Phantom Marauder has arrived, insurance horror story too........

[junehhan]

Well, the phantom Marauder finally arrived today. It turns out Ford really was telling the truth when they were giving me all of those reasons why my vehicle was so heavily delayed. This vehicle was just definately worth the wait as it's everything i've dreamed about in a beast like this. The engine appears to have pretty good torque as it acclerates just fine, even when it's running at very low rpms. My only complaint is that throttle tip-in is a bit too abrupt and is something I wish was more gradual.

What also impresses me is how awesome this car handles, and how light it really feels! The steering wheel is so incredibly precise, you might actually mistake the Marauder for a german type sport sedan as it's always on-center, and always turns where you want to go. The exhaust note is a bit raspy for my taste, but does sound nice and aggressive, although I wish it was louder.

Here is the horror story:

I had to call my insurance company to get my coverage transferred over to the Marauder, and the response I got was a bit disturbing. When I first got hold of the insurance agent, she asked me what in the world was a Mercury Marauder, which forced me to explain in great detail what it was about. After she enters my VIN, she said the computer popped up that this is not a valid vehicle, and that she would have to talk with her boss to see if they could even insure me because the computer wasn't letting her enter my information in. After about 20-30 minutes waiting on hold, she finally comes back and said that her boss also had no idea what a Mercury Marauder was, and had to manually enter it since there were nothing on the Marauder in the system. She said that they'll get everything corrected, but this is what they would have to do till they get it corrected so that I get covered immediately! She said I must be the first Marauder owner to get a policy with them.............

[bigslim]

I don't want to ask something too personal, but who is your insurance carrier? I have Progressive and they are great. No problems with them.

[RCSignals]

Is it ACME Insurance Co.?

[RCSignals]

I'm glad you have your Marauder finally! It's nice that after all the anticipation it still beats your expectations

[junehhan]

Actually, I have progressive too...........


As big as Progressive is, I would have found it difficult to believe that I would have been their first Marauder owner. Progressive is awesome as they provide incredibly customer support, and are always really fast to give you a response on a decision. Their rates are pretty reasonable too and my premiums went down nearly $600 for next year from trading in the Discovery for the Marauder!

[Petrograde]

Congrats! June!

Glad you are finnaly united with your MM!

Tom

[junehhan]

RC, this car has way surpassed my expectations! It's the ultimate harmony of simplicity, performance, practicality, and elegance! Mercury did a kick ass job as I really only have one complaint as I stated earlier. Oh yeah, and I don't like how the torque converter locks up so quickly, and how it grabs for taller gears so quickly................

I suppose Ford did all of that for gas mileage reasons, but a performance car shouldn't have to be restricted by something like that.

[Bigdogjim]

junehhan: Now you can enjoy waht some of has for over a year! A great car! A real sleeper:)

As for the insurance compay ...well.... sometimes they can get......confused:)

Welcome and go enjoy the ride........

Early Xmass?? :)

[Glenn]

The simplest approach is to tell your insurance company your new car is a GM not MM. It works!

Glenn

[RCSignals]

most likely what is throwing the Insurance company computer is the M79 code

[Marauderjack]

My insurance company said exactly the same and it ended up being the M79 code!!;)

They eventually found out what they needed to know from Ford!!:D

Drive it 1000 miles and do a little aggressive acceleration and the computer will not "grab for higher gears" quite as bad!!:)

Have a blast!!! Sorry the wait was so painful!!:mad:

Marauderjack:cool:

[miamisilvermm]

Congratulations! You'll get used to the pressure needed to avoid that gear shifting.

[MarauderMike]

Congrats on the car June! I've had mine since June 2002 and I still get a silly a** grin every time I get in the car. Give it some time, the car has to learn your driving habits and that exhaust note gets a little louder as you get some miles on the car. Oh, btw, your new addicition is how to keep is spotless all the time. I'll keep an eye out for a shiny Silver Birch MM on my way through Cinci next Friday.:burnout:

[RedMM]

Hey Junehhan!! Wow! Congrats on finally having the silver beauty make it to Ohio!! I have 700 miles on my DTR now and the honeymoon continues!! If you want to stretch her legs a bit, hop on I 71 and cruise on up to Cleveland!! The secret to correcting the funny shifts is WOT-works every time!! Good Luck!! :beer: Mike

[JohnE]

Congrats on the nice new ride. Once you get used to having a powerful engine, the throttle response won't be a problem I'm sure.


