glyphmon

That's how I always felt (and still do) about Mercury.

A number of times across my travels through airports like Frankfurt and Heathrow I saw several previous-generation Super Duty trucks going around as service vehicles on the tarmac.

I kind of feel the OP's pain in this regard. While I have a generally positive feeling about my 07 Milan AWD, it has left me wondering if I really want to keep the car on a number of locations. Within the first 5000 miles I experienced while driving at about 50MPH in a straight line without traffic what I can best describe as the transmission rapidly switching gears (both up and down) for no apparent reason. I floored it and it seemed to come out of it, no codes were set and the service department said it was most likely just a stuck valve or something like that in the transmission. The car has developed an annoying rattle in the driver side front door which can be agitated by even the slightest of uneven pavement. License plate lamps, both have burned out and required replacement. And the biggest kick of all is that my rear brakes now need replacing, rotors included. My car just turned 35,000 miles last week. I bought it new with 8 miles at the beginning of November 2007 and have had it serviced regularly at a dealership since then. The ride quality has generally been superb but I loathe the way this transmission shifts. I understand that six speeds makes for a more fuel efficient vehicle, but it seems to me like the car is always trying to decide what gear it wants to be in, and not listen to what gear I want it to be in. Comparing this to my older car which I still drive daily and actually prefer to the Milan, a 00 Sable LS 24v, I will be the first to admit that with 175,000 miles it has its share of rattles and I have put a lot of money over time into suspension, brakes, tires, and so on. However, it knows it can shift into 4th gear/overdrive and lock the torque converter at 35 MPH and drive that way all the way to the stoplight without downshifting. And if I want to downshift I can take my foot off the gas, put it right back down and press hard and it will go. I think I had my rear drums replaced at around 100,000 miles but don't recall off the top of my head. The transmission was rebuilt under extended warranty at 97,500 miles, I took ownership of the vehicle at 70,000 miles. While the overall build quality of the Milan and Fusion may be much improved over previous models, I certainly agree, I don't think the first-gen Fusion and Milans were quite there. I may trade the Milan within the next couple of years if something better comes along (maybe a newer Milan, used of course) or I may look at something in the VW/Audi stable since they no longer make my preferred brand. I fully intend to keep the Sable running as long as there is no major mechanical breakdown (engine, or transmission) and the body doesn't rust out. That's my experience, but I don't believe these experiences are results of corners being cut, to address your initial question. Good luck with your Fusion.

Glad you got at least one more Mercury in. I wanted to give Mercury at least one new car sale before they pulled the plug and I got my wish with my 2007 Milan. It would be nice if people could express their opinion on these forums without being told several times to "get over it." Yes, you know who you are. And I don't care if X amount of customers lost by canceling Mercury is made up for by Y amount of customers gained by the improvement of Ford. The goal should be retention of ALL customers and attracting new customers, that's called growth. What's better than 17% market share? 17.8%.

No argument there. And while this is getting sorely off-topic, combined GM/Ford/Chrysler market share in the early/mid '80s... approximately 72%. Today: 47% I'm not arguing that this is due to closure of "irrelevant" brands, just that it's the result of marginalizing customers, and building what you think you can get away with. And every marginalized customer counts in the end. No whining, no complaining - just a statement. Agree, disagree, doesn't matter. Mercury's dead, the haters got their wishes, it really was only a matter of time without significant investment BEFORE this decade. I hope everyone who has been hoping for this does their victory dance long and hard.

