“Elegant Style. Supreme comfort. Perfectly balanced. Whether the evening is a casual get-together with friends or a formal engagement at the theater, the Grand Marquis LS helps you arrive feeling relaxed and refreshed.” So says a brochure showing the solid luxury afforded to those who own a 2008 Mercury Grand Marquis LS. This example is listed here on eBay in Joppa, Maryland, there is no reserve, and the current bid is $4,866.
Almost Lincoln luxury on a Mercury budget, the fourth and last-generation Mercury Grand Marquis was made from March of 2002 for the 2003 model year until the end of the 2011 model year. They were built in Canada and were the end of an era for the Marquis and related Ford Crown Victoria and Lincoln Town Car. Although, the Crown Vic hung around until 2012.
I’ve sat in and driven a couple of these big cars and was struck by the lack of front seat legroom compared to what I assumed would be available. They look so huge on the outside but I couldn’t stretch out my legs under the dash, which was unusual for me. They are a supremely comfortable road car, though. The seller says this example has 66,676 miles and it looks as close to new as possible, doesn’t it?
A Silver Birch car with a light gray (Medium Light Stone) leather interior isn’t too eye-catching, but that’s the idea behind quiet luxury. As expected, the interior looks pretty much like new both front and rear and you don’t have to do much labor inside here, pushing a few buttons will operate almost everything. The back seat looks like it was never used as does the huge trunk. This would be a great drive-in car, you could fit three or four people in the trunk and another six inside. I mean, not that I’m openly advocating such a thing as hiding people in the trunk of a car to sneak them into a drive-in movie. I would never do that…
The engine is Ford’s 4.6-liter SOHC V8, which would have been factory-rated at 225 horsepower and 272 lb-ft of torque when new. It sends power through a four-speed automatic to the rear wheels and the seller says it “fires right up” and “runs and drives.” Have anyone of you owned a last-generation Marquis?
The lack of stretch-out space in the front seats probably has something to do with seat belts and airbags. The front seats can only go back so far without reducing the effectiveness of the seat belts and air bags.
Driving weights on to those chrome wheels is a crime against humanity!
Car spent most of its life in Rhode Island. Seller includes over 100 photos with many duplicates showing non essential areas but just 3 show limited glimpses of the underside. The frame and other areas are eaten up with salt.
We use stick on weights on our 09 GM
Also had an 04 GM
What other Fords did you have, George? We’ll wait!
Listing say’s one owner. “Auto Check” provided shows (3) owners and an accident report. Nice car, but no thanks!
The Lincoln Mercury Dealer I worked for retired. He bought a 99 Grand Marquis instead of a Town Car. He loves the look better than the new body style Town Car.
If I could find a low mileage 97 Town Car…
Love these cars, this one makes me wish I needed another one
I have an 03 Grand Marquis. Bought it with 7,000 actual miles in July 2008 from original old lady owner. Paid her $11,000. Still driving it today. 146,000 miles and counting. Maintained. Not driven in winter. Love it. Not for sale. Buy these cars while you can. You will be in comfort. Have driven mine as much as 800 miles in one day.
I had a 1988 Crown Vic. Same plan, build it big, roomy, use a V8, and enjoy the smooth ride. Old school comfort that no one builds anymore.
I also had a 1989 Crown Victoria LX with optional coach roof and plush velvet interior. Epitome of traditional American Luxury! One of my favorites. It still was blessed with chrome bumpers. Have found FMC upscale sedans to be superior to GMs I have owned.
Those are the ugliest cars Ford never had much style.
Talking about drive-in movies. Just about as hard to find, and very old-time “retro” as this Mercury itself. These fine automobiles, and the similar Lincolns and Vics, may very well be the last great American cars? Even though I think they were later built in Canada? A good price on something worth keeping.
A recent article referred to these last generation Town Cars (IMO Grand Marquis also) as the American ROLLS-ROYCE. Last gasp of traditional American Luxury sedans!
Boatman
89 F250, 89 SW, 95 F250, 97 CV, 09 GM all licensed.
Also 54 F100, 68 Galaxie, 72 F300, 79 F150, 87 F250, 88 LTD CV, 2-89 LTD CV’s, 90 LTD CV, 94 CV. Plus a few more parts vehicles.
