mercmarauder

It only had three miles on it, but it was a showroom car, so it has a lot (unfortunatley) of scratches and stuff on it, the doors hood, and truck don't quite line up right anymore from being open and shut so many times, and it has just random things messed up on it from being a demo car...but i can overlook all that for 9000 rpm of singing! I also was able to use my military (af) discount...after all was said and done, that amounted to about 1100 bucks...

I guess the G35 coupes interior depends on the trim level you get...my frined just bought one and its beautiful inside and out. The (its an 08, so maybe a redesign??) center stack has great ergonomics, great looking materials that are padded where it needs to be, and so on. Its all black (no painted) and fits together nicely and the grain isn't cheap looking like the grain Ford seems to favor these days. The mustang....i kept banging my elbow on the stupid armrest with the pointy edges everytime i shifted... I think my biggest gripe isn't with the car itself, but with the dealership my fiance and I went to (well, 3 dealerships actually). At all three delaerships, they wouldn't haggle for the price (of a premium...or whatvever package thats called....gt), in fact they had a marjup bring the total to nearly $46,000. I'm sorry, but theres no way I am gonna spend that kinda money on a Ford. A Mercury or a Lincoln, sure, but Ford? And it wan't like they had a shortage of GTs, there were about 15 sitting on the lot in the front, more out back. The attitude fot he dealer was basically, why would I lower the price for you when theres someone out there willing to pay full MSRp and markup for one. So I went next door to a Mazda dealer, talked him down to $17,899 for a brand new RX-8 with only 3 miles on it, he was much nicer, nicer facilities, everything.

Here's my problem with the mustang... Why would I spend 30 grand on a heavy 2 door with only 300 horsepower? Or the base model. 210 horsepower? Are you kidding me?! I think the mustang in its current form looks absolutly great, but its a disappointment once you're behind the wheel. Hard crappy plastic everywhere, even on a premium model, uncomfortable seating postion, and on paper, its not that competitive. I'd much rather go for the RX-8 nicer interior, more hp than a v6 mustang, IRS, and is cheaper. Plus, the looks are to die for! The mustang just looks, to me at least, rather cheap despite its good looks. Especially after driving one for awhile. I don't get why FOrd didn't invest more money into the interior and engines. Sure, 300 hp is a nice boost from 260 the previous generation, but when you have an INfiniti G35 coupe with 306 out of a v6 and only costing slightly more than a loaded v8, which one would you choose? Personally, i'd take the infiniti because the coupe is very nice looking and has that quality look and feel to it that the mustang just can't muster up. in the meantime, i'll stick to my Marauder and RX-8...

If it looks anything like the pics, comes with the 265 v6, maybe more? and has a stick, i wouldn't mind paying good $$ for it... the fusion on the other hand, I wouldn't even lay down the $18000 a four banger costs, that car simply is not my cup o' tea...

hmmm, I need a new car after the death of my Marauder...maybe I can hold onto driving my wife's old Saturn until this thing comes to NA... I wish I could say that about a Ford product, but nothing on the market or in the pipeline from Ford has gotten my blood pumping since the Marauder concept in 98...even then, when I got one on 03 (5 years after the concept debuted...wtf!) I only got it cause it was dirt cheap and I wanted big and roomy and fast in my car and nothing looked to exciting on the market (even the Marauder...while it was a cool car...come on, its a Grand Marquis afterall with a design dating back to 91...) nothing too exciting there...

No... "We expected Toyota's all new Tundra to be a contender, but the truck's launch was pushed past our January 1 deadline, partly because, say some observers, of last minute changes to the interiors to compete with the upscale interiors GM is offering on the GMT900s." There was only 5 trucks in the running, the Chevrolet Avalanche, Chevrolet Silverado, Cadillac Escalade EXT, GMC Sierra and the Ford Explorer Sport Trac. All except the Ford were basically the same truck. Interesting...

is that really the look of the steering wheel?! man, that thing is big eough to land a plane on! jsut plane horrendous looking and looks like sharp edges... otherwise, bout time the TC caught up with other luxury cars, by offering the THX system (which includes navigation sysytems im told)...everyone else has em in their luxo cars, im surprised it took lincoln tis long to catch up

i understand that the scions are supposed to be cheap, but even for a cheap car, this scion had cheaper materials then my 10 year old saturn....the seats were the only thing worth any money on that car. the plastic on the dash was warped from sitting in the sun after only 5 months. that is just unacceptable, especially for a car that is "cheap" at almost 20,000 dollars. the only reason i even thought about the scion was the decent gas mileage it advertised; a 4 speed auto was rated at 31 mpg highway. even that turned out to be false, driving on i-5 from coalinga to LA (about 140 miles one way) as i do everyday twoc a day, at best, i was only getting maybe 25, and thatzs at a steady 75 the whole way and no traffic until i get to LA.

