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View Full Version : Greetings from Maine, for now.



Enforcer
04-07-2009, 11:04 PM
<meta http-equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 3.0 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } A:link { so-language: zxx } --> </style> Hello all. I wish to take this opportunity to give greetings and salutations to all and at the same time, hopefully get help in my car search.
I have been in the market for a new car. My Olds Alero needs some minor work and I don't want to put any more money into it. I NEED a car with some style, looks and the ability to get out of it's own way! I have been looking at all kinds of cars...Mercedes, 300's, Chargers, Lincolns, Caddys..the list goes on.:confused: If I had the time and space, I'd find and restore an old muscle car. I decided on four things...it must be rear wheel drive, it must have nads,(BIG ONES!) it must be comfortable and it must be different. As of two weeks ago, I narrowed it down to two cars (I know most of you have seen this one before), a 96 Impala SS and, of course, the Marauder.
After doing a LOT of research, I have decided on the Marauder. I'm trying to find one within the next month, if not, I guess I'll have to wait until I get to NC. My dilemma now is finding the right one. I want a sunroof, so that lets out a 2003 of which I found a nice one with low miles not to far from me.
I have been checking out this site for a little over a week and have found it to very informative which is how I know the 2003 doesn't have a factory sunroof.:mad: My criteria are...sunroof, black/charcoal that's it for must haves, any other options would be a bonus. I'm still thinking about the 2003 and putting in an after market sunroof,but...I dunno if I want to do that.
I hope I'm not rambling too much.:sleepy:
Well, I will end by saying thank you for your time, I hope this group can help me in my quest and I look forward to talking and possibly meeting with Y-All soon.

bigbillybbs
04-07-2009, 11:15 PM
:welcome:

You have come to the right place :beer:
Good choice in picking the Marauder.
Every time you get behind the weel it will put a BIG grin on your face…!

Even though the Impala is a very respectable 4 door car.

Ill keep a look out for any good Marauders with your wants.
Keep us updated in your search
Good luck !
Bill

TAKEDOWN
04-07-2009, 11:24 PM
HaPpPy Huntings on your MARAUDER!

rayjay
04-08-2009, 04:12 AM
Welcome, as you know there were a lot less 04s made than 03s. You may also have to travel to find one as there are very few Members on here from Maine which tells me there are even fewer Marauders there. IMHO, take a long look at the 03 close by to you if you have to have it now. Otherwise wait until you move to NC. Happy hunting.

Hotrauder
04-08-2009, 06:53 AM
Hi, good choice! Welcome from a displaced Maineiac. Find a Trilogy Supercharged 04 and you will never look back. The best of the best, no paint, axle or head problems that seem to plague 03s and you will never need to do another mod to have all the nads you want. There have been some great packaged Marauders sold between members. Check the Marauders for sale listings here and at MotorCityMarauders often. You will find a great car that lots of members know and see on a regular basis. Good luck with your search. Dennis

Ms. Denmark
04-08-2009, 07:47 AM
Congratulations on your exceptional taste in cars! The Marauder community welcomes someone like you who understands and respects this great automobile. Good luck on finding the exact car you want. You won't be sorry. Welcome! :beer:

timfromme
04-08-2009, 12:27 PM
Welcome!
I am a Marauder owner from Maine. You will not be displeased when you finally buy your Marauder. I am very happy with mine. Love it going up and down I-95. My Marauder did take a Maine winter beating though.:( Welcome Again!:)
timfromme

BhamMarauder
04-08-2009, 01:29 PM
Hello and welcome. I just bought my Marauder last week. At first, I was looking for a 2004. But then I found a really nice 2003 and bought it. You may want to consider including 2003's in your search.

jgc61sr2002
04-08-2009, 06:38 PM
Welcome aboard.:D

RF Overlord
04-08-2009, 11:39 PM
I decided on four things...it must be rear wheel drive, it must have nads,(BIG ONES!) it must be comfortable and it must be different.3 out of 4 ain't bad. I wouldn't say a stock MM has "big nads", but put in a tune and some 4.10s and you're getting close.
I'm still thinking about the 2003 and putting in an after market sunroof,but...I dunno if I want to do that.All of the "factory" sunroofs were installed by a third party, so I wouldn't let that bother you too much. If you find a nice car that meets your other requirements, there are plenty of shops that can install a sunroof, even in Maine... ;)

BTW, glad to hear from another owner in New England.