Looks pretty decent. Nice color combo. I like the ones with dual exhaust and the handling package. The 4.6 is a great engine
Having owned several of these, this is a great BARN FIND, in the article,the lack of front legroom was mentioned. This was the norm for RWD/ Body on Frame American sedans( anyone who has owned a G-body GM vehicle from the 70s or 80s will attest to this) ! In the sedan world, FWD was a game changer!
Mercury put the GRAND in GRAND MARQUIS beginning in the mid 80s. I have owned 78 GRAND MARQUIS 78 Town Car, 89 GRAND MARQUIS ,89 Town Car Signature Series, 89 Crown Victoria LX, 2007 GRAND MARQUIS LS, and current low mileage Town Car Signature Limited. Much better overall than most GM vehicles I have owned. Will not let this one get away. Last gasp of traditional American Luxury sedans!
They were all over the place 10-15-20 years ago, what’s not to like? The 4.6L modular V8 has been around since 1992 and the 4R70W transmission is fairly bulletproof too. Some of them needed the plastic intake manifold replaced, seemed like mostly an issue with the CVPIs and taxis for some reason. Maybe the intake was different or maybe just a use issue, but something to check imo. This car has fog lights and full chrome wheels which makes them slightly different/better, so that’s good. The only thing we don’t know is whether it’s got a limited slip rear, which is essential, again, imo. If this is what people are paying for these now, it’s worth the money relatively speaking. I’d buy it.
I still see many GRAND MARQUIS, Crown Victoria, and TOWN CARS. Most look great. Seldom see same vintage GM products. QUALITY!
Great cars period!
No front leg room? Are you 6’8? I had a 2000 Crown Vic, I’m 6’2, 230lbs, and never had an issue. That said, these were basically a cheaper Town Car. Same car with less frills.
I get what they’re saying. I had one, 6’0″ no problem driver’s side, but for some reason pass. side was shorter.
I guess none of my passengers were that tall that they complained. I never dated women that were taller than me, though.
Big C, I’m 6′-5″ tall, so not NBA-sized, but I couldn’t stretch my legs out under the dash and that’s a requirement for me.
I have a 2004 Crown Victoria we inherited from my in-laws. Same color as this Mercury. Smooth solid ride with only 104k miles. Last body on frame, rear wheel drive car built. I am 6’1” and have plenty of legroom.
Not a fan of the chrome accent over the wheels, and don’t like the idea of paying a additional $500 above bid so they can allegedly recoup the cost of detail and other paperwork that dealers in my state charge $150 bucks for. Otherwise nice car if I was going to bid I would have to factor in their $500 in fees
Here in the Northeast I’ve seen before $499 dealer fee at small dealerships.
It’s ridiculous. The dealerships are basically charging you a “fee” for the privilidge of buying a car from them! They claim it’s tax, title, etc. but I’ve done 100s and it costs, generally, about $50.
Avoid car dealers, realtors, and fancy auctions, and your blood pressure will hopefully stay about where your Dr.
wants it to stay. In my area the realtors are a quasi mafia.
i have had 3 grand marquisin the last 39 years i am 70 years old and have always been a gm fan but these are the most comfortable best driving and most trouble free cars i have ever owned i wish they still built them i now drive a lincoln mxv its nice but nowhere near a grand marquis
1986 was a watershed year for Detroit, the Delta 88 shrunk and the panther platform ( Gmark, Crown Vic, TC) got Multi-Port injection! GAME CHANGER!!
We have a 2008 in the same color scheme as the feature car. Ours is the “Palm Beach Edition”, not sure what’s included with that option though. The car was gifted to us after my wife’s uncle passed away and it is a wonderful car with so many good memories attached. This car was built for long highway trips, it is so comfortable that it is like driving a couch. This one is a keeper.
Excellent car! Thanks for posting. I had a 1978 Grand Marquis with the 302 V8 that was one of the best, most trouble-free cars I’ve ever owned. And it rode like a dream, got about 22 mpg on the highway, too.
