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Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis

3292 messages,  Last post on Mar 24, 2013 at 8:46 AM

You are in the Ford Crown Victoria/Mercury Grand Marquis Forum.

What is this discussion about? Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis, Exterior, Sedan

Messages Page 317 of 330

#3160 of 3292 08 Sable vs Grand Marquis by dmers1

Jan 24, 2008 (6:11 pm)

Replying to: L8_Apex (Mar 08, 2000 4:02 am)
For those thinking about making the switch.
 
We have had our 2008 Sable Premier FWD for 3 months now w/ 7000 miles. We made the change from Grand Marquis's (4 used LS's) over the past 22 years to the new revised Sable in order to get a lot of good technology that was not offered in the G.M. cars (such as ESC, in-dash GPS, Satellite radio, Voice Sync, etc) The car rides good, but not like the last 2000 Grand Marquis LS w/ 131K on it (our first really new car we bought). I think Ford did the best they could with FWD and torque steer is minimal. I miss RWD, but my wife wanted a bit smaller car so here we are. Most other FWD drives have poor back seat room such as Camry, Nisson, and others. I would have to buy a BMW 740i or Mercedes S series to get a RWD vehicle close to this car’s interior room. The seats are 3" higher off the ground which make entry much more ergonomic for us 57 year olds and much better for my wife's folks_ 84.
 
Power is quite good for a V-6, 260 HP and it shifts very smooth with the 6 speed Automatic. The oil filter is located in a pretty good spot and I use my drive up ramps using 5W-20 oil every 7500 miles. I changed at 2500 the first time to get factory grit out of the engine as I tend to keep cars quite a long time. This car starts every time and never misses no matter what temperature__4-8 degree mornings for us.
 
The only problem, I had was an out of adjustment cruise control switch on the brake pedal that would kick out the cruise occasionally. I took it to a nearby Ford dealer for a quick fix and that was it. I did buy the extended 6 year/100K mile warranty since I still remember the $1800.00 Sun visors that went bad with Home-Link/Visor lights wiring shorts that wiped out the Digital Dash (which I miss). I had the mechanic wire around for $80 each time on each visor instead, to bypass the visors. I will know more about this car in about 100K miles.
 
The room in this car is phenomenal, especially in the rear seats and the trunk is large, though space is awkward, but still handles large suit cases for international travel quite well. The courtesy lights on this car are great and the interior controls grow on you after awhile. The plug-ins are plentiful for our Radar Detector, phone charger Fr/Rr, ipod, etc.
 
This is the car Ford/Mercury is pushing as they neglect the Grand Marquis design. The price was quite good with $3000 rebates and trade. We ordered and waited 2 months to get the Sage color we wanted w/ Camel interior and light plastic wood.
 
I feel this car is the precursor for the upcoming Lincoln MKS, which has a better looking C pillar, dished out chrome wheels, and a few more gadgets. My wife did not like the front end of that car on the websites we viewed. Our car had every option except the rear DVD player and it has plenty of toys to play with. We get quite a few compliments on the color and look of the car as they tried to make it look closer to the smaller Milan (mileage is not much better on the Milan than with the larger Sable).
 
Overall, I would recommend this car to anyone who drives a lot of miles and hauls 3-4 people often, as well as drives it to work daily. I regret buying the extended warranty, but for the overall price I feel good about the purchase as this car goes to Chicago quite often (600 mile trips)
 
Our mileage: We normally drive on Interstates about 65-75+ MPH regularly and do some town driving. I select regular gas w/o ethanol to avoid the 2-3 mpg loss, which I have tested. The weather is now cold in Southern Illinois which also cost about 1-2 MPG. If I keep my foot out of it, mileage does go up about 1-2 MPG.
 
We get about 23-26 MPG on trips and 18-20 MPG going to work__5 miles away. (not much better than what we got on the 2000 Grand Marquis)
 
Good Luck to all.

#3161 of 3292 Re: 08 Sable vs Grand Marquis [dmers1] by euphonium

Jan 25, 2008 (1:20 pm)

Replying to: dmers1 (Jan 24, 2008 6:11 pm)
I changed at 2500 the first time to get factory grit out of the engine
 
How does the factory get its grit into the engine?

#3162 of 3292 euphonium by marsha7

Jan 25, 2008 (8:48 pm)

Uh...union labor???...sorry, didn't mean to start a fight...

#3163 of 3292 Re: 08 Sable vs Grand Marquis [euphonium] by turbo301

Jan 26, 2008 (7:25 am)

Replying to: euphonium (Jan 25, 2008 1:20 pm)
The "grit" that "gets into" an engine is actually already there: The metal-on-metal contact of many engine parts means that, as those parts move, they scrape little bits of metal off. This is the biggest contributor to dirty oil. When an engine is new, the reason it has to be "broken in" is because all of the parts are as tight as they will ever be, and so the most friction/wear/heat will occur at this stage in the motor's life. Little bits of metal "flash" on castings or even ridges left in parts from poor machining will also contribute to premature oil contamination in a new engine. Engines are much better in this regard than they used to be, though!

#3164 of 3292 Re: euphonium [marsha7] by euphonium

Jan 26, 2008 (12:34 pm)

Replying to: marsha7 (Jan 25, 2008 8:48 pm)
Hi, Good to hear from you. I gave up on the Rocky UAW postings.

#3165 of 3292 euphonium by marsha7

Jan 26, 2008 (1:19 pm)

Rocky is a nice guy, just severely misguided due to a unionized upbringing that did not acknowledge the existence of Japanese automakers until somwhere around 1999......about 20 years after the beginning of the onslaught...

#3166 of 3292 Ordering from factory by ionosphere1

Jan 28, 2008 (4:45 pm)

On 11/10 I ordered a 2008 Grand Marquis. Was the only way to get the color and options I wanted. Was told the wait was 8-12 weeks, but I think it is going to end up being around 14 weeks, as the car still is not built yet and the dealer told me that after they get an invoice that it is 2 more weeks after that when they get it.
 
I sure hope the wait was worth it and I love the car like I hope I will.

#3167 of 3292 Re: Ordering from factory [ionosphere1] by jsylvester

Feb 01, 2008 (10:22 pm)

Replying to: ionosphere1 (Jan 28, 2008 4:45 pm)
I think the waits are a little longer right now, as they have started Town Car production, which complicates things quite a bit on the assembly line.
 
I too will be ordering my next Grand Marquis - wish I could get the exterior and interior color combination I desire (Norsea blue with black leather interior), but Ford won't allow it.

#3168 of 3292 Re: Ordering from factory [jsylvester] by ionosphere1

Feb 02, 2008 (1:46 pm)

Replying to: jsylvester (Feb 01, 2008 10:22 pm)
You're getting one too? Great!!!! I've been waiting 11 weeks so far and my car still has not been built. They should not have told me an 8-12 week wait if it really is longer than that. The dealer told me that once they receive an invoice, that it will be about 2 more weeks before they get it. I do not know how long it takes to build the car once they start, do you?
 
I notice you can't get the black interior with the Norsea blue. Do you know why? What does one manufacturing process have to do with the other?
 
Have you had a Grand Marquis before? This is my first time having a car like this and I think I'll wish I had gotten one a long time ago.

#3169 of 3292 Going to be a real long wait by ionosphere1

Feb 02, 2008 (5:06 pm)

I went to the dealer today and it is going to end up being a 15 week wait. He tells me that Ford is now saying it takes up to 16 weeks to get an order. He told me my car has been built and it should arrive there on January 29. Woohoo!!!!!!

Messages Page 317 of 330

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