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The brakes and transmissions where the weak links in crown vics. Depending on which version of the police interceptor the top end was either 120 or 128 MPH. Some CVPIs that I drove were goosey running down the road. I liked the crown vic. That panther platform was some of Ford's best work. Except for the transmission.
It is still a mostly wore out car. When money became tight for agencies they would try to get more life out of their fleet. Instead of 80 or 90 thousand they would run them out to 120 to 150 thousand miles.
I'm not sure where you're getting "mostly worn out" from? Even at 150k, nearly all the cvpi's I've seen still run & drive fine, the air still works & other than being really dirty & covered in sticker-goo they aren't anywhere near "worn out". All of the wear components (pads/rotors/hoses/water pumps etc) are dirt cheap at Rockauto & the cars themselves are generally pretty easy to work on. For a car that you can routinely pick up for anywhere between $800 - $2000~ish at the surplus auction, I can't think of any better value.
If you spend a little extra & get an unmarked unit, you often don't need to do much more than run them through a car-wash & do a few minor/cheap fixes. My bro bought an unmarked unit a few months ago & just to be safe, I threw plugs/wires/water pump/thermostat/hoses/belts/filters (gas, air,trans) & all new fluids at it. Did all of it in one day, without breaking a sweat or getting bloody knuckles. Had the front end lined up & once the coffee-stains were soaked out of the headliner, you couldn't tell the difference between it (at 150k miles) and a 50k-mile car. He might have $3k into it including all the parts/maintenance/taxes/smog & plates. I'd drive it cross-country tomorrow without any fear & there isn't any car bought for that kind of money from a private-owner I'd trust like that.
You can throw parts at the car, that's fine. Both vehicles I own have over 100,000 miles on them. When I go and buy a car I don't want car that has 7,000 hours of run time. For comparison, my 2000 Silverado 3/4 ton has 5,400 hours and 194,000 miles on it. A 2012 patrol explorer with 60,000 miles has nearly the same amount of engine hours.
I have a '71 Plymouth Fury I bought from the Virginia State Police in '74 for $800. It was an unmarked Sergeant's car, jet black with the little bitty hubcaps, spot light and 6 foot "highway whip" antenna on the back deck. And a 440 engine that will still bark the tires when that Torqueflite hits second.
This car struck fear in the hearts of speeders back in the day, but nobody knows what it is/was nowadays. LOL
You can throw parts at the car, that's fine. Both vehicles I own have over 100,000 miles on them. When I go and buy a car I don't want car that has 7,000 hours of run time. For comparison, my 2000 Silverado 3/4 ton has 5,400 hours and 194,000 miles on it. A 2012 patrol explorer with 60,000 miles has nearly the same amount of engine hours.
i have no idea what the run-hours are on his car (doesn't have a meter) & there's really no reason to care. It runs fine. There's about a billion p71's that have went from cop-use to taxi service & 300k is common, without major repairs. My 2000 Silverado was a fleet vehicle as well & at nearly 160k miles, still runs like a watch & looks better than 80%+ of the private-owner trucks out there.
Especially with something like a Silverado or a P71, even a "major" repair isn't that big of a deal. An experienced mechanic can swap an engine in a day & the junkyards are stacked with $500 engines like cordwood (because they last so long). You'll pay more for four new (quality) tires than you will for a good used engine or a rebuilt trans.
I would not buy a former patrol car. Hours of idle time followed by hard driving acceleration and harder braking. The term "rode hard and put up wet comes to mind."
Around here most of the crown vics have been cycled out.
How is this different than most drivers? Most folks sit in traffic, many punch it from a stop on occasion, some have to brake when some dingleberry pulls out in front of them for no really good reason at all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zippyman
i have no idea what the run-hours are on his car (doesn't have a meter) & there's really no reason to care. It runs fine. There's about a billion p71's that have went from cop-use to taxi service & 300k is common, without major repairs. My 2000 Silverado was a fleet vehicle as well & at nearly 160k miles, still runs like a watch & looks better than 80%+ of the private-owner trucks out there.
Especially with something like a Silverado or a P71, even a "major" repair isn't that big of a deal. An experienced mechanic can swap an engine in a day & the junkyards are stacked with $500 engines like cordwood (because they last so long). You'll pay more for four new (quality) tires than you will for a good used engine or a rebuilt trans.
Precisely. I remember the testing the Hemi went through. I believe the block got heated and then cooled in some endurance test...and I'm supposed to worry about idling? Please.
Heck, both of my trucks usually don't run too far passed 1500 RPMs for the most part. Since that's just a faster idle, maybe I need new engines for both trucks...
You can throw parts at the car, that's fine. Both vehicles I own have over 100,000 miles on them. When I go and buy a car I don't want car that has 7,000 hours of run time. For comparison, my 2000 Silverado 3/4 ton has 5,400 hours and 194,000 miles on it. A 2012 patrol explorer with 60,000 miles has nearly the same amount of engine hours.
I really don't think that mess matters to be honest, having lived in a house-hold that has seen probably a dozen P71 ex-police cars. Other than the transmission, nothing on them broke with any regularity. They were just brick **** houses other than the trans.
I'm about 1hour 30mins outside of Chicago, and a half hour from south bend. However I frequent both of these places on a regular basis. Our garage is for the navigator and mustang project, so the vic stays outside. This is an image of a car without the antennas on the top. I was asked yesterday, as soon as I got out of my car in a lot if id just gotten off duty. As someone said earlier, sports decals tend to get obnoxious. I'm thinking about putting a POW MIA plate on the front. Never seen a police car with a vanity plate there.
As far as people saying these cars are junk couldn't be further from the truth or more accurate at the same time. It ALL depends on how it was used. They are routinely maintenced right on schedule. Even a black/white in a town of less than 1500 citizens is usually a good buy, not much action there. This unit has 130k miles, low idle hours. I've seen private owned crown vics of the same year with fewer miles in a lot worse shape. Yes, there will be issues...all cars need repairs, part of owning one. However the parts are very cheap, easy to come by, and easy to work on. After owning one nissan I was happy to get back into a domestic vehicle.
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