2003 Grand Marquis?

I know many here gush with love and admiration for the Panther Platform. I've never been a fan as an outsider looking in, and have never sought information about one, generally skimming/looking at pictures if even clicking on threads about them.

However, it seems that I will likely be acquiring a low mileage Grand Marquis.

SWMBO's grandmother has moved to a retirement community, and has a 2003 Grand Marquis, bought new, garage kept, rarely went anywhere other than Dr.'s office, Walmart, or church, as such only has a whopping 23K miles on it.

I expressed interest, SWMBO's mom, aunt & uncle, said "make us an offer." I guess that's what I get for opening my mouth.

Details are fuzzy, not sure on trim level, I've seen the car, but have no recollection of being in it, so judging an acceptable offer that's a good deal but not so good it causes family members to think we're taking advantage of the situation is a little difficult at this point.

NADA is what the bank claims to use, so that's what I tend to value over other pricing guides, has fully option base model clean trade in at $2500 and clean retail at $4100. Before checking NADA I was guesstimating around $3000, does that sound reasonable to most?

Anything I should be watching out for? I've read that the higher trim levels got the rear air suspension, not sure if this one has it or not. Though replacement parts don't seem to be too expensive in the grand scheme, and coil spring replacements are readily available.

I've started the buyback process on our TDI Sportwagen, so the Grand Marquis will fill its place while shopping for a TDI replacement, though hopfully not for too long. The Grand Marquis is listed as 16/23 MPGs, that's abysmal compared to our Sportwagen, but for the low price of admission, will be tolerable for use as a stopgap.

Since it's essentially the same car with different badges, I can only offer this.

My grandfathers last car was a 2003 Lincoln Towncar. 36k on the clock, he sold it for $3k to the local cab company, so that seems to be a reasonable offer.

As far as the panther platform as a whole goes, parts are cheaper than for even the Miata, fairly simple to work on though you may need some larger sockets/wrenches. It amazes me how much cheaper doing the front end(suspension parts) was on my P71 than it was on the Miata or even the Tahoe.

And FWIW, according to the OBD2 reader in my P71, I'm seeing 25+ mpg through short trips and some backwoods driving. My miata has yet to break 22mpg on a tank.

What would they do if you don't/didn't want it?

Tell them to take it to Carmax and get an offer. Or take it yourself and do it. Offer that.

An '03 Grand Marquis with only 23k on the odo, $3000 is more than reasonable.

You only had two trim packages that year, LS or GS.

It's a P71 with leather.

My Mom's got one. Handles well (for a big car). VG power. I don't enjoy driving it, only because I don't like driving a Barcolounger, But it's a solid car.

I will own hers one day, and put the engine in a Miata.

2003 was when they swiched to rack & pinion steering from recirc. ball. In fact I think the suspension was improved all around that year too.

Those fuel economy figures seem a little low. I was getting 27mpg highway easy in a 99 grand marquis with 2.73 rearend ratio.

cloth seats usually mean GS trim, leather seats LS trim. LS is more likely to have the rear airbag load leveling suspension.

I guess if you get super super lucky it will be an LSE which is basically the mercury equivalent to a crown vic sport. http://mercurygrandmarquislse.com/

They are good solid cars. Both my wife and I DD'd ours for extended periods of time and we both kind of miss it.

There's no Carmax in AR, closest one is in Memphis, slim chance of anyone taking it there for valuation.

If we don't buy it, it'll probably sit in the garage until the house sales, at which point it will be moved to SWMBO's parent's yard, until I or one of SWMBO's cousins (that's wishful thinking, it'd be me) is tasked with attempting to sell it for them.

The offer has been made. Grandma's kids are going to talk it over and get back to us.

A friend (Ottawa here on the forum) just traded his Subaru Forester in on a Grand Marquis of similar vintage - I'm pretty sure his is a 2003. He's owned an old Land Rover, a GT6, a Mini, a couple of modified Miatas - he's one of us. And he's really enjoying it. I had the chance to get behind the wheel recently and it's a surprisingly good steer. Loads of space for people, comfy comfy ride, loads of room for stuff - it's the last of the true Yank tanks. It has more in common with my 1966 Caddy than anything else on the road today. And that's not necessarily bad. It's also the vehicle of choice for visiting dignitaries, the Mounties keep (kept?) a fleet on hand.

Try it before you decide to get rid of it. You may be surprised. They're really good at what they do.

You spelled "Grandma's Keys" wrong.

I'm wishing I had one with my new commute and overall amount of highway driving I do anymore.

I'm not a FoMoCo fan by any means. But I am a fan of full framed, V8, RWD cars and these are the last of that breed. I prefer the driving experience, out in the real world, to anything else. I can't get over my biases, so my preference in the genre would be a GM B-body, but I'm sure a panther chassis would be a fine car for those that can stomach driving something from that four letter F-word company.

I've tried really hard to like my '99 but I just can't seem to pull it off. Maybe an '03+ model would be a bit less numb and vague but, unless I happened upon a screaming deal, I doubt I'd buy another.

On the plus side, like others have said, parts are ridiculously cheap and they are easy to work on.

In reply to Nick (Bo) Comstock:

I'm right there with you, save for a 289/427 AC Cobra, RS200, and some of the Euro Cosworths, I've never cared for the blue oval, or its kin. I will admit that the current generation of Mustang is stunning, and the only Mustang that has ever even gotten a passing consideration by me. 7.3l F-250/350s find their way into my Craigslist searches on occasion as well, but only after I get disgusted at what the Cummins powered competition is selling for.

