Looking at buying a MM.

[Kcobra99]

There's a 03 Marauder at a dealership here. I am considering trading in my 96 Tbird for it and using it as a daily driver. I have a few questions about them and any other info would be appreciated.

First, a friend of mine took a look at it after hours at the lot, and noticed that the driver's side rear was sitting lower. I would assume that the air leveling shock is leaking, is this common and how much would it cost to repair?

Are there any other concerns, TSB's or parts that commonly wear out on them. The car has 75000 kms on the odo. Were these affected by the head tick of the 03 Cobras?

I own a 99 Cobra which has a similar motor, does the gas milage suffer if the RPMs drop below 2200? It seems that like the Cobras, gears are a popular mod. Would 4.10's be good on the highway and how would it affect fuel economy.

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to learn as much about these cars before I buy or start haggling on the price, if it requries repairs.

 

[Silverstrike]

I wouldn't sweat the rear as its a self leveling system and if theres no power to it it could just be a little lower. Drive it and after about 5 minutes check to see if it came back up 4.10's are nice I avg about 25 MPG hiway stock . And can now do close to 23 MPG at 70 with 4.10's. Head tick seems to be a hit or miss with any DOHC 4.6L I've been lucky. My best advise on any used car is test drive it and look it over before buying it. Same goes for this one.

 

[Kcobra99]

Thanks for the advise, I'm going to pick it up today. Didn't get a steal of a deal, but got a fair price for it.

It's not in perfect condition but the air ride pumped up in less than a minute, also the lot was a bit uneven where it was parked, so there's nothing to worry about there. The other problems are cosmetic, a few stone chips, 2 lug nuts are missing the chrome covers, etc. minor stuff and easy to fix.

I'm pretty exited about getting this car, the Thunderbird was good to me, but after 10 years it was starting to show it's age. The early 4.6 SOHC wasn't a stellar motor either, and I love the DOHC motors.

 

[Fourth Horseman]

Enjoy your new ride! :rockon:

 

[Bl4ckedoutc0bra]

Enjoy the new ride! Glad to see your 99's in a good place.

 

[Dead Meat]

Enjoy your new ride! :rockon:

Ya, what ^^^He^^^ said. Congrats!

 

[STLR FN]

Welcome to the collective.

 

[Kcobra99]

Well, I spent the afternoon and evening driving around and showing the car to my friends. Everyone seemed quite impressed with it. When we went out for wings later on, instead of taking 3 cars as we normally do everyone piled into the Marauder to see how the ride is......I might have to install a meter like the taxi cabs have if this keeps up. ;-)

The strange thing is my insurance payments didn't go up. They actually dropped $3 a month, I wasn't expecting that at all for getting a 7 year newer vehicle. I guess four doors really do make a difference, not that I'm complaining.

 

[Fourth Horseman]

When we went out for wings later on, instead of taking 3 cars as we normally do everyone piled into the Marauder to see how the ride is......I might have to install a meter like the taxi cabs have if this keeps up. ;-)

I get the same thing. Even my friends who say they don't like big cars always want to take the Marauder whenever we go out for lunch or whatever.

 

[KillJoy149]

The insirance thing is definately nice. My Insurance Agent classified it as a Grand Marquis - Marauder. It's a pa-paw car

KillJoy

 

[Kcobra99]

The insirance thing is definately nice. My Insurance Agent classified it as a Grand Marquis - Marauder. It's a pa-paw car

KillJoy

That's pretty much what they did for me, they never heard of it before so they asked me what it was similar to. When the agent looked at the car he said "thats an old man's car." I pointed out that I traded a Thunderbird for it, he didn't say much after that.

 

[dougwg]

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=223223

 

[DJP]

That's pretty much what they did for me, they never heard of it before so they asked me what it was similar to. When the agent looked at the car he said "thats an old man's car." I pointed out that I traded a Thunderbird for it, he didn't say much after that.

Congratulations on your purchase. If I'm not mistaken, you now have a 99 COBRA and 03 MARAUDER in your stable. That's pretty awesome :thumbsup: