Domestic
Ford built the last ones in 2010. That changed the badge on the grille and remarkably little about what it takes to keep one running well.
Mercury has the easiest retirement story of any discontinued American brand. Ford built the final cars in 2010 and closed the division out the following year, but because Mercury spent most of its life sharing engineering with Ford, the mechanical side of owning one barely noticed. The Grand Marquis in the driveway still runs on hardware that is stocked, understood and perfectly serviceable, which is why so many of them are still doing daily duty around north Phoenix.
The owners we see reflect that. A lot of Mercurys around here are second or third vehicles, kept clean, driven gently and genuinely worth maintaining. Bell Road Automotive at 17203 N 19th Ave has been fixing cars since 1968, and it has been Andy and Reinette Remillard's shop since 2008. Our ASE Certified technicians handle brakes, air conditioning, cooling systems, suspension, electrical diagnosis and scheduled maintenance on Grand Marquis, Sable, Milan, Mariner, Mountaineer and Montego.
When a customer calls worried that nobody can get parts for a discontinued car, Mercury is the one where we get to give an easy answer. Because these vehicles shared platforms, engines and most major components with their Ford counterparts, the supply chain never dried up the way it did for some other retired badges. Ordering a water pump or a set of front struts for a Grand Marquis is not a scavenger hunt. It is a normal Tuesday.
The real risk with a well kept Mercury is not parts, it is time. A car that only covers a few thousand miles a year can look immaculate while its rubber, seals and fluids quietly age past their useful life. We pay particular attention to that with these vehicles, because the mileage on the odometer often understates how much wear the calendar has already handed out.
Recognise any of that on your own vehicle? Bring it in and we will measure before we quote.
Book An AppointmentThe typical Mercury around here does not lead a hard life, and that is its own kind of problem. A few miles down Bell Road for groceries, a trip over to the Sunnyslope Community Center and back, then a week parked in a driveway. The engine never fully reaches a steady operating temperature, moisture never gets burned off, and the battery spends more time discharging than charging. Those short cycles are hard on batteries, hard on exhaust systems and hard on oil, even when the odometer looks reassuring.
Heat finishes the job. Cars parked outside along Dunlap Ave through a Phoenix summer see interior temperatures that punish dashboards, wiring insulation, hoses and the rubber seals in an air conditioning system. We check belts, hoses, coolant condition and battery health on every older Mercury that comes in, because on a car of this age those four items cause the overwhelming majority of the roadside failures we get called about.
Common Questions
Every repair is backed by a 3 year, 36,000 mile nationwide warranty through NAPA AutoCare.
All servicesOther makes we serviceCurrent offers
Every Make, One Shop
Send an appointment request with your year, make and model, or call and talk to a real person. Same day slots are often available, and every repair carries the nationwide warranty.