I don't know what grave injustice Mercury committed against you, but for the record... I was 25 when I bought my 2007 Milan Premier new from the nearest L-M dealership. I chose the Milan over the Fusion for a number of reasons. One is, yes, brand loyalty. I'd owned two Sables, and my parent's had a '90 Grand Marquis. I preferred the Milan's styling over the Fusion. But lastly, and I think this is my biggest concern for the Lincoln division going forward, I chose the Milan for exclusivity. I don't mean exclusivity in the sense that it's hard to acquire a Mercury, I mean exclusivity in the sense that most people don't drive them. I know, it's just a dash of different sheet metal here, modified fascia and badges there, but it does not change the fact that a Mercury, by strict definition was not the same vehicle as its Ford counterpart. Mechanically identical, yes, but that was the extent of it. Why did exclusivity matter? I simply put don't like to follow the crowd. I avoid trends. If everyone's buying X, I buy C. These are the people that Mercury was allegedly marketed to in recent years, though it seemed to come off more directed at women than anyone else. The "technosavvy" individuals. It's also idealized by an old Mercury slogan of living life in your own lane. Maybe it doesn't matter to you - fine, you're not the target customer. You're also likely not the target customer for tampax pearl tampons, but I don't think that means that they're any less worthy of a product. My concern, going forward, is that Ford will lose the sales to the individuals like myself who chose Mercury products (particularly the Milan and Mariner) for less quantifiable reasons than AWD, gas mileage, safety, acceleration, quality of the sound system, etc. The people who chose Mercury because it better fit their frame of mind, and that's something no one is capable of judging or critiquing except the individuals themselves. It's a small share of the market - I know I'm an odd duck in that regard. It may only be 0.8% of the market. It may only be 0.5% of the market. We've seen companies marginalize small segments of customers before, and one thing I've learned from my management position is that there is NO customer that DOESN'T matter. Will I buy a Ford product next time I'm in the market? Maybe. The current Fusion is a beautiful, capable, car. The Escape likewise tickles my fancy, however, by that time I might be looking more in the VW/Audi area. I swore off of GM when Olds was shut down because it was a stupid idea then. I believe in Ford as the only truly American company left, I own stock, but this is one customer they may have marginalized too much.

Current: 2000 Sable LS - 170,000 (summer daily driver) * 24V Duratec * on it's 3rd AX4N (all replaced/rebuilt under warranty) * master cylinder replaced * hit a deer w/front right corner and drove away, fixed and still runs perfect 2007 Milan Premier AWD - 26,000 (winter daily driver) * 24V D30 / 6 Spd Auto/AWD * flawless since I bought it to fill in for the Sable's hiatus Past: 1990 Sable GS - 127,000 when I sold it * V6 Vulcan / 4spd Auto (AXOD-E?) * the friend to whom I sold it reputedly rolled the odometer over again, putting it at least somewhere in the 200K range

While this isn't directly related to the topic, I just had a realization the other day. I honestly think that part of the reason Mercury's sell as poorly as they do relative to Ford is the availability. At least I think this may be the case in my area. The proportion of Ford to L-M dealerships seems to be quite skewed in favor of the parent. I only make this point because my local Ford dealership where I bought my two Sables recently purchased a program Milan at auction. It was sold within less than a week. They've reported to me that whatever program Mercury's they get their hands on usually go very quickly. I think people (naysayers aside) are very receptive to Mercury styling, and just generally don't have the access to a L-M dealership, maybe improved access would help. My nearest L-M dealership is an hour away, while there are easily about two or three Ford dealerships within 30 minutes of my house. Further, while that local L-M dealer in theory provides a higher quality of service, I find the salespeople to be far less approachable and far more pushy. I refuse to shop there. I realize this is a dealer issue and not related really to Ford, but maybe it's the combination exclusivity and rarity of the Lincoln-Mercury franchises that is really hurting them. In the same breath, this dealer also picked up Kia and Suzuki franchises, I imagine to combat slacking sales of Lincolns and Mercury's. So instead of having the luxury Lincolns and the more affordable Mercury products, you also have bargain basement Asian items encroaching on the sales that in theory were supposed to be for Mercury. Back on topic, I think a "Cougar" would be a welcome re-addition to the lineup, be it a sporty little coupe or a dressy convertible. It would just be a nice offering for something flashy at the Lincoln-Mercury lot. Maybe that Mercury MC 4 concept from 97. They could even tone that down to make it more producible and more appealing to the female segment, if that's really what they're going for. On the Mercury Taurus X line of thought... if they were to do something stylistically like the Mercury L'Attitude concept from 98 I think it was and go after the Subaru Outback market, I think that would be a good move. I think the current Taurus X already pursues some of those lines. In this part of New England, Subaru Legacy and Outback wagons are make up huge segment of cars on the road. If Ford could get something competitive to that and make it available up here, they might have a winner.