GRM Braintrust: Educate me on the Merkur XR4TI

Found this ad on CL. and want to know as much about these cars as possible -- good AND bad. Also, what to look for. Thanks, and Merry Festivus!

You know, it's late and I forgot to use the search function first , but I found a good post from back in July, that answers my questions. Thanks for already having made the input! If anyone else is interested, this the one I found: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/learn-me-merkur-xr4ti/37793/page1/

Hey, Just my 2 cents. The Ford Merker/Sierra in Europe was a good car in EUROPE. Unfortunately they changed the engine when they brought it to the USA and threw in a 4 cylinder originally (like yours I believe) NON-intercooled Turbo. Out here in CA it was a recipe for disaster. Like the original 'Stang SVO 4 cylinder turbo with no intercooler. Good handling car, breaks down often. Any drive in 80+F weather and you need to pull over about every 2-3 hours to let the engine cool down....if you throw some mods at it, if you can find the parts anymore on ebay, and for $800 and from your dad, it's a good buy, but be prepared at 160k for a turbo rebuild if it hasn't been done, the brakes are prone to catch fire when used hard, and like many mid 80's Fords. They break down a lot. Bummer. I drove the mid-range and HOT version Sierra in England and it was a great car. Used 4 door models with their (good) version of the small engine with a bunch of mods are cheap over there and reliable to buy. Be prepared to replace your clutch and/or tranny quite a bit. Had a friend who brought one back from Germany while in the military when the car was 3 years old. Next 4 years of his life it spent more time in the garage or broken down by the side of the road on the way to Sacramento than it did running. But at $800 maybe worth a chance, and you won't see another one driving by you for sure. Never seen those rims on that car though. Doesn't look from the ad pic like heat is going to be your probs. High underhood temp due to no intercooler also fries the hoses and makes hose and belts brittle and replacement items. By 1991 the Ford dealers were giving away the by then intercooled all 1 color models. Just my 2 cents but good luck!

Idriveslow wrote: Hey, Just my 2 cents. The Ford Merker/Sierra in Europe was a good car in EUROPE. Unfortunately they changed the engine when they brought it to the USA and threw in a 4 cylinder originally (like yours I believe) NON-intercooled Turbo. Out here in CA it was a recipe for disaster. Like the original 'Stang SVO 4 cylinder turbo with no intercooler. Good handling car, breaks down often. Any drive in 80+F weather and you need to pull over about every 2-3 hours to let the engine cool down....if you throw some mods at it, if you can find the parts anymore on ebay, and for $800 and from your dad, it's a good buy, but be prepared at 160k for a turbo rebuild if it hasn't been done, the brakes are prone to catch fire when used hard, and like many mid 80's Fords. They break down a lot. Bummer. I drove the mid-range and HOT version Sierra in England and it was a great car. Used 4 door models with their (good) version of the small engine with a bunch of mods are cheap over there and reliable to buy. Be prepared to replace your clutch and/or tranny quite a bit. Had a friend who brought one back from Germany while in the military when the car was 3 years old. Next 4 years of his life it spent more time in the garage or broken down by the side of the road on the way to Sacramento than it did running. But at $800 maybe worth a chance, and you won't see another one driving by you for sure. Never seen those rims on that car though. Doesn't look from the ad pic like heat is going to be your probs. High underhood temp due to no intercooler also fries the hoses and makes hose and belts brittle and replacement items. By 1991 the Ford dealers were giving away the by then intercooled all 1 color models. Just my 2 cents but good luck!

I never experienced any of this stuff with my XR4Ti.

They travel in packs. You buy one, then you need a parts car. Then there's a good deal on this one.... sooner or later you have a fleet. My friend has five now.

Cool, quirky cars. Love it or hate it styling. Swap to a 302 to solve most of those reliability problems.

I agree, they are pretty cool. I almost bought one a few years ago. The quality of the interior is terrible, but other than that they dont seem that bad.

In reply to BoostedBrandon:

I had one for a couple years. It was pretty reliable but hard to find parts for back in the day. Never had any overheat issues either. It would run 80 mph up to the Eisenhower/Johnson tunnel in the middle of August with the AC blasting... I hit a coyote with it doing 130+ once. I'd buy it if it were local.