1992 Mercury Grand Marquis, Take Two
Some of you might recall my paean, last August, to the 1992 Mercury Grand Marquis that has served me so faithfully over the years. As was, in retrospect, inevitable, it didn't take long before that same Grand Marquis chose to test my own faith, making me an unwilling player in the age-old game of Repair-or-Abandon.
All was well until a month or so ago, when I dropped the GM off at the shop for an oil change and tire rotation. About an hour later, I got a call from the service manager. They would, he reported, be unable to change the oil because the oil pan was so badly rusted that attempting to unscrew the drain plug would lead to a full-on disaster. In fact, oil was beginning to seep through the metal. Then he gave me the bad news: the oil pan was spanned by an immovable chassis crossmember and various other components. Replacing the pan would require them to lift the engine high enough to allow it to be slipped past the offending hardware. The cost, including parts, labor, and tax would be in the $700 range. Then, just by way of truly testing my resolve, he added that the car needed a water pump and serpentine belt.
The cost of these repairs approached the market value of the car, which meant that I had to do some serious thinking. The obvious alternatives were to a) dump a grand into the Grand Marquis, or 2) cut my losses and walk away from it. But there turned out to be a third, less obvious option, and to see how I arrived at it you'll need a bit more background. You see, a couple of years ago I noticed that the Check Engine light would come on for a brief period soon after I hit the gas hard, say to pass someone quickly on a two-lane. My local shop ran a scan, and found "two fuel lean codes, one EGR code, and a pass. system code." (Uh-oh!) They estimated that the needed repairs would run somewhere in the $4-600, depending on what was found when various components were examined more closely. The estimate also included the news that "none of the codes at this time will make the vehicle unsafe to drive." (Aah!) Thus reassured, I declined the repairs and opted instead to place a square of electrical tape over the offending light.
With that in mind, let's look at the implications suggested by the first two choices. Replacing the pan, pump, and belt would get me back to where I was the week before, which at the time didn't seem like a bad place to be. But I'd also be $1000 poorer with nothing obvious to show for it. Walking away, by contrast, would save me that particular $1000. It would also mean that my wife and I would have to share the '07 Accord that she drives to work every day until I found another car. Now, as the list of 50-odd cars I've owned over the years should make clear, under normal circumstances I've always leapt at the chance to go car shopping. But, as we all know, these are unusual times. Say, for example, I found "the best 1997 Grand Marquis in the world" that I mentioned in the earlier essay. It would certainly cost many times the price of repairing the '92, and still might turn around and bite me on the rear end a few months down the road. This was a financial leap I was unwilling to take.
What I needed, clearly, was a solution that 1) resulted in a tangible, obvious improvement over the present situation, and b) cost less than buying a new(er) car. That solution was found in the two words I uttered to the service manager: "fix everything." To clarify, I told him to not only go ahead with the oil pan, etc., but to address the various issues that were triggering the Check Engine light. And, just to make sure the overall results would be noticeable, I added a full tune-up – remember, it hadn't had one in more than four years – to the roster.
Four days later I sashayed down to the shop, where the Grand Marquis sat, freshly washed and sparkling, under the awning. Then I opened the door to toss my hat on the seat, and was greeted by the distinctive aroma of an interior that had just been shampooed. A quick look, and sure enough, the seats, door panels, and dashboard gleamed. Even the carpet was clean. On one level, I was pleased; on another, though, I was well aware that the shop was attempting to soften what was about to be a serious blow. That blow turned out to be just south of $2400, or roughly twice what the car was, and is, worth.
I took a deep breath, wrote the check, and drove off. Within a couple of miles, $2400 worth of pain had receded, having been replaced by the joy of driving what truly felt like a car transformed. The engine felt way more powerful, and during subsequent trips demonstrated that the extra power wasn't just wishful thinking. Miles-long upgrades that used to trigger a downshift were now handled with effortless ease in overdrive. Those two-lane passes that used to require flooring it now took just a gentle nudge on the accelerator. As a bonus, the car's overall mileage has jumped a couple of MPG.
The bottom line, then, is that biting the bullet and ponying up for all the repairs yielded a car that feels much improved. Had I just done the minimum needed to keep the old beast alive, I would have resented the expense and, no doubt, the car itself. Car Lust is, sometimes, a peculiar affliction, but it can also be very rewarding.
skipkent on January 14, 2009 at 06:08 PM
I've been driving a '91 volvo turbo wagon now for a good 6 or 7 years. Many times I thought 'this is it, she's done for' only to be proven wrong with a cheap fix and another year or two of flawless performance. Rear wheel drive is fun in the snow, too!
This in Boston, no less, where the weather alone eats cars for lunch.
ro on January 14, 2009 at 06:27 PM
Save the planet ...Keep your old car going! I bet an ordinary gas engine is cleaner than a hybrid because batteries are expensive, dirty, toxic and subsidized to hide their true cost.
ro on January 14, 2009 at 06:27 PM
Save the planet ...Keep your old car going! I bet an ordinary gas engine is cleaner than a hybrid because batteries are expensive, dirty, toxic and subsidized to hide their true cost.