Enforcer
04-09-2009, 04:13 PM
Hello again and I thank you all for the warm welcome:D. I appreciate all the comments and suggestions. One of my reasonings for the interest of the 2004 is the comments regarding the 2003 transmission not being as good as the 2004. Then I see Hotrauder's comment:


“Hotrauder Hi, good choice! Welcome from a displaced Maineiac. Find a Trilogy Supercharged 04 and you will never look back. The best of the best, no paint, axle or head problems that seem to plague 03s and you will never need to do another mod to have all the nads you want. There have been some great packaged Marauders sold between members. Check the Marauders for sale listings here and at MotorCityMarauders often. You will find a great car that lots of members know and see on a regular basis. Good luck with your search. Dennis”


What are these problems exactly? Paint, axle and head problems? What, I get a 2003, drive down the highway and the paint starts flying off the car? Then, when it's all off, the axles fall off and the heads crack? Sounds like LOADS of fun! But seriously, what are these problems because this is the first time I've heard anything regarding them. As far as the sunroof deal, I thought that it would depreciate the value of the car when and if it becomes a “CLASSIC”, the fact that it wouldn't be “all original”. To me, I just want a nice, cool looking car that I can have fun with and drive daily, which in NC I could, no snow where I'm going. Except this year they actually got 1 INCH!!!! As for originality, if I keep the original parts, I should be fine, but as far as the sunroof, RF Overlord, you mentioned that all the sunroofs were put in after market, but those were the 2004's in 2003, it wasn't an option. So, do I put it in and keep the part of the roof/headliner they cut out and put it with the rest of the original parts I modded?:help: Again, that part was a joke.:cool4: This whole original/modded classic car stuff has ALWAYS been such an iffy thing.


So, I,ll put this question out for the Marauder community:


Is it OK to put a sunroof in a 2003 and have it STILL be called an “ORIGINAL”, or has the car been modified to the extent that it can no longer be call that because it wasn't an option for that year?


Let the debates begin!!! And to answer the question that hasn't been publicly asked yet...YES, I am long-winded!!!:banana2:


And as for the search, the closest ones I found just happen to be 2003's, one of which not only popped up the day I started this thread, but it happens to be only 1 minute from me. Lots of miles on it though and I stopped to take a quick peek and it looks looks like "it got no luvin". The other is the one I referenced in my original post. I'll post the links to them. I plan on looking at and test driving them thoroughly tomorrow or Saturday. I'll keep Y-ALL posted on what happens.
L8tr.


http://maine.craigslist.org/ctd/1111072808.html

http://www.greaterlowell.net/VehicleDetails/378095563

Rocknthehawk
04-09-2009, 04:46 PM
GoMifuni has his listed in Central MA for cheap cheap...

He's already got the 4.10's and a tune to give you the oomph. The car looks (and drives) great, especially considering the "experience" she has on her.

timfromme
04-09-2009, 07:56 PM
Hi,
I don't have any issues with my 2003 Marauder except the window switches and LCM. I need to clean the electrical contacts for the window switches or replace them. My other problem was the Light Control Module(LCM). Headlight relay went bad. I replaced the relay. My car has 53K miles, all stock except K+N Filter Kit upgrade. She still pulls strong and chirps the tires on the 1-2 shift:D. I do not know if the issues have been resolved in later year 2003's. The first ones were 300A Marauders. I have a 300B Marauder. As for the sunroof, I feel its just your personal preference, Are you buying for collectivity? or buying because you want a fun toy? Mine is just my favorite fun toy. I will run her till she runs no more. Kelly Blue Book for the 2003 Marauder has an option if you have a moon roof or sun roof. Clicking on one does increase the value. I don't know if that helps or not, just adding my thoughts. I went all the way to Long Island, NY to purchase my Marauder and drove her back to Maine. Good luck on your search.
timfromme

GordonB
04-09-2009, 08:09 PM
Welcome Enforcer! Yes, it is OK to put a Sunroof in an '03. Pls check my sig below.
GordonB

rayjay
04-11-2009, 05:09 AM
If you are in for the long haul, no sun roof.

Hotrauder
04-11-2009, 08:49 AM
Early 03's and others have had paint blistering and peel problems, many have been repainted already. Blue smoke at start up, valve guide wear and ticking from the heads are fairly common in 03's. Soft axels was a definate problem that caused a TSB in early 03's. The search is your friend. You probably won't find many posts of paint flying off at highway speeds and you will find posts from smart ass newbies, some to numb to learn; and you will find a disheartening number of POed Marauder owners who have run afoul of poor guality builds. Also the Tranny is upgraded on 04's. Many 03 owners have had trouble free cars as all of them should be. Good luck. These cars have been in our community since late 02 and there is a lot of knowledge on this board and in archives. Do your homework. ..No one cares whether you have a sunroof or not....other than you. We all try to make our cars, ours. If you want a sunroof, why not? Just do the research to find a good installer who well stand behind his or her work. My suggestion, do it where you are going to live...so that you will have service and recourse. Dennis

03Farmmarauder
04-11-2009, 10:15 AM
From the stand point of a collector the moonroof= bad imho. My car has 4:10 and a few other mods but all parts were kept to return it to original. My 03's paint looks great but it has always been garaged and never seen winter. Some 03 had week clear or to thin of clear the UV protectors are in the top .05 mils of clear so some had clear failures when left outside. Major problems being flat panels. Just look at over all condition of paint because a good base and clear job over entire car with no body work will prolly run in the ballpark of 7-10k to do a proper job. check for rust on bottoms of doors because I imagine they use salt up there.

