I haven't looked at it yet, I wanted to gather some intel first. I recall someone here having spark plug troubles with theirs, I think it was an '01. The one I'm ogling is an '07, does this problem still exist in the '07+ P71?
Are there any specific trouble spots I need to scope out when I look at it?
Cheers,
Jed
You want an 03 and up. Supposedly the 04 is the sweet spot. Lots of aluminum goodies up front.
Expect to hear from Javalin soon...
As a former Mark VII owner, I approve of the P71. 2003-04 seems to be the sweet spot for value.
03 and newer have the better frame, suspension, and brakes.
All P71's from 98-11 have the plug blowout potential. Some will pop all of them before 50K, others have gone 300K without losing a single one. My 01 popped two in a row around 145K and has been fine in the 25K since then.
I can't open the add, but an 07 should be around $3500 for a clean one (solid color, minimal holes, etc).
120,000 miles, asking $5,100.
NICE!! As a fellow P71 owner, I approve. I also strongly suggest the 5.4 swap. It is sooooo much better. The newer cars (2003+) have wider frame rails so the larger engines fit easier. My 2000 engine bay is very tight around the engine. LOL
In reply to The_Jed:
That's really clean and a very good color. What interior does it have? Is the VIN really P71? Does it have cruise?
If the answers are cloth, yes, and yes I'd buy that in a heartbeat. Might offer $4500 first.
I didn't see cruise listed in the options, I'll have to make my way out there and look at it. VIN #: 2FAFP71W37X145441
No cruise, it would be on the steering wheel. That interior is flipping mint though.
STOP WASTING TIME AND GO BUY IT!!!!!!!
Javelin wrote: No cruise, it would be on the steering wheel. That interior is flipping *mint* though. STOP WASTING TIME AND GO BUY IT!!!!!!!
So what's Cruise got to do with anything out of curiosity? My Dads '03 P71 has cruise.
A lot of municipalities didn't opt for cruise in patrol cars. Look underneath for rust if it spent any time in the rust belt.
In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:
Cruise control is the only option that's hard to add to a P71 as it's built into the steering wheel, has a separate throttle cable or electric servo, etc. If you want cruise, you need to buy a car with it already. Everything else is literally plug-and-play. Ford used the same harness in every car, so for example my P71 had manual seats and I bought power seats, the plugs were under the rubber floor. Behind the dash it had all of the hookups for the other buttons/options.
I'd hit it, but then again, I kinda did. 
I bought an 06 P71 in May, that also had 120k miles on the clock and now it has almost 131k. I paid 4k for mine, and it's been a beast so far. It returns about 17-19 mpg if you're being hard on it for a tank, and anywhere from 20-23 if you can keep your foot out of it.
So far my only issues have been a fried resistor and a burnt up blower motor. BTW, if you wanna save yourself a little time and aggravation, go ahead and get familiar with this site, http://www.tousleyfordparts.com/.
It's a parts center that sells factory Ford parts for 10% over cost, and even with shipping, they typically beat all my local dealerships by about 25-50% on their pricing.
When I was replacing my blower motor, I went to Advance and bought theirs, and the connector was totally different. I shopped around at NAPA and Vatozone, and it was the same story there. But one order with Tousley, and I had the factory original piece headed my way.
Go for it! They're neat cars, and you always have someone wanting to talk to you about it...even if you don't want them to. 
Had a 99 (marked as sold in my garage). I miss her. The 99 was the only lowered one. It took one year for Ford to realise that lowering is not good for a police car. It looked fantastic at that height, though. I don't know if there would be any disadvantages to using 99 springs.
In reply to N Sperlo:
Underglow? For shame Sperlo, for shame...
Just returned from driving it, I REALLY liked the taught feel of the suspension. The driver's seat kind of sucked though, apparently the former occupant was rather large and perpetually leaned to the right. Turn in is immediate and overall it felt really solid. There were a few spots of rust starting inside the fender lips and a couple of dents on the roof.
I do have one question, though. When I floored it at 50 mph there wasn't a noticeable kick down as it dropped into a lower gear. The revs climbed quickly and there was a steady, smooth increase in acceleration but no perceptible gear change. It felt almost like a slowly spooling turbo. Is this normal? I don't want to pull the trigger on it then replace the transmission in a few months. (I've had that happen in an old Sonata...not cool.)
I'm used to the Burban where you FEEL it shift; it goes thump, VROOM when it kicks down. Overall I dig the P71.
singleslammer wrote: In reply to N Sperlo: Underglow? For shame Sperlo, for shame...
I'm older and wiser now. Well... Older.
In reply to The_Jed:
I call 50-90 mph the dead zone. Not very torquey.
Add 5.4L and you solve that problem.
Speaking if larger engines, I'd love another P71, but my neighbor has a 70's LTD Interceptor I'm trying to snag. 
Ya know what I'd REALLY love to do? New Coyote swapped into a P71 with a manual trans... Mmmmmmm
In reply to The_Jed:
The smooth downshift is easily cured. When you change the trans filter you can drill out the valve body, it's called a "J-Mod". The guy who designed the transmission released the specs of how to do it. It's the single best mod I ever made to my P71. A good tuner module will have transmission logic in it as well to change the shift points, line pressures, etc.
As for the seat, that's an easy fix. Just find another seat and undo the 4 bolts. Lots of new and near-new seats around.
The dents are normal (roof is very, very thin), and unfortunately so is the rust. I'd point out the rust, offer $4500, and then POR15 the back of all the wheel lips after a little grinding and rolling.
A funny thing happened when we returned to the dealership after picking the kids up from school.
They had a silver '01 Forester S on the lot we decided to check out while we were there. I asked about service/repair records and they produced paperwork for the replacement of the radiator, timing belt, water pump, head gaskets, new tires all around and a rock chip repair in the windshield.
It's in great shape and drives very well. It has 88,000 miles and apparently it's never been owned by a ham-fisted meathead like me since there was no evidence of past hoonage.
We have it for an overnight "test drive" and it looks like my need for RWD, V8 goodness will have to wait just a bit longer. I'm good with it.
I really REALLY dig the P71!
I love the stripped down, utilitarian nature of it. When i pick up a "hot rod" it will say "Police Interceptor" under the tail light.
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