MyFordDreams begins 27 month test drive of Mercury Mariner!

Ok not a test drive, but a lease. After months of shopping for a good deal I've traded in my trusty Mazda 3 sGT for a 2010 Merucy Mariner I-4 Premier 4wd. I went back to the dealership where I bought my very first new car 22 years ago, Smith Cairns of Yonkers New York. My salesman Frank made it one of the easiest purchases I've ever made.

My opinion of the refreshed Mariner/Escape/Tribute is a matter of record here, the only flaw is the lack of 4wheel disc brakes. The level of luxury and technology are both fairly high, especially at this price point. I was joking with my salesman Frank that when this lease is up, Ford should finally have the new Kuga based Escape/Mariner replacement out. That may be no joke. And if FoMoCo can SYNC up those dates, then that's what I'll do.

Now to learn how all my new toys work! I've got to learn the SYNC system, load up my MP3 and USB Flash Drive with tunes, then select which Sirius stations I want to listen to. The ambient lighting is actually kind of cool. But over the next 27 months I'll also give my day to day impressions of my first Mercury.

Yeah, it's hard for me to believe, but with all the FoMoCo products I've owned over the years, this is the first Mercury I've ever had.

MyMercuryDream?

First I'd like to thank MF my friend from Dearborn for the Xplan pin, much appreciated.

It looks like today we're going to give the Mariner a second test drive and if all goes well sign on the dotted line. We're taking advantage of the CARS program (Cash For Clunkers) and trading in our Isuzu Rodeo (Ranger is in too good shape to be scrapped) and combining that with the Fed program and FoMoCo incentives means that this is a great value.

While it's obvious I'm biased toward FoMoCo products, I did my due diligence, researching available vehicles and incentives on small SUVs, CUVs and Wagons from Jeep, Dodge, Chevy, Chrysler, VW, Honda and Subaru ( as well as Ford, but more on that later.) End result? The Mariner is the value leader among them, when combined with mild incentives and the programs I'm taking part in (CARS & XPlan.)

The Mariner drove well in the first drive, the interior was very nice and there are a ton of features I really like. One thing I haven't seen in years, but was a real plus, was the two way opening hatch, where either just the window or the entire liftgate open depending on what you need to load/unload. The one deficiency that jumps out is the lack of 4wheel disc brakes? The Ford/Mercury twins were the only ones that didn't even have this as an option.

Traction Control, ABS, full compliment of Air Bags and the RSC (Roll Stability Control) offer a level of safety and confidence that help aleviate the nag of rear drum brakes. The tech goodies and amenities make the Mariner a near luxury vehicle at a more reasonable price. The 2.5L I-4's 25 mpg and 171 hp have the power and economy balance I'm looking for and the Smart 4WD will help in bad weather.

I've spec'd all the major options, Moonroof, Sync, Power and Heated everything, Dual Zone A/C and Stereo, so this is no stripper. I didn't opt for the DVD Navigation, I've never needed it, with my natural navigation skills, but a Tom Tom or Garmin GPS can be had for much less.

The one surprise was that with all the same option boxes ticked, the Mariner comes up $600 less than it's Ford Escape twin. That and my dislike of the Escape's egg crate grille were the tipping points for the Mariner.

I'll blog more about my adventure with this purchase later this weekend. This will be my first Mercury, I've owned quite a few Fords and even 1 Lincoln over the years, and my mom and dad each had a Mercury over the years, so I'm looking forward to this.

The one downer is that my Mazda 3 sGT is going away, but I'm just thinking of this as MyFordDreams doing my part to stimulate the economy and support the home team.

What does Ford have for Mercury? What's left in the global cookie jar?

Wow, I've been going round and round with this, wondering what the hell FoMoCo can do with Mercury. For 2009 the brand has 4.5 models, none unique to the brand. There's the Grand Marquis, Milan, Mountaineer, Mariner and Sable, but only 3 of those will be around in 2010 and there are no planned new models for Mercury. Lincoln has the MKS, MKT, MKZ, MKX and Navigator (right?) and even the Concept C based on the Euro Focus. But as I've said before, there aren't any new Mercury models, no Flex based CUV, no Edge, no Taurus based Sable, no Focus based small car. Nothing, not anything. And so I was going over past posts where I had proposed stuffing Mercury dealers with overseas FoMoCo models from Europe and Australia.
Much like the last "unique" Mercury Models the Cougar and Capri, one based on Euro Mondeo and the other Asutralian Ford Capri (Laser or Mazda 323). But with the Fiesta, Focus and Transit Connect all on their way to Ford dealers next year, what's left?

Well, they could bring the Ford Focus CC as a Mercury. But does it pay to ? I assume the new Focus powerplants would be EPA certified and since it's basically a Volvo C70 I would assume it wouldn't have a problem passing crash tests. It's a stretch, but it's one of the few models that Ford could bring to give Mercury a Halo model. Call it the Capri or Cougar or If you insist call it the Msomething. It would never be a huge seller, but considering Mercury brand itself only sold 180,000 or so units last year, it could be enough.

And I've said it before, but the land down under could be tapped for some fresh Mercury blood.

Falcon and Territory models, the sedan, crossover and maybe even the ute? I don't know if the 4.0 I6 could ever pass EPA certifications, but how about the 3.7 V6? Or even just the 4.6 V8?

