Hello from a Marauder owner!

[Chad1987]

Hey everyone!

My name is Chad and I own a 2003 Marauder in Dark Blue Pearl. I've always been a fan of fast sedans, my first love being the large, rwd body on frame ones, but the SHO's have always stuck out to me, especially the 2nd generations!

Aside from my Marauder, I also own a '91 LeSabre. It's my winter beater/daily driver. It's been OK, but I'd really like to move up into a 2nd gen SHO this year.

To someone who is looking at a clean (but not mint) 2nd gen SHO, with either the 3.0 or 3.2, what can I expect to pay? Are there any glaring issues I need to keep an eye out for?

Of all the Marauders (11,052) made, about 8,000 of them were black, and the small amount of the rest were dark toreador red, silver birch and dark blue pearl. Is the SHO kind of like that, with a heavy lean towards black, or are the colors more even?

I've always liked the forest green, along with that bright red.

Thanks in advance!

Chad.

 

[Irish Pride]

A decent Gen2 will be between $1000-2500 depending on the location, owner, and whats already been done to it. If its a 3.0 it will be manual trans, and 3.2 will more than likely be auto trans. I say more than likely because the 3.2 is a common swap for the manual cars. If thats the case you should expect to pay a little more.

The weak link in these cars are the trans/diffs and rod bearings. Make sure any car you look at/consider has a good trans and goes thru the gears smooth. Ask about maintenance history. Research what a 60K is and ask the owner when the last one was done. Pull the plug wires and look for oil in the plug wells. Look for a flickering oil light while the car is running. If you see that walk away.

Before you bite the bullet on anything post up here what it is you found and what you know about it. The guys on this forum will bend over backwards to help a brother out. If its a POS or if its a good buy we will shoot you straight. These cars are very fun as long as you dont mind spending a little money to get them up to spec and as long as you are ok turning a few wrenches yourself. Good luck with the search and welcome to the forum!

BTW - all Chads are Douches...

-Chad

 

[93markVIII]

Of all the Marauders (11,052) made, about 8,000 of them were black, and the small amount of the rest were dark toreador red, silver birch and dark blue pearl.

really? i have never seen a Marauder in red or blue... always thought they just came in black and silver..

 

[kevinspann]

really? i have never seen a Marauder in red or blue... always thought they just came in black and silver..

Dark Toreador Red, AKA Old Man Maroon.



OP, it seems like most SHOs are green for second gens.

 

[platoribs]

BTW - all Chads are Douches...

-Chad

Except for the self-realized ones

 

[Chad1987]

The Black was offered in 03 and 04, the Silver was late 03 and '04, the Blue was only sold in the late part of 03 and did not return for 04, the Red took over.

 

[Chad1987]

Black- 8330 made
Silver Birch- 1414 made
Dark Toreador Red - 980 made
Dark Blue Pearl - 328 made.

Total production numbers.

 

[SHOCH]

Glen has a red one no?

 

[intimdatr]

I could rock the crap out of that Blue one. Love Marauders!

 

[luigisho]

I've been looking at a larger size rwd sedan for a second/third car. How is the Marauder as far as maintenance and powertrain quality? I know Ford had issues with some of the v-8's

 

[Chad1987]

From what I understand, the Intech 32V 4.6L V8 is rock solid. Introduced in the Mark VIII in '93, it was produced until about 2008 or so, whenever the last Lincoln Aviators rolled off the assembly line. I've got about 97k on mine right now and it needs nothing. No leaks, no weird drivability issues, it's very smooth, very powerful and gets great fuel economy as well! I see 17-18 around town and 23-24 on the highway. It does require premium fuel though, but most DOHC V8's from this era did.

0-60 in 6.8 seconds, timed last year with about 90k on it.

The transmission is very good as well. Like most Ford ATX's, it loves to upshift at the first chance, but downshifts are instant and very snappy. The Marauders feature a high stall torque converter that puts the power down NOW and it matches up nicely with that big 4 Cam V8.

 

[93markVIII]

overall, the 4.6/4r70w combo is a solid one. my car has nearly 200k with no signs of stopping.

 

[SHO1]

Glen has a red one no?

Yep! He did and not positive, but as far as I know he still does, along with the PI, SHO and Boss.

 

[SuperHO]

Mmmmm....I may have to pick up a Marauder instead of another P71 now....

 

[typhoon5000]

Welcome to the forum :wave:. I've had two P71's in the past and love the Panthers. Always wanted a Marauder (especially with a Trilogy blower on it), but the price delta from a P71 was too much at the time. Seem like Marauders have dropped down a bit since then thoguh. I've only seen a few DBP MM's, but they do look sweet. One guy I work with has (had?) one. I see a lot of MM's in my area though. My buddy's dad bought one of the first MM's when they came out and had a head gasket failure around 30K miles, which I guess was common for some early Job 1 MM's, and Ford put a whole new long block in it under warranty. That's the only major problem I've heard with them.

As for color break down on gen 2 SHO's, it varies by year too, but overall, green is by far the most popular and blue is the rarest (of which there were two different tones of blue depending on year), especially near the end in '95. Here's a breakdown of all of the colors: http://wiki.wikisho.com/wiki/Production_numbers. Best of luck with your search! And as Chad mentioned, don't hesitate to ask us about your finds!

 

[Chad1987]

That's cool, I like the fact that the SHO was offered in a lot of different colors. I'm looking forward to getting out and really driving a SHO sometime this year!

 

[thebigjimsho]

Chad!

I've been in Chad's Marauder! This is one of my Cadillac buddies and met up with him this past summer after the Convention...

Anyone in the Twin Cities area want to give him a ride in their Gen II???

 

[RonPorter]

Glen has a red one no?

Yep, Glen's is red. Plus he has an ex-cop-car blue CV with a Marauder engine. His red one has a blower.

 

[Chad1987]

Chad!

I've been in Chad's Marauder! This is one of my Cadillac buddies and met up with him this past summer after the Convention...

Anyone in the Twin Cities area want to give him a ride in their Gen II???

Hay Jimbo! If it wasn't for Jim, I wouldn't know of this site.

 

[SHO1]

Chad!

I've been in Chad's Marauder! This is one of my Cadillac buddies and met up with him this past summer after the Convention...

Anyone in the Twin Cities area want to give him a ride in their Gen II???

Gen 1, specifically '89, would be better!

Check out the MN section and come to BBQ in May. Could probably get a ride in all 3 gens, maybe even the G3 mtx, among other 4-10 cylinder possibilities.