2000 Mercury Grand Marquis: Overview

Vehicle Highlights

Mercury's largest car remains closely related to the Ford Crown Victoria and Lincoln Town Car--the only traditional full-size rear-drive sedans available from a North American manufacturer. Grand Marquis comes in GS and uplevel LS versions with a 200-horsepower V8 and automatic transmission. An optional Handling Package includes dual exhausts that add 15 horsepower, a numerically higher rear-axle ratio for quicker acceleration, performance tires, firmer damping, and rear load-leveling air springs. Four-wheel disc brakes are standard. Antilock brakes and traction control are optional. Maximum trailer weight is 2000 pounds.
Like other Ford Motor Company cars for 2000, Grand Marquis adds rear child-seat anchors and an emergency manual release with glow-in-the-dark emergency release handle for persons trapped in the trunk. Also new is BeltMinder, a chime and warning light to encourage buckling up. Grand Marquis' performance and accommodations mirror those of the Crown Victoria.

COMPETITION

This segment has been hardest hit by the huge popularity of sport-utility vehicles. Just a few years ago there were more than 12 cars in the segment and now there are just seven. Heading up the field as Best Buys are the Chrysler Concorde and Dodge Intrepid twins. They have real room for six, exceptional road manners, and plenty of power.
Toyota's Avalon and Buick's LeSabre are twoRecommended choices. Both have room for five and offer a comfortable ride (with modest handling capabilities). If you are looking for towing ability or don't mind having a rear-drive car, then we recommend you take a look at the Ford Crown Victoria. With its rear-drive layout and body-on-frame chassis it's a dinosaur in this class, but Ford has updated it nicely over the years and it comes at a reasonable price.