In the shop...at 2 months old.

[awsmvic]

:bigcry: Dropped our 2-month old 2004 Marauder at the Lincoln-Mercury dealer at lunch today. They are replacing the entire exhaust system from the exhaust manifolds all the way to the end of the stainless steel tips. I pulled it up on ramps to change the oil about three weeks ago and when I looked back past the oil pan, rust was everywhere, but especially on the entire exhaust system. And I'm not talking about "superficial" rust, but advanced rust, as in appearing to be in the final stage of skin cancer. The regional Ford rep that inspected the car came to the conclusion that the car was test driven after built (build date January, 2004) in salty conditions, then the car was left to sit and the salt did a job on the exhausts. I did not buy the (new) car until mid-November. Another possibility is that the car was driven from one dealer to the one I bought it from (had 300 miles on it when I bought it) in icy/salty road conditions. The Ford rep said he had never seen this before, but if it can happen, it will happen to me. You might want to look up under your car just to make sure it did not happen to you. As long as they do a jam-up job on the replacement, I don't have a problem with it. Would be difficult to get mad at the dealer when they didn't have anything to do with it, and they have been totally supportive from the day I called them and told them what I had discovered. :(

Always something, it seems, but other than that, we LOVE our Marauder.

Steve
Alabaster, AL

[LordVader]

:bigcry: Steve,

Sorry to hear your 'Baby" is down and out for any reason, but as you say as long as everyone seems to be responding and acting accordingly and it's as good as new then all will be good. I have only had mine (used) since late October, and I am finding and discovering stuff about it everyday and have been fortunate in my discoveries. It did have the axles replaced under warranty and some work done on the carpet on the doors. I am glad I discovered this vehicle and this site, both are a wonder!

[Patrick]

Boy that does bite!! But I am glad they are fixing without a hassle!!

[423REED]

:bigcry: Dropped our 2-month old 2004 Marauder at the Lincoln-Mercury dealer at lunch today. They are replacing the entire exhaust system from the exhaust manifolds all the way to the end of the stainless steel tips. I pulled it up on ramps to change the oil about three weeks ago and when I looked back past the oil pan, rust was everywhere, but especially on the entire exhaust system. And I'm not talking about "superficial" rust, but advanced rust, as in appearing to be in the final stage of skin cancer. The regional Ford rep that inspected the car came to the conclusion that the car was test driven after built (build date January, 2004) in salty conditions, then the car was left to sit and the salt did a job on the exhausts. I did not buy the (new) car until mid-November. Another possibility is that the car was driven from one dealer to the one I bought it from (had 300 miles on it when I bought it) in icy/salty road conditions. The Ford rep said he had never seen this before, but if it can happen, it will happen to me. You might want to look up under your car just to make sure it did not happen to you. As long as they do a jam-up job on the replacement, I don't have a problem with it. Would be difficult to get mad at the dealer when they didn't have anything to do with it, and they have been totally supportive from the day I called them and told them what I had discovered. :(

Always something, it seems, but other than that, we LOVE our Marauder.

Steve
Alabaster, ALHI STEVE!
I seem to have read a posting on this forum awhile back, where people were saying that some very early Marauders got produced with exhaust tips that were aledgedly made of chrome plated carbon steel. This material of course rusted badly. The reason I mention this, is that AISI 409 stainless steel (which is used for modern exhaust systems) would not develop oxidation (i.e. rust) that badly, or that soon after start up. 409 does show some surface oxidation that is due to its lower chromium content and lack of nickel. It is the cheapest of the Ferritic stainless steels. It also handles the higher exhaust temperatures well. It just makes one wonder what kind of material they made your exhaust system out of. My 1994 Taurus SHO still has the original standard Ford 409 dual exhaust sytem on after 11-1/2 years and 67K miles! The only way your exhaust could look bad enough to have to replace it under factory warranty so soon after new car delivery, and be approved by the tech rep from Ford, is if it was made with the wrong metal. Good luck with your new exhaust system. I'll be crawling under and checking mine too. My 2004 Marauder was built on April 19th of 2004, and I drove it home on June 5th of 2004, so it didn't sit around too long after being built. Some Marauders have sat around for very longs periods of time before being purchased. I don't know for sure if that is really a good or bad thing. So far so good.
JIM
_____________________________
2004 MARAUDER 300A - DTR
1994 TAURUS SHO - DK MET GREEN

[bryanknie]

Whats the cost of the exhaust system. Pocket the cash and go aftermarket, go see Dennis R, call Kooks or ask the dealer if they can substitute parts and order from an aftermarket supplier.

