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A MB is like a RR and regardless of age they still will cost when it comes to the price of PARTS.
As a former mechanic many yrs back bought a 450SL that had been owned by a famous female Movie star.
Nice car that rode nice but when it came down to replacing a CAM ( noted flaw) it cost me over $1K (whlse COST) to replace the needed parts and that was doing my own labor.
So what would be the cost of repairing a 230 down the road...just a thought
Last edited by Steve Bagu; 09-14-2014 at 08:42 AM..
Reason: clarification
I'm looking at a 1999 Mercury Grand Marquis with only 63,000 miles, well maintained and garaged by an older couple. Anything I should look out for other than normal stuff since its older but has few miles?
A MB is like a RR and regardless of age they still will cost when it comes to the price of PARTS.
Older RR are WAY different as they are designed to leak. It's called "Controlled Weepage".
If it doesn't weep, run away! And never buy one that sat too much.
My 82 year old mom has an '08 CTS with 25K miles.
At it's current rate it'll have 34K miles on it when it's 16 years old.
I'd buy that car in a heartbeat.
Well, I'm back. A good buy could be from an older couple....then again would depend on what part of the country the car was used/kept..parts can still die even if not used. Things can die just sitting......,case in point with me. I only drive about 3k a yr. Bought a car with all new brakes ,( receipts) and after 15k the mastet cyl quit...
Go figure.
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I'm looking at a 1999 Mercury Grand Marquis with only 63,000 miles, well maintained and garaged by an older couple. Anything I should look out for other than normal stuff since its older but has few miles?
Sounds good, especially if "older couple" means long retired. If the car has spent most of its time in the garage during its 18 years, that's a huge plus. We already know it's only been driven around $3k miles per year, and if you can add indoor storage to that, the car should be a real cream puff.
My wife's car turns 20 this year, and while she bought it at the 1-year mark with 40k miles on it, she just doesn't drive much. The car now has 67k miles on it. But she does drive it (2 miles) to work about 200 days per year, so it has sat outside most of its life. The interior and paint are both badly faded, plastic parts are brittle, and probably hoses and seals aren't in the best of shape. Oh, and it's got hail damage. Cars can depreciate pretty badly just from setting in the sun along with collecting smog, dew, bird droppings and more sun. If this car has truly been garaged all its life, it should be in great shape.
If you can get the maintenance records you might want to check them over to be sure it's been serviced regularly -- at least annually, check the born date on the tires (may not be safe after 5-7 years), and it's always a good idea (that I never follow) to have a qualified mechanic take a look at it.
I haven't bought a ton of used cars (normally new), but the ones I've bought I've just looked them over, and if everything worked, I figured it had been cared for. The only one that I didn't look at was my wife's secretary's car. It was to be a cheap ($400) car for my son when he turned 16 -- a 20-year-old VW Bug. I didn't have time to look at it the night my wife wanted me to, so she just went to her secretary's house and bought it. When I got home from a meeting I walked around it, looked inside, started it, looked in the trunk and the engine compartment, then looked underneath. What I saw under it was scary! The front axle was about to fall off due to rust. $4500 and 18 months of restoration work in our garage (by my son and me), and the car was in nice condition!
There was a time during my 36 yes as s business oenr would have 2-3 cads in my garage.every yr would sell the older and buy a later model. 40-50k on the spedo was the norm and I would add same amount before unloading...always ahead in the game. A ,2-3 yt car was just broken in..
Bugs and all fixed. When in college bought a one owner 49 Merv with 9k on the spedo...nice car.
I can relate to this thread as I just got a 1995 Mercury Sable 3L V6 (same as Ford Taurus) with 105,000 miles for only $300. I have had the oil changed, I flinched at flushing the radiator as it was $150 and I didn't know it would be that much, but I will be doing that soon anyway.
Should I also have the belts changed "just because," or should I just have them LOOK at them and change/don't change based on what they suggest? Timing belt (and water pump while I'm at it)? Transmission fluid? (Some say do, some say leave it alone if it's pinkish, which it is.) I mean, some of you are talking about 1999 and 2002 cars, this is a 1995. A lot of what else I do may hinge on how feasible it is to have the A/C fixed, right now I really enjoy this car but I live in a place where it is common to be in the 90s by the middle of May, in the 90s consistently from June-early September, and in the low 90s through much of September. RIGHT NOW my intention is to have the radiator flushed, the other things are what I'm pondering doing/not doing.
"Having owned 4 of these cars I can clearly state to "gravity drain" the automatic transmission fluid. Put in new transmission filter. Never ever do a flush with the automatic transmission fluid no matter what any person or any mechanic states. You have to ASK for gravity drain. And double check that mechanic shop is NOT using any "flush" machine.
If your car has the Vulcan OHV (Overhead Valve) engine then absolutely drain or flush the radiator antifreeze fluid. The Vulcan are cast iron engines and rust does get inside the radiator antifreeze and could clog the heater core (located under dash).
One of the soft spots on all of these Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable is the transmission. So take good proper care of it.
Don't confuse the 3.0 Vulcan engine with the 3.8 Essex engine. Used is both cars certain years.
If you have the 3.8 Essex engine - sell the car right away. Engine problems.
The 3.0 OHV Vulcan engine was one of the best engines Ford ever made. That engine will last forever if you change the oil regularly and keep up on maintenance."
The 3.0 OHV Vulcan engine was one of the best engines Ford ever made. That engine will last forever if you change the oil regularly and keep up on maintenance."
I agree, it's a shame they paired it up with such a terrible transmission. The transmissions in the 1986-1991 models were really bad, I think they made a few improvements for the 1992+ models, but they were still problematic.
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