Sitting on the fence

[DBrisson]

Hello; found this site while doing research on the marauder. I have a child on the way so my wife is pressuring me to either a. get rid of her jeep wrangler and get a liberty or give her my tahoe and I get something new.

I like the marauder for the sedan room with the muscle look and decent power. I have owed a few Camaro SS's in the past.

I test drove my first silver marauder today and while impressed, I am still skeptical. I have done some searches on this site and have noticed for the most part only minor issues with these cars.

Here is also the current deal on the table from a local dealer in the md pa area. Internet quote:
"This vehicle with the heated
seats has an MSRP of $34,940. We can discount it $3,050 on our end to
$31,890. Additionally all customers are eligible for a $3,500 factory
rebate bringing the selling price to $28,390. If you finance at least
$3,500 through Ford Credit you'd receive an additional $1,000 rebate
bringing the price to $27,390. This would be the most you'd pay for
this vehicle."

What are the current opinions on the dealer support of the 04 models?
Is this a decent deal?
Are there any major recalls or Tech Service Bulletins's to be aware off?

Thanks for any responses.

D.Brisson
undecided

[Logan]

That's a pretty decent deal. :up:

I've owned two marauders, been happy with both of them and I drive my twin toddlers around all over the place in it... The headrests are perfect to fit a couple monitors in them... :)

I'd give her the tahoe and get yourself the marauder.

[TripleTransAm]

Child on the way, eh?

Read this:
http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9724&highlight=high+performance

I still have my TAs. Still feel safe in them. Still enjoy their power. Still love the Marauder.

[DBrisson]

Still have 1 1980 camaro with ls6 454 running in the mid 10's. I had a 2000 SS and a 97 SS. The 2k had to go because of the lack of support from dealers and the laundry list of know issues. Nothing like hitting the window retract button and seeing and smelling smoke on a freshly replaced motor.

Brakes and rotors
pinion seals
window motors
oil consumption

All known gm issues that are overlooked. I understand may be similiar here with a ford thats why I am shopping around. I like the 300c but a 1st year car is even more speculative, plus dealers are getting sticker or above.

D.Brisson

[woaface]

I don't know about the 300c, but the Marauder has to be the safest car on the road, and is sure the safest 4 door. I hit a tree and did $4115 worth of damage and barely felt impact! My 1999 frame isn't as tough as the one the 2003^ has either.

The Marauder is a solid car with a rarified but great owners club and good looks. And 27k isn't bad!

So where abouts are you located D?

[DBrisson]

Thanks for the info thus far.


D.Brisson

[duhtroll]

My excuse for getting the MM was the new family - and it worked. Our whole family loves the car. TONS of room, badass attitude, lots of style, and power to boot.

You can't go wrong with one. No other car comes close to offering the number of bennies for the money.

-A

[teamrope]

Were're sure happy with ours, and that sounds like a very good deal. I paid 29 for my left over 03, Mama paid sticker-plus for her 04 because the dealer had to order it. (WA has a 2K+ Northwest market adjustment added to the sticker.)

[jettle]

The new addition to our family last year was my excuse to go from my 2k Mustang GT Vert to the Marauder.

I have a baby on the way also. Baby #2 will be here sometime around Aug 2nd :)

I could not be happier with my Marauder. Well that’s a huge lie... If I had a Trilogy serial # under my hood I would have an even bigger smile on my face when I slide behind the wheel...

Best of luck to your new addition that on the way and choosing your new car. :up:

[stevengerard]

I have 4 kids, had a Durango and a Windstar, two vehicles I never thought I'd ever own. Never thought I'd have 4 kids either. Neither gave us much room for anything else but the kids (very little luggage space behind 3rd row seats). So I went out and bought a loaded 04 Suburban, fanciest car I ever owned, absolutely love it. But I'm a car guy and was going nuts driving something that big myself while my wife had all the kids in the Windstar. So I was searching around, checking Web sites and came along this site. Met with the Windy City folks, took a few rides in various cars from stock to supercharged and was sold.

It is safe, big, fun to drive, and plenty of room when its just me and the kids. I enjoy it so much the '70 442 spends a little more time in the garage than its used to. I saw a 300C today, it looked better in Silver than I remembered but our cars still look more wicked. And they are bigger and can be made to go faster! My twins love this car as well!

[Patrick]

Go for the Rauder!!!!! You wont be Sorry!!!!!!!!!!11

[tbore007]

i have a child on the way also, nov 6th due date.. just glad my son or daughter will grow up in a marauder...and now JR..this is a burn out....

[Bluerauder]

Hello; found this site while doing research on the marauder. I have a child on the way so my wife is pressuring me to either a. get rid of her jeep wrangler and get a liberty or give her my tahoe and I get something new.

"...snip..."
Thanks for any responses.

D.Brisson
undecided
The MM is safe and suitable for families as many have stated here. In fact, safety was one of the reasons I was considering the MM. Of course, there were some other reasons, too. :up:

However, before you even consider a Jeep Liberty (as noted above), please check out the safety ratings and stats regarding rollovers and flip-overs .....