Ford forgot to register the MM as a separate car. It is officially a Grand Marquis with the Maraurder Body Code (M75 for 2003 and M79 for 2004). Just like a police version of the Crown Vic (P71). This was a mistake, but they went with it.

[sailsmen]

Most auto policies will give you automatic coverage equal to the car it replaced for at least 30 days, check your form for your particular case.

[duhtroll]

I have Progressive too.

My little "ID Cards" which are small slips of paper read "Mercury Marauder."

The agent I ordered the policy from knew exactly what the MM was and said how jealous he was that I had one, and that he planned to buy one after I told him the deals that could be had. This was back in May.

We spent 15 minutes setting up the policy, and another 1/2 hour talking about the MM.

:D

-A

[ADE 1000]

Congrats June.

My insurance company was also confused when I said I bought a Marauder, but once they typed in the VIN it actually came up correctly. I am really surprised that a company as big as Progressive does not have it in their system.

Anyway, enjoy the ride. :cool:

[Saleengene]

Welcome Junehan from a fellow Cincinnatian.

We have had our Marauder since October and love it. Our insurance agent did not have a problem with insuring the car as a Marauder (State Farm). It is listed as an MM on our insurance cards.

What dealership did you purchase from? We dealt with Fairfield LM and had a very pleasant experience. The salesman was knowledgable about the car and provided me with all the literature that he could find, including pages from the sales training literature. He understood that my wife and I were car enthusiasts and respected that fact. The dealership has had no problems selling MM, except for an '03 MM (blue) which they ended up sending back to Detroit.

Keep an eye out for our black '04 with the spoiler and the silver Marauder inserts in the rear bumper.

Happy Maraudering!
Gene

[Marauderman]

Well, let me add my " Congrats" as well---you sure deserve it --after waiting so long-- as you have read from all those of us with grins still hitting both sides of the windows---it never stops---

It's automatic--but you'll start finding "ways" to have to go out for something or to pick up whatever---just so you can get another spin in before retiring for the day/nite----OH Yeah!!!

Have fun and be safe------Tom

[jgc61sr2002]

June - Congrats on the arrival of your MM. Enjoy. I prefer Allstate because the agent is local. I go directly to his office if there is a problem. IMO Insurance company's are a necessary evil.

[67435animal]

I have Progressive as well and my vehicle came up as a Marauder immediately when I added it.

Enjoy, I have a Superchips tuner for mine and that not only changed the shift points up, but also firmed them up. Mine shifts like a dream now.

Bob

[CRUZTAKER]

I have Statefarm and not only did their computer recognize the MM, MY AGENT TOLD ME HE WAS JEALOUS:P

$480/yr full, no deductables. :up:

[Marauderjack]

CRUZTAKER....

State Farm in SC does not have annual premiums....Quotes are for 6 months coverage??:confused:

I would believe yours to be $480.00/6 mos. or $960.00/year?? Can't believe it could be that much cheaper in Ohio?? :rolleyes:

My Cobra is with State Farm and the premium is $365.00/6mos. but pretty restrictive in that 7500 miles/year and NO DRIVERS UNDER 50!!:(

My MM is with Windsor and I believe it is $1035.00/year.....My CV was a 2000 model and the premium was $935.00!! :)

You may want to double check it to be sure you're not under insured...Just incase something happens!!

Marauderjack:D

[dok]

Originally posted by Marauderjack
My MM is with Windsor and I believe it is $1035.00/year.....My CV was a 2000 model and the premium was $935.00!! :)

Marauderjack:D

Wow! Didn't think South Carolina was that much more than North Carolina. I'm with AMICA out of Greenville SC. My total year (not 6 months) premium is $423.44. This is for $300k/300k/100k with a $500 deductible.

