Who's Buying These Things?

[STAPrap]

I cannot believe how many cars we make on a single shift.Some days you start laughing to yourself and wonder who is actually buying all these cars?
I am glad to see Ford actually advertising the Panther's.They are very nice cars and often over looked.Especially the Vic LX Sport with the console shift.Very nice car,especially in Dark Pearl Blue!
Enjoy your cars guys,have a good work week....

DD

[BillyGman]

Yeah, I can't argue w/you there.........it's just a bad call IMO for the choice to end the production of the badest panthers in the land.....the Marauders. Who makes these decisions? Little old ladies? I realize that they are business decisions, but they are poor ones. Sometimes I wonder if there are any real performance car enthusiasts among those in the car manufacturing industry who are on the top levels and who make the decisions. I mean what do these guys do in their spare time? Play w/Barbie dolls and hang curtains, or go to the mall?

It seems to me that the only real serious perfomance cars that also look good that will be left after the Marauder disapears will cost over 100K. :rolleyes:

[TripleTransAm]

I cannot believe how many cars we make on a single shift.

Would you be willing to provide the name of the fine young man who installed the wiring harnesses in these cars, for the 2003 model year? :uzi: :shot: ;)

[Ross]

Would you be willing to provide the name of the fine young man who installed the wiring harnesses in these cars, for the 2003 model year? :uzi: :shot: ;)


Steve, you're such a sexist! It might have been a fine young woman! :nono:

[TAF]

Would you be willing to provide the name of the fine young man who installed the wiring harnesses in these cars, for the 2003 model year? :uzi: :shot: ;)
And while you're at it...can you take BillyG's 50mm gun and :uzi: that :censor: robot that puts the WORST paintjob on cars that have EVER been witnessed??!!

Thanks!

[Fourth Horseman]

Yeah, I can't argue w/you there.........it's just a bad call IMO for the choice to end the production of the badest panthers in the land.....the Marauders. Who makes these decisions? Little old ladies? I realize that they are business decisions, but they are poor ones. Sometimes I wonder if there are any real performance car enthusiasts among those in the car manufacturing industry who are on the top levels and who make the decisions. I mean what do these guys do in their spare time? Play w/Barbie dolls and hang curtains, or go to the mall?

It seems to me that the only real serious perfomance cars that also look good that will be left after the Marauder disapears will cost over 100K. :rolleyes:

The least they could do would be to offer a 'big engine' option for the Crown Vic sport.

[Paul T. Casey]

My theory is that they (Mr. Ford, et. al.) are clearing the way for the big 40th aniversary Mustang push. Marauder may eek something out of that market.

[LNYTUNS]

Would you be willing to provide the name of the fine young man who installed the wiring harnesses in these cars, for the 2003 model year? :uzi: :shot: ;)

Quit building them so :censor: ing fast and they would not be so screwed up. Let me at the wiring guy and the paint booth, let me at 'em, let me at 'em.:shot: :fire: :mad2:

[Bigdogjim]

And while you're at it...can you take BillyG's 50mm gun and :uzi: that :censor: robot that puts the WORST paintjob on cars that have EVER been witnessed??!!

Thanks!
See folks that is way TAF is a great guy:beer:

I mean he hit the paint thing right on the head:shot:

I really think my car amoung others were shipped to a 3rd world country painted and sent back:argue:

Way to go TAF!:up:

[MapleLeafMerc]

I'll bet STAP is glad he posted! I'm sure he's otherwise a nice guy ;)

[jaywish]

How many cars do you put out in a single shift?

Personally I wonder who puts on the Federal vehicle Part # ID tags......

In particular the guy who puts them on the left side.

[TAF]

I don't know about y'all...but this is gettin pretty funny to me :D

[BillyGman]

Todd, I'm sitting here rolling w/laughter!!!! That was a serious post I wrote, and I didn't expect this to become an avalanche, and that's why it's so amusing. But I fully understand and can relate to the majority of the complaints mentioned here. Hey, he asked for it. Right? I still luv myMarauder, just as I believe most of the owners of them here do, but there are some issues w/them. But overall, I'm glad that they came out w/this car, and aggrivated that they're discontinuing it, especially when I see no alternatives for under 100K that are even worth thinking about from Ford/Mercury.

