What's better than a Crown Vic?

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Originally Posted by AZjeff
An offroad Crown Vic! My redneck side likes it.
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Spotted in a Walmart parking lot of course.

I've never had a 'vic so forgive me--but what is going on in that front hub? I'm used to seeing on RWD's the spindle in that area, with a dust cap over the castle nut--and I'm not seeing that.

Is there any chance that this is an AWD Vic?
 
It's a nice looking rig I would spend some extra money and put a nice looking aftermarket or some sort of Ford aluminum wheels on it with center caps.
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by AZjeff
What's better than a Crown Vic?


A Grand Marquis?

Which definitely slots under the Marauder.
 
I'm surprised Bob has not picked up on the Nissan NV200 yet since you guys seem so keen on driving taxicabs.
 
I guess if you can get one of those surplus police vic's at auction for like $500 or something it might be worth it, but I know that when our dept would finally rotate the crown vics out of the fleet, around 200K miles, they were thoroughly worn the eff out. I would not touch one with a ten foot pole. Totally ragged out by the time we were done with them. But they held up a lot better in service that the Dodge Chargers do. The Chargers are not very durable in municipal police work, at least as a line car running three shifts a day 7 days a week, and so much idling, stopping, starting, potholes and etc. The vic's handled that stuff better.
 
They are cheaper to repair than many newer vehicles. I sold my 03 vic at 264k with the original tranny and it's still going strong. The guy I sold it to uses it every day, he is up near 300k now. 3 years ago I picked up an 09 with 105k on it. Needed a rack and pinion unit and two ball joints. It has 170k on it now with just normal maintenance. I am looking for a good 11 vic if I can find one. They are very durable and great highway cars. Try to find one with the x5 or x6 rear axle, 3.55 gearing with either limited slip or locking rear diff. The 3.07 open diffs are not good in snow and the electronic traction control is a joke. All of the vics I have owned are retired police units. Bought a 2003 grand marquis back in 2005 with 80k on it thinking it would last. Was a one owner trade in. Biggest pos I have ever owned. Previous owner must not have done any maintenance, tranny died at 110k. But 300 bucks from a junkyard put it back on the road. It had other problems, so I sold it cheap. I would not touch the chargers unless it was dirt cheap, They also don't do well in accidents and seem to a lot of electrical problems.
But I would love to have a four wheel drive vic.
 
Originally Posted by supton

I've never had a 'vic so forgive me--but what is going on in that front hub? I'm used to seeing on RWD's the spindle in that area, with a dust cap over the castle nut--and I'm not seeing that.

Is there any chance that this is an AWD Vic?


2003 and later uses a bolt on sealed hub assembly that doesn't require any kind of castle nut.

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Ah, thanks. Kinda bummed now, was hoping for some really trick work underneath!
 
Originally Posted by LoneRanger
I guess if you can get one of those surplus police vic's at auction for like $500 or something it might be worth it, but I know that when our dept would finally rotate the crown vics out of the fleet, around 200K miles, they were thoroughly worn the eff out. I would not touch one with a ten foot pole. Totally ragged out by the time we were done with them. But they held up a lot better in service that the Dodge Chargers do. The Chargers are not very durable in municipal police work, at least as a line car running three shifts a day 7 days a week, and so much idling, stopping, starting, potholes and etc. The vic's handled that stuff better.


Crown Vics don't have all the bells and whistles that today's cars have, but that just means there's less to break. A good one will run forever if you maintain it properly. For starters, never get one that's being retired from a municipal police department. They truly have been beat to snot. Get a former highway department or federal fleet car with low idle hours. The carfax will tell you where it came from.

There are some guys in Phoenix who go to fleet auctions in neighboring states. They only deal in retired Crown Vics. If you're patient you can find a good one. Maybe for a few more years, anyway.

Mine came from New Mexico. They don't salt the roads in NM, so that's a plus. The carfax said it had been in a federal fleet until it was 111,000 miles old. It had been a supervisor's car because it has all the little extras. I could see every time it had been taken to the Ford dealership in Albuquerque for service. I even called the dealership, read them the VIN and they told me everything they had ever done to it for its first 111,000 miles. It had been maintained by the book.

I bought it at 117,000 miles for $5000. A little more than I wanted to pay, but its history gave me confidence that it would be a good investment. Put in new rear shocks, a set of new tires and it was good to go. The headlight covers were yellowed so I got new headlights from Rock Auto for under $50 and put them in myself.

Routine oil and filter changes, tranny drain and fill, a set of front brake pads and rotors, then at 162,000 miles it needed a new rear pinion seal and lower radiator hose. $506 for parts and labor.

At 190,000 miles, it burns 1.5 *CUPS* of oil between 10,000 mile OCIs. Transmission is perfect. We check the fluid at every oil change but even after 30,000 miles the transmission fluid is still bright cherry red. TIP: If you want a CV transmission to last, NEVER do a transmission flush. Only do drain and fills. Ditto for the radiators.

There were really only two annoying issues with these Panthers: the blend door actuator motor, and for the 2008's, the little circuitboard in the dash that shows the odometer reading. My car had both issues.

The blend door is on Ford. Terrible placement! My blend door is stuck on A/C; can't switch it to heater. It costs six hours labor to replace a $30 part. There are videos showing how to fix it but I'm not that mechanical. I don't want to pay for six hours labor, so I just live with no heater. Not a big deal in the south.

