Mercury Mariner: My Justification
Since the economy is struggling and I am about to move off to college, I am looking for a vehicle that will best suit my needs. With three possible choices at hand: a 2008 Jeep Liberty, 2008 Mercury Mariner, and a 2008 Nissan XTerra, I need a vehicle that will not only be economically friendly, but one that will also have a good safety rating and give me the most features for the least amount of money.
My standards in which I am judging the cars on are fuel-efficiency, safety rating, and the most features for my price cap, which is $26,000. I am going to need a fuel-efficiency of at least 16 mpg city and 22 mpg highway, a safety rating of at least four stars, and one feature I must have in my car is a premier sound system.
As the mainstream brand for off-road vehicles since the conception of the Wrangler in 1987, Jeeps are household names for such items. With the base price of the newly redesigned 2008 Jeep Liberty at $22,487, it was rather appealing at first look, compared to the other car’s prices. The 2008 Mercury Mariner is just higher than the Jeep at $22,840, while the Nissan XTerra has a rather expensive base price at $25,131. The Mercury Mariner is considered more of a luxury SUV, however, so I will address how it’s features compare with the competition shortly.
Nowadays, the price of the vehicle cannot solely justify whether one purchases it or not. With inconsistently high gas prices, I must take the fuel-efficiency of each SUV into consideration. The new Jeep’s fuel-efficiency in cities was 16 mpg and 22 mpg on the highway (Nuts & Bolts). The Mariner managed to squeeze out a victory between the three in the fuel-efficiency category with a city fuel-efficiency of 19 mpg and highway of 24 mpg (Nuts & Bolts). With the least amount of fuel-efficiency, the Nissan XTerra lags the competition with 16 mpg city and 20 mpg highway (3 car comparison).
Throughout the course of my research, I actually took a test drive...