Mercury Grand Marquis?

[Throckmorton]

I think you're being a bit over-dramatic there. It doesn't ride like a truck. Hell, even an (actual) 80's full frame car doesn't ride like any truck I've ever been in.

The FoMoCo Grand Victoria Car (seewhatIdidthere?) has a very cushy ride. Even when they're worn out, it just gets floatier because of the worn out dampers. Maybe you rode in one with a busted air suspension. Or an older model retired police car (read: beat to shit).

Modern coil sprung trucks ride smooth, and that's how it rides. But you can feel the live axle

 

[debian0001]

Thanks everyone... So with a lesser loan, is it still a car loan? so far the credit unions follow the same standard 2008+ plus cars with a certain mileage.. would it be a different loan?

Thanks.

 

[phucheneh]

Modern coil sprung trucks ride smooth, and that's how it rides. But you can feel the live axle

All (real, capable of carrying load) pickups ride rough. Sorry, this is in your head.

Whether leaf or coil, having a suspension designed to take lots of weight, that is typically driven without said weight (read: highly oversprung in the rear), feels and handles vastly differently.

Also, you may want to note that the Ford vehicles in question generally don't ride on rear coil springs, anyway. I don't know the specific years, but some of the 90's and I think all of the 2000's use air in the rear. You can 'feel' a solid axle but you can't feel air suspension?

edit: also, as far as the idea of the rear 'jumping'...you do realize that just because the sides aren't 'independent,' it doesn't mean they mirror each other's movements, right? Yes, they're solidly connected, so a bump on one side is going to change camber on the other...but this is primarily a handling defect, not 'ride quality.'

 

[Throckmorton]

All (real, capable of carrying load) pickups ride rough. Sorry, this is in your head.

Whether leaf or coil, having a suspension designed to take lots of weight, that is typically driven without said weight (read: highly oversprung in the rear), feels and handles vastly differently.

Also, you may want to note that the Ford vehicles in question generally don't ride on rear coil springs, anyway. I don't know the specific years, but some of the 90's and I think all of the 2000's use air in the rear. You can 'feel' a solid axle but you can't feel air suspension?

edit: also, as far as the idea of the rear 'jumping'...you do realize that just because the sides aren't 'independent,' it doesn't mean they mirror each other's movements, right? Yes, they're solidly connected, so a bump on one side is going to change camber on the other...but this is primarily a handling defect, not 'ride quality.'

The first few millimeters of suspension travel of a leaf spring is pretty soft and the rear axle is further away from you. To me a 1/2 ton pickup rides pretty soft.

Aside from handling, you can feel the rear axle because when you hit a bump the the contact patch of the opposite wheel moves inward. I think those cars have a Watts linkage which keeps the axle centered, but obviously the contact patches are offset from the axle so they still shift.

 

[Pulsar]

I think you're being a bit over-dramatic there. It doesn't ride like a truck. Hell, even an (actual) 80's full frame car doesn't ride like any truck I've ever been in.

The FoMoCo Grand Victoria Car (seewhatIdidthere?) has a very cushy ride. Even when they're worn out, it just gets floatier because of the worn out dampers. Maybe you rode in one with a busted air suspension. Or an older model retired police car (read: beat to shit).

Don't bother. We now have all three of our resident 'don't ever buy an American car' crowd posting in this thread, and completely ignoring what the OP is looking at.

The Marquis is a great car: reliable as hell, the engine and frame go forever etc.

Get an e46! http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=679669

Sheesh.

One of the true benefits of the Marquis, and one of the reasons cops love it so much, is because it is a true 'frame' car, rather than unibody. That means you can usually repair it for less than a unibody when something bad happens, because it's far less likely that you'll destroy the support structure of the car.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I thought the Prius was a dull car but the Grand Marquis takes soulless to an entirely new level.

 

[phucheneh]

I thought the Prius was a dull car but the Grand Marquis takes soulless to an entirely new level.

Again, here...I'm not even a fan of these cars, really. And that is soooo unfair.

The Crown Marquis definitely has a soul. It might just be a fat, roll-happy, slightly underpowered soul. But it's the kind of car I can see someone growing attached to.

The Toyota is a plastic utility box that gives me active displeasure to drive. If it has a soul, I want it to burn in hellfire.

 

[Throckmorton]

Don't bother. We now have all three of our resident 'don't ever buy an American car' crowd posting in this thread, and completely ignoring what the OP is looking at.

The Marquis is a great car: reliable as hell, the engine and frame go forever etc.

Get an e46! http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=679669

Sheesh.

One of the true benefits of the Marquis, and one of the reasons cops love it so much, is because it is a true 'frame' car, rather than unibody. That means you can usually repair it for less than a unibody when something bad happens, because it's far less likely that you'll destroy the support structure of the car.

Huh, am I one of the "don't ever buy an American car crowd"? I like new American cars, but in the 90s every car they built was garbage aside from the Corvette and Lincoln LS!

What good does it do you to have a car that's easier to repair when the flimsy body provides zero protection in a crash? The ladder frame won't save your life.

 

[angry hampster]

What good does it do you to have a car that's easier to repair when the flimsy body provides zero protection in a crash? The ladder frame won't save your life.

You're an imbecile. The modern Panther platform cars are some of the safest cars on the road.

Here's Grand Marquis vs E46 crash test comparisons:

http://autos.msn.com/research/compare/safety.aspx?c=0&i=0&ph1=t0&ph2=t0&tb=0&dt=0&v=t104903&v=t98347


OP, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more comfortable, safer, quieter car than a Grand Marquis or a Town Car at $13k

 

[Throckmorton]

You're an imbecile. The modern Panther platform cars are some of the safest cars on the road.

Here's Grand Marquis vs E46 crash test comparisons:

http://autos.msn.com/research/compare/safety.aspx?c=0&i=0&ph1=t0&ph2=t0&tb=0&dt=0&v=t104903&v=t98347


OP, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more comfortable, safer, quieter car than a Grand Marquis or a Town Car at $13k

Wow, I'm impressed by the crash test ratings

Edit: I knew something was amiss. Those are NHTSA ratings. IIHS rates it "marginal" and the safety cage gets a "poor" rating http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=708

 

[chlyn001]

There probably isn't a safer car on the road, at least for the money. I've been driving big Fords and Mercs all my life, and there isn't much to fear riding in one if you're paying attention. The stereo in my 06 w/ 40K miles is premium quality and the ride is tight and serene. The panthers all had 5 star safety ratings for the last 15 years they made them, and few if any other cars ever matched that? It's a shame they're not still being made. And after they've been gone a while, maybe Ford will decide there is a place once again for a low to the ground, full frame, safe, comfortable, reliable, durable and inexpensive car like all the panthers were. Sure they could have been upgraded a bit, but I liked them just as they were (and the way some still are).

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