I had a neighbor lady who owned a 2005 Grand Marquis in silver. She was driving back from a family gathering south of the city. It broke down in a small town on the way back, when the transmission went out on it at 202,000 miles. After towing it to his garage, the mechanic offered to buy it from her, as the exterior, and interior were in really good condition. She sold it to him. I drove it once, and it was a nice comfortable ride.
I’ve got a 99 in my backyard with bad rod knock in the 4.6
It would cost me more to replace the engine and redo the interior than to just buy this one. If I had the funds liquid, I’d buy this one.
I have driven an ’88 Grand Marquis for years. It now has more than 370,000 miles and is a bit “tired”. The transmission could do well with a re-build at this point — it jerks slightly on any steeper uphill grades at around 45 M.P.H.. The car has trouble maintaining full highway speed on long uphill grades — I need to use the “slow” lane and do 48 in a 55. It remains a supremely comfortable car and long-distance ride — and if I had the money, I would buy another one with low mileage — I’d like a 1986 LS with the ANALOGUE clock, rhat also gas the audio-cassette player in the radio. The velour upholstery wears exceptionally well, and the car still looks as though it had less than 100,000 miles. It has lived through every northeast winter since its first (and, where I live, May and September snowstorms are not all that uncommon). And yet, it is not notably rusted. In fact, I’ve never seen a “rust-bucket” example of one of these cars. It’s not like a 1970 L.T D.! MY sole complaint is its low profile: painful to climb down into and up out of, for ancient arthritic joints — and also, so many other vehicles block my forward view, as if I were in a Corvette. The small city I live in has about 12,00 residents, and three daily-driven Mercury Grand Marquis cars — a 1986, a 1989, and my 1988. There also is a 1982 wagon, as well as two Crown Victorias of the late 1980s. I drove a 1946 Ford for decades, and it not only was easy to get into and out of; but I sat higher than many other vehicles. But the ’46 was rust-prone in critical structural places (such as, around the lower door hinge on each side, and in the supports of the running-boards (which were hidden under the doors beginning in 1942). 1989 was the last year that the Grand Marquis had a NORMAL dashboard — the 1990 re-design to accommodate air-bags was but awful!
I’ve owned two autos with this 4.6 engine. A 2000 Ford crown Vic & a 2004 Lincoln Towncar. Both engines ran great until they didn’t. Both cars had issues with Spark plugs flying out of cylinders. I bought good steel cores but after a few 1000 miles I had to go through the process of tapping out the spark plug walls. You can only do that a few times & then it’s time to get a new head time. I enjoyed both cars but that 4.6 engine ruined me on Ford products.
I’m pretty surprised by your comment. The 5.4L V8 YES, the 4.6L honestly I’ve never heard of a spark plug blowing out of the head. Every make has its Achilles heel, the 4.6 has no such issue. The worst (common) thing I’ve seen on them is the intake manifold needs replacing. if anything the 4R70W transmission could be the weak link. Early production 2004s had an issue where the wrong fluid was put in them and several just blew up right out of the box. We had 15-20 of them sitting for months waiting to be put in service by our local PD. Almost every one got a new transmission. Ford made us put some additive in the fluid first, only to find it didn’t fix it and the units needed changing. It was a weird thing and funny how fluid type really makes a huge difference.
Absolutely do. The heads only had 1 or 2 threads in them and were known to blow out plugs.
I had a 2003 LSE for 20 yrs. (2003-2023). It was a rare model, but I loved and pampered that car. I bought a 1969 Marquis conv. in 2019, so I had to store the LSE. After 4 years of that, I sold the LSE to a guy from NYC. I kept the 69, but it was the 03 that made me a fan of the Mercury Marquis. I miss the LSE, But just don’t have enough garage space for my wife’s SUV and two Marquis…
Well, Billy Ray, there’s a simple solution! Get that damn SUV 😤 OUT of the garage and let it sit on the street or driveway! 😉 😜. If you check my post, you’ll see that I have NO use for SUVS and crossovers! 🤮. But old song 🎵 I 🎶 Got a Wife 🎵 She’s the joy of my life 🎶But…🎵
Dime a dozen along with the Crown Vics out here in my retirement community in AZ.
What’s a dime a dozen??wives?? and Crown Vics???
And you know this…how??
lol
Auction update: this one sold for $9,150.