[Redster]

Good job. I like mine.

[Bluerauder]

Very nice car,especially in Dark Pearl Blue!
Enjoy your cars guys,have a good work week....

DDYou're definitely on the money with the Dark Blue Pearl. I've noticed no paint problems here ... maybe it is a situation affecting primarily the Black Marauder model. But, wiring harnesses on F/L/M products have traditionally been a problem for me. It seems that the left rear taillight takes the overload and overheats. I have been replacing left rear taillights on Ford Products for years. But, so far no wiring issues with my MM. Well, at least the wiring guys are consistent.

All said, I am very happy with my Marauderm....the work week is another story.

[chrish]

you people are a bunch of cry BABIES. GO AWAY: well maby NOT!

[STAPrap]

Wow guys,you really make me want to go to work tomorrow........ :cry:

DD

[BillyGman]

LOL....I'll speak for myself here by saying that I didn't mean to jump on your case guy. Obviously it came across like that, and perhaps that's why others followed suit. I am satisfied w/my Marauder overall. Do I wish that it had atleast a 5.4L engine, or even a 350 engine? Absolutely! But there really isn't any other car that I've seen up close, nor in any magazine article for under 100K that I'd rather have.

That's why I've chosen to modify this car as much as I have so far. Look at my list of mods in my signature, and keep in mind that my car only has 11K on the odometer!!! That shows two things: #1. that I like this car enough to be willing to put all that extra $$ into it to make it better. #2. It didn't have enough HP under the hood for me out of the factory.

but it's a great looking car, w/a fantastic looking body style. Especially for a big car. And since I now have put $3,600 of MODS into the car, on top of paying pretty close to 30K for it out the door, you have to ask yourself the question...."How many cars can you buy for under 34K, that look as good as the Marauder does, weighs atleast 4,200 LBS like the Marauder does, and can blast through the quartermile in a mere 13.5 seconds, and move from 0-60 MPH in a mere 4.9 seconds like my Marauder does, and all on street tires?"

I don't believe that you can find any other car like that. And that's why this car is so great. However, that's why, as a car enthusiast, I'm so dissapointed w/Ford/Mercury, for allowing production of such a car as this one, fizzle out. And w/out even coming up w/something atleast close to being a replacement, or a formidable alternative. Sure the Crown Vic LOOKS close, but it doesn't even have the performance that the Marauder has out of the showroom. And that Marauder performance, wasn't even enough for me as it was. In my veiw, it's bad enough that as a Ford customer, I can't even purchase a car big or small one w/the 5.4L engine under the hood for performance reasons w/out being Donald Trump or Bill Gates who can both swing one of the awesome 2005 Ford GT's, or having to resort to a two wheel drive pick up truck. But on top of all that, now they're cutting the Marauder out!! This simply is a terrible thing from an enthusiast's perspective. And that was the reason for my first post. Just my 4 cents man.

[STAPrap]

I wish Ford would keep the Marauder around too.At this point Ford wants to make cars that make them $ and apparently the Marauder isn't doing it for them.If you ask me,it is expensive for what you get.
Anyhow,we'll see in the next couple of months if they really go ahead and can the car.
Have a good weekend!

DD :)

[seabreeze]

I wish Ford would keep the Marauder around too.At this point Ford wants to make cars that make them $ and apparently the Marauder isn't doing it for them.If you ask me,it is expensive for what you get.
Anyhow,we'll see in the next couple of months if they really go ahead and can the car.
Have a good weekend!

DD :)

I personally would like to thank you and your colleagues who built my Marauder. Because I spent 4 of my first 5 years at Ford working with your esteemed plant, I have a special place in my heart for the vehicles built at St. Thomas, and feel as if I know you guys and the *#"Y& you go through to make a great vehicle. The occasional odd one gets out, but in general I believe we all want to make and buy perfect vehicles, and when we get the product right, we do our best to make the process right. Even if we end up with 100% taxis, limos and police vehicles, I am confident we will continue to give our best shot at it. By the way, I fixed my sheet metal fits myself, but the mechanicals were on the mark... Thank you and your colleagues, please!

