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?