Bryan Frymire on January 14, 2009 at 07:15 PM
I do all my own vehicle repair work. Okay, not ALL all. No transmissions. If it were my car I would have sucked the oil out the dipstick tube and cleaned up the oil pan with lacquer thinner and applied a layer of JB Weld or similar epoxy to the dicey area on the pan. Then, after fresh oil & filter, I would have driven it until it either fell apart or blew up. That's just how I roll though.
I have a '99 Mitsubishi Galant I bought used. It has 112K miles on it and runs great. I also have an '86 Ford F-350 diesel with 310K miles. I'll run the wheels off of the truck. If it blows up then I won't weep. I've gotten my pound of flesh from it.
I also have a '76 Mercury Marquis sitting in my backyard. 460 V8, leather seats, low miles. Top leaks though and it's a mess. Shoulda junked it when steel was high. Live & learn.
Cliff on January 14, 2009 at 07:29 PM
I just want to say that I miss my 1990 Grand Marquis that I donated to charity after 210,000 miles. It was a trusty car and my first car and I cried when it left, but it started to cost more per month to fix than a new car payment per month (my breaking point).
I replaced it with a New Jeep Grand Cherokee that I loved a lot that I drove to 198,000 miles, before someone hit it and the insurance company paid me much more than it was worth.
Now I've got my Prius that I love too, but Toyota sent me a customer survey, when it was a few months old and I had only three complaints about it, and the new 2010 model addressed fixed every complaint I had even though two of them were pretty obscure. So I'm probably not going to keep this Prius for anywhere near the life of my other two cars. I love Toyota. They actually read their customer surveys :)
Rob the SVX guy on January 14, 2009 at 07:45 PM
Your prius is not green. Sorry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooN9INJxxy4
Donna B. on January 14, 2009 at 09:26 PM
We have 3 "drivers" and only one of them, a 1986 Mazda pickup has less than 100,000 miles on it. It had been sitting in some guy's backyard for 10 years and he gave it to my husband, who spent maybe $700 getting it running again, and that included 4 new tires.
Our "good" car is a 1998 Cadillac with 156,000 miles on it. I think we're looking at some radiator work in the near future, as the average temp has risen by several degrees. Still, we took two 2000+ mile trips in it last year.
We've also got a 1991 F150 with well over 400,000 miles on it. A new engine at 250,000 miles ($2500) and a new transmission is needed now at a cost of about $1800.
Keep 'em cool, keep 'em lubricated and unless you have a lemon, 200,000 miles should be the minimum expected. For around $6000 in the last 10 years, we have 3 rather good vehicles. Pretty cheap if you ask me.
davis,br on January 14, 2009 at 10:35 PM
I put $700 into my '97 Crown Vic' last summer ...to replace a single switch in the A/C that could only be replaced by pulling the dash (which I didn't have the time to do).
I wasn't very happy with the job (a couple of minor broken parts and the shift indicator is no longer perfect in line). But ...I love the car. It runs great. Looks good (very good). Only has 130K miles or so. And I get 25-27mpg on trips (sometimes a tad more), in a V8 auto body-on-frame rear wheel drive.
Actually ...I just started looking for another. Or ...a Marquis. Because I don't see 'em making 'em much longer: figure I might need a spare.
Choey on January 14, 2009 at 10:38 PM
The best way to save money is to learn to do the maintenance and repairs yourself. The tools required to do most of the work are expensive and are reuseable. Even an engine crane is cheap compared to the cost of having the dealer pull the engine to replace the oil pan. Shop manuals (the real thing, not the Motor or Clymer junk) are also cheap compared to dealer service.
billb on January 15, 2009 at 06:32 AM
You did the right thing! I just sold a '90 Acura Legend with 288k on it. It was worth the the two $2,000 transmissions. I loved that car. I'm now having minor body work done on a '95 Legend with 160k. To be perfectly honest, some of my socks are older than my cars!
Ed Brandwein on January 15, 2009 at 07:39 AM
Just made the same choice with my 02 Caravan. The trade in value was $1800 and I quickly realized that it was worth much more than that to me. I put $1700 into a tune up and a variety of samll repairs instead. By doing so, I avoided the $22,000 cost of a new van. No complaints.
Rob on January 15, 2009 at 07:45 AM
I agree totally with the "keep the old car going" line of thinking.
I drive a 71 VW ghia, and cause smiles wherever I go, and deal with roughly $300/year in maintenance costs (including routine maintenance) since I do my own work. The wife drives a '99 Suburban (I chose the last year with the venerable 350) and it hits into the $600/year due mostly to tires and brake parts being more expensive. Any way that you look at it, I only have 2 or 3 car payments per year. And I am not even taking into account lower insurance costs.
I love these cars, and I have fun telling the prius owners that my Sub was a better choice for the environment than their hybrid unless they keep that car for the next 30 years or so.
