The Mercury Grand Marquis is one of the best automotive deals available! Call me crazy if you will. I’m well aware of the Grand Marquis’ apparent faults: It’s a living dinosaur, it’s boring, it’s for old people, the dashboard is ridiculous, it has a live rear axle, etc., etc. So what? Some of its faults are also its charms.
It may not drive like a BMW but it doesn’t need to. It is amazingly comfortable - especially on long highway drives – and has decent power. The handling is not nearly as bad as one might expect. I’ve owned an Alfa Romeo Milano, an Alfa Romeo Spider, two BMW 3 series, and a BMW 5 Series (all manual transmissions). I would also happily drive a Mercury Grand Marquis.
Extreme comfort is not the car’s only attribute. I like the way it looks (mostly). Its lines are uncomplicated and elegant. On the highway it is very easy to find yourself cruising along at nearly 90 mph. At such speeds the Grand Marquis is quiet and relaxed. As an added bonus, I imagine one is far less likely to be stopped for speeding in a Grand Marquis than a BMW.
Perhaps the main selling point for the Grand Marquis is it’s price. A nicely equipped, top of the line LS model (with leather, power seats, power adjustable pedals, traction control, ABS, etc.) is less than $30,000 brand new, not counting negotiations off of MSRP. There also happens to be a $5,500 incentive on the car at the moment.
I would be willing to bet if image and prestige were removed from the equation, that most people would be just as happy with a Mercury Grand Marquis as with a Mercedes-Benz S550. It’s just as comfortable, and gets better gas mileage on regular gas. The Grand Marquis will last forever and won’t cost anywhere near as much to repair. If you can live without a navigation system, or massaging seats, or the prestige factor; when it costs so much less to own, operate and insure, why not consider the Mercury over the Mercedes? You would save yourself $75,000 that could be used to buy a brand new Porsche.