I have to say that the Panthers should not be killed off. Why? because it is such a great frame. They redid the frame itself so extensivley in 2003 that it is even better than previously. the Panther is a great frame. I think, though, that Ford should have at least ATTEMPTED to restyle the bodys of the cars at least once in the past 16 years. Sure, there was the redesign in 98, but it didnt change much from the 91's. I don't understand why Ford let the cars just languish design and performance wise. The 300 hp Marauder should be the stock motor for a car that heaby...239 hp are you kidding me? 300 hp just gets the car moving, I can't imagine ony 239. But the cars are great, strong, sturdy, safe, i love mine. just wish they would redesign them once ina generation.

$19,000 was the cheapest on the lot...and i take offense that I got "taken for a first class ride"...the owner of the dealership is my father-in-law and the sales person was my wife...it does them no good to rip me off on the price...that was the MSRP on it too... As for the Saturn, my wife drives it daily to keep the miles down on her tbrid and GM and Ford do not produce anythign like it, a small reliable car. currnet saturns are butt ugly and nothing from ford was what i was looking for, if they hadnt gotten rid of the escort, that wouldve been on my list; and i thought (wrongly) that toyota was a good car company...they certainly have the reputation as one.

What I don't get is, why does the media shrug off Toyota's problems as not a big deal, while if it were Ford or GM, it would be all about how horrible the company is and that the company needs to get its act together. I currently own an 03 Mercury Marauder with 120,544 miles (not one problem, runs as good as new), a 1997 Saturn SL-1, with 342,000 miles without any major problems except for the clutch breaking at 265,000 miles, and a 2006 Toyota Scion xB with only 5,000 miles. I bought the Scion because I commute everyday and thought it would be better than racking te miles on my Marauder. Well, after 5,000 miles in 5 months, I think its been in the repair shop more than my garage or on the road. When I frst got it, everyone was saying how Toyota's such a great company, this car will last you forever, and so on. But it simply isn't true. The Scion reeks (yes, reeks) of cheapness, and runs like crap. Also, Toyota's pricing scheme is outrageous. $245 for two floormats?! WTF is up with that? Also, listed on the sticker of options, was a $450 option for a mandatory passanger side airbag...shouldn't that be illegal? The Scion is back at the dealer's, this time for sale. I got rid of it, and will never buy anything from them again. Also, people complain about Ford's customer service? At my F-M-L dealership (3 in one), I've never had a problem. At the Toyota/Scion dealership, nothing BUT problems. BTW, the price of the Scion was outrageous for such a crappy car...my 10 year old Saturn had a nicer interior, ran better, and looked better than this crap and was only $9,900.00 new whereas this Scion cost me $19,780.85 out the door (and i didn't get any options except for a/c.)

congrats on listing the various hatchback models produced. however, how many of those cars do you actually see on the road? where i live, the only hatchbacki see on a regular basis is the pt cruiser and hhr (and both of those usually have enterprise rental car stickers on them). the mini cooper is a rarity as is all the rest. i dont even see mazda 6 sedans around here, let alone hatchback versions. also, this is just an observation since earlier people were talking about the camry, but is it just me, or does the front of the camry sorta look like the front of the mazda 6 sedan? personally i like the mazda 6 better then the camry, better than the fusion/milan/zephyr variants as well, just looks cleaner.

i havent taken the marauder to the track yet, i drive it as a daily driver now and am too afraid to break it...its my only form of transportation right now to and from school/work. mm.net? whats that? some kind of forum sie for marauders cause thatd be cool. my car looks 99% like a marauderf rom the factory, the chrome tips are bigger (3.5in outs) and it has a small badge, v90s on the fenders, but it looks same. the navigator engine, the 5.4dohc is the same size externally as the 4.6 dohc...its just displaces more and is about 94 pounds heavier. it is fast, i can tell you that much! the best ive down with out taking it too far up the redline, is 0-60mph in 4.7 seconds. im too afraid to break it though.

gee you think i dont know that? the marauder isnt factory stock...hence the v90s id. a private company outta nor-cal (where im from) builds em if you already have the car. so, my 2003 marauder: 5.4 dohc v8 (outta navigator) with comp cams, superchips aftermarket chip, chip tuner, 3.55 rear end, TR555s 5 speed auto (lincoln LS), magnaflow mufflers, 3 1/4 pipes, paxton supercharger (that i did later on)...=475 rwhp...detuned too, had up as high as 525 AT THE REAR WHEELS btw, but i drive this daily now 80+ miles a day.

hmm, funny...my brother in law's 2006 honda accord has a total of 252 miles and it has not been at his house for more than a day or two. the honda has spent all the time at the honda dealer for odd problems, that shouldnt be problems. my 2003 mercury marauder has 78,000 miles and ive only been to the dealer for oil changes. my wifes 2003 ford thunderbird with 122,000 miles has been to the dealer for oil changes, and when we bought the hardtop...they did a demonstration to show us how to install it. btw, my bros 2001 ford taurus has reached 10,000 miles the other day..so far he hasnt taken it to the dealer once, not even for oil changes, he does em himself. so i dunno where this ford is crap mentality comes from. ive had much better experience with ford than any othe brand.