In reply to bobzilla :
I won't rule anything out. It's just that particular example had too many miles for that price. Also it was 6 hours away.
Also, I'm far from a Hyundai hater. I advised my SIL to buy a 2018 Elantra. She has been very happy with it. The other choice was Mazda 3, and I said buy the Hyundai. So there.
So there it is. My next adventure. 2005 grandma-quis LS. So no swap necessary. 102464 on the clock. Carfax says one owner no accidents. The passenger side has some bush-striping. And that cracked piece behind the rr wheel. As a wholesale car, the dealer didn't touch it aside from a basic inspection which I have a copy of. It said "leaks" from engine, trans, diff. That seepage around the timing cover appears to be the worst of it. Diff looks the same. I'm not worried about it. I'm betting it was some old guy who thought his trade would be worth more clean and full, so that's good for me! The scratches on the right side should buff out without too much effort. The leather appears to have been cared for, and I'd be surprised if the back seat was ever used. I'm betting it was traded for a new caddy. The tires do not match and three are not long for this world. And the airbag light is on, so I'll have to figure that out. In the end they got me for 3200 freedom bucks, and in this market I'm happy with that.
Can't wait to autocross my fat answer. Should be hilarious. And comfy.
In reply to barefootskater (Shaun) :
Pretty freakin' sweet. I paid about $2700 for my older, higher-mileage Town Car with more electronic gizmos to fail on it. And then had to put in two ignition COPs in the first year. And then two of the window regulators crumbled. And a bad tie-rod end somehow got past the state inspection and fell apart 4 months later while my mom was driving it. And the blower motor for the heat and A/C doesn't work.
Hopefully you won't have any of that nonsense to deal with. 
Bonus:
In reply to barefootskater (Shaun) :
Sweet road-sofa! I liked my P71, but it didn't really fit a use in the fleet beyond basic transportation. It's a damn good platform though.
Ooh, you need a cool Mercury hat now too. Here's one that sort of matches the interior, even.
I have one in a style I like more (bigger emblem) but ebay doesn't have any now except in camo colors.
Oh wait, I found one!
This Lincoln-Mercury hat would work and it's a classy dark red color.
I'm not obsessed with Mercury, I swear! 
Nice! We too have an '05 LS Grand Marquis. https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/reader-rides/13863/
Picked it up from SWMBO's grandma when she moved into assisted living, in late '16, with 23K miles on it, just about to hit 73K now.
It's been a great car, I'm not much of a Ford fan generally, but it's hard to complain about a 2 ton, RWD, V8, that still gets 23-24 MPG. I've only done oil and filter changes, a set of tires, wiper blades, and an aftermarket Apple Car Play touch screen. I think it needs a window switch, as passenger front window only goes down when it wants to, and it's due for brakes soon, but really, it owes us nothing.
It's the proverbial couch on wheels, it's our go-to road tripmobile.
In reply to slowbird :
Im going to get the black one! The reddish one is cool, but not for me. My first car was a Merc, and I've owned a few since, but this 03 is my first big bodied Merc.
A decision has been reached on the Funderbird. It is for sale. I'm going to list it here exclusively for a couple months before trying to sell it locally. Watch for the ad.
Sad, but relieved.
barefootskater (Shaun) said:
Grandma Keith! Let me know what the airbag light is about, I have a bunch of that stuff that won't be used. I wish I had more parts to offer, but yours is much nicer than the one I am dismantling.
In reply to gumby (Forum Supporter) :
You don't happen to have a marauder air box or MAF do you?
Nah, just a bunch of stock junk coming off this '04
In reply to gumby (Forum Supporter) :
Worth a try! I'll try to figure out why the airbag light is on. With a clean carfax, I'm sure it's just a sensor or connector or something dumb. I'd love to help you recoup on that project since I doubt I'll see it in person.
Parent duties, check!
Kids cant even touch eachother!!
Wtf is with the winter weather this year?
at least nobody has run into this one yet.
First issue with the Mercury. Brake light switch. Wife noticed the other night that she couldn't see the brake lights reflecting off of anything. Simple fix. Gotta love $10 parts that you can install in the parts store parking lot with no tools.
What is the yellow truck in the background?
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :
1951? Dodge m37 IIRC. Dad got it because he always wanted one. Flathead 6, not sure how many gears. Something like 5.64:1 axles or something ridiculous. It doesn't work, but it looks good in the yard.
barefootskater said:So, because cheap, and also since I won’t be available to work on the Funderbird for about a month, my dad bought a big rusty distraction.
From page 4
Still no takers on the Funderbird.
In other news, managed an easy 20.7 mpg in the Mercury on the same commute the mustang averaged 22-24. I'll take it!
Something showed up from FedEx today.
It almost feels wrong to drink it. The bottle will definitely stay around even if I do drink it. Thanks Shaun!
In reply to EvanB (Forum Supporter) :
You're welcome! I thought about trying to legit find an "Evan" bottle in the wild, but then I though with the current state of things it'd be a dick move to run my grubby mits through all the gas station refrigerators around.
Finally tallied up the total spent on the Funderbird, including all fluids, brakes, safety, and a set of tires. It's amazing how much one can spend on a car that could have legally run as half budget.
I wanted to sell the thing as a whole, but you'd be insane to pay that much, so it may get parted out. Dad thinks he may want to keep the powertrain, I want the wheels, the tires were abandoned in NM, so I may need to get creative to move this heap.
If anyone needs parts, let me know. Shipping from UT would suck for most of it, but some things like the 2022 harnesses would fit in a flat rate box.
Im always amazed at my ability to ruin resale value.
Somehow I missed out on the radical chop-top T-bird in this thread. I must have read the first page when this thread was new, and the recent pages during the Challenge, and assumed it was 30 pages about your Mustang. I've even met you in person! This was a delightful surprise, and the proportions look amazing from what you've done. I wish you could keep working on it and find a way to Challenge it next year. What a wild build!
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