrough between the trunk and the cabin to make it more attractive to the civilian market (as in not just police and taxi).
I won't even mention the station wagon version that I would love to see, but Ford seems too protective of their rapidly disappearing profit margins on the SUVs to cannibalize that market by introducing something more useful in this era of high gas prices. Suicidal policy, if you ask me.
Any potential sarcasm is lost on me :P. And yes, I would love the above but with the current engine or even a smaller diesel to maintain reasonable fuel efficiency.
Country Squire...
Meaningless to me where you detected any sarcasm. Stay in therapy.
First of all, I have no idea what "meaningless to me where you detected any sarcasm" means. And note, I said "potential". Second of all, what's all this nastiness about therapy? What's your problem? Did you miss the smiley in my post? Some people just have to walk around half-cocked.
Any assistance is greatly appreciated.
Country Sedan = middle of the line station wagon. No wood.
Ranch Wagon = bottom of the line station wagon. Less chrome.
All of the above were passenger cars from the windshield forward. Our first was a 67 Country Sedan and our last was a 73 Country Squire replaced by an 80 Lincoln Continental Town Car option.
Grand Marquis will be available as we've known it for 10 years.