[BillyGman]

I wish Ford would keep the Marauder around too.At this point Ford wants to make cars that make them $ and apparently the Marauder isn't doing it for them.If you ask me,it is expensive for what you get.
Anyhow,we'll see in the next couple of months if they really go ahead and can the car.
Have a good weekend!

DD :)

2 things:

#1. If they REALLY wanted to make $$ off the Marauder, then they should put the screws to their advertising department. I've never even seen any Marauder commercials on TV!!! Now I admit, that I don't even watch a lot of TV, but those who do who I've spoken to, all of them except for one person(and I've asked MANY people) have never seen any Marauder commercials, and that's precisely why almost everyone who sees my car who makes a comment about it says :"What kind of car is that?" and "Is that a Crown Vic?"..... and that's why I almost bought a Crown Vic myself. I had never even heard of a Marauder until 11 months ago which was exactly 24 hours before I was going into the dealer to sign the final papers for the 2003 black Crown Vic that I had test driven earlier that week!!! A guy from another dealer calls me up and says "Hey Bill, you were asking if I can get you a Crown Vic w/a Cobra engine in it, and I told you that it was impossible. But I was just thinking, why don't you just buy the Mercury Marauder?" And that guy didn't even have one to sell me, and he knew that he couldn't sell me one since I was eligible for the X-plan and I had told him that. Which means that he had to sell me a car off his lot. And he didn't even have a Marauder on his lot.

My point is, that I'm a car enthusiast, and always have been, and I had never even heard of a "Marauder" until three days prior to buying one!!! And if it weren't for a rare phone call from a bored salesman who had no direct interest, I would've missed out, and so would've Ford in making a Marauder sale. And for two weeks prior to my Marauder purchase I had combed my area looking for black Crown Vics. I had been to 4 Ford dealers looking at cars,(3 of which were also Mercury dealers), and talking to car salesmen, and never heard of a Marauder. And I was asking all of them to get me a higher HP engine in a Crown Vic than the performance package offers. So much for advertising. Uh???? That's why Ford hasn't made any $$ on Marauders. They didn't even try to. :rolleyes: Infact many of the car salesmen know nothing more about the Marauder than how to spell it's name. A rather half-hearted effort if you ask me. So what can they expect? Somebody upstairs at Ford should get their act together. They haven't even made their dealers very aware of the Marauder let alone the public.

#2. I thought that they have already made the final decision to can the car.(???). But thanks for your input.

[MapleLeafMerc]

If Ford had spent 20% of the Mustang advertising budget on the Marauder, they'd have sold all they could make. I've been critical of some aspects of the MM's quality but in the end, every car has some bugs. It's just that most cars are not "exceptional enough" to have a community of enthusiasts who are aware of every detail!

Some day I'd like to hear from an insider who can explain the story of this generation of Marauder—

From the corporate decision to build a fast, sporty, full size sedan that was eminently customizable...

to the guy who said, "...but we're not going to actually TELL anyone about it with advertising",

to the guy who looked at sales, knowing it wasn't promoted with advertising, and said "no one wants this car".

The verbage in between would be fun to hear :lol:

[BillyGman]

Some very good points MLM......

[cyclopsram]

I have 5 Panthers at this time and they run from 219000 miles to 2300 miles and they all have original engines and trannys and rears...So far the 2003 has had the most repairs in a short period of time.... A/C condensor leaked out all the "freon" and the tranny tail shaft seal puked.... at under 100 miles... both taken care of by Ford with a free loaner.... A Kia.... ha ha....Now I have 150000 mile warranty on my steel wheels cuz of the cracking problem... My friend from NY put a deposit on a leftover 2003 300A M75 Marauder in Black last night and took advantage of the $5K cash back and the $2000 Dealer Cash Back, and the AARP $500 and the "no trade" discount. I think it was the last Marauder full size spare model left in Vermont..!! I have been a lurker for 2 years and this is my first official post... right Logan?? RAM

[Bluerauder]

If Ford had spent 20% of the Mustang advertising budget on the Marauder, they'd have sold all they could make.....

to the guy who said, "...but we're not going to actually TELL anyone about it with advertising :lol:

Or 1% of the F-150 budget !!!! :eek:

You are absolutely correct. If my son had not seen a 1 inch column in Motor Trend with a small photo of the car, we would have never known about the Marauder at all. He was pushing me to get an Impala SS until the MT article. His constant urging finally made me take the trip to the L/M dealer. Now, I am glad that he never eased off.