Turn your lemon into lemonaide.

Bryan

[roadpig58]

Whats the cost of the exhaust system. Pocket the cash and go aftermarket, go see Dennis R, call Kooks or ask the dealer if they can substitute parts and order from an aftermarket supplier.

Turn your lemon into lemonaide.

Bryan just another slant on this, guys- first off, ford will not allow
aftermarket substitutions for a warranty claim- and second- it shouldnt be a warranty claim at all- if it was dealer traded- then either the original dealer or selling dealer is responsible- ford allows a dealer a finite amount of time to report defects that can be see such as dents, paintwork, rust, ect- after that-
cosmetics and/or rust are considered improper storage and are the dealers responsibility- the warranty covers defects in materials and workmanship- it
doesnt allow for misuse or exposure to roadsalt unless the original dealer catches it and makes a claim in time- roadpig

[Bigdogjim]

OK? I for one don't buy the road salt thing because their a lot of Marauders running around the Northeast U.S. with no problems for almost 2 1/2 years.

It could be the exhaust was sc***** somehow?

As long as they fixing it all well:)

[Mike Poore]

:bigcry: Dropped our 2-month old 2004 Marauder at the Lincoln-Mercury dealer at lunch today. Always something, it seems, but other than that, we LOVE our Marauder.

Steve
Alabaster, AL
Oh, heck, Steve. I always put that stuff down as infant mortality. Thing is, about Fords, it's gonna happen, sometimes; and given a fair chance the dealers usually get it right the first time, and once that's done, they run forever. We've been driving 'em since '67, and except for some we just didn't like, for whatever reason, we keep going back. I have to say, though, we 've been very fortunate to have found a great dealership with a supberb service department.

[Cobra25]

If it did a job on the exhaust like that ,what about the rest of the car?

[427435]

I will bet this exhaust system wasn't made out of the correct material. The exhaust system on my 1993 Grand Marquis is still the original one and it has 198,000 miles and 12 years of Minnesota winter salt on it.

[jgc61sr2002]

I thought the exhust system was made of stainless steel. Something doesn't sound right. As long as they are replacing it under warranty there shouldn't be a problem.

[awsmvic]

I am just now reading the replies to this thread that I posted yesterday. I'll try to respond to some comments here. This may be a situation where none of us-including the dealer and/or Ford will ever really know what caused this. My stainless "tips" were not rusted but the weld where the hanger(s) connect to the tips were rusted very badly. Actually the further back towards the rear of the car you go, the worse the rust became. But I am not exaggerating in the least when I said just how bad it was. The General Manager, Ford's Regional Rep, the Service Manager, and about 10 other people crowded under the car when they first raised it up on the ramps and there was a collective "gasp". I will be the first to admit I've never seen anything like it either as there is literally rust "sores" from one end of the exhaust to the other, but especially the cat covers and mufflers, but to include the exhaust pipe itself. There is also rust on the rear axle, but that occurs over time anyway and I did not press them to replace it. But everything metal that is not painted or stainless has rust on it, to include even every little bolt in the transmission pan/cover. But again, I was quite impressed by Ford's totally positive response to my "problem". I talked to the Service Manager today and he said the exhaust got replaced today but they are going to make sure every little part that has rust is replaced, so I am supposed to get the car back tomorrow. Rest assured I'll give it a going over before I leave the dealership.

Steve
Alabaster, AL
2004 Silver Frost Marauder
Light Flint Interior
2000 miles

[Mike Poore]

The General Manager, Ford's Regional Rep, the Service Manager, and about 10 other people crowded under the car when they first raised it up on the ramps and there was a collective "gasp". Steve
Alabaster, AL
Man, Steve, if you didn't live in Alabama, I'd swear that was my dealership. My guys are terriffic, and treat us like we're the most important people on the planet. Come to think of it, I guess we are, since we're the folks who keep 'em in business. That whole rust story is very strange, though, and we'd love to hear what THEY think caused the problem, and how YOU think they did as far as meeting your expectations. :)

...mike