New Or Used: The MGM Dilemma

Harley writes:

I’m considering buying a Mercury Grand Marquis. Maybe it’s not the most popular car on the road today, but I want a large, solid, comfortable, quiet car with rear-wheel drive, decent low-end torque and a V8. I don’t care too much about a lot of the new bells and whistles and I prefer a soft comfortable ride rather than sporty handling. The Grand Marquis seems to fit the bill.

I plan to keep the car for a long time. So, do I buy new and have the benefit of knowing the car’s maintenance history and the way it has been driven since day one? Or do I go with a year or two old Grand Marquis (most likely, from what I’ve seen on the used car market, a former rental fleet vehicle) to avoid what I gather to be the relatively steep depreciation cost I’d incur if I buy new? I guess what it really comes down to – what do you think about buying a Grand Marquis that spent its first year or two as a rental car?

Steve Answers:

I have bought four of your ilk this year. A 1996 for $1700 with 78k and leather. A 1997 for $2350 with 41k and cloth. A 2000 model loaded to the gills for $1700….and a 1999 model with 89k for $1700.

Do you see a trend here?

Each one needed anywhere form nil to $500 in repair work and easily had 100k miles left on them. Why so low miles? The Grand Marquis is predominately bought by ‘mature folks’ who are looking for that perfect final ride. In the used car market, they are about as stressed as the late Lawrence Welk counting his royalties as he sits on an All-american Lay-Z-Boy.

By the way, did I mention that the last few years of the Grand are about as de-contented as the Detroit Lions? The glory days for these models is in the 2003 – 2005 era where you have far better handling to go with a less floaty boaty ride. If it were my dollar I would opt for a 2005 model like this one. Okay, maybe not that one. But with close to a half million built since 2003 and declines in value that rival the steepest in the business, you should absolutely have no trouble for finding an exceptional used Grand at dimes to the dollar.

If you can’t find that perfect one in your neck of the woods there is always Florida. I have combined Disney with car buying in the past few years and it’s always yielded me a cost free and worry free vacation. If the local market offers few and far between you may want to go where these models are as plentiful as early bird specials. Good luck!

Sajeev answers:

Perhaps you remember Panther Appreciation week: all three Panthers I have regular contact with were bought used, from previous owners with no corporate connections. (probably) So you’d think that I’d agree with Steve. Except, not so much. This time the New or Used segment will live up to its name.

Go new, as I did several years ago for an MGM road test that became the “usually very picky” voice of dissent against the Panther Haters. Enjoy buying that new car smell with pricing at invoice or below, better finance rates, a (decent?) selection of colors and a reasonable warranty. A warranty that you’ll never need, because this is a modern Panther Chassis. Plus, the goodies from my 2006 road test are history: swanky black interiors, Interceptor handling packages, dual exhausts, soft-ish velour seating, moonroofs and CD changers.

This is a big problem, one that’s cursed the Panther since 1992: every redesign is both better and worse at the same time. Want traditional values in 1992? Find the “last of the good ones”, a 1991 with gigantic bumpers and pushrod motors. Prefer to own a yacht with a not-crappy interior? Avoid that new, “bean counted” 1998 model and go 1997. And yet, people still bought new ones. The world may never know why. But come 2011, that’s all gonna change.

So screw it. Put me down for a 2006 MGM LS, with a black cloth interior to create an actual contrast to the tacky-excellent fake wood. Find the one with the right options, have it inspected and take the plunge. This is one of the safest bets on the planet, it’s damn near impossible to go wrong. So get the most “right” one you can find. No regrets there!

Need help with a car buying conundrum? Email your particulars to mehta@ttac.com, and let TTAC’s collective wisdom make the decision easier… or possibly much, much harder.