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‘The 1992 Ford Crown Victoria Is Not A Dinosaur’
This Mercury Can Make You Feel Like You’re On Another Planet
Welcome to Found Around The Quarter, where I highlight fascinating cars I found walking around a city that is known for being Big and Easy, with great music and a great cruising culture: New Orleans, Louisiana.
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Used Car Face Off: Glorious Badge-Engineered Jokes From The 1970s
Welcome to Used Car Face Off, where we find two similar or similarly priced used cars and ask you which one you would buy. Choose wisely!
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Tags: Used car face off
Ford finally issues recall for 230K minivans over rust problems
Filed under: Minivan/Van, Recalls, Safety, Ford, Mercury, Canada
The rust issue in the rear wheel wells of 2004-2007 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans has finally led to a recall. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began an investigation into the matter in 2011, said investigation being upgraded to an engineering analysis a year later while NHTSA tried to figure out how many model years should be included in the assessment.
Ford has decided to recall all of the 230,000 minivans potentially affected, namely those sold in salt-belt states and countries like Canada. The excess rust in the rear wheel wells was also able to prevent the third-row seats from locking to the floor of the minivan. To repair the problem, owners can take their minivans to dealers, and the dealers will place new panels in the wheel wells, replace the third-row seat mounting brackets and relocate the latches to an area away from any corrosion.
Ford says it will begin notifying owners during the last week of March.
Ford finally issues recall for 230K minivans over rust problems originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 10 Mar 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: canada, freestar, Minivan/Van, monterey, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nhtsa, Recall, recalls, rust, Safety
Official: NHTSA investigating 725k Ford, Mercury vehicles for stalling issue
Filed under: Sedan, SUV, Government/Legal, Safety, Ford, Mercury
Owners of Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner, Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan models, listen up. According to a report on Automotive News, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into these four vehicles totaling an estimated 725,000 units. The investigation appears to center around a malfunctioning throttle body on non-hybrid models of the 2005-2012 Escape and 2011-2012 Fusion. With Mercury dying off after the 2011 model year, this probe will also apply to the 2005 through 2011 Mariner and the 2011 Milan. There has been some discussion around the Escape stalling issue for some time now, but this investigation appears to be larger in scope than before.
Though not a recall yet, NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received 123 complaints of stalling or surging vehicles, while Ford itself has logged 1,472 complaints. The investigation report, which is posted below, seems to indicate that a faulty circuit board for the throttle body could cause the vehicle to go into limp mode, which, according to NHTSA, could cause complaints of both stalling and surging.
Continue reading NHTSA investigating 725k Ford, Mercury vehicles for stalling issue
NHTSA investigating 725k Ford, Mercury vehicles for stalling issue originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: Escape, Ford Safety, Fusion, Government/Legal, mariner, milan, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nhtsa, nhtsa investigation, Safety, Sedan, Suv
Best deals on used family sedans
A family sedan is a great choice if you're looking for good fuel economy, plenty of room for people, and enough trunk space to pack all the necessities. Buying used allows you to reap these benefits for less money than buying new. To make it easier to find what you're looking for, we have identified some of the best used deals on family sedans on the market.
By purchasing used, you benefit from the original owner taking the initial depreciation hit, as new cars lose much more value in the first and second years than those that follow. Also, most recent sedans have the latest safety equipment (such as curtain air bags and stability control) and are still affordable. (Learn more from our used-car buying advice.)
When shopping, look for cars that scored well in Consumer Reports' tests when new, have proven reliability, and perform well in government and insurance industry crash tests. Before handing over the cash, have the vehicle inspected by a trained and trusted mechanic to make sure there are no hidden problems.
Check out our top deals for recommended used family sedans from the 2008-2010 model years. We ranked the vehicles by the price you might be able to get when buying from the dealer and all are under $20,000. The models listed below are between 17- and 55-percent less than the retail price when the vehicle was new. Plus, all of the models have at least average reliability according to our latest subscriber survey.
| Make & model | Buying from dealer avg price | MSRP (new) | Drop in retail value vs. MSRP | Used-car pricing |
| 2008 Ford Fusion S | $8,650 | $18,135 | 52% | View detailed pricing |
| 2009 Ford Fusion S | $9,675 | $19,035 | 49% | View detailed pricing |
| 2008 Mazda6 i | $9,775 | $20,800 | 53% | View detailed pricing |
| 2008 Mercury Milan | $9,875 | $24,195 | 59% | View detailed pricing |
| 2009 Mazda6 i | $10,800 | $21,150 | 49% | View detailed pricing |
| 2009 Mercury Milan | $11,200 | $24,845 | 55% | View detailed pricing |
| 2008 Nissan Altima S | $11,750 | $20,580 | 43% | View detailed pricing |
| 2009 Nissan Altima | $11,825 | $19,900 | 41% | View detailed pricing |
| 2010 Mercury Milan | $12,325 | $21,180 | 42% | View detailed pricing |
| 2010 Mazda6 | $12,625 | $20,470 | 38% | View detailed pricing |
| 2008 Toyota Camry LE | $12,700 | $21,075 | 40% | View detailed pricing |
| 2010 Ford Fusion S | $12,750 | $19,620 | 35% | View detailed pricing |
| 2008 Toyota Prius | $13,175 | $22,475 | 41% | View detailed pricing |
| 2009 Toyota Prius | $15,125 | $23,375 | 35% | View detailed pricing |
| 2008 Honda Accord EX | $15,200 | $23,860 | 36% | View detailed pricing |
| 2010 Toyota Camry LE | $15,350 | $21,900 | 30% | View detailed pricing |
| 2009 Toyota Camry Hybrid | $15,625 | $26,150 | 40% | View detailed pricing |
| 2010 Nissan Altima SL | $16,425 | $23,380 | 30% | View detailed pricing |
| 2010 Honda Accord EX | $17,525 | $24,630 | 29% | View detailed pricing |
| 2010 Toyota Prius | $18,850 | $22,800 | 17% | View detailed pricing |
See our complete list of used-car deals across a variety of vehicle categories.
Tags: Cars
