Originally Posted By: dave5358
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
There are plenty of LEO and limo Crown Vic's and Town Cars with obscene mileage on them that have never seen a UCL in their lives as another data point.
That well could be, particularly if these vehicles were used in taxi or limo service. For many such vehicles, the engine is rarely turned off, except maybe to refuel, for maintenance, driver runs in to a lunch counter, etc. The number of 'cold starts' is really quite small.The big V-8's are really never strained. And... the engines lasts forever. I don't mean to knock Crown Vic's, but I've never been that impressed with them otherwise. I've knew Mercedes-Benz and Crown Victoria, you're no Mercedes-Benz. Back in the real world, 'cold starts' are a fact of life.
As for LEO vehicles, they don't last so long. Even if the engine holds up, the rest of the vehicle has a hard life. Watch your local auto auctions - LEO vehicles rarely go for much. I'm not counting the Chief's car or Captain's car, recently purchased new, rarely driven, offered to him at a sweetheart price upon his retirement, etc.
Around here the LEO Vic's usually get bought up by cab companies and retired somewhere north of 500,000Km when the bodies take them to scrap yard.
And don't worry, I wasn't comparing a Vic to a Benz
I was just pointing out that in these applications Ford's Modular engine seems to do just fine racking up obscene mileage without a UCL. The "Million Mile van" is another one of those, a 5.4L Modular in a van used as a courier.
And while I'm sure these vehicles don't get a lot of cold starts, the reason for that is because of how much they are used, which is of course how they get the mileage they do on them. Most cars up here go to the scrap yard either due to transmission failure and age, the body rotting off, being in an accident or complete and utter neglect (running the engine out of oil). A properly maintained vehicle with an engine that doesn't have some sort of predisposition for self destruction doesn't go to the wreckers because somebody wore the engine out by not running a UCL
A couple examples:
Town Car:
http://www.autotrader.ca/a/Lincoln/Town+Car/MARKHAM/Ontario/19_7577085_/
653,000Km on it (405,000 miles)
Town Car:
http://www.autotrader.ca/a/Lincoln/Town+Car/BRAMPTON/Ontario/19_7698930_/
495,000Km on it (307,000 miles)