I think my '97 Crown Vic is finally broke in!

P&R Fan said:
I have a '65 Ford F100 my Grampa bought when my Mom was pregnant with me. It has 53,000 miles on it. HARD miles.:cool:
A guy who owned a Chevy pickup once told me if you want a nice pickup buy a Chevy. If you want a TRUCK.....buy a Ford.:cool:
Jim
Click to expand...

My friend Charles came by the shop yesterday & informed me his backup Ford he was driving today <the newer one> burnt a valve last week on #8 at 450000 miles & installed a used 67000 mile motor out of a wrecked van. He had been having injectors go out in that one & that was probably what made the cylinder run hot & brought it down. $3300 out the door. $1200 was labor. He was happy because he said the swap picked up 4 MPG. He drives so much he don't need antifreeze. Over 1000000 on 2 Ford 1/2 ton pickups & that is not all he drives. They would still pass for 70000 miles. 42 cents a mile will give you some pocket change at the years end.:)
 
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Great cars. Shame Ford discontinued them. I've seen and driven a million of them over the last 10 years. There are certain things I would have done to update and upgrade them but they are/were still viable police cars.

You can forget about Impala and Chargers when it comes to police cars. They don't hold up anywhere near as good as the CV.
 
If you want to ditch the old man vibe, buy a BMW. I bought a 2001 740iL a couple of months ago. 181,000 miles, $1850 (yes, I stole it). It's like Carroll Shelby got ahold of a Town Car. Yes, you're driving your living room down the road, but it will cruse comfortably at speeds far higher than the speed limit and take a corner like it's on rails. Plus, you can leave the snotnosed kids in their rice rockets sitting at a stoplight wondering what just happened.
 
I've owned several but don't have one now. I've put over a million miles on them as cop cars and they will really take a lot of punishment. Unless you hit something like a big truck in a wreck you'll usually come in second as far as injuries and damage are concerned. There are still a few out there for sale with decent mileage but the numbers are shrinking daily. I really hated to see the quit making them. When you see one on the road it is at least four years old.
 
Here is my new (to me) 1995





Bought this 1995 beauty from my next door neighbor about 8 months ago. Every bell and whistle, digital instrumentation, leather interior, air suspension, full tow package, new brakes, tires and battery with just 150,000 miles for...

wait for it:

$2,500!

it gets 24 mpg cruising the interstate at 75 and 20 around town. Doesn't leak a drop of anything
and yes this the same neighbor who just sold me the beautiful 1987 BMW and the trailer to haul it in. As neighbors go they just don't get any better than my friend Ron! My wife says I can't go play in Ron's garage anymore but then he doesn't have much left to sell.
 
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^
In 25 years someone will find that beauty in someones barn and restore it.

Probably a retired guy with nothing else to do except reminisce about the good old days..
 
FoMoCo Crown Vic

Great cars! Went to Canada in Sept. 2011 to see the last
Crown Vic built. Current stable includes: 1997 Mercury
Grand Marquis LS, 2003 Mercury Marauder S/C and 2010
Lincoln Town Car Signature Limited. FORD "Panther Platform"
all V8-RWD......doesn't get any better!:D

Gotta Love It!
 
For years I drove a CVPI at work. For a little while I was assigned an Impala. I moaned and bitched and complained until I got my CVPI back. There will never be a police car as good as that one for all around service. I've seen trash cans smaller than those alternators!
 
Me, too

I probably have about a bazillion miles on Crown Vic's, too. They were a great police vehicle and had a lot of room.

It's a good thing these cars can't talk.
 
An all Black Mercury Marauder on the road causes a lot of traffic to slow down. Friend of mind has one and and he complains about how he can't get anywhere to quickly b/c traffic keeps slowing down when they see him in their mirror. I told him to get it painted a different color.
 
I feel like a lot of my life passed while behind the wheel of a CVPI. Don't really wanna own one.
I'm more of a pickup truck and 4x4 guy.
 
My mom had a 98 Towncar that she traded in with about 140,000 on the clock and no signs of slowing down. It would occasionally blow an ignition coil, but I pretty quickly learned that I could fix that in about a half an hour, including the trip to Autozone for a code scan that would tell me where the misfire was and $40 for the coil. Once back home, it took me about 5 minutes to change the coil, and everything was good as new.

She traded that car in for a 2006 Towncar, which she just traded off a few months back with 80K on it for a new Buick.

My grandfather also went through his string of Towncars. He had a 96 or 97, and then bought an '01 to replace it(but kept the older one). He finally sold the older one to my uncle, who is still driving it. He did trade in his '01 for a new 2010 MKZ as a 90th birthday present to himself. My dad bought the MKZ from him when my grandfather got to where he was unable to drive(3 1/2 years old with 17K on it). It's a great driving car, but it's no comparison to a Towncar-or to the LS for that matter, which it replaced.

For myself, I have an '04 Lincoln LS, which I have no plans on replacing any time soon. I changed the coils and plugs on it about a year ago(125K miles). I also blew a radiator hose in I-64 back last fall and had to have it towed in. Those are the only repairs I've had to do to it other than normal maintenance.
 
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I had a friend and co-worker that had a white Crown Vic. He used to delight in putting the thing in the left lane of the interstate and running 85 or so and watch people get out of his way, thinking it was an unmarked state police car. :)

~~

My mother gave me her pristine '93 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale when she quit driving, 5 years ago. Now, this car just shouts "old person" but it's a terrific car for what it was, and it's my daily commuter. Gotta feed it a little more than the wife's new Camry, but I get there in comfort.
 
The debate my be academic, because despite the obvious benefits of the venerable Crown Vic, if missus P&R Fan isn't happy..., :(

The Police Service here went from Dodge Diplomats and Plymouth Grand Fury's to the Ford Crown Vic. And with a brief and ill fated look at the Chevy Caprice, we never looked back.

The Chief liked them so much he bought and stored 300 of them when production stopped in St. Thomas. Gratefully, my cruiser was replaced with one of those rather than the new Taurus.

I'll end my career this year in one, but like Old Corp said I could never own one because I've spent too much time with them already.
 
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