Marauder in Popular Mechanics

[Marauderer]

Well it is back int his months edition as a long term test car in Popular Mechanics. They don't say a whole lot, but at least there is a picture again! Free advertising in a major pub!

[RCSignals]

long term test car. Is it a 2003 or 2004? Maybe the report will help 2005 sales :D

[Marauderer]

and they have already wrecked it once! Had a run in with a Honda of all things :)

[Marauderman]

Originally posted by Marauderer
and they have already wrecked it once! Had a run in with a Honda of all things :)

Must have beena rookie driver--no one would have let an MM have a Honda get that close....really.......who are they kidding!!!

[marchyde]

If I am not misstaken the article stated that the MM was T-Boned and the repair bill was over 5,000. No one was injured in the MM and it handled just as good after the fix as it did before. Good saftey factor and repairability. Way to go FLM.

[TripleTransAm]

Does Fourth Horseman happen to work for Popular Mechanics?

[Dr Caleb]

I was thinking the same thing! What are the odds of 2 MM's getting t-boned by 2 Hondas?

Fourth!!???!

[TripleTransAm]

Browsed the article in question at the airport newstand this afternoon...

I didn't get a warm fuzzy feeling about the tone of the article. Unless they were using extreme sarcasm, it didn't portray the Marauder's behavior in a good way.

There's a mention of the Marauder in Car&Driver's review of the Nissan Titan truck... again, not terribly favorable although not completely openly antagonistic...

[SergntMac]

Anyone have a link to this story?

[MM03MOK]

Originally posted by SergntMac
Anyone have a link to this story? Long Term Test Car: Mercury Marauder Sept. 2003 (http://popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars_trucks/2003/9/long_term_test_cars_903/index4.phtml)

Search their site by "Marauder" to see the March and May articles or find the links under "Test Summary" at the bottom.

[SergntMac]

Thanks, Bunny!

For the short piece that it is, it's more complement than not. I suppose it's easy to overlay one's own opinion over the text, but the article is honestly written, about a bone stock MM.

HeHeHe...I'd love to strip my Kenny brown trim, and sneak my Marauder S into the driver's parking space. Wouldn't you love to read his report on that..."After 8000, the car wakes up and....Holy *****!" LOL...

[RCSignals]

Originally posted by TripleTransAm

There's a mention of the Marauder in Car&Driver's review of the Nissan Titan truck... again, not terribly favorable although not completely openly antagonistic...

Why would they mention the Marauder in a review of the Titan pickup?

[Glenn]

I thought both articles in PM were really good. I even learned a few new facts about the MM. Their gas mileage at 14-20 is not representative of mine and many others. I now get 22+ with my UD, Denso and Stat driving to work on the interstat at 70-80 mph and blasts to 90+. I have gotten as high as 24. I never got below 18 mpg even with a heavy foot.

Glenn

[TripleTransAm]

That link posted is not the article I read earlier yesterday. That one complained of pulling to one side occasionally, which was "corrected by the Honda incident in that the car now pulls all the time" (approximate paraphrasing by myself). Also mentioned a sticking door, also aggravated by the incident. Other stuff. And, no I'm not overlaying any of my own opinions of the car over the text.

About the Titan article in CD, they refer to the 1/4 mile acceleration trap speed being about as fast as a Marauder, but then they make a mention of the ET actually being a tenth quicker. :(

[metroplex]

There's a new long term report that just came out and its anything but good.

No compliments, no praises, etc... the tone was that the car crashes badly and doesn't get fixed easily.

Here it is, I'll be transferring it word for word via keyboard:


If it doesn't seem like there are many miles on our Marauder since our third installment, it's because it languished in the body shop after its unfortunate incident with a Honda some months back. It also had acquired a propensity to turn to the right under braking, no doubt a result of the accident. Also a result of the accident, the driver's door was difficult to open because it was misaligned by about a quarter-inch. We drove it for a few weeks before we returned it to Ford for another problem: the driver's door refused to open from outside. this was the result of a broken part inside the door-latch mechanism which may or may not have been a sequela of the accident or from the weeks of struggling with the door to get it to open. While it was back in the shop, the Marauder's suspension was realigned. The door now opens more or less correctly and the tendency to pull to the right under braking is gone - it now pulls to the right all the time.

None of this matters. It's cool. It's fast. and it's highly recognizable. The parking lot attendants in our garage argue twice a day over whose turn it is to valet our car. Cabdrivers quake before us, and traffic parts in front of it on the interstate as if it were its near-twin, an unmarked Crown Vic cop car.

So the gist of this article is that the Marauder crashes badly - repairs are costly and in the end the car is still pulling badly. The high points, according to the author, is that it resembles a cop car so ppl get out of your way on the highway. :rolleyes:

[sailsmen]

Well I get a different read, "In fact, we can definitely attest to the fact that the Marauder is a great car to be in if you're going to get T-boned. Happily, no one was hurt and all the Mercury's safety systems worked flawlessly." "It's cool. It's fast."

I get the impression they like the car and are enjoying it, particularly when they state the valets argue over who gets to park it.

[TripleG]

I can attest to the long wait for parts. I was rear ended and the tail pipe was pushed into the rear right tire making it un-drivable. It took 3 weeks to get the parts and 1 week to install and paint. I was lucky, I had a rental. Car came out great.
ggg

[metroplex]

Originally posted by sailsmen
Well I get a different read, "In fact, we can definitely attest to the fact that the Marauder is a great car to be in if you're going to get T-boned. Happily, no one was hurt and all the Mercury's safety systems worked flawlessly." "It's cool. It's fast."

I get the impression they like the car and are enjoying it, particularly when they state the valets argue over who gets to park it.

They also stated how fun it was to have ppl move out in front of you on the highway as if the marauder was its "near-twin, an unmarked police interceptor"

I'm pretty sure they were paid by Ford to write good stuff about the car, or some type of deal that is mutually beneficial.

The brake pull isn't very good though. There's something wrong with either the brakes or the front suspension.

[RCSignals]

Originally posted by metroplex
They also stated how fun it was to have ppl move out in front of you on the highway as if the marauder was its "near-twin, an unmarked police interceptor"

I'm pretty sure they were paid by Ford to write good stuff about the car, or some type of deal that is mutually beneficial.

Do you not believe they would write good stuff about the Marauder without graft from Ford?




Originally posted by metroplex
The brake pull isn't very good though. There's something wrong with either the brakes or the front suspension.

I don't understand what you are getting at. Explain please

[marauder307]

!I was thinking the same thing! What are the odds of 2 MM's getting t-boned by 2 Hondas?


It's a conspiracy! I knew it!:uzi:

[RCSignals]

yes, ever since that Car and Driver report........

[Fourth Horseman]

Originally posted by marauderman
Must have beena rookie driver--no one would have let an MM have a Honda get that close....really.......who are they kidding!!!

Funny, that honda that ran the red light and t-boned my Marauder did a good job of sneaking up on me. Amazing how little time it takes for a Honda to cross 20 feet when it's moving 50 MPH.

Oh, and PM got their car back in 5 weeks. I'm on week 10 and still have at least 4 more ahead of me. :rolleyes:

[jgc61sr2002]

Forth - How are the repairs going? Seems like a long period of time. Hope it turns out to your satifaction. :(

[Long Live #3]

Just tell them you work for Popular Mechanics! :D