Best family car overall 2009 Honda Accord *Est. $20905
Best budget family car 2009 Hyundai Sonata *Est. $18700
"Fun to drive" family sedan 2009 Mazda6 *Est. $18550
Large family car 2009 Toyota Avalon *Est. $27845

See All Family Cars

2009 Mercury Grand Marquis

*Est. $29,270

Reviewed April 2009

Seating for six
Big trunk
Good visibility
Average or better reliability

Land-yacht dimensions
Ancient design, platform
Lousy fuel economy
Inconsistent crash-test scores
Lacks common safety equipment
Unsupportive seats
Cheap interior plastics
Steep depreciation

Our Analysis

Critics come to two conclusions about the Mercury Grand Marquis: It's either irredeemably old-fashioned, or it's fashionably old-school. Most critics say the former. They caution buyers that when driving the big Mercury, they'll be mistaken for a cop, a taxi or an elderly person. "How old is it?" Edmunds.com asks rhetorically. "It's so old, its platform debuted when Jimmy Carter was president. It's so old, a cassette deck is an optional extra."

The Grand Marquis is certainly roomy. "The trunk is only slightly smaller than a Smart car," Edmunds.com says. The Grand Marquis is also one of the few cars that still seats six and had a front bench seat, although testers point out that middle passengers have to straddle a big transmission tunnel hump in both front and back.

Testers also say the bench seats don't provide much support for cornering -- not that you'll be doing much of that in a Grand Marquis, anyway, according to most reviews. "Handles like the U.S.S. Nimitz," Edmunds.com says of the Mercury Grand Marquis. TheTruthAboutCars.com, usually very picky, is the lone dissenter here: "The Marquis' composed suspension, marginally-involving steering, torquey mill and RWD orientation make it an honest-to-God hoot in the corners," Sajeev Mehta writes.

A cushy ride is the Grand Marquis' calling card, according to most reviews, although some find it jittery or overly floaty. The Mercury Grand Marquis comes in only one trim, with standard leather seats, a 224-horsepower, 4.6-liter V-8 engine and a four-speed automatic transmission. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates it will get 19 mpg combined (16 city/24 highway), but the Grand Marquis averages only 16 or 17 mpg in real-world tests.

The Grand Marquis wins the "most dependable" large car title in J.D. Power and Associates' latest owner survey, but another major owner survey finds the Grand Marquis' reliability just average. The 2009 Grand Marquis is covered by an average-length warranty -- three years/36,000 miles basic, with five years/60,000 miles for the powertrain.

Some now-common safety equipment is completely missing from the Mercury Grand Marquis, including electronic stability control and side-curtain airbags. Still, the Grand Marquis gets perfect crash-test scores -- but only in government tests conducted by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. When the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety simulated a side crash with a pickup or SUV hitting the Grand Marquis at 31 mph, the Grand Marquis did only a "marginal" job protecting occupants. IIHS judged the Grand Marquis' structure and safety cage "poor" overall, and protection for the driver's pelvis and leg area got the same low rating. "Measures taken from the dummy indicate that a fracture of the pelvis would be likely in a crash of this severity," IIHS testers wrote. "Rib fractures and/or internal organ injuries would also be possible." Meanwhile, in the back seat, "The dummy's head was hit by the pillar behind the rear passenger door."

A new Mercury Grand Marquis will lose a great deal of its value very quickly, Kelley Blue Book predicts -- 68 percent in the first year alone. For all of these reasons, reviews steer buyers toward just about any other full-size car, such as the excellent Toyota Avalon (*est. $27,845 to $35,185) or the cheaper Mercury Sable (*est. $25,120 to $31,230) or Ford Taurus (*est. $25,170 to $37,170), which both get outstanding safety ratings.

Although some of the reviews we found for the Mercury Grand Marquis are a few years old, they're still valid because -- as reviews love to point out -- the Grand Marquis hasn't had a major update in eons. Consumer Reports offers the only directly comparative full review we found, ranking the Grand Marquis against the competition. Reviews at ConsumerGuide.com, Edmunds.com, TheTruthAboutCars.com and Car and Driver are also based on hands-on testing. We found official fuel-economy estimates at the EPA, and dissenting opinions about the Grand Marquis' safety at the NHTSA and IIHS. Kelley Blue Book predicts the Grand Marquis' resale value, and J.D. Power and Associates rates its dependability.

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Our Sources

1. ConsumerReports.orgDetails/Subscribe

Consumer Reports tests most family sedans on the market, including the Mercury Grand Marquis, and it provides very useful reliability predictions based on past-model-year data from owner surveys. Consumer Reports' testing is geared toward measuring reliability, ride quality, handling and safety.

Review: Mercury Grand Marquis, Editors of ConsumerReports.org

2. ConsumerGuide.com

ConsumerGuide.com editors test most cars, reporting scores in a dozen categories. The Mercury Grand Marquis posts the lowest overall score of any large car, with particularly low numbers in steering, handling, braking and value.

Review: 2009 Mercury Grand Marquis: Road Test, Editors of ConsumerGuide.com

3. Edmunds.com

This single-vehicle evaluation judges the Mercury Grand Marquis on its design, performance and comfort. The Grand Marquis has been so outpaced by its competitors, the writer says, that Edmunds.com cannot recommend it.

Review: 2009 Mercury Grand Marquis Review, Editors of Edmunds.com

4. The Truth About Cars

Unlike other reviewers, TheTruthAboutCars.com's Sajeev Mehta finds a lot to like about the Mercury Grand Marquis' styling, handling and fuel economy. The general tone of the review -- and of comments from users, some of whom are young Grand Marquis owners -- is that it's hip in a square, cop-car sort of way. This review covers the 2006 Grand Marquis, but the car has not changed since then.

Review: Mercury Grand Marquis Review, Sajeev Mehta, May 6, 2006

5. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

The 2009 Mercury Grand Marquis posts only "marginal" rear- and side-impact ratings in independent IIHS crash tests, and editors note that electronic stability control is not offered at all. This chart shows how the Grand Marquis' safety compares with that of other large cars.

Review: Large Family Cars, Editors of Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

6. SaferCars.gov

The Mercury Grand Marquis is one of only two 2009 family sedans to earn perfect five-star ratings in every government-sanctioned NHTSA safety test, including frontal and side crash tests and rollover tests. The other is the Mazda6.

Review: 5-Star Safety Ratings, Editors of SaferCar.gov

7. FuelEconomy.gov

The EPA estimates fuel economy for the Mercury Grand Marquis at this comprehensive website, alongside dozens of other models in the "large car" category. Pollution scores and annual fuel costs are also listed for each car.

Review: 2009 Large Cars, Editors of FuelEconomy.gov

8. Car and Driver Details/Subscribe

Car and Driver offers only a short, buyer's guide capsule review for the 2009 Mercury Grand Marquis. Editors say this outdated sedan will appeal mainly to older drivers.

Review: 2009 Mercury Grand Marquis, Editors of Car and Driver

9. Kelley Blue Book

Kelley Blue Book skips the full review for this car, but it does estimate the 2009 Mercury Grand Marquis' likely resale value. Editors project it will lose 68 percent of its value the first year.

Review: 2009 Mercury Grand Marquis 4-door LS Sedan, Editors of Kelley Blue Book

10. J.D. Power and Associates

The Mercury Grand Marquis is the most dependable large car you can buy, according to this owner survey. The Grand Marquis rates "among the best" for powertrain, features and accessories dependability, with body and interior dependability that is "better than most." The scores are based on 2009 feedback from owners who bought their cars in 2006.

Review: 2009 Vehicle Dependability Study -- Large Car, Editors of J.D. Power and Associates