[BillyGman]

There ya go....like I said, so much for advertising. This thing could've been a 2005 Ford GT, but if they never advertised it, then it still wouldn't have sold due to lack of the public's knowledge of it's very existence!!!!! Shame on Ford for thwarting an opportunity to correctly market such a great car as the Marauder is. What a waste.......I'm just glad that I got one before they ran out!!!!

[jgc61sr2002]

cyclopsram - Welcome aboard. :up: It is unfortunate that problems developed with your new panther. Is it a Marauder? At least they were corrected and hopefully it will be trouble free from now on. :)

[RCSignals]

The least they could do would be to offer a 'big engine' option for the Crown Vic sport.

They do, or did, with even more. called "Marauder"

[BillyGman]

I think what he meant was a 350 engine option, or at the very least a 5.4L engine. If not, then a supercharged 4.6L. If they did it for the Cobra, then they can do it w/the panther.

[RCSignals]

I wish Ford would keep the Marauder around too.At this point Ford wants to make cars that make them $ and apparently the Marauder isn't doing it for them.If you ask me,it is expensive for what you get.
Anyhow,we'll see in the next couple of months if they really go ahead and can the car.
Have a good weekend!

DD :)

I don't think it was a money issue, and it has been said that Ford did make money on them.

They may be expensive, and as with everything else could have been priced lower. but you know MSRP to MSRP, the Marauder is a better value for the $ than a CrownvicLXSport, comparing what you get.

Compared to some of the competitions upcoming cars MSRP, the Marauder may have been a bargain for what you get.

[STAPrap]

Yah guys,I understand the advertising issue.I've noticed that years ago with Ford and some of their products.
I saw approx. 10 Marauders go by tonight.Dam,they are such a nice car.So different and cool.Guys at work love 'em.
We need something to kick the 300C and Magnums ass!!!Ford better keep it around.
Anyhow,take it easy gents..... :)

DD

[BillyGman]

We need something to kick the 300C and Magnums ass!!!Ford better keep it around.
Anyhow,take it easy gents..... :)

DD

......I believe that's just one of the reasons why a number of guys supercharge their Marauders. By doing so, this big heavy car easily gets into the 12 second bracket on the dragstrip. Especially w/the use of high end standard radials like the the perelli P Zero or Drag radials.

If you look at the list of the quartermile ET's of all the 2003, and 2004 cars that some magazines have in the back, you'll notice how few production cars can get into the 12's in the quartermile in their bone stock configuration. Of the small handfull that can, almost everyone of them cost atleast 20K more than the Marauder does. The only exception to that rule that I know about is the 2003 Cobra which as you know is supercharged from the factory.

So chances are that the drivers of the Supercharged Marauders will never see a car on the street that can best their car since so few factory stock cars can dip into the 12 second bracket. And if they ever do see such a car, it would be a very isolated, and rare instance.

[SHERIFF]

Does anybody recall why Chevrolet stopped making the Caprice police car and Impala SS?

Well, because they retrofitted the assembly line in Texas to manufacture more extended cab pickups, a vehicle much higher in demand, and a vehicle they could make more money on due to the volume of sales.

Having said the above...... once the Marauder is discontinued, wouldn't this mean STAP has to produce more Grand Marquis and Crown Victorias or lay off shifts and employees? Why in the world would they need to produce more Grand Marquis and Crown Victorias? Dealerships around here where I live can't hardly give the Crown Victoria away. And our Mercury dealership has about 15 of the Grand Marquis loitering on their sales lot.

