Should I buy a 2006 Mariner Hybrid?
 

I am considering buying a used 2006 mercury mariner hybrid with 107k miles on it. My biggest concern is how long will the battery last. Would any mariner or escape owners let me know their opinion and the mileage of their vehicle. Any input from those in the know is greatly appreciated. Going to look at tomorrow. It is fully loaded: leather, navigation system, premium sound, and moon roof. With an asking price around 10k. Thoughts on the pricing welcomed as well.
Thanks- Doug

Re: Should I buy a 2006 Mariner Hybrid?
 

I've read the hybrid batteries last 100s of thousands of miles (read up on SF Taxi services) and many years without problems. The batteries aren't the weak link, it's mostly the associated bits and pieces like MECS pump, blend door actuators, hybrid battery fans, etc. Those things do go bad, and will affect hybrid functionality, but can all be done easily by do-it-yourself types. There's documentation everywhere, including here, on how to do all that stuff.

Sounds like a good deal for the price. Things to be aware of for any vehicle, not specifically this one, are to check for Nav functionality (likely needs a map update to say the least), moonroof leaks, A/C functionality, switches, etc.

Specifically for this vehicle, take a long test drive and zero out the mileage readings, then see what the trip computer says your average mpg is. It should be close to what fueleconomy.gov says the 06 Mariner 4WD should get, which is 28 and 26. This year and model ONLY comes in 4WD just so you know.

Re: Should I buy a 2006 Mariner Hybrid?
 

I'm curious if you made the purchase? If I had seen this post last week I would have told you YES, buy it. Sound exactly like mine. I'm at 70,000 miles.

I can tell you that I haven't had many problems in 6+ years. This is the longest I've owned any one vehicle and have no plans to unload it. I've had a few of the 'known problems' that this vehicle gets hit with.

1. Squeaky rear suspension, particularly on the passenger side. Something about the bushing for the shock mounts causes an annoying squeak, particularly in cold weather. Had the bushings replaced under warranty twice, haven't really had a problem with it since the 2nd time 2+ yrs ago.

2. Hybrid battery cooling fans - fans went bad last summer. Vehicle wouldn't go into electric mode after it warmed up. Fans were replaced under the 100,000 mile hybrid warranty as they are part of the battery pack. (Some owners have had to fight with dealers/Ford to get it covered, others like myself had it done no questions asked) - The charges were $542 for the repair, but as I said it was fully covered.

3. MECS pump failure - You'll see a lot of threads about the "Stop safely now" message where the vehicle will just shut down. This pump is responsible for a great number of them. I just had it replaced a couple of weeks ago. Its a $600 job though many people have bought and replaced the MECS themselves (the pump is @ $100 and fairly easily accessible).

4. Blend door actuator - I haven't had this YET, but I suspect I will eventually. Apparently its a $35 part and not a tough job, but fairly common for this part to fail. I think its the mechanism that opens and closes the vent for the HV battery.

The only other 'issues' I've had were minor and happened early on (leaky door seal from the factory, etc). I replaced the tires at 60k miles with Michelins that are much quieter but still LRR tires. No issues with the moonroof. I just replaced the 12v battery as it was having trouble holding a charge, but at 6yrs that's not out of the ordinary. I currently need to replace the inner and outer tie rod ends, but those are more of a wear item and undoubtedly due to the awful condition of the roads around here!

I have no concerns about battery failure. There are plenty of documented cases of these vehicles running for 200-300,000 miles.

Personally, I'd skip the factory NAV on this vehicle as its utterly useless.

My mileage varies greatly depending on where I am driving. Living in downtown philadelphia, I would usually get about 24-25mpg thanks to plenty of traffic and red lights. Summer days running AC full blast would keep me down in the 21-22 range. Driving in the suburbs I'm up around 28-29mpg. On the highways I'm usually at least 31mpg... granted I never drive over 70mph.

Re: Should I buy a 2006 Mariner Hybrid?
 

I've been watching "Parking Wars" on Netflix about the Philadelphia Parking Authority ticketing and booting cars. I hope I never see your MMH on there. :angel:

Re: Should I buy a 2006 Mariner Hybrid?
 

I have an '06 Mariner H, that I purchased new. It has 75K miles. I paid for 7/100K Ewarranty. In '07 Ford did a recall on the H, and ADDED, NOT REPLACED, a jumper harness that supported the H feature. 1 Jul 12, my Ewarranty ran out. NOTE...never used the Ewarranty. From '06 to Sept 12, an orange wrench illuminated, on several occasions, with a "SERVICE SOON" LCD message also being displayed. Each time after several hours, the wrench and message no longer appeared. I called the local dealer who said in order to properly trouble shoot the issue, the wrench needed to be illuminated. Well, in Nov 12, the wrench and message came on and stayed on. I took it to the dealer, and the wrench issue an inverter being overheating, and when the dealer also stated that I needed a new jumper harness. The cost....$700 inverter problem, and another $500 a harness. So...would I buy another H past it's warranty....NO WAY. BTW, I called Ford since my feeling was they should in fact pay for the wrench problem AND particularly darn harness that they added. Over the phone 29 Jan 13, the Ford people said no. However, I am now going to writing to the Ford Customer Relationship Center and request assistance. If no assistance, I'm leaving Ford. I left GM 17 years ago after the dillweeds failed miserably in fixing an issue a new Suburban.

Re: Should I buy a 2006 Mariner Hybrid?
 

I don't follow the logic of this. In 7 years, you never had to use the extended warranty (a commendable reliability record). You now have a single $1200 repair after 7 years and you'd never buy an out-of-warranty one?

I purchased a used '06 FEH 9 months ago, well out-of-warranty (130k miles). I factored in the likelihood of it needing some repairs when deciding if the purchase price was right. I ended up spending about $1000 on a few repairs and still consider it an excellent purchase.

It's no different than buying any used car; consider age, mileage, condition & brand/model reliability and factor that into the price you're willing to pay.

Re: Should I buy a 2006 Mariner Hybrid?
 

Logic 101...iff you can't figure it...then I do not have time to explain. Too many more pressing issues.

Re: Should I buy a 2006 Mariner Hybrid?
 

Well, thank you for that content-free post. :rolleyes:

And by the way, I aced Logic 101 (actually called Advanced Rhetoric at CMU).

Re: Should I buy a 2006 Mariner Hybrid?
 

He's just pissed off at Ford because he did not get free, out of warranty repairs.