2nd Dec 2007, 23:52

You know, the Grand Marquis is probably the greatest car ever assembled!

I'm 19 years old and have a 1999 Marquis with 370k, and it runs like the day my dad brought it home.

It has plenty of power and is ageing very well.

It could kick any Passat's ass!

9th Dec 2007, 06:10

Well, obviously, everyone has their own opinion... as for me, I'd take that "old" Grand Marquis any day over a Passat. Given how unreliable a lot of VW's are here in the U.S., if I were given the choice between a low mileage late model VW and a 20 year old Grand Marquis with 500,000 miles on it, quite honestly I'd take the Grand Marquis!

I also agree with one of the previous posters here, I really LOVE the "old school" full size cars with their traditional styling and lots of room. I HATE that claustrophobic feeling I get in newer cars with their huge, space eating center dashboard stacks/center consoles and bland/sometimes ugly styling. If I could afford to "stock up" on traditional American full size cars while they're still available, that's exactly what I'd do!

9th Dec 2007, 15:38

A 4.6 liter V-8 is not by any means "massive". That is only 281 cubic inches. 220HP is not great, but it is better than the 170HP my 79 Caprice with a 5.7 liter (350 ci) 4-barrel was cranking out and about the same as a late 70's Ford 460. The biggest joke I owned was a 74 Buick Regal with a 350 2-barrel. The net HP rating on that thing was a measley 130 HP.

10th Dec 2007, 11:11

I love the Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis, and Lincoln Town Car. I am only 19 years old. My sister owned a 1999 Grand Marquis about four years ago. She bought it cause she got an extremely good price on it. Well she fell it love with it. She bought it with 100,000 miles on it, and had it up until 220,000 miles. Some asshole hit her, and totalled the car. The only things she replaced was tires and brakes. Well she decided to get a car that was more popular.

So she bought a 2000 Toyota Camry; well she only had the car for one year and stuck almost $2000 in to the car. Then about a month ago her transmission went out. So she got rid of it, I just went car shopping with her, she ended up buying a 2001 Mercury Grand Marquis, with 70,000 miles, it was fully loaded and she paid $5000. These cars are such great values, my sister and I love them because they are so roomy, they have great pick up, and also AWESOME gas mileage. With her last Grand Marquis, on a road trip, we got 27.5 miles to the gallon. That is such good gas mileage for a full size sedan with a V-8 engine.

We are going to be extremely sad when they discontinue these cars. I just bought a car myself, I was looking at a 99 Grand Marquis, it was light baby blue with white leather interior. The most beautiful grand marquis I have ever seen. But it was out of my price range, so I ended up getting a 98 Ford Taurus. I like the Taurus, but the Grand Marquis is so much better. You can't beat the price on theses cars.

You can get a 2008 Grand Marquis fully loaded for $24,000. They have $6000 rebates on them. I am hoping that in three years, when they discontinue the Grand Marquis, I will be able to buy one in its final year. I think once these cars are discontinued, people are going to really miss them, I know my sister and I will for sure.

11th Dec 2007, 23:15

They are not going to discontinue the Grand Marquis for quite a while.

They still sell like hot cakes.

12th Dec 2007, 17:17

I was given a rental Ford Crown Victoria, and I loved it! It amazed me to drive a full-sized car with modern technology. I lament the death of the full-sized car, and laugh when I hear people say that "There are only small cars on the market because that's what people want." It's not what I want. I loved the Crown Victoria -- full-sized, smooth, floating ride, quiet as a whisper, leather seats that were full power, traction control. The average 22 mpg is sort of a downer, though.

12th Dec 2007, 18:12

23:15, you are sadly mistaken.

If they sold like "hot cakes" why would they offer such big rebates? In fact the Crown Victoria is not available to the general public as of '08, it is now only a fleet vehicle for police, taxis and the like.

These large rear-wheel drive sedans are not selling nearly as well as they did just 5 years ago. Ford has neglected these cars for far too long, and it is really beginning to show. These cars have basically gone unchanged for 10 years now. The Grand Marquis, Crown Victoria, and Town Car names may continue on for some time, but only in their current form until 2009 or 2010.

It is hard to say how the next generation will look, but chances are they will be somewhat smaller and bland looking. Sadly this seems to be the trend across the board. It is sad, but cars like this just don't sell anymore. The times they are a changin' and not for the better.

14th Dec 2007, 15:20

"The biggest surprise though is the complete lack of usage of diesel technology over there. In Europe now the majority of cars sold are diesel."

It's not so much the lack of technology, as it is the fear of change.

We had a horrible GM nightmare from about 1978 to 1986 called the "350 diesel", and it is still fresh in many people's minds. GM took one of the best engines ever made, the Oldsmobile 5.7 Liter Gasoline V8, and turned it into a diesel. We were at the middle of the 2nd major oil embargo and GM tried to do a quick fix. Simply put, they took a bullet proof motor and increased the compression ratio from 8.0 to 1 up to 22.5 to 1. The block was never reinforced strongly enough, and the gaskets weren't even designed for that kind of pressure. Cylinder heads would literally sheer off the top of the block. Compounding the problem was the fact that many people didn't know how to treat a diesel; they would simply turn the key and drive and expect a reliable car. The climate in the majority of the U.S. is also much colder than England in the winter, and some people just weren't informed enough on maintenance. Fuel quality back then was dirty and horrible also, which didn't help.

GM ironed out some of the problems after a few years, but the damage was done. When these engines ran right, even the Huge 2 1/2 ton Full-size station wagons were capable of 27 MPG Highway. Performance and acceleration was horrible; I think the motor was rated at something like 105 net HP and 280 lb/ft of torque.

GM's 6.2 Liter diesel used in Full sized pickups over the past 30 years was designed by Detroit Diesel, and had much better success. Gm made other diesel engines during this era also, V6's and fours, none of which really caught on. Ford and Chrysler also tried their luck, but nothing ever truly caught on except for pickups. I do know a guy who owns a 1985 Chevy Chevette with a factory diesel 4-cyl capable of 45+ MPG highway.

The price of fuel (gasoline) here stayed near $1 a gallon until the first Iraq war. Today with diesel in the U.S. averaging 50 cents more per gallon than gasoline, its still hard for them to become popular as well.

The hippies, tree-huggers and people like Greenpeace want the world to believe their "Global Warming" hype. When Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1981, it spewed out more pollutants than the entire 19th and 20th Century world Industrial Revolution combined.

There is no fuel shortage, but there is a refinery shortage. I have a white collar relative who is a higher up manager in an oil refinery. We have more oil in the Alaskan and Canadian Tundra than we know what to do with. I would personally rather dig up there and pay less for gas.