Ok, so I did some searching, found some older threads, and did some reading. But I still think there was more info to be had, so I forgive me if I'm beating a dead horse here.
Can you guys learn me Crown Vics? Obviously
Lower miles > higher miles
newer > older
P71 > all else
I've looked at a few of those sites that resell fed and state vehicles but none of them seem to have much in my area. I've snooped around craigslist a little and found a lot of options but now I just need to narrow my search down to the best deal. So would you could you please help me out?
It would be easier if you gave us a "this vs that" idea of what you're looking at. You have the basics straight. Sometimes you step out on a limb for some reason worth these vics.
Here, Just do it like this:
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/the-big-comfy-driver-thread-sent-me-to-craigslist/56696/page1/
N Sperlo wrote:
It would be easier if you gave us a "this vs that" idea of what you're looking at. You have the basics straight. Sometimes you step out on a limb for some reason worth these vics.
What do you mean 'this vs that'. Like specific ones I'm looking at? Or what I'm looking for?
Long story short, I'm selling my Mazda 3 and need an affordable and reliable daily driver. I'm looking at Vics for them supposedly being long living, reasonably economic, and stupid reliable.
This is an 05 with 131k for $3900
http://orlando.craigslist.org/ctd/3362807756.html
An 03 with 100k for $2700
http://orlando.craigslist.org/ctd/3243595182.html
The 03 seems like a better deal as the 05 is mechanically the same right?
I think most the guys say there is no big difference after 2003. Thats the year the throttle body was changed. That is if it's a P71. Yes, i was asking for specifics.
just buy the nicest condition one you find, first and foremost.
Miles mean nothing to a CV, condition is everything. 2003-2011 are essentially mechanically identical. Don't be upset if the car you want is missing a feature (except cruise), as the wiring harness is the same for all of them. (Yes, you can take out your manual seats and plug in power seats, the harness is under the carpet/vinyl). The interiors are like legos and common to the Grand Marquis as well. Essentially identical from 98-11, so swap whatever you want.
The 01-02's are okay (PI motor, low offset wheels), but the 03+'s new frame, suspension, and R&P steering make it a much better car. I would buy one in a heartbeat if I needed another car.
That 03 looks like a screaming deal.
I liked my 99's lowered springs. It was the only year that low. It didn't work as well for the officers who wanted to leave the pavement, so they lifted them back to P72/3/4 height.
Just wanted to toss that out there. I don't know if it would be a downgrade from the 03 springs, so that would be something to look into if you were interested.
Javelin wrote:
Miles mean nothing to a CV, condition is everything. 2003-2011 are essentially mechanically identical. Don't be upset if the car you want is missing a feature (except cruise), as the wiring harness is the same for all of them. (Yes, you can take out your manual seats and plug in power seats, the harness is under the carpet/vinyl). The interiors are like legos and common to the Grand Marquis as well. Essentially identical from 98-11, so swap whatever you want.
The 01-02's are okay (PI motor, low offset wheels), but the 03+'s new frame, suspension, and R&P steering make it a much better car. I would buy one in a heartbeat if I needed another car.
That 03 looks like a screaming deal.
As I've looked a bit more that number seems really low. I'm gonna go check it out tomorrow. Anything to keep an eye out for aside from then usual used car stuff?
check the vin, but I am not sure that 05 is even a police interceptor. theres a possibility that it might be one with the street appearance package, but it has cruise control, woodgrain, keypad on the door, cloth bench seat arrangement in the front. I am sure some of that stuff are things police departments would not want to pay any extra for when buying new. In this case "fleet maintained" would have me thinking it was probably a rental car.
Also as a side note, 05 is the only year with the factory radio antenna mounted on the rear fender like that. all other years its in the rear glass I believe.
Look at the P71's brother, the Grand Marquis. Won't have had the snot beat out of it, and idled its entire life. The suspension is the same, and easily upgraded to either P71 pieces, or much better aftermarket pieces. My '09 GM has been heavily modified and it handles like a big MB. Anything past '03 has quite a decent suspension actually.
Grand Marquis goodness... If I can learn to live with RWD on snow covered hills, that might just replace my R/T
failboat wrote:
check the vin, but I am not sure that 05 is even a police interceptor. theres a possibility that it might be one with the street appearance package, but it has cruise control, woodgrain, keypad on the door, cloth bench seat arrangement in the front. I am sure some of that stuff are things police departments would not want to pay any extra for when buying new. In this case "fleet maintained" would have me thinking it was probably a rental car.
Also as a side note, 05 is the only year with the factory radio antenna mounted on the rear fender like that. all other years its in the rear glass I believe.
The 05 looks like P73. Thats not saying it is, but like failboat said, looks fishy. Keypad on the door is unlikely even on a street package, but not impossible. If i had the choice, I'd pick up a street package P71 over the regular. The vin will always start with P71.
belteshazzar wrote:
all it takes is tires
and switching off the traction control. It truly is useless in these cars.
never had traction control on mine. could climb a tree with nothing more than some average snow tires.
sorry I am probably thinking about the civilian models again.
It basically amounted to, oh your wheel is spinning? here let me stop that.
So you would hit the gas and nothing would happen. Real safe when you to get stuck like that and traffic is moving towards you dealing with the same slick surface conditions.
I had an '04 and loved it. Sold it for a V70 with a manual for a variety of reasons but there are definitely times I miss its ease of maintenance and the V8.
The overdrive went out on mine around 100k miles and it seems like many have the same problem. Definitely find out what the deal is with the transmission. If the OD is out, you can turn it off and you just run really high rpm on the highway and get trashy fuel consumption.
So, an update.
I called about the 03, it was already sold. But the dealer said they buy P71s often. So I went in today. I told him I specifically wanted the newest, best condition, lowest miles P71 that they would do a straight trade for our car. He said he didn't see any issue getting pretty much the exact car I missed. So that's good.
However I did get this nasty surprise.
This is the hood of the car we're trading in. I have no idea what the berkeley happened but it looks like some took a brillo pad to various parts of the hood. Which ended up knocking about $500 off the value of my car. I'm not happy.
In reply to Drewsifer:
Maybe a quick ricer vinyl fake carbon/solid color wrap would restore some of the value?
In reply to Drewsifer:
Thats... Odd. Where was the car when that happened?
Stumbled across this 07 for 3000. Unknown mileage.
http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/3337352626.html
So at the behest of my father-in-law, I'm considering other options right now instead of getting the Vic.
My FIL claims that police trade ins are always beat to E36 M3, too many miles, and terrible on gas. I tried to show some of the ones I found but he rightly points out those are sold, and not that cars I would be buying.
Is my thinking off on this? I just want something reliable, big enough for my family, and it would be nice if it was god awful on gas.
Yeah...always listen to your father-in-law when it comes to cars...
Ok...just kidding.
I'm no P71 afficionado (though I would like to own one someday)...but the folks above pretty much spelled it out. Miles don't matter. If one has high miles, they are probably highway miles. If one has low miles...that is likely from sitting around idling and stop-and-go (which is worse, in my opinion).
They made millions of them and by that logic, I assume parts are CHEAP in new, used, and remanufactured form.
The cop cars are usually the stripped down versions...which appeals to me because there are fewer things to go wrong and/or become inoperable.
Since your father-in-law is chiming in...I assume there may be other factors at play here. What's important to you in the next car you own other than what you listed above (cheap, reliable, economical to operate)?
And the thing about "who cares what cars sold...you're looking for one to buy"...What's up with that? Researching sold comparables is how you know if the one you end up buying is priced appropriately. Sold comparables are how the pricing is set by the seller...it's how selling stuff works.
Clem