[Jeff]

That is just about the deal I made a year ago on the 2003 300A.
It has worked very well for me and I think you'll just love it!
Don't walk; run down to the dealer and buy the car NOW!! :up:

[Dan]

I have a few of questions for you....

1. Will your wife be driving it?
2. Will you be able to park it in the winter?
3. Is winter driving and the safety of winter driving important to you?
4. How important is milage?

So far, my wife has not driven my Marauder. Honestly, she is kind of afraid to. It is a very big car compared to what she is used to and it has a lot more power than her comfort zone allows. It is a VERY safe vehicle and that is a huge plus.

I plan on parking my Marauder in the winter. I know guys here will disagree but I have been told by many, many cops that the platform is terrible in the snow. I see that you are from PA. Think long and hard about a 300 hp large rear wheel drive sedan if you (or your swife) must drive it in the winter.

If this car is going to be a year round do-all kid toting grocery getter kind of vehicle you may want to look harder at the Liberty. Even more so if gas prices are an issue. On the other hand, if you and your wife will be able to leave it alone on bad weather days it is probably the best car you can get.

I suspect that I might be opening this up to all those who feel that the car is just fine in winter. I would say that if every driver of the car were very, very experienced and if you put a set of studded tires on it you will be ok but even then you will just be ending up where a Libby gets rolling.

Best,

Dan

[Bluerauder]

I have a few of questions for you....

"...snip..."
So far, my wife has not driven my Marauder. Honestly, she is kind of afraid to. It is a very big car compared to what she is used to and it has a lot more power than her comfort zone allows. It is a VERY safe vehicle and that is a huge plus.

"...snip..."
I suspect that I might be opening this up to all those who feel that the car is just fine in winter. I would say that if every driver of the car were very, very experienced and if you put a set of studded tires on it you will be ok but even then you will just be ending up where a Libby gets rolling.

Best,

Dan
My wife has absolutely no problem using the Marauder. In fact, she loves it as much as I do from either the left or the right seat. I believe that she has cut a good 5 minutes off her shopping trips ... so its a time saver too.
:lol:

I had a little experience in snow and ice this past winter. Dan is right, you gotta be experienced and comfortable driving under those conditions. On packed snow and ice, the MM rear would not grab at all from a dead stop and tended to slide right quickly as the wheels started to spin. I usually try to keep some forward movement to prevent having to come to a complete stop. Unfortunately, you can't control driver's in front or in the rear. This goes in double aces in the Northern Virginia area .....
\

[mrjones]

[QUOTE=DBrisson]Hello; found this site while doing research on the marauder. I have a child on the way so my wife is pressuring me to either a. get rid of her jeep wrangler and get a liberty or give her my tahoe and I get something new.

I love my Marauder, but there's nothing like an SUV for carrying kids. Having the liftgate in back with a place in the shade or out of the rain built in for changing diapers is a huge plus!!

The Marauder is much more fun to drive.

If you're looking hard at Marauders, there's some 03 leftover's that are a good deal. I bought my 03 leftover in Jan for $23,499. There's a guy here who's got his used 03 up for sale now for $19,800 with only 1900 miles. If I didn't have one, I'd be all over that!

[jgc61sr2002]

D.Brisson - Welcome to the MM Site. :) If you haven't already test drove a Marauder do so and you will be hooked. IMO The Marauder is safest full size vehicle on the road today. :up:

[jspradii]

My kids didn't get interested in the Marauder as anything other than a way to get them from one place to another until I took 'em to the track a couple of times and they observed what this car will do! Now I've got 'em checking tire pressures, fuel and pessure levels for the nitrous system, and changing tires. These are all GIRLS! I have a pit crew, and all I have to do is feed 'em (which I got to do anyway).:banana2: :banana2:

[Dan]

WOW. An all girl pit crew. PLEASE, don't tell me how old they are. :lol: Just let me wonder. :)

[jspradii]

WOW. An all girl pit crew. PLEASE, don't tell me how old they are. :lol: Just let me wonder. :)
MMmmmmm......OK!

[Sactown]

..."This vehicle with the heated
seats has an MSRP of $34,940. We can discount it $3,050 on our end to
$31,890. Additionally all customers are eligible for a $3,500 factory
rebate bringing the selling price to $28,390. If you finance at least
$3,500 through Ford Credit you'd receive an additional $1,000 rebate
bringing the price to $27,390. This would be the most you'd pay for
this vehicle."...

Join AARP for an additional $500 off! Don't need to be a senior to join. The dealer looked at me like I was crazy but the membership card I printed out from the internet registration is legit. Best return I've had on less than $20 spent.

