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| NOVAMOG The Northern Virginia Merkur Owners Group |
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| How to buy a Merkur XR4Ti Body Work by Richard Curtis |
| --Paint. Faded paint is a common XR problem, especially on the rear wing. Repainting a car can cost anywhere from $400 to $4,000 with an average repainting costing about $2,400. -- Cracks in the grill (or what passes for a grill) are not uncommon, especially around the headlights. This piece is plastic and is easily repaired. These tend to fade faster than the body also. -- Small dings are common and acceptable but you would be advised to steer clear of a car needing major bodywork (like replacing a fender; they're welded on). While you may find some XRs in salvage yards, they are pretty rare even in large metro areas so replacement body panels may be a problem. Don't rely on Ford-Lincoln Mercury for any replacement parts; most have been obsoleted. -- Rust is UNcommon in XRs. Small pits, etc., can be repaired. -- Leaks. Check the spare tire well for moisture and the trunk floor mat for dampness. If damp, this is most likely a sign of leaking taillight gasket(s), which are easily repaired and are a very common problem. Can be a negotiating point if the seller is unaware of the cause of the problem. New gaskets are about $40/pair. You can make your own for pennies out of gasket material or any foam-like product (floor underlayment for example) or make-your-own gasket bought by the sheet or roll. Sunroof drains have also been known to clog up, as have door bottom drains. These should be checked periodically. -- Some cars will have loose lower body cladding. To repair, you need to remove the piece of cladding (drill out some rivets) and re-rivet (rivets to do the entire car cost around a dollar each; you'll need at least 28; a good tip is to buy extras. Available from Rapido). Easy repair. -- Bumper cover damage (as in torn or cracked) is also common. Relatively expensive to repair although some minor repairs can be done with material available in most auto body shops. Most difficult part of this is finding either a replacement bumper cover (and sometimes you might need the underlying bumper itself) or getting a body shop to repair the damaged cover (this can be done; its just plastic). The bumper covers are fairly easily removed and replaced. -- Taillights/headlights: If the car you're looking at has broken lights, your car won't pass a state safety inspection. Finding replacements can be difficult although not impossible. The going rate seems to be about $50-$75 per unit and they seem to be fairly available through eBay and other sites. -- Foggy looking headlights. Very common. Some of this (if not all of it) can be cleared up using Meguiar's plastic cleaner and polish (or similar) but the seller might not know that. Negotiating point. -- Inoperative exterior lights: You can find replacement bulbs at any auto parts store. -- Broken foglights. Pretty rare to find a replacement foglight. I would suggest that if they're important to you (the originals really don't shed much light on anything), buy aftermarket units. I bought one XR foglight at a salvage yard ($20) and then had to put a $10 bulb into it. You can buy an entire set of equally ineffective aftermarket foglights for the same $30. -- Glass. Again, finding the replacement glass might be your biggest task. Any competent glass shop can replace the pieces if they have them. -- Antenna. On 85 through most 87 models, the powered antenna on the left rear quarter panel is most likely inoperative because water has entered the mechanism and rusted everything shut. Or the plastic cable that raises and lowers the mast has broken. Or both. I've read that these can be repaired but it is a real pain (i've tried). You can fit a universal electric antenna (Radio Shack, etc.) but will need to get a special fitting to connect its antenna cable to the radio (or do as I did and just replace the entire cable from radio to antenna). -- Inoperative trunk lock. Caused by the pot-metal lock assembly breaking, which is caused by the actuation of the solenoid each time you unlock or lock the door. A small part that costs $40-$60 to replace (just for the part). I've found this to be a real pain to replace and unbroken junkyard parts are very difficult to find. I fixed the broken part by rewelding it with JB Weld and then disconnected the solenoid so that I now open/close the hatch with a key. No more problems. -- Broken windows. A windshield repairman said that windshields were still available (this was in Spring 1999, about $200-$250 to replace). I've noticed lots of good window glass including windshields in junkyards. So don't be put off an otherwise good buy by some broken or missing glass; it's easily replaced but a good bargaining point in the meantime. |