TrainTrac
Well-Known Member
We've been looking for a while for a third vehicle for my wife to drive to work during the school year/winter so that we can "stable" the Mustang for the winter, and also keep its mileage down since we plan to keep it long-term as a show/collector car.
We really liked the Edge rental that we drove on vacation in FL last summer, so we thought we'd look for one of those. We didn't want to buy new, and finally decided that we didn't want to spend over $20K nor buy anything with over 30K miles on it.. Well, after searching the market in our area for a few months, we finally realized that we wouldn't have much luck getting a used Edge that would meet those criteria. So I suggested to Allyssa that we look at the Escape/Mariner. We found several "program" vehicles at dealers in our area, and went and test drove a few.
We finally settled upon and bought a 2008 Mercury Mariner Premier 4WD V6. It had about 27K miles on it, and we got it for under $20K. It was an off-lease vehicle, and in great shape. It's black w/black leather, and loaded with just about every option for that year except navigation and tow package. It doesn't have Sync; that didn't arrive in the Escape/Mariner 'til 2009. We really like it. Very comfortable and lots of interior room for a small CUV/SUV. The back seat even seems more roomy than my Sport Trac. The 3.0 V6 performs well, and the Mariner really handles well with the short wheelbase. It's very easy to drive in tight areas like crowded parking lots. I also feel better about Allyssa having a 4WD vehicle to drive during the winter months. Much safer for her and Mark.
And with the incurable modding bug in my veins, I've already added OEM rubber floor mats, rear cargo mat, and splash guards (purchased from Torrie) and SilverStar H13 headlight bulbs. SilverStar 9145's for the fogs and a K&N air filter are next!
Hell, I'm liking this vehicle so much that whenever I'm ready to get rid of the Sport Trac, if I can't find a suitable Gen II Trac as a replacement, I'll seriously consider looking at an Escape.
And, this Mercury Mariner is now a collector's item, right?:grin:
We really liked the Edge rental that we drove on vacation in FL last summer, so we thought we'd look for one of those. We didn't want to buy new, and finally decided that we didn't want to spend over $20K nor buy anything with over 30K miles on it.. Well, after searching the market in our area for a few months, we finally realized that we wouldn't have much luck getting a used Edge that would meet those criteria. So I suggested to Allyssa that we look at the Escape/Mariner. We found several "program" vehicles at dealers in our area, and went and test drove a few.
We finally settled upon and bought a 2008 Mercury Mariner Premier 4WD V6. It had about 27K miles on it, and we got it for under $20K. It was an off-lease vehicle, and in great shape. It's black w/black leather, and loaded with just about every option for that year except navigation and tow package. It doesn't have Sync; that didn't arrive in the Escape/Mariner 'til 2009. We really like it. Very comfortable and lots of interior room for a small CUV/SUV. The back seat even seems more roomy than my Sport Trac. The 3.0 V6 performs well, and the Mariner really handles well with the short wheelbase. It's very easy to drive in tight areas like crowded parking lots. I also feel better about Allyssa having a 4WD vehicle to drive during the winter months. Much safer for her and Mark.
And with the incurable modding bug in my veins, I've already added OEM rubber floor mats, rear cargo mat, and splash guards (purchased from Torrie) and SilverStar H13 headlight bulbs. SilverStar 9145's for the fogs and a K&N air filter are next!
Hell, I'm liking this vehicle so much that whenever I'm ready to get rid of the Sport Trac, if I can't find a suitable Gen II Trac as a replacement, I'll seriously consider looking at an Escape.
And, this Mercury Mariner is now a collector's item, right?:grin:
