2011 Mercury Grand Marquis

The 2011 Mercury Grand Marquis is a couple decades past its prime. For its final year on this good earth, the 2011 Mercury Grand Marquis receives no changes and continues to live.

Given these elderly attributes in a youthful world, it’s been difficult to recommend the Grand Marquis for the better part of the last two decades. As it goes to the big garage in the sky with the rest of its Mercury family, the 2011 Mercury Grand Marquis leaves behind a wealth of impressive, thoroughly modern big sedans that provide the comfort, space, performance and fuel economy today’s buyers should expect, along with a few modern conveniences the Grand Marquis never got around to offering. These cars include such young whippersnappers as the Buick LaCrosse, Chrysler 300, Ford Taurus, Hyundai Genesis and Toyota Avalon.

The 2011 Mercury Grand Marquis is survived by its cousin, the Lincoln Town Car. We wouldn’t buy that either. Funeral services will be held near the Hertz rental desk at the Ft. Lauderdale airport.

2010 Mercury Grand Marquis LS Sedan

The 2011 Mercury Grand Marquis is a full-size sedan that seats six people. Standard equipment includes 17-inch wheels, rear air suspension, automatic headlights, foglamps, keyless entry, automatic climate control, a 50/50 split front bench with six-way driver and passenger power adjustability, power-adjustable pedals, leather upholstery, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, a tilting leather-wrapped steering wheel and a CD player stereo. Options include heated seats, a leather-wood steering wheel and a cassette player.

The rear-wheel-drive 2011 Mercury Grand Marquis is powered by a 4.6-liter V8 good for only 224 hp and 275 lb-ft of torque. A four-speed automatic is standard. Fuel economy is 16 mpg city/24 mpg highway and 19 combined. That’s a big improvement over 1978, but pretty disappointing today given this car’s meager power.

Standard safety equipment includes antilock disc brakes, traction control and front-seat side airbags. Neither stability control nor side curtain airbags is offered. Nonetheless, the Grand Marquis has fared well in crash tests by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, scoring a perfect five stars for both frontal and side impacts. However, while the big Mercury earned the top rating of “Good” in frontal-offset crash testing conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, it garnered a “Marginal” rating — second worst on a scale of four — in side-impact crash testing.

The Grand Marquis’ general interior design hasn’t really been changed since…goodness, we can’t even remember. We have a sneaking suspicion, though, that most Grand Marquis buyers won’t care.

Driving the 2011 Mercury Grand Marquis is like taking a trip back in time, but without the fun of seeing your parents when they were teenagers. While rival full-size sedans generally provide decent handling and driver control, the Grand Marquis’ prodigious size, cushy suspension and zero-effort steering combine to simulate the experience of piloting the Goodyear blimp.