Rob
Jerry Man on January 15, 2009 at 08:23 AM
I purchased my 94 Ford Crown Vic new. It was a good car. It started costing me in repairs over the last 3 years; air condioner, instrument panel, radiator, etc. But, the check engine light came on and it was due for a smog check (Calif), and you can't re-license it without a smog check. But,they won't even do a smog check if the check engine light is on. Can't put black tape over the light in Calif. Took it to the Ford dealer, and he said it thought it might be carbon build up in the system. It also had a very bad oil leak. They wanted $650 for the check engine light, and $1,000 to drop the oil pan, and $300 for an oil sending unit, etc. I am retired and have a newer car and a truck. I had been offered $1,200 for the crown vic on a trade when I purchased my newer car, which I rejected and kept driving the crown vic. I decided I could live with the newer car and truck, so I sold the Crown Vic for $600. I could just invision the car sucking me dry.
ohiogranny on January 15, 2009 at 08:53 AM
When my husband was downsized in 1999, he took part of his settlement package and fixed our 5 year old Intrepid, which had just dropped the transmission, so this was no easy decision. We were thrilled because the car was now perfect.
Two months later, some young thing forgot to look before barreling into an intersection (she was coming from a side street, he was traveling down a main road). He hit her broadside. Totalled the car. We got less than the cost of the repairs that we had just paid 2 months earlier.
Stay safe. Hope you get to keep the car.
We would never do it again.
alanhuth on January 15, 2009 at 09:26 AM
When you said "two words - FIX IT", I was hoping you were going to say "ADD OIL".
alanhuth on January 15, 2009 at 09:28 AM
When you said "two words - FIX IT", I was hoping you were going to say "ADD OIL".
billb on January 15, 2009 at 10:24 AM
BillB here again. Forgot to mention, I sold the 288K mile 1990 Acura Legend complete with the optional black electrical tape over one of the dashboard warning lites.
David Colborne on January 15, 2009 at 11:49 AM
130,000 miles is pretty reasonable - the V8 in there should last you a good 200,000+ if you take care of it.
I'm with Hafner on this - when determining whether to pay for a repair on a used vehicle, the question isn't "Will the repair exceed Blue Book?", it's "How much of a car would I get if I spent the money on a car?" vs. "How much of a car will I have if I spend it on fixing my car?" If your Merc had, say, 300,000 miles or so on it, I'd be far more concerned - I mean, between $2k+ on fixing this repair and the $4k+ for a new engine down the road, you'd be looking at a very solid used car. However, when you know that the $2k+ you're spending is pretty much it for the next year or two, well, how can you beat that? You're not getting a new car for $200/month for a year and you're not getting a decent used car under $3k that you're not going to be neck-deep in random repairs with.
I guess we'll see which one of us Davids blinks first. I have a '93 Dakota with 117,000 on it and I'm putting 35k+ miles a year on it right now. You have your Merc. Let's see who lasts longest. :-)
Marcus on January 15, 2009 at 12:14 PM
Just wondering, since there seems to be so many Panther platform aficionados in here, what the appeal of the Grand Marquis is over the Town Car? Seems like more of you drive Mercs.
It surely can't be price, since Vics, Marquis-es, and Town Cars are uniformly dirt cheap. I was a great fan of the original Grand Marquis post, and its hard to fight the idea of a reliable, invisible and cheap daily transport. But why not a dab more luxury?
John Bono on January 15, 2009 at 12:47 PM
Noone's mentioned this, but this is a side affect of getting a car that was built to be a cop car. That little crossmember was probably put there intentionally to protect the oil pan when smokey goes curb jumping.
Brian on January 15, 2009 at 05:46 PM
I'm impressed with the choice of refreshing an old Marquis even if it pushes the limits of economic sense. Actually it makes perfect economic sense, so long as you keep driving it. One tip on the "check engine" light, if I may be so bold, on most Fords there is a wire inside the engine compartment labeled *EEC test* which, if grounded, will enable you to read the trouble codes generated by the engine's computer by counting the "check engine" light flashes. You count up the flashes, cross reference this number on a table, and usually the computer will pinpoint the problem FOR you without you having to replace half a dozen perfectly good parts before you find the bad one.
Tarango on February 25, 2010 at 08:24 PM
I can see that you really like your car. I have a 96 Lincoln Town Car and I'm really attached to it. I came to the point of considering another car because of expensive repair bills. But I also held on because I do not want to get rid of it. Plus it looks better than many of the newer town cars out there. In 2009 I spent about $4000 in repairs. Some people called me an idiot for spending that much money on a (at the time) 13 year old car. The car is worth it to me. Incase you are wondering, I replaced both cat converters, all 4 o2 sensors (realized that i was overcharged for them with rediculous mark up), blend door actuator, a/c compressor, idler arm, tie rod end, rear shocks, and 2 rear air springs. Hopefully I wont have another major wave like that again!
Pete on June 13, 2010 at 01:54 PM
While I may agree with his choices...I must point out that his vehicle is a Ford and not GM as he stated.
CJinSD on June 13, 2010 at 02:08 PM
Pete,
GM are Grand Marquis' initials, just like they are for Government Motors.