Couple buys brand-new Marauder in '03, never removes plastic, never drives it other than with the wheels in the air to "preserve lubrication" or some such nonsense.
Now they're selling their investment for $40,000.
http://jalopnik.com/this-couple-is-selling-a-never-registered-2003-mercury-1797702796
Thoughts? I'd pay maybe half that, if I was in the market for a new car. I would also hoon the snot out of it and mail them pictures of said hoonage at every opportunity.
I wouldn't touch it. Been "warmed up" for a few minutes with no load on the engine on a frequent basis, never been actually driven, etc. I'd much rather see the engine have been pickled and not run for years. And I'd expect to replace every single rubber part on the entire car before driving it. And change every fluid. Speaking of which, I'd bet it's never had an oil change (and has plenty of condensation in that oil).
It's just been stored in somewhat decent conditions. Not preserved in any way IMO. And certainly not worth even close to $40k.
"Gonna' buy me a Mercury and park it on a tarp in my garage"
Window sticker says $34,495
As a new model lets guess he paid full price. If he could work in employee discount lets guess he paid $30,000.
Pay tax on purchase and some insurance (if even just storage insurance), maybe some interest if they took out a loan.
I say he he has spent more than $40k over the 15 year lifetime he has had the car. I bet it would have been nice to drive it. A buyer should do one thing and that's take the couple out for a ride in it!
In reply to rslifkin:
Maybe not worth it but with the articles publicity I will be that it sells for $40k by then end of the week if not the end of the day.
wow, that's a terrible investment.
In reply to John Welsh :
If he'd put that $30,000 into the S&P 500 in July 2003 it would be worth $78,300 today. It's hard to calculate what the $40,000 would have been worth since it would be spent over time. Kind of sad.
In reply to dculberson:
if he had spent it on two 911's at the time he'd have a billllllllion dollars today.
Fueled by Caffeine wrote: In reply to dculberson: if he had spent it on two 911's at the time he'd have a billllllllion dollars today.
Or, you know, invested the money in any standard way.
rslifkin wrote: I wouldn't touch it. Been "warmed up" for a few minutes with no load on the engine on a frequent basis, never been actually driven, etc. I'd much rather see the engine have been pickled and not run for years. And I'd expect to replace every single rubber part on the entire car before driving it. And change every fluid. Speaking of which, I'd bet it's never had an oil change (and has plenty of condensation in that oil). It's just been stored in somewhat decent conditions. Not preserved in any way IMO. And certainly not worth even close to $40k.
Oh, good point. KBB on that car is like $7,500, but that assumes "excellent" condition, not having to replace half the car. I bet the bushings are dry-rotted, even.
Oh this is sad 
I want to buy it and put 24" on it and do burnouts
I like it, and I suspect it hasn't deteriorated as much as some people are speculating, but unfortunately its value hasn't appreciated as much as they hoped it would...I don't know what even the best Marauder in the world is worth today but I doubt it's $40k.
dculberson wrote: In reply to John Welsh : If he'd put that $30,000 into the S&P 500 in July 2003 it would be worth $78,300 today. It's hard to calculate what the $40,000 would have been worth since it would be spent over time. Kind of sad.
If they'd put the $30,000 into a safe investment that merely kept up with inflation, it'd be worth $40,500 today.
Jan 1, 2003, AAPL stock was at $1.03, put it in that and it'd be $4.7M today.
If Boyd Coddington was still alive he'd cut the body off it (to use the floors) and drop a '50s Merc on the running gear. Just because.
I predict it will be at Barrett Jackson eventually and maybe end up in a museum like Volo.
He's just selling it 30 years too soon. If this were a "insert manufacturer of your choice here" '60's muscle car, every person who ever stepped foot in a Barrett Jackson auction would have a happy. Can you imagine what a '69 Camarostangbirdcuda with a 422ci 12 barrel, 4 speed rock ball buster transmission and don't-call-it-white white paint in this condition would sell for?
There weren't that many that wanted that car when it was new - I'd say it was a poor choice for long term appreciation. It would take a real Ford fanatic to want to step into the seller's shoes on that little venture.
Sky_Render wrote:rslifkin wrote: I wouldn't touch it. Been "warmed up" for a few minutes with no load on the engine on a frequent basis, never been actually driven, etc. I'd much rather see the engine have been pickled and not run for years. And I'd expect to replace every single rubber part on the entire car before driving it. And change every fluid. Speaking of which, I'd bet it's never had an oil change (and has plenty of condensation in that oil). It's just been stored in somewhat decent conditions. Not preserved in any way IMO. And certainly not worth even close to $40k.Oh, good point. KBB on that car is like $7,500, but that assumes "excellent" condition, not having to replace half the car. I bet the bushings are dry-rotted, even.
I bet it's fine. Can't hurt to replace the fluids, especially the coolant and brake fluid, but I bet it would be good to go.
It was around the 1985 model year when seals on American cars stopped drying out after only 5 years. My IROC has only turned 52k miles in 30 years and I've barely replaced anything outside of belts, hoses and paper gaskets in 22 years. No leaks -- not from the brakes, not from the axle seals, not the RMS, nothing. It sat for 8 years in a kind of crappy garage.
In reply to Klayfish:
Except that this isn't the equivalent of the late 60's high-output big block muscle car, it's more the equivalent of a 50's muscle car...One of the precursors to today's ridiculousness, that will never enjoy anywhere near the same level of desirability or value.
Driven5 wrote: In reply to Klayfish: Except that this isn't the equivalent of the late 60's high-output big block muscle car, it's more the equivalent of a 50's muscle car...One of the precursors to today's ridiculousness, that will never enjoy anywhere near the same level of desirability or value.
I always felt the 5.4 would have been much more appropriate for this car.
In reply to GCrites80s:
In blower-equipped form like they did for the Lightning.
So what this ad tells us is that none of the problems that would've been caught during the warranty period have surfaced.
So wait, how is this rated for 50 more horsepower than the other panther platforms?
The only engine difference was the air intake setup, that became standard on crown ViCS in 05..
In reply to RevRico:
It had a different engine than the other Panther platforms. The Marauder has the 4v 4.6, other Panthers all had the 2v AFAIK. I don't think any Panther ever had the 3v.
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