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Im looking at a Crown Victoria which is a 2000 that has 250000 miles however been well maintenanced.
The person selling it to me said her boyfriend had a couple of strokes and cant drive anymore and was selling it for 1200 but i talked her down to 950
Its not a intetceptor neither. It was however for a correctional facility place and was auctined off .
And im wondering if 2000 was a good year for the crown victoria
Last edited by Blackandgold51; 11-10-2016 at 06:58 PM..
Im looking at a Crown Victoria which is a 2000 that has 250000 miles however been well maintenanced.
The person selling it to me said her boyfriend had a couple of strokes and cant drive anymore and was selling it for 1200 but i talked her down to 950
Its not a intetceptor neither. It was however for a correctional facility place and was auctined off .
And im wondering if 2000 was a good year for the crown victoria
I think the actual condition of this particular unit is more important than the vintage.
in my opinion, the best panther chassis fords(crown vic/grandmarquis/lincoln towncar) are the 2003 and up cars. they have rack and pinion steering, and a watts link to locate the rear end, and four wheel disc brakes, and better suspension geometry.
250K miles would have me leary with any vehicle though.
condition is more important than mileage. i have seen vehicles with 30,000 miles that were total trash, and vehicles with over 200,000 miles that were pristine. granted both of these are rare situations, but they do happen.
but to be completely honest, i do have reservations on vehicles with over 200,000 miles, unless they are diesel trucks.
For a car like the Crown Victoria, the move to rack and pinion steering in 2003 was a big step backward, not forward. With the traditional recirculating ball steering thru 2002, they tracked so surely and stably that you could take your hand off the wheel on a flat freeway and go for a mile without touching it. With rack and pinion, the stable tracking is gone and they wander all over the road without constant correction.
The move to rack and pinion steering is a cost-cutting measure for manufacturers and is a clear disadvantage for consumers. And yet the industry has successfully programmed young buyers by the millions to think it is a step forward. It is the opposite.
My take is that the 1995 and 2002 Crown Vics were the best years for the whales (1992+). Years prior to 1992 were better yet, but expensive, of course, if you find one in really nice condition.
The 2002 still had the rock-solid stability of recirculating ball steering and it also had a re-engineered intake manifold that reduced the incidence of cracking and associated coolant loss, that plagued 1996-2001 models. 1995 and earlier models had aluminum manifolds and did not have this problem.
Lastly, anyone considering an older Crown Vic/Grand Marquis/Town Car should be prepared to foot the bill for some or all of the following repairs - and sooner than later....
Window regulators
HVAC blend door replacement (very expensive if you're not a skilled mechanic and must take it to a shop)
EATC blower motor controller replacement
Air suspension component or complete replacement
But they're still the best (affordable for everyday folk) cars on the road of those built since the mid-late 80s. I recently replaced my Crown Vic with a same year Lincoln Town Car and wouldn't seriously consider anything else in the (more recent) used market.
For a car like the Crown Victoria, the move to rack and pinion steering in 2003 was a big step backward, not forward. With the traditional recirculating ball steering thru 2002, they tracked so surely and stably that you could take your hand off the wheel on a flat freeway and go for a mile without touching it. With rack and pinion, the stable tracking is gone and they wander all over the road without constant correction.
The move to rack and pinion steering is a cost-cutting measure for manufacturers and is a clear disadvantage for consumers. And yet the industry has successfully programmed young buyers by the millions to think it is a step forward. It is the opposite.
i disagree, my 05 gmq tracks quite nicely thank you. the key is getting the alignment settings right.
I've never owned a 1998-02, but the ones I've driven feel a lot floatier than the 03+. IMO, 2004 is the best year of the lot, but I would trust a 2000 as long as the intake manifold has been replaced with one with an aluminum crossover and it it isn't rotting out (commonly in the rocker panels or fender lips).
AFAIK, the blend door actuator is only an issue with electronic temperature control, so don't worry about that if you have climate control dials. EATC head unit failures are usually limited to the O-rings that direct air to the defroster, dash, or floor. It's a simple job that cost me 40 cents in parts at Home Depot and took about 10 minutes.
Air suspension, again, is only an issue if you have it, and doubt a 2000 ordered for a correctional facility does.
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