Also, they knew what a Marauder was.

[Marauderjack]

Thanks DOK.....

I will check out AMICA Monday and let ya know what they say??:confused:

It really ticks me off that you have to shop for insurance each year!! :mad:

My premium may be a little high because I used to drive 50-60K miles a year for business and haven't had it refigured!!;)

Stay tuned!!

Marauderjack:D

[Smokie]

The six month premium on my 03 MM. is $353.10 with Allstate.

[Dennis Reinhart]

I would have just said it was a grand Marquee and been done with it

[67435animal]

My premium is $225.00 per six months with 1000 deductible (Progressive). We do have four cars on the policy.

BOb

[Donny Carlson]

Originally posted by junehhan
Actually, I have progressive too...........


As big as Progressive is, I would have found it difficult to believe that I would have been their first Marauder owner. Progressive is awesome as they provide incredibly customer support, and are always really fast to give you a response on a decision. Their rates are pretty reasonable too and my premiums went down nearly $600 for next year from trading in the Discovery for the Marauder!

I arranged my insurance through the Internet with Progressive. No problem, they correctly identified the car as a MM once I keyed in the VIN. This was in July, 2003, so it's odd your agent had any problem.

Progressive has been great -- my insurance covereage is better (ie lower deductibles and more coverage) than Travelers was with my 2000 Taurus, and my rates WENT DOWN compared to a 3 year old Taurus! Not to mention, the quote from Travelers on the MM was revolting :mad2:

[junehhan]

Thank you so much guys! I feel welcome all over again, and this time I finally am official as the wait is now over! This is day 2 of owning my Marauder, and I already have 212 miles on it, with it having 6-7 miles on it when I picked it up yesterday late morning. I have started looking for excuses just to go out and drive. Heck, when I went out earlier to buy a filter for our home heater, instead of going to the Home Depot down the street, I ended up going to another hardware store across the city 40 minutes away in Colerain just to find a reason to stay out longer driving! I also find myself deliberately revving the engine harder than necessary to listen to the exhaust note, although I have not gone WOT, or over 4000rpms yet since I firmly believe in being easy on a car for the first 1000 miles.

I have to admit that i'm jealous at how cheap your insurance rates are. My insurance did go down a lot from my Discovery, but i'm still paying $2990 a year.

Gene, I bought mine from Northgate Lincoln Mercury and VW! My saleslady was Jennifer Hutt, and she really honestly didn't know much about the Marauder at all. She actually sells VW's there instead of LM's, but she was the only salesperson available to help me when I decided to pick the Marauder over the W8 Passat I was considering too. I made fun of her a lot because she really has a passion for VW's, but it was in a joking sense...........

Actually, what's ironic is that besides the general manager there, they all drive VW's. One of the sales guys even told me he wouldn't even get caught dead driving in a Lincoln or Mercury, except for the Marauder which he said is out of his price range because of his family.

[Marauderjack]

junehhan......

We all have done the same as you....looking for a reason to go for a drive and then taking a longer drive than necessary!!;) Heck I have even found myself going slower than normal just to make the ride last a little longer......WEIRD FOR ME??:rolleyes:

You will be pleasantly surprised when you finally "wind it out"!!!:) It is a different machine above 4000 RPM's!!! ;) I don't know if it's the alternator disengaging or what but it "Screams" between 4000 & 6000 RPM's!!!:cool:

Have fun......Be careful!!

Marauderjack:coolman:

[TooManyFords]

All I can say is, I'm glad I have State Farm!

I did a comparison trying to get apples to apples between my current state farm and the online progressive quote system.

My current state farm rate is $322.07 / 6 mo. and that is 100000/300000 on all injury, 100 ded collision, $0 ded comprehensive and 5000 medical.

Progressive was almost 600 for the same coverage.

FYI

john

[WantOneSoBad]

One of the best things about being old, cheap insurance. Damn geezers...:bs:

[Bluerauder]

Duh !!!! Very old thread. :rolleyes:

[DEFYANT]

Ut oh, the Post Police should be along soon......