The circuit board is on the EPA, not Ford. The EPA mandated a lead-free solder that didn't hold up. When the solder cracks, the light for the odometer goes dark. There's a little shop in town that repairs these circuit boards. They fixed mine for $80 while I waited.

Last October it got another set of new tires. This spring I'm going to have them service the radiator, maybe change the brake fluid.

It's a safe, reliable car that loves highway miles. Parts and maintenance are cheap. I have no car payments. That's worth a lot to me, to not be a debt slave. And people still pull over when I come up behind them :)

What could be better than a Crown Vic, indeed?
 
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They've always been popular in the Middle East because they were extremely durable, had ice cold air conditioning and priced so well, it blew midsize Japanese sedans out the market - the Crown Vic started at $16,000 for a base model. It was a huge monopoly for Ford after GM killed off the Caprice and Roadmaster in 1996. They were so popular in fact, the Saudi Arabian dealer tried to buy the St. Thomas Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada with the rights to the name so they could continue to be produced, but that didn't work out. On the used car market, these cars actually went up in value since they went out of production in 2012.

In a region where vehicles like the Toyota Land Cruiser J70 and Nissan Patrol Y61 is still popular brand new, most Arabs are concerned with durability in a harsh environment, ease of serving and availability of parts than all the touch screens and smart phone sync stuff standard on most modern vehicles.
 
Originally Posted by Falcon_LS
They've always been popular in the Middle East because they were extremely durable, had ice cold air conditioning and priced so well, it blew midsize Japanese sedans out the market - the Crown Vic started at $16,000 for a base model. It was a huge monopoly for Ford after GM killed off the Caprice and Roadmaster in 1996. They were so popular in fact, the Saudi Arabian dealer tried to buy the St. Thomas Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada with the rights to the name so they could continue to be produced, but that didn't work out. On the used car market, these cars actually went up in value since they went out of production in 2012.

In a region where vehicles like the Toyota Land Cruiser J70 and Nissan Patrol Y61 is still popular brand new, most Arabs are concerned with durability in a harsh environment, ease of serving and availability of parts than all the touch screens and smart phone sync stuff standard on most modern vehicles.



Ya there was even a Middle east version for you guys out there "GCC" pkg and stories/videos of buyers buying new panthers and racing/drifting them STRAIGHT from the Ford dealer out in the Desert !!


Seen video on you tube of some collector/hoarder out in Saudia Arabia or UAE who has lot full of new crown victoria all still with window stickers on them !!


CRAZY stuff on in the "sand lot" lol


Dave
 
Your GCC exports were heavily based off the Police Interceptor, only with with bells and whistles depending on what trim level you ordered. Stuff like an H-pipe, engine oil cooler, ATF/PSF cooler, heavy duty suspension with rear stabilizer bar, severe duty brake pads were all standard equipment. ABS wasn't standard until 2003, because people simply didn't want it, whereas the U.S. models got ABS as standard in 2001. The rear axle ratio varied, depending on year and option package. Up until 2003, they all had 3.08 rear gears, even with the Handling Package, which was different from the U.S. version. 2003-2012 got 2.73 rear gears.

People were not a fan of Ford's tendency to discontinue options and features for profitability; thicker carpets and seats, courtesy lights, extended length overhead consoles, quad sunvisors the name a few, but they remained popular. Saudi and Kuwait were the main markets, since they were ridiculously popular, although you had them in other countries too, like Bahrain, UAE, Oman and Qatar.
 
Originally Posted by Falcon_LS
Your GCC exports were heavily based off the Police Interceptor, only with with bells and whistles depending on what trim level you ordered. Stuff like an H-pipe, engine oil cooler, ATF/PSF cooler, heavy duty suspension with rear stabilizer bar, severe duty brake pads were all standard equipment. ABS wasn't standard until 2003, because people simply didn't want it, whereas the U.S. models got ABS as standard in 2001. The rear axle ratio varied, depending on year and option package. Up until 2003, they all had 3.08 rear gears, even with the Handling Package, which was different from the U.S. version. 2003-2012 got 2.73 rear gears.

People were not a fan of Ford's tendency to discontinue options and features for profitability; thicker carpets and seats, courtesy lights, extended length overhead consoles, quad sunvisors the name a few, but they remained popular. Saudi and Kuwait were the main markets, since they were ridiculously popular, although you had them in other countries too, like Bahrain, UAE, Oman and Qatar.

I had 3.27 in mine. Factory p71, 1993. Along with aforementioned coolers, hd alternator, aluminum ds.
 
Here's my 09 SAP vicky !! Daily driver
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SAP pkg
Full option convenience package, Carpet, Cruise and power driver seat,
X5 3:27 trac loc
was a Supervisor's car in CRAPAhoma city

And STRUCK GOLD with FULL maintenance history since new !! 5000K OCI with Napa full syn 5W30 with napa gold oil filter since new
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Now running Rotella Gas/Truck 5W20 and purolator BOSS filter


Been offered $$$$ several times. But NOPE !! NOT FOR SALE !!! CLEAN late model crown vic police cars are getting HARD TO FIND !!


Best $2400 I ever spent on a car !!!


Dave

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