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Red/ Maroon 1998 Mercury Mountaineer 5.0l Awd 108,000 Miles on 2040-cars

Year:1998 Mileage:108605
Location:

West Des Moines, Iowa, United States

West Des Moines, Iowa, United States
Advertising:

1998 Mercury Mountaineer Fix 'er Upper


For auction is a 98 Mercury Mountaineer, I will do my best to give a detailed description of the vehicle, and work that needs to be done to it. I purchased this vehicle in February of 2013, from a good friend of mine who had driven it 50,000 miles previously, to serve as a comfy every day alternative to my lifted pickup. About two weeks after I bought it, the front end went out, catastrophically, on the interstate. This caused a hole in the front differential itself, and the front spindle on the front drive shaft partially sheared off, but caused no other damage. As it basically still runs and drives, I parked it beside my barn waiting on the parts. A month or so later, a spring storm came through, and a tree fell on the front end, causing damage to the windshield, hood and roof above the windshield. It has since been stored inside the barn. I have all of the parts necessary to get it back to 100%, mechanically speaking, including the front differential, front drive shaft and the passenger side window. Theoretically, the vehicle could be driven to its new home if the front drive shaft and possibly the front spindles were removed, but I would strongly recommend trailering the vehicle. I have a car trailer, and for a price might be willing to haul it up to a couple hundred miles. I honestly would like to keep it and fix it up to use it as I had intended, but have so much on my plate right now I need to focus on other things.

Minus the front end work that needs to be done, the SUV is in fantastic mechanical shape. Right before I purchased it, it had a full tune up, new rotors and pads, new shocks, and some front end work (someone must have noticed a problem with the front end, but that message didn't get passed on to me). It has no mechanical issues what so ever outside of what I've already mentioned. When I first bought it, it drove fantastically. Even though it hasn't been road worthy in a year, I have been starting it regularly and move it from time to time. I treated the gas last fall, and again this spring. As far as I can tell, it leaks and burns no fluids. I didn't have any issues with the battery until today, when I had to jump start it, and it would not hold a charge. The front two tires are in excellent shape, I believe my friend purchased them new about 10,000 miles ago, and they have held air the entire time I've owned it. The rear tires, however, only have a little life in them, if any, and the spare tire has a slow leak.

Overall, the body is in OK shape, outside of what I've already mentioned, as can be seen in the pictures. The only other issue was caused when I nicked the rear driver's side with a farm implement, causing a crack in the tail light and some slight damage to the panel behind the rear tire. At some point in time, the front bumper seems to have hit something very softly, causing a chip in the plastic, and the foglight is missing. Otherwise, it has no rust, and the paint is not scratched up or faded.

The interior is in excellent condition. The person I purchased it from was not a smoker, and I am not either, although I never really got a chance to spend much time in it. The leather seats have no rips or tears, the power functions all work great. All of the other electronics and gauges function properly, including an aftermarket transmission temperature gauge and trailer brake sending unit. It has the premium sound system with a factory sub and six disc changer, and has steering wheel controls. It also has keyless entry.

The title is clear and in hand. I will require a $500 PayPal deposit within 24 hours of the auction's end. The vehicle must be picked up within one week of the auction's end, or I can haul it for a fee. Obviously, the vehicle does not come with a warranty, express or implied. I've done my best to describe its condition in detail, but obviously it needs some work, and so please take that into account before you bid.

Thanks!

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Junkyard Gem: 1979 Mercury Marquis 2-Door Sedan

Sun, Jul 25 2021

As the creator of the now-much-overused term "Malaise Era" (which I say started in 1973 and ended in 1983, full stop), I have a certain affection for the big two-door Detroit cars of the late 1970s. When such a car is built on the very first model year of Ford's long-lived Panther platform and I find one in a junkyard, I must document it. The 1979 Mercury Marquis is such a car, and this one was found in a San Francisco Bay Area self-service yard last month. Since Ford built the Grand Marquis all the way through the demise of the Panther platform— and Mercury itself— in 2011, it's easy for us to forget that the model name started out as just the plain old Marquis, back in the 1967 model year, with the Grand appellation used for the car's top trim level. While today's Junkyard Gem has some of the features of the Grand Marquis and Marquis Brougham trim levels for 1979 (notably the padded vinyl landau roof and power windows), it lacks the huge chrome lower-body moldings of those cars. Instead, it's a regular Marquis 2-door sedan with a big load of expensive options. That landau roof has suffered greatly from its decades beneath the vinyl-disintegrating California sun. The Panther platform was a big technological upgrade from the late-1950s-vintage chassis technology of full-sized Fords of the 1960s and 1970s, and it stayed in front-line service in much the same form through 2011. Though its ride and handling were much improved, the 1979 Marquis was quite a bit smaller than its predecessors, and that caused some grumbling among Mercury shoppers. Some ham-handed junkyard shoppers really tore up the interior of this car while extracting a few bits and pieces, but we can still admire the Pine Green pleather of the glorious Twin Comfort Lounge front seats. You had two engine choices when buying a new '79 Marquis: the base 302-cubic-inch (5.0-liter) Windsor V8 making 129 horsepower or the optional 351-cubic-inch (5.8-liter) Windsor V8 rated at 138 horsepower. This one appears to be the 351, the same engine as had been swapped into the pizza-delivery Mercury I drove in the middle 1980s. New cars sold in California around this time had these giant emissions-numbers stickers on the side glass. Later, they went on the underside of the hood.

