Mercury Brand -- 8th in Consumer Reports Reliability Ratings

[GordonB]

Wow!!!,
Latest issue of Consumer Reports on Auto Reliability as reported by MONEY.com:
"Only one U.S.-based brand, Ford Motor Co.'s Mercury, made the top 10. Mercury ranked eighth. In last year's survey, Mercury had ranked 16th."

And on top of that I got solicited by J.D. Power & Associates for a follow-up on my 2004 MM as part of an opinion survey (probably 'what do you think/experience after another year of ownership'). I have not taken the survey yet.

GordonB

[RCSignals]

Does this mean Mercury owners respond to surveys more than Ford owners do?

[TripleTransAm]

No, just means they're too old to hear the rattles and squeaks and ticking valvetrain.
(how old does one have to be before you can no longer see blue smoke?) ;)

[StevenJ]

Never had a problem with my car in the 42,000 miles I have on my car. Only problem I've had is tire wear and I'm proud to say that's my fault :D!

[Shaft333]

I've had so much warranty work that I've been flagged to not receive any favors. Or something along those lines.

[Smokie]

No, just means they're too old to hear the rattles and squeaks and ticking valvetrain.
(how old does one have to be before you can no longer see blue smoke?) ;)

That's right my MM. came with a lifetime supply of Geritol.....what was the question again????....:geezer:

[Marauder2005]

Wow!!!,
Latest issue of Consumer Reports on Auto Reliability as reported by MONEY.com:
"Only one U.S.-based brand, Ford Motor Co.'s Mercury, made the top 10. Mercury ranked eighth. In last year's survey, Mercury had ranked 16th."

And on top of that I got solicited by J.D. Power & Associates for a follow-up on my 2004 MM as part of an opinion survey (probably 'what do you think/experience after another year of ownership'). I have not taken the survey yet.

GordonB

Do you have a link to this artical? :)

[wchain]

They asked me to write a review about my 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis, which I promptly did. :D

[wsmylie]

That's right my MM. came with a lifetime supply of Geritol.....what was the question again????....:geezer: Ahhh...Good old "Geritol"; brings back memories of Ted Mack hawking that stuff on radio and TV with the warning that if you feel tired you might have "iron poor blood". :D

[TripleTransAm]

The term "Geritol" always reminds me of watching Lawrence Welk with my family back in the mid 70s. They ALWAYS had an ad for that stuff at the end before rolling the credits, I think that's the first time I really began to wonder what the announcers meant when they said "sponsored by".

[TripleTransAm]

Damn, now I've got that cheesy closing song non-stop in my head ("Adios, Au revoir, Auf Wiederse.... Goodnight!"). Ugh.

Time to go cleanse my head with some Judas Priest... "Victim of Changes", save me from this madness.

[mcb26]

Just got a survey from RDA Group to fill out. At least they got the Marauder part right, which Ford didn't in a couple of their mailouts.:rolleyes:

[GordonB]

Marauder2005,
Here is the link to Money.com and the article about Consumer Reports:
http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/01/Autos/carreviews/cr_reliability/index.htm

Enjoy!
GordonB

[RCSignals]

No, just means they're too old to hear the rattles and squeaks and ticking valvetrain.
(how old does one have to be before you can no longer see blue smoke?) ;)


Ah, but your MM is special, outside the scope of any surveys :eek:

Have you finally had the heart to get rid of MM #1, or did it just mysteriously reappear in your driveway?

[TripleTransAm]

I have to dig MM#1 out of a serious snowbank. Then, by its own power or by towtruck, it WILL be dumped. I have 3 weeks left to get rid of it.

I was considering keeping it instead of MM#2. The second one just isn't that much fun to drive... the engine is a honey, but the suspension's all over the place. Plus, every morning when I go to work, I see whatever body panel of MM#1 is poking through the snow, all shiny and gleaming, and I think of all the effort and work I put into keeping the car in that shape (aesthetically and mechanically) and it hurts to think I'd be throwing all that away. I mean, there were many days back in 2003 when it would actually displace the WS6 for a spot in my 2 car garage (the '78 was in storage that year)!

But the words of my father ring true... it's just a car. And logically speaking, if it couldn't "keep it together" in 60000 km of bumper-to-bumper warranty (costing me workday after workday of having to bring the car to the dealer time and time again), it's going to get better with age? Already, the $100 deductible extended warranty has cost me a bundle on what is essentially crap parts from the manufacturer.

I've opened the hood to mechanic friends and family members, and the shock is unanimous: how in the heck can bolts and fasteners corrode so badly so quickly? By quickly, I mean the car really only saw approx. 3 months of winter TOTAL: December 2004 I was mostly in Oklahoma and Texas so it barely moved except to dig it out of the snowfall from while I was gone (you've all seen the photos), and by April I was already driving my T/As which should give you an indication of what the weather was like by that point.

3 months of winter driving, and you can BARELY make out the heads of most of the bolts and fasteners. Funny thing: for every 4-5 corroded-beyond-recognition bolts, you get one that is 100% perfect. We're talking identical bolts, for example the valve cover bolts. And no pattern to this madness... out of the blue, one super clean bolt. Then 4-5 more mangled bolts, etc. That shows something about the parts suppliers.

The EGR is a complete ball of rust. I am reminded of a local F-bud's Mazda Protege 5 (ie. Ford) that had the EGR rust solid in 2 years of operation and for some reason, regardless of being emissions, the dealer would not change it. And being rusted solid in place, it was a b*tch to change, and cost a pretty penny. I'd be looking at the same headache soon. No thanks.

MM#2 has also only seen part of a winter before my purchase, and now this winter (so maybe 5-6 months total thus far). I know what to expect, and I'm seeing the progression of corrosion right before my eyes. The little screws holding on the trim around the gas filler are nothing more than unrecognizable little nubs now. And dammit, I'm getting tired of seeing that blue streaky ***** that seems to drip from every little seam in the brightwork around the windows... what the HELL is that ***** anyway? Both my MMs have this, and I can't wash it off no matter what (I haven't tried anything more abrasive yet).

All I can hope for is that the dealer (any dealer) will be able to diagnose my loose suspension on MM#2 and that annoying squeak/groan from somewhere in the suspension up front (it's looking like I'll have to lose another day of work next week because of this). My original warranty is up in December 2006, and regardless of the fact the car already has an extended warranty, I'm not sticking around long enough to use it.

So come 2007, I'll definitely be Marauder-less, unless I can find a black 2004 with reasonable mileage and/or an intact warranty at a reasonable (ie. not 95% of MSRP!) price. I know lots of you are getting excellent service out of your Marauders and I envy you (even though we all seem to have differing definitions of what is considered good 'quality'), but so far I see no indications that they can really hold up to everyday year-round use up here.

Say what you will about Imports and the quality of their sheetmetal, but hear this: my 1998 Civic 4-door still looked and rode like it did brand new, at just under 90000 miles when I sold it to my uncle. And it continues to look and run as good, a year later.