Confused Ford Motor Co.

[Mad1]

Perhaps this is just another symptom of why MM sales haven't taken off.


Dear Mr. Mad1,
All of us at Ford MOTOR CO. appreciate that you selected your 2003 <b>GRAND MARQUIS</b>.

Huh? :confused:

Then they want me to buy the Extended Service Plan, which is already part of my original contract. (I just double checked) So now I gotta make sure they know that in their records, because I don't want to be arguing that when I have an urgent service problem. :po:

I can understand other companies not being able to tell the difference between a GM and a MM, but Ford makes them for goodness sake.
Anyone else gotten this?

[Macon Marauder]

Yep, they're pretty clueless. I got a similar letter.

Funny, the JD Powers survey knew I had a Marauder.

Some dealers staff are even worse. I picked up my spare tire last month. As the guy is putting it in the trunk he asks, "So what is this thing? A Grand Marauder? Never heard of that."

[WolfeBros]

In FMC's defense I think they see the Marauder as a Grand Marquis with the 300A or 300B performance upgrade package.
IE...the Cobra is still a Mustang. I have no good excuse for the extended warranty snafu.

My thoughts anyway.

[LincMercLover]

Yes, but the Cobra really is a performance package. You say it "Mustang Cobra." You don't say "Grand Marquis Marauder," do you?

Just playing devils advocate... :D :bounce:

[Mark McQuaide]

My dealer thinks it's a GM. It's even on a lot of the paperwork. I just see it as part of the stealth factor :pimp:

[jefferson-mo]

:rasta:

[03 Merc]

WolfeBros,

I agree the VIN of a Marauder tells you it is a Grand Marquis LS by body code (M75) ...with only the Engine code being MM specific....

You can run your VIN here: http://www.fleet.ford.com/maintenance/vin_tools/vinlookup.asp

This was also discussed earlier here:
http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=812

My title says Marauder, my insurance says Grand Marquis,.. I don't care my rates are cheap:D

[WolfeBros]

mmm...... Now I am really confused.....I call mine a Grand Cobra LS. ?
:lol: See what I get for trying to defend FMC ? :D
Where is StanleyK......errrrrrr Martyo when you need him.....:D

[Bigdogjim]

I like "WTF" best. Nobody seams to know what to call mine? The Ford dealer where I buy my E-350's know more about it then the L&M dealer that sold it to me. All and all it nice not having a "ordinary" car. Last note, one guy that I thought knew cars saw me last week and asked why I bought a Town Car????????
Big Dog

[Vince Gortner]

I think the confusion over this car is one of the best features of the car. My fellow officers wanted to know where I got the parts for my "Crown Vic", an officer in a neighboring jurisdiction knocked me down as I was driving thru a less desirable neighborhood because he mistook me for a local pimp that has a pimped out Town Car, my mom thinks it's nice that I stopped buying sports cars and finally got "a nice family car", and pretty much anybody that isn't a dyed-in-the-wool car geek just doesn't know what to do with the car.

The car guys know though. That's the cool part. I took my MM in to the local quick lube joint for it's first oil rinse (at 600 mi) yesterday. The knew. They knew exactly what the car was, and they wanted one, and they knew exactly what mods they would do to the car if they got their hands on one. I was surprised.

These guys were all in their mid 20's, so maybe there really is a significant market for this car, but the people that find the car attractive just don't have the entry fee? How about a move downmarket? Take out all the nice leather, the upmarket stereo, the air suspension, the automatic climate control, and just leave the black paint, the motor, and the 18" wheels, and sticker it at $25k... With an optional blower.:D

I'll stop now.......

[Matt Johnson]

My dealer contract and a follow up letter both say "Grand Marquis" but my insurance knew right away that it's a Marauder so I couldn't slip that one past for better rates.

I thought at first that this was simply a "mistake" made by the dealer to get more MM's allotted to them. My dealer told me they can only get one MM for every 10 GM's sold - doesn't matter how many MM's they are moving. (of course, this was a dealer who actually knew what the Marauder was - the first LM dealer I went to in Santa Monica was like walking back into the 70's. They didn't even know what the car was. The second dealer I stopped into took me back to the lot to let me test drive one...and couldn't find the car. Salesperson had to ask another salesperson where it was and was told that the car was gone and had sold three days prior.) So I assumed the funky paperwork I received when I actually bought the car was the dealer trying to send something back to LM to reflect a GM sale so that they could get more MM's allotted....I know that doesn't make sense to a lot of you guys who are experiencing winter right now and have reported MM's hanging out on the lots like convicts on the yard, but in SoCal that does not seem to be the case at all. They don't seem to hang around on the lots here for very long, or at least they weren't when I was trying to find one in late December.

I did receive the card for the leather jacket, though, so someone somewhere at LM knows I own a Marauder...

[RCSignals]

Vince, I agree. If they did that, the car would be a sell out. They could make the lower trim level an option

[prchrman]

Mercury historically has not had to many low rent cars...they were and are to be the Ford - Linc go between...good ideal vince, but probably not going to happen..

[Matt Johnson]

I don't think they should strip them down at all - I don't even like the fact that they're offering them in different colors....The only thing they could have done differently as far as I'm concerned is put a blower on the thing, or at least give it more performance programming from the factory, and then actually advertised the package as aggressively as they advertise their SUV's.

There would probably be more buyers also if not for some of the published reviews of the car which cite what most on this forum have come to agree to be the biggest "pitfall" of the car...the power issue on the low end. The MM should be a 0-60 in 5 to 6 seconds and a 12-13 sec. 1/4 mile STOCK.

All that said, the niche for this ride is very narrow and that's okay with me...540i's and S500's are a dime-a-dozen around LA, but I've only seen two other MM's since I've owned mine. That's one of the most appealing things about this car for me - they're not everywhere and when you do see one you've got instant "kinship" with whomever's behind the wheel.

[CRUZTAKER]

Hey, atleast all the corrospondance mailed to you guys had YOUR name on it. I still can't convince them that I actually bought the car.............
Even Chase Manhatten Bank got my name wrong??????

[jgc61sr2002]

Originally posted by CRUZTAKER
Hey, atleast all the corrospondance mailed to you guys had YOUR name on it. I still can't convince them that I actually bought the car.............
Even Chase Manhatten Bank got my name wrong?????? Cruz - I bet that Mr. Bill finds you every month even if he can't spell your name. John

[2003Marauder]

Ford Credit Still shows as a Grand Marquis.
But State Farm knows what it is and insurance is higher than on a GM.
I did get a letter from the Henry Ford's Granddaughter thanking me for buying my MM last year.

[CRUZTAKER]

Originally posted by jgc61sr2002
Cruz - I bet that Mr. Bill finds you every month even if he can't spell your name. John

No doubt......and that just shows how easy it is to commit ss fraud.
They got the SS right, the name wrong, but as long as they get paid, it's no big deal.

But that would be ANOTHER thread on a .org site

"Confused SS office..........." :rolleyes:

[cheddar 96 SS]

If it makes you feel any better, my SS is technically a 1996 Chevrolet Caprice Classic according to the title and insurance papers. Only difference is that i have this "package" called WX3 :D . I think it's kinda funny. Oh well, just a lil input