2005 Mercury Mariner Reviews, Pricing & Specs

We bought our car new as a 2005 closeout. It is a 4 cylinder, automatic 2 wheel drive. The car now has 137,000 miles, it has only been in the service department once for a small safety recall. I am able to service the car myself as I don't tend to trust outside garages. The engine oil is changed every 3,000 miles with Motorcraft 5w20 synth. blend, automatic transmission fluid has been changed twice, fuel filter has been changed 3 times, belt and spark plugs changed once. The brake pads are original and still have 1/4 life remaining, however it appears the rotors will need to be replaced along with the pads, as they appear to be taking the wear faster than the pads. The torque converter in the transmission failed at 136,000 which would have cost approx. $1500.00 -3000.00 but I was able to replace it myself for around $300.00 in parts and materials. The car is now on its third set of tires. We had had issues with "tire tread cupping" which made the tires roar loudly, and resulted in the tires being replaced early, so frequent tire balance and rotation in essential for long tire life, unfortunately, I tend to forget about them. The car has also had issues with carbon building up in the fuel injection throttle whereas the acclerator wants to stick in the closed position. Again, I have cleaned the throttle body myself, but expect to play the dealer several hundred dollars for the cleaning. The car was a good buy for the $16,900.00 we paid for it and we expect to drive it until it is no longer cost effective to repair it or until it becomes completely unreliable, which to us is a better measure of the quality of a car than resale value or status. It is also our only car for daily transportation.Jan 18, 2014