Which Crown Vic?

Looking for a large, cheap American car to keep at a second house. These seem to fit the bill, which year is the best as far as running / not dieing?

All of them can potentially run forever (see millions of taxis). Note that all of the 2V 4.6L V8's have ~5 spark plug threads per hole and will randomly spit out plugs. You can help prevent it by following exact factory procedures when changing the plugs and re-torquing to spec every 10K miles. Mine popped 2 plugs in the same head within 500 miles, and hasn't popped anymore in the 10K miles (and cross-country drive) with new owner.

For "best", you want a 2003 or newer. They have an all-new hydroformed frame with rack & pinion steering, the brakes that Ford stole for the S197 Mustang, and a better suspension.

A 2001-2002 will do in a pinch, as they still have the "PI" (Performance Improved) 4.6, good brakes, and the deeper-dish wheels (if you care).

Absolutely avoid the 1998-200's and the 92-97 "Aero body" ones. They are saddled with the non-PI 4.6 which is ~170HP and an absolute dog. The newer ones are easily found for the same money.

I loved my 2001 and miss it. I would pay extra for an 03+.

Oh, and P71's are great if you want all the pursuit-spec stuff. If you don't, the regular commercial (P72) and civvy (P73) are just fine. A HPP (High Performance Pack) civvy Crown Vic gets you the most important P71 stuff combined with normal paint colors and a nice interior.

Note that these cars (including the Grand Marquis) are 100% interchangeable. The wiring harness is identical and fully-specced out, so you can buy a P71 and ditch the manual vinyl bench for some heated leather GrandMa ones that literally plug in. Same story underneath, you can buy a GrandMa and then scrounge the P71 goodies from a JY and pop them on.

Have fun!

That post makes my 2000 P71 sound like a turd... Thanks...

if i had it all to do again, i believe i'd round up a nice '92-'97, purely on the basis that they're lighter. i pretty well replace/upgrade everything anyway.

if i did not plan to do anything to it, i would definitely find an '03 or newer. wait for the nicest one you can find. there's a million of these things out there, and a good example is worth the extra whatever you end up spending. Mine was six years old, 90k miles, black, and in perfect shape for less than $4k.

great.

now i'm sitting here thinking about selling my car to find a nice '97 i can put a navigator motor in....

bastard.

Javelin wrote: Absolutely avoid the 1998-200's and the 92-97 "Aero body" ones. They are saddled with the non-PI 4.6 which is ~170HP and an absolute dog. The newer ones are *easily* found for the same money.

i know you preach that, and i think you're a great guy, but that is such a pantload of BS.

i have never seen a 98-00 and 01+ stock vs stock run different times at the track. last year we had 20 or so of them out and all the stock cars including a 96 aero marquis were in the 16.0-16.1 range regardless of year.

all 4.6 sohc vehicles are turds anyway.

I liked my 99 P71, but I really like the idea of a "plug and play" custom P71.

I LOVED my 92 Aero Vic. I would buy another in a heartbeat. 170 hp was enough for me!

Dang! The world found out my secret. I've owned probably 8 of these. The Sport is my fave. Analog gauges only. Any HPP car is good.They feel faster then they are. The P71s have that certain badass factor but folks will always clog up the two lane at 27 under the limit when they see you in the rear view. It is just a lot of car for the money.

For a second house, I would vote for a Jeep Cherokee with the I6. You are going to have to haul the occasional stuff from Lowes, or drive on the beach/snow, or transport friends. or tow a small boat/atv/trailer. They are great all-around second vehicles.

I still wanna swap a new Coyote motor in mine. Or maybe the 3.5 EcoBoost...

Don't have the money for either. LOL

patgizz wrote:

Javelin wrote: Absolutely avoid the 1998-200's and the 92-97 "Aero body" ones. They are saddled with the non-PI 4.6 which is ~170HP and an absolute dog. The newer ones are *easily* found for the same money.

i know you preach that, and i think you're a great guy, but that is such a pantload of BS. i have never seen a 98-00 and 01+ stock vs stock run different times at the track. last year we had 20 or so of them out and all the stock cars including a 96 aero marquis were in the 16.0-16.1 range regardless of year. all 4.6 sohc vehicles are turds anyway.