It's somewhat irrational I know, it's not an inherited bias, dad and grandpa had something from all of the big 3 over the years, and somehow dad has become a Toyota man, on his 3rd Tundra, and shopping for a Tacoma to run around the farm in.

I learned to drive a stick in dad's '89 long wheelbase, F-250, 351, 4x4, I loathed that truck, but I don't think it's solely responsible for my aversion to the brand as a whole.

I never thought I'd own a "Ford" car, but this is just kind of happening, it's a good car, we'll be needing a replacement commuter soon, saves us from taking a loan out to buy something more modern and efficient while waiting on the payout from VW. Also makes one less thing for the family to worry about with Grandma's estate.

We had decided we'd be replacing the Sportwagen with a slightly used '14+ 2.5l Mazda 3 or 6, but who knows, we may fall in love with the Grand Marquis? Not likely.

My Mercury Grand Marquis (MGM) is a 2008 LS trim and I love it. As Keith said I'm coming from a wide variety of vehicles but the air suspension mixed with higher than normal ride height on the MGM means I no longer fear the totally frost-heaved crappy roads on my daily commute.

I have reveled in the affordable parts/service costs and the ease of cheap used parts from junk yards and ebay. Yes it is a carnosaur, but it works for what I want/need out of a daily driver.

Oddest surprise is that my wife loves it. The enormous bench seat in the front means she can sit more "side saddle" which she prefers as a passenger, so she is more comfortable in the MGM than any of our other three cars.

Ottawa

In reply to Ottawa:

I hope to have a similar surprise from SWMBO, she was lamenting last night about how "huge" it is, and "it'd be like driving a boat." I had a '94 4 door Grand Prix when we met, it was very much like driving a big blue sofa, ugly, but comfy, and decent MPGS, however, she hated driving it, though really I think she hated being seen in it. She's already associating my old Grand Prix and the Grand Marquis.

Maybe we'll just tint the windows.

Seriously, you will love it. Comfy, cheap to fix, rugged, cheap to insure, roomy, and absolute hoon machines in the winter. Tint, 05 Mustang GT wheels (the split 5 spoke brushed aluminum ones), aftermarket head unit (I recommend the Kenwood Excelon X500 as it sounded great when I had my stock speakers) and a Borla exhaust. No more grandpa car.

In reply to G_Body_Man:

I'm a bit surprised you haven't changed your name to Gran Markie yet.

In reply to Wall-e:

Well, my Instagram handle and Youtube accounts are also G_Body _Man, so it makes no sense to change it now. Plus, I don't have a Grand Marquis.

In reply to G_Body_Man:

For some reason when I saw the red car I thought Grand Marquis

In reply to Wall-e:

I don't blame you. You don't see red Aerobody Crown Vics much anymore.

Family accepted the offer, title should be in our hands soon, and we'll retrieve the car sometime in the next couple of weeks, this weekend at the earliest.

In reply to G_Body_Man:

It will likely need tires, I'm pretty sure the tires are original, and may only have 23K miles on them, but are 13 years old. I don't know what wheels are on it, but there's not much chance of them being replaced regardless of what they are. I did google your suggestion though, not my cup of tea.

Tire Rack says the car is shod with 225/60 16, for the intended use of this car, OE size tires should be more than sufficient, plus my current favorite daily driver tire, Cooper's CS5, is available in that size.

Tint is likely, head unit is almost guaranteed since SWMBO has already requested a back up camera. I'm traditionally an Alpine fanboy, but have had a few Kenwood head units, amps, and CD changers over the years that have treated me well. Double DIN touch screen Alpines are just too expensive, and nothing Pioneer makes seems to have knobs anymore, call me a troglodyte, but I want a volume knob. Cursory searching has me leaning Kenwwod or maybe Clarion for a head unit.

I watched a youtube video of a cat-back Borla exhaust some kid put on his Grandpa's car for him. I guess if they were giving it to me I might install it too. I don't want loud, and for sure don't want drone, but have already been eyeballing the OBX, Kooks, Stainless Works, etc. long tube headers and exhaust systems. I've already got a long list of projects, if I add Grand Marquis exhaust to that list, it'll be way down at the bottom.

In reply to bigdaddylee82:

Headers really suck to install on Panthers unless you want to do a lot of disassembly. My 96 is running factory size 215/70R15s and they sidewall tuck like nothing else (not that it really matters in your application). The factory cupholders kinda suck, but Crown Vic LX Sport buckets and a late Gen 2 Explorer full-length console fit perfectly and provide you with better cupholders and more in-cabin storage. If you hit up a junkyard on a 50% off day, you could score everything for under $80. Otherwise, I'd just enjoy it. I'd check over all the bushings and do a full service, but that really should be something everyone should do with a new acquisition. Just keep putting in 87 octane and changing the oil at regular intervals, and it will be smooth and reliable for many years to come.

Watch out for wheel offset if you're shopping for wheels. There was a dramatic change at some point in the 2000's, so you need to know which one you're looking for.

On Ottawa's car, we're going to install a radar backup system instead of a camera. Should be quite easy and fairly subtle. I wouldn't do an exhaust on an MGM, that's trying to make it into something it's not.