Enforcer
04-11-2009, 05:26 PM
<meta http-equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 3.0 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> Well, I went and looked at that Marauder near me today. The outside isn't as bad as I thought, some minor scratches and scuffs. The underside has some rust on the frame but not on the floors. The interior is in decent shape as well. It has 88K miles on it. There were a few problems that I noticed. On the interior, the plastic looks looks it might have been painted because there are some spots that are black and the rest is dark grey!? {Any ideas on that”?} My wife said that is smelled like crap inside?!! The traction control button has an “OFF” light that doesn't go on and doesn't seem to work, I floored it from a dead stop and the thing went sideways!!! COOL...but not what I wanted it to do at the time {button not working?. The engine sounds fine except for the ticking...valves? There was some white smoke smoke coming out of the exhausts and it smelled like it was running quite rich, also some soot in the pipes. It couldn't be because it was cold out because my car wasn't doing that. Underneath the gas tank, there's a silver box??? What the HECK is that...a bomb...go over 120 and it goes off???:D When driving it I noticed that the transmission, when I let off the gas for a second, down shifted almost immediately, it just didn't FEEL right.:shake:


Over all, the car isn't bad, I liked it a lot, I'm just not too keen on some of the things I mentioned. I've driven and owned a ton of cars in my life (father owned a body shop) and this ranks right up there with some well known muscle cars (old and new). Even off the line it has some nads, more than I thought it would from what I've heard on this sight and others.


So, anyone have any ideas or comments about my “finds” on this car?:help: Any info would be appreciated. Also, I have the VIN from it, could someone run it and tell me the build date,(forgot to look at the door jamb), production #... maby run a Carfax.


Again, thanks for all the help, info and comments. I appreciate all of it.

Hotrauder
04-11-2009, 05:39 PM
Pass on this one...Ticking is the head problem I mentioned earlier. White smoke is usually coolant and you know how that gets into the exhaust, right? Run away. I would recommend staying away from Northern cars that have driven in the winter. The majority of us think we will hang onto our Marauders for a long long time and the salt eats them up. I would wait till I hit NC. Just a thought. I had the pleasure of checking out a pristine 04 yesterday afternoon for the new owner. 41K on the clock and like new inside and out. There are a lot of very nice Marauders available. Be very picky, we will be happy that you waited for the right one.:beer:Dennis

Enforcer
04-11-2009, 05:41 PM
Early 03's and others have had paint blistering and peel problems, many have been repainted already. Blue smoke at start up, valve guide wear and ticking from the heads are fairly common in 03's. Soft axels was a definate problem that caused a TSB in early 03's. The search is your friend. You probably won't find many posts of paint flying off at highway speeds and you will find posts from smart ass newbies, some to numb to learn; and you will find a disheartening number of POed Marauder owners who have run afoul of poor guality builds. Also the Tranny is upgraded on 04's. Many 03 owners have had trouble free cars as all of them should be. Good luck. These cars have been in our community since late 02 and there is a lot of knowledge on this board and in archives. Do your homework. ..No one cares whether you have a sunroof or not....other than you. We all try to make our cars, ours. If you want a sunroof, why not? Just do the research to find a good installer who well stand behind his or her work. My suggestion, do it where you are going to live...so that you will have service and recourse. Dennis

Bubba...your ascarin' me with all these comments about the 2003.:lol:

But seriously, do you think that the 2003's are REALLY that bad? Being around a body shop for most of my life, I've seen the good and the bad side of cars. Production models from the same year and in some instances, the same run having problems that others didn't. If you want to talk about paint peeling off, you should have what happened to the first Caravans that came out!!! Paint coming off in sheets!! Bad sheet metal prep.

But you do have me SOMEWHAT thinking about just looking for a 2004.
I dunno...I so confused...AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH.:m ad2:

Does someone want to come with me to look at these cars!!!!:P
L8r DUDE.

Rocknthehawk
04-11-2009, 05:52 PM
If you're anywhere around central MA or southern NH, I would gladly come with you to look.

There is a large group of enthusiasts and owners in MA

Enforcer
04-11-2009, 06:17 PM
If you're anywhere around central MA or southern NH, I would gladly come with you to look.

There is a large group of enthusiasts and owners in MA

Thanks for the offer, I just might take you up on it. It seems like I need all the help I can get!!! This 2003-2004-300A-300B crap has me all buggy eyed!:mad2:

Well, I'm in Wells, Me., 20 min or so from Portsmouth NH. Anyone in the area can meet up at the Walmart in Newington tomorrow around 11 AM.
Y-All can buy me a beer and I'll tell you my problems!!:beer:

Yes...I was joking about the 11AM meeting. Possibly at some other pre-arranged time and date.

rayjay
04-12-2009, 04:50 AM
+1 on passing on that 03. It sounds like they have incorrect tires on the car and that would cause the TC issues. That would also explain why the rear end stepped out. My car can shred my 235 wide snow tires. It should only have a puff of blue smoke at startup, when it has been sitting unused, cold, not constant white smoke. FYI, there were a lot less 04 Marauders produced than 03s. So it may not be as easy to find one. If you are a serious buyer folks on here will go out of their way to help you.