I have the same chassis, different body - 1986 Mercury Grand Marquis. We bought it in '02 with 64K original miles. It's now got 160K & still runs like a top. The FI system is a little quirky at idle, but other than that, we get similar mileage numbers. The only thing I absolutely HATE with this car is the AOD tranny. Overdrive is too tall, 3rd is too short - so when your at around 40 mph ( which is average around here ) the tranny hunts non-stop. Gets real aggravating! Or when you come to a hill & need a little juice, it stays in OD a bit too long for my liking & falls on it's face, then abruptly downshifts twice because I have the pedal mashed to the floor ....
Been having some electrical gremlins over the past couple years. Kept blowing fuses first for the power trunk, then the power fuel door latch, then the A/C compressor clutch, now on HI-beam the headlights will shut completely off if your on a bumpy road. All minor stuff. My wife puts 80 miles per day on this thing -- it's as reliable as a stone ax. Over the past 7 years I haven't done very many repairs.
I had her buy this one because 10 years ago I had an '86 -- same color too -- that I bought with 206K miles. I drove that car for 3 years, beat the hell out of it -- actually overheated it to the point where the heads warped & let coolant into the crankcase when I failed to bleed the cooling system after a repair, then a week later hooked up a U-Haul trailer to it with over 1000# of motorcycle, tools & everything else I owned, & made a 2,650 mile trek to AZ. The only problem I had that whole trip was when I got to AZ -- that funky-shaped heater hose broke -- so you can't just slap on a straight section of hose or it'll kink! SO I cut the hose in half & stuck a 5/8ths deep socket in there with 2 hose clamps. Got me to Phoenix & I left it that way for 3 weeks after!
The car got stolen from Phoenix in 2000, with 255,000 miles on the clock. Didn't see it for a year. Then my parents get a phone call in MA that they found my car in Bell, CA!By that time I was living in Northern CA, SO I took a bus from Oakland to East LA at 3:30 AM -- that was fun! Why go to Mexico!
Had to pick it up from an impound yard. So you know what that means ..... yep, had to buy the car again! $500 in impound fees. So the guy comes wheelin' out of the gates in my Merc -- covered with dust, GIGANTIC rearview mirror installed, some stupid bead seat cover, another stupid steering wheel cover, & piles of trash & dried up food all over the interior. Looks like a whole family of them was living in it! So he comes out with the door open & says:
DON'T LET IT STALL while holding his foot on the gas to keep it running. Battery was smoked. SO I hopped in & got the hell out of Dodge!! Thru all the worst ghettos in the country. Made it to I-10, then to I-5 north. While climbing that mountain outside of LA I decided to stop for a death burger at Mc Swill ..... I got off the highway & as soon as I got close to the end of the downhill ramp, the thing stalls on me! WTF! Not long after a landscaping guy stops & asks if I need a push ... I say yeah ... so he gets back in his truck & orders his 15 illegal immigrants out to push me!
I couldn't write this stuff! So I get to the side of the road, & now have to walk about a mile to get a new battery ..... & carry that son of a bitch back .... uuugggh.
Long story short I made it back, spend 4 hours detailing the car, then sold it for $1300!
I got my $500 back, plus $800 for gas to drive my '72 El Camino I bought in AZ for $500 back to this hellhole!
By: lincolnmania On: Tue Nov 17, 2009 4:46 am 
i always wanted a brand new one someday, but that isnt going to happen now