That's what the factory ratings are. Sorry if you disagree, but facts are facts. They are definitely pigs stock, for sure. But if you want to go fast (or honestly, tow), there's no point in not starting with at least the 01. It's all moot though because the engine differences don't mean squat compared to all of the upgrades the 03+'s got in the chassis, suspension, steering, and brakes. You'd have to be able to get an 02- for about half of a comparable 03+ to really make it a worthwhile deal. They really are that much better.

Anybody have any experience how they cope with snow?

Buying a P71 probably means I'd be sleeping on the sofa but I'm wondering if they'd make a reasonable winter beater.

I did snow duty in my 01 P71 more than once. They're great. LSD rear diff gives you traction, higher ride height from the P71 suspension gives you clearance, and the 16" steel wheels are designed to hop curbs, so no worries there. I ran with winter tires and chains, but a friend with a 97 Aero-Vic went studded tires and was the rally king for a few weeks. If you're going to RWD in snow, they are pretty much ideal.

Damn, I miss mine now.

factory ratings are indeed factory ratings. but real world numbers scream at me more than what ford claims a car puts down.

your problem(not a shot here, i look at stuff the same way most of the time) is that you make your suggestions based on the assumption that the buyer is going to mod the piss out of the car just like you or i would tend to do. this guy wants an appliance to keep around for when he needs to go to the store, so really any panther or b body in relatively good condition would suffice no matter which drivetrain it has in it or which year it came from.

as for winter, i had brand new general altimax arctic tires on my 99, and was unimpressed in the snow, but i live in cleveland and we tend to get more than average snowfall. it was fun to drift on snowy roads though.

snow......sucks in a panther if you do NOT have the rear lsd, and you have tires that are already super E36 M3ty in the rain. like some bfg touring t/a's. also forget about getting anywhere with the traction control ON. it just applies the brakes anytime the wheels start slipping. Which is every time you want to go. haha.

I managed, but it was far from ideal.

i've never driven mine with snow, or even all-season tires on it. the last three years i ran General Exclaim summer tires and never got stuck in nebraska winters. the j-mod was a bigger liability than the choice of rubber. Now on 315mm drag radials, i'm not even gonna try

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/cto/2552041261.html

patgizz wrote: your problem(not a shot here, i look at stuff the same way most of the time) is that you make your suggestions based on the assumption that the buyer is going to mod the piss out of the car just like you or i would tend to do.

We are posting on a forum that has another thread just above this about swapping a larger engine with a 5-speed into a Camry Wagon as an $800 beater, I think "mods car" is a requirement here.

I've driven boxes for years in the snow, LSD and not with no issues. In fact the wagon did better than my protege5..The sedan with some snows and junk in the trunk did great, and the open diff 91 GM did really well in some of the worst snow around MD.

HPP= Handling and Performance Package, look for one of those or the P71. 3.55 gearing, improved suspension, steering boxes, occasionally LSD.

All the talk of the aero's, the Boxes 86-91 are reliable as long as the TV bushing doesn't fail.

The 92-97 can easily get a windsor dropped right in.

And, as far as I know, you can swap the later sheet metal on, if you want to.

The 86-91 boxes were great. Back then P72 was the top-spec cop package and you could find them with 351 Windsor's! Our own ThunderCougarFalconBird had one. The problem with old box 'Vics is the 9C1 LT1 Caprice exists in the same time frame...

not exactly

Javelin wrote: The 86-91 boxes were *great*. Back then P72 was the top-spec cop package and you could find them with 351 Windsor's! Our own ThunderCougarFalconBird had one. The problem with old box 'Vics is the 9C1 LT1 Caprice exists in the same time frame...

yeah, roughly... since LT1 were 96...the aeros were coming to an end at that point an almost to the whales...

LOL, 351W..... ugh. 180hp lump. A mustang 5.0 HO transplant into a 5.0 P72 would destroy a 351.....An explorer swap is even more fun!