Besides the winter weather obviously, winter gas? Higher Ethenol content, winter blends, etc.

Not sure how sensetive these things are to air filters. fuel filter.

Tire inflation.

Longer warm-ups, less EV time due to cold weather (like ICE on at stops longer).

 

Thanks Bryan. I've got new air and fuel filters. I don't know what kind of gasoline to actually look for. How do I know where to stop to gas up?

BTW, to answer the original posters question: It's a nice car, and I'd definitely get another one. The fact that it's an American car is even better. If I had my druthers, I'd pick up a new one, just because I like the look better, but this car is pretty sweet.

 

The misses has a 2006 Mariner hybrid and I have a
2007 Mariner hybrid.

The responses in regards to the air conditioners are
pretty accurate - real good information already given
on this issue.

Not sure too many people are willing to part with
their Mariner hybrids once they have had one.
Meaning it could be difficult to find used ones
available. I know in our case we would not
consider another car to own other than an
Escape since the Mariners will be discontinued
after the 2011's come out for a short time (told
this by a dealer when we were looking at a
2010 for the heck of it). Troubling to find out
that in my case, my car has dropped $17,000
in resale value in less than three full years of
age, not in years of ownership however as I
had my 2007 in September 2006, the misses
got hers in April 2006. (I do not believe this
is realistic but if I were to trade in my car for
the 2010 we looked at the $13,000 value
is pretty much what the trade in value would
be. Needless to say I was not pleased that
in just 3 model issue years later my Mariner
has dropped that much so fast. Not overly
worried about it as it will take some serious
incentive for me to part with my Mariner and
I (we) would certainly sell the car or cars on
our own rather than use them as trade ins
for a newer version). So, in effect you bet
we would want another Mariner or Escape
perhaps in the future. Our preference was
and still is the Mariner over the Escape but
we may yield later on and buy an Escape
in a few years time only because we may
have to.

I had a five speed, 4wd, 1990 Ford Explorer,
bought it new, had over 200,000 miles on it
when I traded it in on the Mariner off the
showroom floor. Do I like the Mariner
better than the Explorer. Yes I do, I
like the fact that the Mariner drives more
like a car rather than a SUV truck. Not
saying the truck feel is all that bad but I
like the car feel better as I've gotten older
and I like the fact that the rear axles have
a cross bar that connect to the rear wheels
that give the impression of an anti-roll bar
that my old Explorer did not have. Harder
to have a roll-over with this molded rear
frame (my first car was a Triumph Spitfire.
As a reckless youth at times I learned
the value having of the anti-roll bar which
prevented the real wheels from locking
inward which can eventually lead to a
roll-over with very sharp turns at high
speeds).

I have cloth seats and the misses has
leather. Both interiors are a tan color
which is real nice for us. Seat comfort
is real good, on a par with the misses
other car, a 1996 Acura RL that she
bought new, now our son is driving it
and that should tell a lot about the
seat comfort if you know or have
been around Acuras.

Years ago I took out the glass on the
passenger side mirror and replaced
it with a glass the same as the driver's
side mirror on the Mariner. Cannot
stand the "Objects in mirror are closer
than the appear", mirror, especially
since the blind spot for the vehicle
is at the right rear, much more so
than the left rear is as a blind spot.
Since the backseat is owned by
our Golden Retriever, I saw no need
to keep the rear seat head rests so
I took them out of the car a long time
ago, prior to us having Maggie Mae.
Taking out the head rests gives me
much more open view while using
the rear view mirror. I have nothing
in the way to hinder seeing what is
behind me giving me a total rear view
close to what I had in the old Explorer.

As for the wintering gas economy
issue here goes my testimony. The
lowest point fuel economy of the years
so far: 2006 - 28.6, 2007 - 29.6, 2008
- 30.0, and 2009 - 31.4. All lowest
levels were reached at some point
during the Winter. Did not take long
at all for those lowest points to rise
up again. Currently 33.2 miles/gallon
and will increase some more with the
sustained warm weather here. For
Summer driving I keep all four tires
(original Continentals, the spare is
the same tire) at 34 lbs pressure.

[Forgot to mention that I have a full
sized spare tire, not the full sized
donut tire that comes with the
vehicle. I have the four mud flaps
(splash guards) and the wind
deflectors on all four doors.
The misses bought me the
wind deflectors as a present,
was not all that interested in
having them but I can say this
that when it rains, a whole lot
less water comes into the car
when the doors are first opened.
I've actually grown quite fond
of the wind deflectors, now that
I've gotten over the funky appearance
I thought they had at first. I'd get
them again and now even the misses
is convinced her car needs them as
well after the last downpour drenched
her in the drivers seat of her car and
in the same storm was not rain soaked
at all in mine when she needed to open
the door to get out of the car. Just a
little tidbit.]

As far as how well the cars are holding
up. Other than a bushing that was
causing a squeak in the left front of
the misses car and a faulty gas cap
that was causing a sensor to go into
orbit (both were replaced with no
problems since), the only area of
concern is a slight rattle in the left
rear cargo area. For me, not a thing
has gone wrong so far: no rattles,
not one burned out light bulb or
fuse - no replacement anything
other than normal age and wear
caused maintenance - air filter
and fuel filter changes at the
30,000 mile servicing. I do
have my oil and filter changed
every 3,000-4,000 miles however.
Free of charge from the dealer I
bought my car from - Patchett's
Ford/Mercury in Turlock.

When we bought both of our Mariners,
the warranty was 3 years 36,000 but
Ford had an extended warranty for
our cars. Not exactly sure what it
is. There is a disclaimer that we did
not know about and that is from
the initial warranty to the extended
warranty there is a $100 deductible
for parts and labor under the extended
warranty. We learned of this when the
bushing was replaced as it happened
after the misses had owned her car after
the 3 years. The part and labor was
covered by the extended warranty,
less the $100 for us. Tim, you may
want to check to see if your 2006 has
the Ford extended warranty like ours
seem to have. The extended warranty
was posted in the Mercury web site
years ago when it was easier to
maneuver in. I am going to have to
check as well as I may be wrong
that the factory extended warranty
for our model years is 5 years/60,000
miles but that is the figure that I recall
us both having.

Jim

 

Hi All!
I'd like to buy Mariner Hybrid 2006 (currently I owned Pontiac Vibe 2005 FWD). But I have some questions, I think here's the right place to find answers

1. Main question - NiMH battery life. How much miles I can to drive before I need to replace it? I think to buy Mariner from Manheim, with mileage 80-100K, is the car with such mileage will be with almost dead battery or not?

2. If Hybrid battery is dead - can I drive or the car won't start at all?

3. Is car can drive in cold (very cold) weather (-4 ... -30F) (sorry, maybe dumb question, but it's very cold here sometimes )?

Thanks!

 

Question#
1.--Taxis have reached 300,000 miles with the stock hybrid battery without issue.
2.--You need the hybrid battery to run the vehicle.
3.--I have driven in -18F without issue. It helps to have an engine block heater when it gets that cold.