2023 Grand National Roadster Show Mega Photo Gallery | Hot rod heaven

Wed, Feb 8 2023

POMONA, Calif. — From an outsider's perspective, it would be easy to assume that the Grand National Roadster Show has always been a Southern California institution. After all, it celebrates the diverse postwar car culture of the region — hot rods, lead sleds, lowriders, and more. However, the show had its roots in NorCal in 1950 when Al Slonaker and his hot rod club showed their custom cars at the Oakland Expo. The GNRS moved to Pomona, California, in 2004. By then it had grown exponentially and seen about a dozen more car customization trends come and go. However, the show and its centerpiece award, the America's Most Beautiful Roadster prize, celebrate what is perhaps the first of those trends: the American hot rod in its purest form. Today, in its 73rd year, the GNRS is the oldest indoor car show in America. Annually it welcomes 500-800 cars, gathered into special themes like Tri-Five Chevys or Volkswagen Bugs. At this year's show, which was last weekend, a special hall was dedicated to pickup trucks built between 1948-98, including mini-trucks, groovy camper bed conversions, and resto-mods.  However, of all the vehicles presented, only nine are eligible for the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award. Winners get their names engraved on a 9-foot-tall perpetual trophy that was, according to The Ultimate Hot Rod Dictionary, the largest in the world when it debuted in 1950. Slonaker chose the word "roadster" initially because "hot rod" bore slightly negative outlaw connotations in 1950. Only American cars built before 1937 of certain body styles — roadsters, roadster pickups, phaetons, touring cars — are eligible, and they cannot have roll-down side windows.  Cars in the running for the cup cannot have been shown anywhere else before their debut at the GNRS.  Contestants for this accolade essentially build their cars to the a platonic ideal of a hot rod. This year the honors went to Jack Chisenhall of San Antonio, Texas, for his "Champ Deuce," a 1932 Ford Roadster. It's exactly what you picture when you think of a hot rod, but distilled to its absolute essence.  Other standouts included "Green Eyes," a two-tone green 1959 Chevy El Camino  with a heavily metal-flaked bed, "Blue Monday," a 1964 Buick Riviera lowrider, and a personal favorite, "Purple Reign," a purple and black 1951 Mercury. Cars may have started out as tools, but there aren't shows like this filled with custom refrigerators.

Junkyard Gem: 2007 Mercury Mariner Hybrid

Sat, Dec 19 2020

Once hybrid vehicles from Honda and Toyota proved to work well in the real world of American streets during the early 2000s, other U.S.-market manufacturers climbed aboard the gasoline-electric bandwagon. Ford introduced the Escape Hybrid for the 2005 model year and sales proved quite strong; its Mercury-badged sibling, the Mariner Hybrid, appeared the following year. The Mariner Hybrid never induced many vehicle shoppers to sign on the line which is dotted, despite gasoline prices going absolutely ape in 2008, though it remained available all the way through the Mercury brand's 2010 demise. Here's one of those rare trucks, found in a Denver-area yard last month. The Escape/Mariner Hybrids got amazing fuel economy for tall, truck-shaped machines, though the serious penny-pinchers with long commutes skipped anything built in the 21st century and began driving up the prices of the once-scorned Geo Metro XFi, gas-sipping champion of the previous decade. The Mercury brand was on the ropes by this time, with not much to distinguish the once-distinctive Mercury machines from their near-identical Ford counterparts. The 1999-2002 Cougar was the last Mercury sold here with no twin brothers over in the Ford showrooms. I do see the occasional Escape Hybrid in places like this, though such gas-saving small SUVs tend to retain their value well enough that it takes a crash to retire one. This Mariner Hybrid hit something hard and either flipped on its side or scraped a guardrail for some distance. The airbags deployed and, presumably, spared the occupants from serious injury. That's the good news. The bad news is that fixing this kind of damage to a 13-year-old vehicle made by a defunct brand just isn't worth it to insurance companies, hybrid-electric powertrain or not. We can assume that the battery pack lives on in another Escape/Mariner. Navigation, Bluetooth, and other features that were considered pretty slick in 2007. This truck was in pretty good shape until the very end. Jill Wagner proved that you can bury a Mercury emblem in volcanic soil and it will grow into a brand-new Mariner Hybrid. That's how science works! You can go to the same field and tap on a Mercury emblem, if you want to get a regular gasoline Mariner. Featured Gallery Junked 2007 Mercury Mariner Hybrid View 20 Photos Auto News Green Mercury Automotive History Crossover SUV Hybrid mercury mariner mercury mariner hybrid Junkyard Gems