Defects I found on my new '03 Marauder

[tta197]

Greetings, well I finally bought a left over 03 Marauder 300A
built 10/02 (it had 6 miles on it when I picked it up). Everytime I bring home a car I inspect it top to bottom for defects. Here's what I found : wire harness at wiper support chaffing, wire harness at right side of transmission chaffing, rattle from subwoofer, loose clamps at air cleaner and throttle body, missing bolt that supports heater core hose on right side of engine by exhaust manifold, and tranny shifts that are strange.
Anyway, I hope this thing does not turn out to be a big lemon.

[joflewbyu2]

if you want it fixed right, fix it yourself. sounds like easy fixes. how did you save $4,000 - the 03 rebate is only $1,000 more and the 04s have $500 dealer money. did you buy it for $24,500 or less?

[joflewbyu2]

on the good side, you found 1 with 6 miles on her. enjoy the car. be glad you got 300a.

[tta197]

......................

[joflewbyu2]

at that price, don't sweat it. that is a great price !! glad to see you are going over the car with a fine tooth comb. you will get her right before you know it and have a perfect MM at a price others only dreamed about. take care of the wiring harnesses immediately by either pulling them away and placing sliced rubber hose around the harness to protect or rerouting the harnesses. several members had the same problem. do a search to see the repair process.

[chapel1]

tta197 Damn that's cheap!I bought mine in June of 02 and payed alot more than that! That's a steal of a deal!Now you got to start building some history with your new car.
I drive my wife's V-6 accord sometimes and appreciate how refined and fast it is,but as you soon will find out the Marauder has better insturment lights on steering wheel and lights that come on automatically when it gets dark out and lights that come on when you turn on your wipers.To name a few.Plus the stares you'll get when you drive your Marauder.

[Smokie]

If $24,000 is your out the door price, you paid exactly $10,000 less than I paid for for mine with 11 miles. The things you found wrong with your car don't strike me as being serious. What I do find serious is the ten grand you saved.

[SergntMac]

This is true, Smokie, but look at all the fun he's missed too.

[TripleTransAm]

The harness issues ARE serious and have been responsible for everything from tranny tear-downs to all-out PCM short-circuits. While the other issues are small QA-related glitches, the harness issues HAVE to be addressed by your dealer... if the chaffing has gotten through to the internals, you need to have someone inspect each and every wire and insulation within the harness. The symptoms of a sliced harness are all across the board, and can be a real pain to track down, due to the sheer number and variety of wires in there.

Unfortunately I have to say that I'm bringing this up from personal experience. :( In my case the slice was so small it was almost impossible to see unless the harness was twisted and tugged in just the right way. :(

[chapel1]

Originally posted by SergntMac
This is true, Smokie, but look at all the fun he's missed too.
He's got a lot of catching up to do.

[tta197]

TripleTA, The harness is not damaged. I caught it before it could cut through the black tape. I moved the harness by the wiper support away from it and I will cover it with some hose. I don't know what to do with the harness by right side of the transmission. There's not much room to work with.

By the way, I caught this after reading your posts on the issue. So thanks for the heads up.

[CRUZTAKER]

TTA197....WELCOME!

You did good. The issues you speak of are not unusual. These are the little things that happen, and unfortunately frequently go unoticed. But you found us, therefore from here on out, you are in good hands and should know that you just made alot of new friends with a plethera of information and problem resolving skills.

Now go crawl under the front left of the car and look at the tranny bellhousing where it mates to the block and make sure the big rubber grommet was installed blocking site of the t/c inside the tranny!!! :lol:

-barry

[tta197]

Cruztaker, thanks for the welcome. Yes the rubber grommet is installed. That was one the things I looked at.

[jgc61sr2002]

tta197 - Welcome to the site. The best on the net. You are already making good use of it. Enjoy your new ride. Super price.:D :up:

[Smokie]

tta197 I forgot to say WELCOME. I didn't mean to imply damaged wiring is not important, only that with 6 miles on the car and you finding it right after you got home the situation can be easily remedy because you are aware of it (thanks to posts by TTA) the value of this forum once again proves to be a valuable asset.

Sarge No regrets, the last 16 months of ownership are like no other vehicle I have ever owned... FANTASTIC.:bounce:

[SergntMac]

Originally posted by Smokie
Sarge No regrets, the last 16 months of ownership are like no other vehicle I have ever owned...FANTASTIC!
Yeah...Kinda neat being an OG now, eh?

[Smokie]

Yeah...Kinda neat being an OG now, eh? Ok Sarge...I'll bite, OG ????

[chapel1]

OLD GUY? My guess.It's better than OF.

[Smokie]

Originally posted by chapel1
OLD GUY? My guess.It's better than OF.

Me old ?????? I am 50 years young and getting younger every day....:banana2: :lol: :banana:

[Bigdogjim]

tta197: Great price. Your on top of thing already! One step ahead.
The only item you did not talk about was the PAINT???

How is it??

Enjoy!:):):)

[tta197]

BigdogJim, the paint job is not the greatest but acceptable. As a side note to this, I had an '87 Buick Grand National with the original paint that looked like my wife was the one who painted it. So if the paint on the GN didn't bother, the paint job on the Marauder won't get to me.

You know in the back of my mind I still wonder if the '04 would have been a better buy because of the different tranny? This is getting to me ,I'm not impressed at how this thing shifts. Hopefully getting the computer reflashed will help.

Thanks for the welcome, jgc61sr2002, smokie, and everyone else.

[Bigdogjim]

Carefull tta197. I was in that position a year ago and now the paint is not acceptable.
Mine only got worse over a short time:mad:

Good luck!

[RCSignals]

You got such a great price on the '03, just go get yourself an '04 to keep it company ;)

Congrats on the purchase, go out and enjoy the car!

[SergntMac]

"OG" meant to say "original gang," but Old Guy fits too...LOL. Glad I didn't use "original dude," otherwise some may think you're a tailpipe...

All this means to me, is one who's been here a while and knows his MM *****.

I wouldn't mind being called an OF, at least the plumbing still works and my brain still wants to...

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by SergntMac
Glad I didn't use "original dude," otherwise some may think you're a tailpipe...


LOL! Is that a polite way of saying someone is an *********? :lol: