Hello GMN! Buffalo Rider here

[BuffaloRider]

I've been driving a beat up hand-me-down 94 ford taurus for years now and hating every second of it. When the transmission started going I knew that it would be stupid for me to keep throwing money into a car that I despise so it was finally time to buy a new one. I wanted a car that could get me to and from work, one out of state road trip per year, but still something that I felt proud to own and was happy to drive. I've always loved the boxes but with most box models, being as old as they are, I knew it was a gamble. I searched and searched through all the cheap aerodynamic cars that had been driven to hell with some life still left in them, hoping to find something that I felt was worth buying... not only worth buying, but worth taking care of. Then I came across that craigslist ad for a 1990 Mercury Grand Marquis GS with 70,000mi and I knew it was time to take that gamble.

Of course I knew it had its problems, but I felt like they were manageable at the time, so I bought it. Now that I've owned this car for nearly half of a year I've become aware of sooooo many more problems that neither I nor the whack-ass auto shop I took it to for a pre-purchase inspection noticed. Do I regret my decision to purchase the 90 Grand Marquis that I have named "Bill Bison"? Well... If you ask me on a bad day while I'm budgeting my money and stressing out about the bills, my reply may be reluctant. But if you ask me that same question while I'm behind the wheel with some Neil Young playing in the background and a smile on my face, you'll know the answer. I'm the proud owner of an American Made 1990 Mercury Grand Marquis GS and in my eyes it's worth every penny I spend on it.

I've been reading these forums for more than a month now and I'm looking forward to hearing your guys opinions and advice and maybe even contributing a little myself.

[johnunit]

Welcome! I think most of us know that feel about slowllllly discovering all the niggling things wrong with these cars.

Neil young will make you popular around here....


Whereabouts are you located?

[SVT98t]

Welcome to the Party!!

-ryan s.

[BuffaloRider]

Columbus Ohio, born and raised. Most Ohioans aren't the nicest of folks (The more I travel the more I realize this) but I love it here. Unfortunately I've spent most of my life with a very basic understanding of automobiles, something that I will insure MY future children will never suffer from. Until then I'll be learning as much as I possibly can.

Thanks for the warm welcome.

[79lincolnlover]

Welcome to GMN! Take care of your Merc and it will take care of you.

[VicCrownVic]

Welcome! You got yourself a good car, there are a few on here with '90-'91 boxes who would be glad to lend some advice for any problems you have.
My '91 MGM that I have had since October 2012 has had all kinds of weird little problems that I never had over the past 10 years with my '89 MGM, but it's still a great car.

[BuffaloRider]

I'm taking as much care of it as my budget will allow. The cooling system was highly neglected and left to sit with water in it so I'm taking a half day off work to go out and have a place run a continual high power flush through it while filtering it to get all the crud out. I wanted to make sure that I could sit and watch them do it so they don't screw me over. After that its the exhaust, then after that well over a thousands dollars worth of repairs, replacements and upgrades planned for it. When I get my camera working i'll start a thread with updates so I can document the progress and hopefully get some advice. Just one thing at a time... unless I get a hefty tax return, in that case I'll do as much as I can before the wife starts asking where the money went lol!

[Ziggy]

Welcome to the board! I'm right down the interstate from you, just North of Cincinnati. I've been down here for 6 years, relocating from Gahanna. I still miss Columbus, though.

[BuffaloRider]

Nice to meet ya Ziggy. I've got some in-laws that live in Gahanna, nice area, pretty safe. I mostly grew up in the not so nice areas. There are good things about living in southern ohio though. There's a lot more nature and hills and lot less flat farmland, and I imagine it's at least a degree warmer in the winter time lol.

[85crownHPP]

We're glad to advise on any of your troubles - a lot of it you can probably do yourself with some guidance. A coolant flush and fill is a piece o cake!

[BuffaloRider]

OOOOOOHH no, not just a simple coolant flush and fill, this shit is BAD! I mean like dark milky orange foam with chunks in it bad. I just got back from an expensive ass auto shop that power flushed the majority of that shit out but there will certainly be more of it breaking off and building up over time so until I replace the hoses and the last of that corrosion finds its way out I'll be having many regular coolant flushes in my future, and I'll be praying nothing leaks.

This shop though, this F-ing shop tried to squeeze every dime out of me. They tried to sneak in 60 dollars for an oil change and new wipers when I just took care of both of those not even 400 miles ago, multiple times insisting that my brand new wipers need to be replaced, tried to charge me to clean my battery, I'm sorry, I thought I was here for my COOLING SYSTEM! THEN they wanted to charge me like 500 dollars to replace every hose the coolant has touched HAH! I plan on doing that eventually but I'm not paying them to do it. They already stand to make a damn good profit off of me considering the amount of actual work they had to do, but that's just not enough.

Ok, I'm calm now.

But I will definitely need the help cause this spring/summer I'm fixin this bitch up myself cause I HATE throwing money at mechanics who are "trying to fit your budget". Although they did kind of give me props on the condition of the rest of the car...

[VicCrownVic]

Being able to do the work yourself sure does help when you're trying to get things done on a budget. When I got new tires for the '89 last year I was quoted over $500 for for parts and labor to replace idler arm, pitman arm, outer tie rod ends, plus another $50 to have an alignment done.
Thanks to my wife earning gift cards online, I only spent about $120 and since things were so bad I actually replaced more parts than what they quoted me for (things were really bad so I know everything they said I needed, I REALLY needed and more). So the only thing I ended up paying them for (besides tires) was the alignment when I went back after doing the work myself with help from my dad.

Some people just don't find it worth their time to do it themselves but for me it's worth it.

[BuffaloRider]

It's worth it for me, I want to know this vehicle like the back of my hand. Once I get it in good working condition I plan on keeping it that way for a long time. It's hard to say if I'll be able to pass it on to my future kids, but I definitely want them to have childhood memories of riding in the back seat of the Grand Marquis with me telling them not to touch the cigarette lighters LOL!