Frank Reynolds

I bought a 1996 Grand Marquis LS with about 75,500 miles on it less than two weeks ago. Rides like a dream. I bought it from a mechanic I really trust, he told me the car needed absolutely nothing. The guy who had it is 89 years old and his daughter took away his keys because he kept bumping into stuff. I ran the Carfax on it and the car was driven about 4,000 miles/year for the past four years.

So sure enough, on Saturday I go to start it up and it's cranking but not starting. Turns out it was a idle control valve (or something like that). My mechanic actually came to my home, picked up the car and fixed it on Sunday. I don't know that much about cars, I know a little on how to do basic maintainence, but nothing major.

So I guess my questions are:

1. What are your opinions on the '96 Grand Marquis? Are they good solid cars?

2. I'm still waiting to get the maintainence records from my mechanic, but is there anything I should watch out for on this car with the mileage it has on it now?

I've only been driving the car for a couple of weeks now, but I really like it. It has nice leather seats and a digital dash. It's like driving from a leather couch.

Thanks in advance...

 

Nathan in MN

Absolutely. Properly maintained, you've got at LEAST another 200,000 miles to go before it begins to show any significant wear, mechanically speaking. Obviously at that point, little things will start to fail as they do on any vehicle, but the Panther platform's drivetrain is VERY solid.

Biggest problem with the 4.6L V8 cars is the idle air control valve, but it sounds like you've already dealt with that. Other than that little detail, with 75,000 miles on it, it's barely broken in!

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86TBird

There great cars my 1994 Grand Marquis has 349900 miles on smokes a little on startup but runs and drives like shes new

jonnyunlimited

Couldn't agree more, personally. I bought my '96 Marq LS about 3 years back, and only recently started having the usual problems. Turns out the old hag who owned it before me never took it in for recalls, and the dealer failed to bring up the doomed ball joints. Lesson learned.

Other than that, she's a dream come true. I put 75k miles on her since I bought her, and she still purrs like a kitten.