A part they forgot to install?

[RCSignals]

The Order Guides for the '03 Crown Victoria's, Grand Marquis, and Marauder all list a "dampened" glove box door.
On previous years this is a device that attaches to the dashboard, upper center of the glove-box opening, and there is a cord which extends to the right and down to a "keyhole" in the right side of the glove-box itself.
this controls the smooth and slow opening and closing of the door.
Without it, the door just kind of does nothing when unlatched. With it in place the door slowly drops open.

Does your '03 have it?

[Macon Marauder]

Nope.

[Mark McQuaide]

Nope. Just thin plastic going clunk.

[JohnnyB]

No....

[MassMarauder]

nada

[Directedby]

I saw a new marauder at a dealership today. the glovebox was empty. When i opened it it did not 'drop open'.

It had a slight sprint tension to it. However, i can see if the box was full, the weight of the contents would make the box drop open.

[Donald]

Mine falls open.

[nomad]

Yep,reminds me of a fine Geo glove box opening:rolleyes:

[RCSignals]

So it sounds like they haven't put the dampener on any! It's a small thing but makes a difference.

[Mark McQuaide]

I traded a '99 VW Passat V6 5sp. for my Marauder. VW/Audi has lately been at the forefront of interior design, and the US makers have been struggling to catch up. VW adds small touches like dampened grab handles, and has a generally rich look and feel to the whole car that makes it seem more expensive than it is.

Going from the Passat to the Marauder, you immediately notice that Ford still has some ways to go. The steering wheel and a lot of the plastic parts like the glove box are definitely cheesy. And who still uses a mechanical odometer? (or is this a retro touch?)

If you look in the new Lincoln Aviator, you'll see a beautiful interior, but when you pop open the center access panel, the stereo is so cheap looking in comparison to the rest of the dash it's jarring.

With the Marauder, however, all these details are quickly forgotten as soon as you turn the key and that V8 rumbles to life. It's quieter and way more comfortable than the Passat, has a better sound system (I mean the stereo ;-) and a heritige and a soul that you can't get on an import. I wouldn't want to go back.

Mark

[schuvwj]

No I do not. Do we go to our trusted dealers?

[mtnh]

While prepping my 96 Grand Marquis to sell a couple of months back, I found the damper for the glovebox to be unhooked from the glovebox. It took me a couple of minutes to correctly orient the fastener at the end of the "cable" that attaches to the right side of the glovebox, and then it fell right into place. I wondered at the time if it could fall out of the hole by being lifted and shut too fast. Maybe someone could get way down low and look over to the right of the glovebox and check for dangling strings/cables in the area. Bigdogjim, you're excused from this exercise. :^)

If it turns out that these cables are jumping out of the slots that they attach to, it would probably be an easy fix to hold them in place with something.

Mike (not a daily driver of the MM, not able to look at the glovebox at this time)

[RCSignals]

Mark the analog speedometer is more of a retro thing. Personally i prefer it to a digital.

schuvwj I think it's worth having the dealer bring it up to Ford. The dampener is listed in the order guides, and isn't one of the parts listed from decontenting. Although the decontenting list doesn't seem to effect the Marauder.