Hi there,
Just recently moved to Canada (Southern Ontario) from the UK and have been looking for a car. Ever since we moved here I have been admiring a Grand Marquis that parks around the corner from our apartment. Great looking machine, and since I grew up in the 80s/90s, pretty much exactly the image I have in my head of a North American car!
Anyway, a couple of weeks ago a For Sale sign appears on the window....
All the other cars we've been looking at have been generic, dreary vehicles that would do the job and nothing more, so when we find out that it's within our budget we thought - why not? Plus it turns out the insurance is cheaper than a lot of newer vehicles. We took it for a test drive and it was nice. Veeerry smooth, comfortable, almost everything works... but since I don't know much about these cars it would be really helpful to get a few pointers on whether this is a good buy or not.
It's a Grand Marquis LS, white, with the 351 Windsor engine. 47,000 original km.
The good:
Low mileage
Lots of options (apparently comes with everything except the sunroof and the extra fender lights)
Pretty much everything works
Runs nice, drives very smooth
Good tires
Passed safety test less than a year ago, seller is getting new safety test done next week.
Body in good condition, no obvious corrosion
Engine bay looks tidy, interior very clean.
Seller has been using the car regularly, but not a lot.
3 owners, first kept it garaged for most of its life, but last 1-2 years it's been kept on the street.
The potentially-less-good (this is really where I could do with pointers about how bad they are / how much they might cost to get fixed)
A/C doesn't work - no information about why or for how long. Certainly the belt was missing but I assume there is more to it than that.
No belt to smog pump (though I gather some say this is a good thing...).
Driver's seatbelt doesn't retract properly (though maybe the safety test will catch this and we'll get it sorted before buying).
Paint peeling in a couple of spots, eg. small spot behind front fender (but no corrosion underneath).
In a few patches the paint finish looks different, almost like it's been waxed there but not elsewhere. Only really noticeable until it's been pointed out. It's obviously not because these bits have been resprayed so I'm not sure what's happened. The seller reckons that only appeared after he had it professionally buffed, so....?
Bit of surface rust on the exhaust.
Slight gas smell inside when running.
Whining sound when I put my foot down at about 50 mph to get some acceleration and the car drops into lower gear. Noise disappears immediately on coming off the gas and settling back to a steady cruise.
No idea how big an issue any of these (especially the last one) are, and how much they might be to sort out (if needed).
Seller is asking for CA$ 3000.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Just recently moved to Canada (Southern Ontario) from the UK and have been looking for a car. Ever since we moved here I have been admiring a Grand Marquis that parks around the corner from our apartment. Great looking machine, and since I grew up in the 80s/90s, pretty much exactly the image I have in my head of a North American car!
Anyway, a couple of weeks ago a For Sale sign appears on the window....
All the other cars we've been looking at have been generic, dreary vehicles that would do the job and nothing more, so when we find out that it's within our budget we thought - why not? Plus it turns out the insurance is cheaper than a lot of newer vehicles. We took it for a test drive and it was nice. Veeerry smooth, comfortable, almost everything works... but since I don't know much about these cars it would be really helpful to get a few pointers on whether this is a good buy or not.
It's a Grand Marquis LS, white, with the 351 Windsor engine. 47,000 original km.
The good:
Low mileage
Lots of options (apparently comes with everything except the sunroof and the extra fender lights)
Pretty much everything works
Runs nice, drives very smooth
Good tires
Passed safety test less than a year ago, seller is getting new safety test done next week.
Body in good condition, no obvious corrosion
Engine bay looks tidy, interior very clean.
Seller has been using the car regularly, but not a lot.
3 owners, first kept it garaged for most of its life, but last 1-2 years it's been kept on the street.
The potentially-less-good (this is really where I could do with pointers about how bad they are / how much they might cost to get fixed)
A/C doesn't work - no information about why or for how long. Certainly the belt was missing but I assume there is more to it than that.
No belt to smog pump (though I gather some say this is a good thing...).
Driver's seatbelt doesn't retract properly (though maybe the safety test will catch this and we'll get it sorted before buying).
Paint peeling in a couple of spots, eg. small spot behind front fender (but no corrosion underneath).
In a few patches the paint finish looks different, almost like it's been waxed there but not elsewhere. Only really noticeable until it's been pointed out. It's obviously not because these bits have been resprayed so I'm not sure what's happened. The seller reckons that only appeared after he had it professionally buffed, so....?
Bit of surface rust on the exhaust.
Slight gas smell inside when running.
Whining sound when I put my foot down at about 50 mph to get some acceleration and the car drops into lower gear. Noise disappears immediately on coming off the gas and settling back to a steady cruise.
No idea how big an issue any of these (especially the last one) are, and how much they might be to sort out (if needed).
Seller is asking for CA$ 3000.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
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