Please talk me out of buying MM for $5K.

[Jeronimojc]

What I really want is a well cared for silver Marauder, but I came across this other MM I am considering buying, upgrading, and selling. The car is black with 110K miles on.
The ugly:
The driver seat is torn in three places. The passenger side seat is worn badly.
The roof has some rust spots where the paint bubbled. There are some paint scratches and two small dents on the hood.

The Bad:
The engine bogs down every so often. Engine power returns when you turn traction control off. I think this has to do with all four tires being the same size, which the tune doesn't understand.
The owner said he bought the car with a seized engine and had to do rod bearing work on it.
The car has had 7 owners.

The Good:
The price? Owner is selling because his wife told him he needs to. He barely drives it. He's been parking the car on the street for a year.
Carfax is good!
No engine noises
The engine is relatively clean, bumpers are good, wheels are good...

I was thinking I could buy the car here in Hawaii, paint it, replace seats, change rear tires, install 4.10s, put a good tune in it (I have), delete rear cats, upgrade the radio (I have) and subwoofer (I have), install truck organizer (I have), a few other things such as installing new headlights, new rugs (I have), and sell it for profit in the NorthWest, where I can get a personal vehicle transfer to at no cost. Am I getting excited about a losing project, or am I onto something here?

[MMBLUE]

If you are in Hawaii you don't have many choices. I'm on the other side of the fence, I say buy it and make it a formidable beast.

[guspech750]

Yes. Buy it. Save it. Fix it. Sell it.


Sent from The White House on taxpayers dimes.

DTR + 4.10's + Eaton swap = Wreeeeeeeeeeeeeeedom

[Jeronimojc]

Interestingly, there are a lot of Marauders in Hawaii. There aren't as many per capita in the Northwest. I believe MMs are cheaper in Hawaii than they are in the NW simply due to demand and supply. Certainly, anyone could drive a car from anywhere in the country to the NW if they really wanted one.
Anyhow, I am moving to the NW in a few weeks and that's when I plan to search for a silver MM, and possibly sell this other one if I decide to buy it.

[JoeBoomz]

From your description, the bog is definitely just traction control because of the same tires on all 4 rims.

I would be most concerned about the rust. The seats can be redone or replaced.

[Vortech347]

The paint will be the most expensive part. If its an early 03' it will likely have paint issues everywhere if you look closely. My 03' was aweful. It had rust spots on the roof and one of the door panels. I was able to get Ford to repaint the roof, hood, and trunk, but they wouldn't do the other panels even though they had signs of crowfooting like a mofo. I sold the car while I could still make it look presentable. I knew the cost of paint was WAY more than just buying another one.

To be honest if you pay someone to do the paint work, with your shipping costs, your time, ect.. I doubt you'll make any meaningful coin on it.

[Jeronimojc]

To be honest if you pay someone to do the paint work, with your shipping costs, your time, ect.. I doubt you'll make any meaningful coin on it.

I won't have shipping costs (my job will pay for moving personal vehicles), but overall I think you are right. It looks like I won't be making money on this. If anything, I'll get some satisfaction.

[whitey]

A decent paint job alone will run atleast 4k, add that to 5k, and 9k is average price for a mm with that amount of miles. Its not worth buying to try and make a profit, plus with 7 owners....smells fishy, could have a major problem such as faulty wiring.

[Jeronimojc]

Wow! I didn't realize a paint job would be that costly. I was thinking perhaps $2,500.

[Mr. Man]

At a minimum if you don't buy it send a.d.a.m the vin number so he can record it in his flow chart.

As far as paint there is the $2,500 job and the $10,000 job or more. A lot depends on how much prep the car needs. A quick sanding and paint is way cheaper than removal of glass, lites, dent/rust repair etc. When painting a car you often get what you pay for.

[Pat]

The rusted roof is a major issue. My roof rusting started with bubbling paint on the drivers side above the C pillar. Had it repaired, bubbles returned with a vengence and had to replace the entire roof skin (yes, it's a part). It's like a cancer, when you see the rust it's already too late. Consult a reputable body shop. The roof frame was just coated with the residual rust from the skin. Otherwise I would have a convertable.


http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=33 931&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1366822923 (http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=33 931&d=1366822923)http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=33 843&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1366149874 (http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=33 843&d=1366149874)

[Merrill]

Where are you locating in the NW?

[Anthony84]

What Merrill said:) need more NW Marauder love up here! And about that trunk organizer... Well, if that makes its way here lets talk! But in any case, bring the whole car!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk (http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1)

[Jeronimojc]

Thanks for pointing out the paint issues.

Regarding where in the NW, I will be transferred back to Vancouver, WA. Looking forward to buying a SB sometime soon.

[Melon]

There was an Eaton swapped SB in Oregon in the for sale forum. Last I knew the sale was pending but may still be worth keeping an eye on.

[Anthony84]

Well hit me up when you get here! I have the only DTR in Vancouver and possibly Portland from what I've seen, and another member who's seldom on here has a black Trilogy and lives only a couple minutes from me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jeronimojc]

There was an Eaton swapped SB in Oregon in the for sale forum. Last I knew the sale was pending but may still be worth keeping an eye on.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll check things out.


Well hit me up when you get here! I have the only DTR in Vancouver and possibly Portland from what I've seen, and another member who's seldom on here has a black Trilogy and lives only a couple minutes from me.

Sure thing!