[STAPrap]

Hey guys,log on www.msn.ca and you'll see where to read the article on large cars.It's got what I was talking about with the Magnum/300 & Maruader.
I personally think large cars are on a come back,but they will have to be somewhat attractive to get buyers attention at first.
The more rear-drive vehicles out there the more attention/competition they get.So maybe Ford should keep the Marauder in the line up because it may soon get recognized more due to competition etc..

DD :up:

[Bluerauder]

Does anybody recall why Chevrolet stopped making the Caprice police car ...?

Understand the shift to more pick-up trucks in all variations as a money maker for the auto industry -- the numbers that are selling are really up there. But despite the economics of the issue ... I thought that the later model Caprice was discontinued because it was the most butt ugly car on the highway. Earlier Caprices looked pretty sharp IMHO; but when they moved to the rounded off, bloated bubble version of the Caprice in the mid-1990s(??) --its styling hit a new low. They should have issued free car covers for each one sold for esthetic reasons in the parking lots.

Hope I haven't offended anyone in Chevy world-- but I much prefer the Crown Vic police cruisers and would love to see some MM cruisers locally (just not behind me). Understand that some forces have already made the jump.

[chrish]

The article states the marauder only comes in black & the base price is over 47k. What chowder heads.

[RCSignals]

chish, they are wrong about black only obviously, but the 47K is in Canadian dollars

[stevengerard]

Why in the world would they need to produce more Grand Marquis and Crown Victorias? Dealerships around here where I live can't hardly give the Crown Victoria away. And our Mercury dealership has about 15 of the Grand Marquis loitering on their sales lot.


Chicago is the number two area in GM sales, Florida is 1st. The Midwest is huge, it is a profitable vehicle that they sell a lot of.

[rookie1]

Chicago is the number two area in GM sales, Florida is 1st. The Midwest is huge, it is a profitable vehicle that they sell a lot of.

Ditto, we have the largest Ford and L/M in Indiana here and they sell Vics and GMs like candy.

[STAPrap]

So why is the midwest so big on Panther platform sales I wonder?I think Florida state would be because of the clientell down there...ie.retiree's!

DD

:beatnik:

[stevengerard]

I think its the Midwest culture and us Italian's. Big, safe, comfortable cars that fit a body or two in the trunk. But really, the demographics fit well here. Large population, lots of retiries, short trips in lots of traffic, relatively conservative. California is their worst market. The LM dealer I got my MM at said 50% of his inventory is GMs, 50% of those are silver 30% champaign the rest other colors. That's a lot of GMs considering all the sables, lincolns and SUVs he can carry.

[jrc50]

I cannot believe how many cars we make on a single shift.Some days you start laughing to yourself and wonder who is actually buying all these cars?
I am glad to see Ford actually advertising the Panther's.They are very nice cars and often over looked.Especially the Vic LX Sport with the console shift.Very nice car,especially in Dark Pearl Blue!
Enjoy your cars guys,have a good work week....

DD

Hey, You Canadian guys do a Great Job! I have owned 3 Crown Vics in the last 8 years, last one a 02 LX Sport that I am looking to replace with a Marauder.
The cars are always reliable and run, run, run!
Since you are on the manufacturing line, subjectively, how many Marauders are going through versus last year? Maybe half as many or what? :banana:

[STAPrap]

I forgot to mention as well the high number of cars we sell to Arabia.We sell more to them than Canada/Mexico combined.
Also I have seen some Dark Pearl Blue civilian units go through for Japan & silver coloured Police Interceptors for Puerto Rico.
Pretty cool working there sometimes you know!

DD :up:

[STAPrap]

I was in the Ann Arbor Michigan area on this past very warm weekend.I saw 5 Marauders in a 2 day period.3 Black,2 Silver.All of them were pretty clean looking.The one silver coloured one had a spoiler and was exiting off of I-275 to Michigan Ave. just after sunset Saturday night with 4 people in it.Any body here driving that car?
I am pretty sure I heard that most Marauders were actually sold in the state of Michigan so far.
I saw one Candian one go by last week at work destined for Quebec Canada.
Anyhow I really do hope you guys tell your friends/family that want to own one to order very soon!
Have a good week at work boys!(I imagine a few of you are retired maybe)

DD :burnout: