New 2008 v6 Preimer owner
Anyone having problems with:

1 - Climate control: Fan loud in upper vents, but no air. On automatic. Having to adjust temp more than manual controls. I see no advantage to the climate control

2 - Roof drip lines - how to keep clean? The black rubber looks "pitted" and discolored. Vehicle <1 year.

3 - How to keep the dark plastic looking new?

4 - Door sill -- plastic color coded piece is chipping (I do not step on it when getting out of car, but is where would be reasonable to expect some foot contact from some riders/drivers.

I am hoping this will be a good vehicle as the previous Mercury Tracer bought used for heavy use as outside sales vehicle with lots of short stops and high mileage and virtually no problems> I hated the car from the day I bought it as it was too little and basic, but kept driving it because it was so kind to me and tried hard to please me (yeah -- I know - inanimate object, but just trying to relate how much value I got for a car I totally disliked when I bought it).

What sort of MPG might I expect?

Does anyone really own Mariners? -- virtually no activity here or at Edmunds, and don't see many on the road!

 

I think climate control in a vehicle w/large int. volumn is going to be tricky. Especially depending on where the thermostat is. The Mariner is not huge but should probably have dual or rear zone HVAC. Fan will always blast on high until it hits it's preset temp. For the rubber strips use a high quality rubber protectant then maybe some Armor-All to make it shine. A good plastic conditioner and some Armor-All again should help the plastic keep a newer apperance. The chipping door sill I'm not sure about. Chipping from being frail? Not just wearing? Maybe because it is subjuct to getting wet, and then cold temps, and then warm temps and so on is making it brittle. I'm reaching on that one. The MPG you can find numerous places on the web. But being the Premier with a V6 and AWD you need to make sure you don't get the MPG stats for the 4 cyl. front wheel drive. I'm sure it is a sizable difference.

 

Looked real quick on Edmunds and they rate it at 19 MPG overall for the AWD V6 Premier, 22 for the FWD 4 cyl. They give it a 6.9 satisfaction rating but the consumers (44 reviews) give it a 9.4 and claim anywhere from high 20's to low 30's MPG for highway driving in the V6 AWD! Who knows, I guess you will just have to see what you get with yours. But there was no mention of cheesy rubber and plastic. Or sill chipping probs either.

 

Hey HarvardT, what's up with that link you posted? It brought me directly to a Canadian drug/pharmacy web site. What's the connection to Mercury? Or is my computer just linking me to the wrong site?

 

HarvardT = spammer