Another New MM Owner

[TJH]

Well, I finally did it. I mean, I'd been on the Mercury mailing list from long before the Marauder was launched, had thought about it, debated it, and finally took the plunge.
I'll be picking mine up later this week. It's actually seabreeze's old car- purchased as used from Ford. It's a black 300B, 6400 miles, impeccably maintained. All for $20,800. I really wanted a silver one, but the price couldn't be beat (and, I had a price of $25,500 on a new 2004). The $4700 saved (plus almost $600 in sales tax difference) will go a long way to making this a street terror.
So, we'll see how it compares to what it's replacing- a 1995 SHO. The SHO is still a great car, but I couldn't keep it forever (much as I would have liked to). Michigan salt tends to degrade anything metal...
So, the wife will have the Marauder, and I'll still have the Cobra, the PowerStroke F250, and the 1970 GTO's.
Of course, she'll never drive it as hard as I will...

[Bigdogjim]

Welcome! May the :) begin......................... ...........

[Ross]

Glad to have you here, TJH. I guess you won't be driving the MM much until the salt is gone next spring? That will be a tough wait!

[Big Joe P]

Congratulations and try to have some fun with it........

[TJH]

Well, believe it or not, the new Marauder WILL, in fact, be used in the snow/salt. It will "officially" be my wife's car, and I'll be tackling the white stuff in the F250 4X4 diesel.
The Cobra hibernates through the winter. So do the 1970 GTO's. The SHO did really well, being driven year round since 1995. There still isn't a hint of rust showing, but somewhere, I'm sure it's lurking...
So, some sand bags in the trunk, traction control in the "on" position, and I'll instruct her to launch in 2nd gear if it's slick out. She shouldn't have a problem.
Plus, when the snow clears, my fun will begin.
Even my almost-4-year-old daughter likes fast cars. She commented to me one day that she just doesn't like slow cars. And, when I chaufferred her to pre-school in the Cobra (with the obligatory wheelspin off the line), she was laughing and grinning from ear to ear.
Daddy's little girl...
(But I know at some point she'll be asking for the keys to my 455 convertible)...

[bigslim]

Welcome TJH. Please check out the Motor City Maraurders. There is a link for our thread on first page. We have get-togethers and would like for you to join us. Keep checking the forum for more info.

[seabreeze]

You'll love the car, and the go-fast possibilities. Your frau will not believe how a car this big can be so light on it's feet. The group of owners on this site is fantastic. The forum is ... is... addicting!!
Look at me, here you bought my car, and I'm Marauder-less (temporarily, I hope) and I pop into the site almost daily to get my fix anyway.

Welcome to the club. Make sure you take bigslim's advice, the local groups really seem to be building camaraderie.

Take good care of my baby!

Scott

[Lowell]

Enjoy the ride. I was going to wait until the Denali was paid off. Didn't. Best thing to do, buy it, drive it, enjoy it, grin! See you at Woody's in april. I still owe Slim a Guinnes

[bigslim]

No Lowell, you drive that distance, I will buy you one. TJH, have one on me too.

[jgc61sr2002]

TJH - Welcome to the site. Enjoy your new ride.:up:

[junehhan]

Wow, this really is a small world we live in! Congradulations on the purchase of that fine Marauder, and it's great to hear that Seabreeze's old Marauder has been purchased by another Marauder enthusiast, other than someone who thinks it's a 300hp Grand Marquis who will never appreciate it for what it is. It seems like everyone is taking delivery of a Marauder, except for me............. *sniff* :(:alone:

[RoyLPita]

Welcome and congrats. Seabreeze told me about another MM on the B lot for $19000. Did you happen to see that one?

[TJH]

I guess I'll have to grant Scott visitation rights...
Roy- yep- saw the one for 19,275. It had slightly over 18K on the odometer, but was pretty clean overall. There was a parking lot scar on the right front door molding, but no sheetmetal distortion. I was actually considering that one (seeing as we really don't put all that many miles on our vehicles per year), but I'm glad I chose the one that I did. It's nice to know that the car was well taken care of before you bought it, rather than run hard and put away wet (like a lot of the leased vehicles are).
There is an '03 Cobra on the B lot also- but with only 3500 miles on the odometer, the rear tires are very nearly completely bald. The fronts aren't that much better, with the shoulders showing very little tread remaining. The car was likely a marketing/media vehicle, and was probably tested extensively by whatever magazines got hold of it.
Those 3500 miles were VERY hard, indeed...
There is also a 300A on the lot, for around 18K and change. We wanted the tractiion control (wife's request given expected winter driving), so the 300A was ruled out.
Who knows- when a silver one shows up, I might have to buy a spare...

[RoyLPita]

Thanx for the info. I'm still trying to find out if I can qualify for this. I get the D plan (same as A) where I work.

[TJH]

Roy- The B lot is for employees only, and it's located here in Dearborn. While you can buy a used company management lease car at remote locations, you pretty much have to know about the car, know the VIN, and process the tag paperwork before it gets turned in. Locations outside of SE Michigan often have their own vehicle control people, and their own garages where lease cars are picked up/turned in. But- I don't think there is anything in your (Florida) area.
It's sometimes a good thing to live in the Motor City...

[O's Fan Rich]

Welcome to the minority!!

[MarauderMike]

Great to have another MM owner on borad. That was a great price from the "B" lot, they tend to be a little high over there sometimes. Mine is a daily driver throughout the year, never even came close to having a traction issue last winter even without traction lock. But then again I've been silly enough to drive Mustangs in the winter also!:D