[Bluerauder]

Join AARP for an additional $500 off! Don't need to be a senior to join. The dealer looked at me like I was crazy but the membership card I printed out from the internet registration is legit. Best return I've had on less than $20 spent.
AARP is a non-profit membership organization for people 50 and over. You may have gotten a card from the net; but let's not call it "legit". Membership requires birthday info. If your age is 37 here, then you must have entered other information on the AARP site to obtain the card. "Getting over" ain't the same thing as "Legit". :down:

[Sactown]

AARP is a non-profit membership organization for people 50 and over. You may have gotten a card from the net; but let's not call it "legit". Membership requires birthday info. If your age is 37 here, then you must have entered other information on the AARP site to obtain the card. "Getting over" ain't the same thing as "Legit". :down:

Call them for yourself. I did not misrepresent my age, and they were happy to take my membership dues. Anyone can join, but when you are under a certain age you can not use the insurance benefits of membership. Yes, my membership is legit, as is the $500 I saved on my MM. The discount is good for AARP members, not just seniors who are AARP members. There is no age requirement, it is a false assumption.

[Bluerauder]

Call them for yourself. I did not misrepresent my age, and they were happy to take my membership dues. Anyone can join, but when you are under a certain age you can not use the insurance benefits of membership. Yes, my membership is legit, as is the $500 I saved on my MM. The discount is good for AARP members, not just seniors who are AARP members. There is no age requirement, it is a false assumption.
I stand corrected. You can join as an associate member. Here is an extract from the AARP membership site ----
"Q: What if I am too young to join as a full member of AARP?
A: For those under 50 who support the association's goals and objectives, we offer an associate membership. Once an individual celebrates a 50th birthday, the associate member automatically becomes a full member, receives a membership card, and can take advantage of all of our benefits and services."

[stevengerard]

I did the same thing, also notice that anyone in the house of the member can obtain benefits as well. So If you live with someone older than 50 it sounds like you can share the benefits. I joined as an associate member myself.

[Dan]

I don't mean to steer anyone away from a Marauder but a Libby brings its own sort of fun. It just isn't on the road.

You and you family can find some very nice trails to take that Libby on. In fact, in Hazelton, PA there is a place with over 7,000 acres of trails for you to enjoy. None of it is fast, mind you, but all of it can be enjoyed as a family and all of it is very unifying to that family.

There is an entire other world out there when one puts the tires of a Jeep off the road. And most of it isn't that crazy-stupid, high flying stuff you see on the TV.

Best,

Dan

[BillyGman]

Back to the subject of the Marauder. So far, I have 12K on my Marauder, and even though I've performed a number of modifications to this car to make it faster, I never once regreted buying the car in the first place. it's one of the coolest looking cars made today in any class, and people always take notice of the car where ever you go. I often get compliments on the car from people I don't even know.

You won't get that from most of the cars made today. As far as the comments about winter driving, the following is my input. This past winter I drove many miles in three major snow storms (all of them w/well over 8" of snow, and one of them w/over a foot). And my Marauder was GREAT in the snow even on some of the steepest hills. I had no problems at all in the snow, and my Marauder doesn't have traction control either. I remember going up one hill while driving right past a front wheel drive car halfway up it that was stuck and couldn't make it up the hill while i drove right up it.

But that's because I got the four 16" Arctic Alpine snow tires. With those on the Marauder, it's excellent in the snow, and you can go almost anywhere. Let's face it, w/out real good snow tires, any big car that's rear wheel drive will be bad in the snow. But those $97 snow tires made a major difference. It's like night and day. So my suggestion to you is, buy the Marauder.

[seabreeze]

and moved to Michigan a decade later, and am working on my 2nd Marauder (1st was a lease, my bad...). If you and/or the spouse learned to drive RWD, not a problem. If not, then a pair of snow tires as recommended previously should be in the budget, and go for the traction control. The heated seats are a blessing, particularly after age 40. A test drive is good, but there is definitely a break-in period to this powertrain, which takes a good 1700 - 3000 miles to really loosen up. But when it gets to gettin', you will really love its performance.

The six year old loves the "wheeeeee!!!" factor in the center rear booster seat, and even Momma (who does vehicle development for fun and has a winter driving school degree) thinks it's not a winter problem at all. Your price is right around what I paid, and don't be embarassed to do the AARP discount. The leather jacket is sweet, too.

If you really want to understand why should run, not walk to the dealer as fast as you can, read http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=6619
There are many testimonials to the value (= cost/benefit ratio) of the Marauder, but 213Cobra adds logic to the emotion like no other post.

My .02 but I repeat, I had one, couldn't live without the excellence, and bought the 2nd. Many on the board have 2 or are on their 2nd, for a variety of reasons, but you truly will not find a better road car value. And, if you want to pump it up, just search the threads.

Make the right choice...buy it!

[03SILVERSTREAK]

Yea . don't wait or you will lose your chance to get one...

[Dan]

Weigh all of the options very carefully. I can drive a RWD vehicle like a 4X4 as much as the next guy but what are YOUR needs and what will your wife want to do?

There really isn't much more to it than that.

Best,

Dan