2005 Grand Marquis Review

[mustang84]

Today I drove my grandpa's 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis he bought last summer. It's an LS Ultimate, which is the top of the line model. It's fully loaded with heated front seats, side airbags, standard wood trim and leather surfaces, power adjustable pedals, power moonroof....all the bells and whistles.


*Note: Not the actual car, but exactly like it

Inside, the dash may be a little dated looking compared to what's available today, but the materials and fit-and-finish were all pretty high quality. I really didn't find any hard plastics anywhere besides on the seat backs. The door handles all felt firm and solid and the doors closed with a nice thud.



The wood trim actually looks like real wood with a deep coat of gloss on top. The door handles are chrome and there are other touches of brightwork throughout the interior. I want to emphasize how solid everything felt...when people talk about the Panthers being solid cars, they're not joking.

The leather seats were comfortable and supportive; they have little textured bumps on them to give you grip when taking corners.

On the electronic instrument cluster display, it has a portion that tells you your MPG, how many miles left before fueling, and a few other things. We were averaging 19 MPG (mostly city driving) according to the display. It has automatic temperature control where you set what degree F you want the cabin to be.

Driving this beast was fun in my opinion. Even though it only has 224 hp, low end acceleration is pretty decent because there is 275 lb-ft of torque. Even if you stomp on the gas, the ride is so smooth that you're doing 60 before you realize it. That was one thing that bothered me a little though...the gas pedal is so light compared to my Lumina that a few times I discovered I was doing 10 over the speed limit even though it didn't feel like it. The interior was quiet...but I would've liked to hear the exhaust rumbling at least a little bit.

This is a big car, so it won't handle like a sports car. It has a decent turning radius, but the overall length of the vehicle took some getting used to compared to my smaller Lumina. When my lead-foot sister drove it last night, I noticed there was some body roll but it really wasn't too bad. I believe Ford stiffened the suspension recently, so when you go over bumps you don't get the boat rocking motion nearly as much as my grandpa's old '90 Grand Marquis.

This is my grandpa's fifth Panther car. He still owns a 2000 Crown Vic LX. The previous ones were a 1990 Grand Marquis LS, a 1986 Ford LTD, and a 1981 Ford LTD. He was originally thinking about getting a Town Car, but in his words "you get everything that the Lincoln has, minus the price."

I love this car. At 6'4", I had no problem fitting in the front or back. The trunk is huge, the power is pretty decent, and the car is solid and rides smoothly. If Ford plans on keeping the Panthers around, they need to offer the 24V 4.6L from the Mustang. 300 HP and 320 lb-ft of torque would do wonders for the performance.

[sciguy_0504]

Good review. I like an offbeat (IMO) one every now and then. There's one word when I think of when I see a Panther car: floater.

[ehaase]

I love these cars. I know they are outdated, and I doubt that they will be around for more than 5 more years, but these Panthers are my favorite cars now, since GM dropped the B body.

[ponchoman49]

I always liked these cars and was so angry at GM for dropping the b-bodies. They are what cars used to be. Not asian/european wannabes like most every car made today. They have presence an style that is lacking in many and have a nice low effert ride and smooth V8 power. I realize this is not what many people want in a car but it's being offered for those that appreciate our past.