Originally Posted By: FutureDoc
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
What are you basing this on? I'm curious. These cars are the dominant choice of taxi and limo's for the exact reason you seem to be denying here: reliability. I've seen more 700,000+Km Town Cars than I've seen 300,000Km Camry's.
Nobody denies their reliability, there are plenty of things about the panther cars that you can criticize, but that isn't one of them. So as I said, I am curious, what is this based on?
My "Limpin' Lincoln". I have covered this part of my vehicle history. The door literally fell off, as well as everything else not internal to the engine and transmission.
They were popular because they were still built off a frame. You could replace everything on it. You could be in an accident and unlike a unibody, there was hope for repair. It was easier to modify for commercial use. Keep in mind that fleet use is very different. Limos use them for the frame. Taxis because they are cheap, big, and for the size, easy to operate, and the best option to modify with for commercial use. I can absorb abuse (damage) well particularly if you have to rip the interior our frequently. Also, look at any alternative vehicle at the time. What was its competition? Now, if you want to say that they are more reliable than other common commercial vehicles of the early 2000s, I would agree. However it is not going to be better than other general commuter use vehicles (ie Lexus).
As a general rule, but especially with fleets, there is a difference between high miles and reliability. I run these vehicles far beyond what average folks will accept. I have mid-2000 Chrysler Minivans in my fleet. They are high-miles but that does not mean they are reliable. I can change EGR valves all day but that is not reliability. New transmission or dash-mounted cpu, easy.
However, to claim they are reliable is a bit of a myth. High mileage =/= reliability.
Remember what BITOG folks say all the time: the engine will outlast the body. The Vics/TC had the replacable/servicible body and heck, you could straighten a frame a lot easier that others. They survive for their body.
That's a lot of text that still doesn't explain what you are basing this on. As I said, I've seen tons of them, with the original bodies, go obscene mileage with just regular maintenance. They are inexpensive to own, which is why they are popular with taxi and limo (and I mean airport limo's not stretched limousine here). They weren't fast. They were decent on fuel. They had a bullet-proof powertrain that was pretty basic, which was a big component to their reliability.
If you've got a personal anecdote of one bad panther, I'm sorry, but that doesn't change the reputation of the platform, which is what I'm taking away from your posts at this point unless you'd care to elaborate further.