I'm still convinced that FoMoCo plans on letting Mercury fade away, but if the brand is to have any future, these are the only ideas I have. What say you?

Has Ford's Mercury brand gone from the "sign of the cat" to Schrodinger's Cat?

With all the buzz about Ford and Lincoln lately, the silence around Mercury is deafening.
Has the brand that once used the tag line "Sign of the Cat" become the paradoxical Schrodinger's cat ? Are they dead but nobody has looked into the box? How many Mercury models are on offer today and how many will there be next year? I believe there are technically 5 today, Mariner, Mountaineer, Sable, Grand Marquis and Milan and next year there will be 3? No Sable, no Grand Marquis.

While Ford execs like Alan Mulally do promotional tours with the very handsome new Taurus, there's no Sable? From day one there were always the Taurus/Sable twins. But that's always been a major problem with the brand, most Mercury models were twins of Ford models. I believe you have to go back to the early 60's to find a unique Mercury powertrain and the last unique Mercury model not shared with Ford or Lincoln was actually a Mazda based Australian Ford.

At several websites and forums I've heard speculation about a new Euro Focus based Mercury model coming in a few years, and they point to the Lincoln C concept. But Mercury hasn't had a compact model since the Capri and before that the Tracer, both Mazda based. Mercury never got a Focus variant like the Lynx twin of the Escort.

Mercury is dead, but nobody noticed. I don't car that the dealerships are still open and they trickle a few cars out the door, the brand is dead.

Kiss Mercury goodbye! AutoBlog reports Sable to end this year, this Thursday?

Stick a fork in them, they're done. In the post linked in the title from AutoBlog, Ford has decided not to continue the Mercury Sable. They've made a load of changes to the Taurus, including a new SHO, but no plans for a 2010 Sable.

This leaves Mercury with only 4 models, 2 of which will end production soon. The Milan, which is an upscale Fusion, the Mariner which is an upscale Escape, the Mountaineer which I forgot they still made! And the Grand Marquis, which like the Crown Victoria and Town Car is dead man walking. So, with only 2 real models I'd say you can kiss Mercury goodbye. Autoblog mentions plans for an unnamed small car in the future, which can only mean an upscale Focus, even thought they mention the Lincoln C concept.

If Ford wants to keep the Mercury brand alive and at this point that seems unlikely, they need new models to keep the brand. I had said over the years that Mercury would be the perfect brand to bring the neat European and Global Ford products to the states, but since, the Fiesta and new Global Focus are coming here as Fords, that shoots that down. It would be nice to dream about the Australian Ford Falcons coming as Mercury models, but that's unlikely.

So, why keep the brand? It used to be a nice filler between Ford and Lincoln, but as some Fords approach Lincoln prices and Lincoln has their "entry" level MKZ, there's no filler needed.

Mercury will be gone in as little as 5 years, but no longer than 10, unless FoMoCo comes up with something fairly snazzy and profitable for the brand. But look at the bright side, now those who want an orphan car like and Edsel or Studabaker can get a fairly modern vehicle to bring to shows. Hell, the way brands are being killed lately, orphan car shows are going to be loaded with late model iron. I wonder if I should start checking e-Bay for a 2003 Marauder?

Jalopnik has updated FoMoCo Aussie Falcon/Mustang rumors...

Jalopnik has a piece ( linked in title ) about the latest resurgance of rumors that Ford will use the Australian Ford Falcon as the base for the next Mustang and other rear wheel drive vehicles like the Interceptor. Nothing really earth shattering here, rumors like this have been floating around the net for quite a while. Jalopnik refers to an article in the Detroit News by Bryce Hoffman.
With the emergence of real competition from Hyundai, Chrysler and GM, all with IRS as oposed to the Mustangs live axle, this is something that has been common sense to everyone. Hell I've written about this so often I'm not even going to bother linking to past posts, it would take too long.

The Aussie Falcon just got a redo, but has had the Control Blade IRS for several years. The currency situation makes it expensive to import the cars to the United States, more so that when I suggested it several years ago. But the Detroit News article says they're moving "development" to the US, not importing actual units. The chassis would be developed here in the US, used for the future Australian Falcon, new Mustang and Ford and Lincoln branded sedans. No mention of Mercury there? As Jalopnik points out that's a glaring omission.

A new Mustang and a new Rear Wheel Drive sedan for Lincoln and Ford is good news.

But the artilce says it will be 4 years until they reach market, will that be soon enough?
And what about CAFE requirements? I've said before that the 2.0 EcoBoost I4 should go in the Mustang as the base motor, but how about the Sedans? Well, FoMoCo has the direct injection V6 for them. I'm not sure a V8 is even needed, except for top of the line showcase models.

What about Mercury? Well, I've said before that Mercury should be reimagined as an outlet for Ford Import models like the Mondeo. The Fusion does well for Ford, but as nice as the Milan is and it's sharp, maybe a premium could be charged for the imported Mondeo? I know that the next Mondeo and Fusion should, according to what I've read online, be based on the same platform, but until then, give Mercury dealers something unique.

How about the Ford Kuga as the next Mercury Mariner? Until these platforms are under a US Ford product, use Mercury to bring them here and that can justify the premium prices.

Just my 2 cents.