Crown Victoria
Discussion
For some reason I really fancy one of these as a daily driver. Must be the fact that I have just made it to 50 
Seen just 2 'normal' ones for sale but both at the other end of the country. 2002 models, one trade at over £5k and one private at £4.5k. Both low miles ie 30k and 50k.
When I say normal I mean as opposed to the P71 police interceptor or New York taxi ones that come at a hell of a premium but tend to be newer.
Anyone here owned one in the UK? What was it like to drive on our little roads, especially around London and what was the mpg like. My current Beemer does 18 round town so I can deal with a gas guzzler, I think
Cheers.
Seen just 2 'normal' ones for sale but both at the other end of the country. 2002 models, one trade at over £5k and one private at £4.5k. Both low miles ie 30k and 50k.
When I say normal I mean as opposed to the P71 police interceptor or New York taxi ones that come at a hell of a premium but tend to be newer.
Anyone here owned one in the UK? What was it like to drive on our little roads, especially around London and what was the mpg like. My current Beemer does 18 round town so I can deal with a gas guzzler, I think
Cheers.
When I was working in the US I had one as my daily driver. The car was rented through Avis and they were very surprised when I asked for a 'Crown Vic' specifically!
They aren't very quick, roll a lot through corners, are very cheap inside and the leather trim is actually plastic.
However, I loved it! It was full of character, had a front drivers sofa, and the four speed auto was sloppy as hell but in a good way. You must also drive one in a slouched position with one arm on the wheel and one arm hanging out of the window.
The car I had was a sort of metallic baby blue colour with a tan 'leather' interior.
Parts will be cheap, you can fix them with a hammer and you won't see another on the road in the UK. I would love to have one over here myself, but I bought an old truck instead! Maybe next year...
Edited to add, fuel economy - around 15mpg around town, though I seemed to drive it flat out everywhere as it made a fun V8 noise (but not a vast amount of forward movement). You should get around 25mpg on the motorway.
They aren't very quick, roll a lot through corners, are very cheap inside and the leather trim is actually plastic.
However, I loved it! It was full of character, had a front drivers sofa, and the four speed auto was sloppy as hell but in a good way. You must also drive one in a slouched position with one arm on the wheel and one arm hanging out of the window.
The car I had was a sort of metallic baby blue colour with a tan 'leather' interior.
Parts will be cheap, you can fix them with a hammer and you won't see another on the road in the UK. I would love to have one over here myself, but I bought an old truck instead! Maybe next year...
Edited to add, fuel economy - around 15mpg around town, though I seemed to drive it flat out everywhere as it made a fun V8 noise (but not a vast amount of forward movement). You should get around 25mpg on the motorway.
Sold mine 18 months ago and wish I hadn't.
Size not a problem but they are really wallowy. I used to get around 18MPG but mine was LPG converted which helped.
The only thing I did to mine was change the horrible plastic/chrome grille for one off a P71 and put winter tyres on it. Those with a set of snow chains and I was overtaking people in the bad snow we had.
Size not a problem but they are really wallowy. I used to get around 18MPG but mine was LPG converted which helped.
The only thing I did to mine was change the horrible plastic/chrome grille for one off a P71 and put winter tyres on it. Those with a set of snow chains and I was overtaking people in the bad snow we had.
croyde said:
I like the idea of wallowy
So was that 18 on a run? and does £4.5k sound right for a 2002?
Cheers.
It sounds like a crazy amount of money for what is in all respects a rubbish car. They had them as taxis in Las Vegas and while comfortable were obviously below par.So was that 18 on a run? and does £4.5k sound right for a 2002?
Cheers.
You could get a very good LS400 for that kind of money...
croyde said:
I like the idea of wallowy
So was that 18 on a run? and does £4.5k sound right for a 2002?
Cheers.
I used to average 18. So a bit lower round town and more on a run.So was that 18 on a run? and does £4.5k sound right for a 2002?
Cheers.
I paid £4k for mine, had done about 50,000 miles.
It was like driving everywhere in your favourite armchair.
I sold mine to these people. http://www.usa-cop-cars.com/
Roo said:
I sold mine to these people. http://www.usa-cop-cars.com/
The prices they are asking on that website are utterly insane. You would have to be out of your mind to pay even a third of what they are asking for what will be a shagged-out old banger. They were at a show I was at in August. They want £29 grand for near enough new ones. £15 grand got you a well used example. By the way these were the P71 police interceptors. But most haven'nt seen police service but been government agency cars. They decorate them to suit when they get over here.
Yes, I am avoiding the ex cop ones as they appear to charge the earth for them. I suppose it might be cheaper in the long run to fly to the States and hire one for a few days and then it'll be another scratch itched
Before I started looking I thought that it would easy to find one over here for around £2k. Just wanted a wallowy Yank V8 for a bit plus I thought it would be useful as my three kids are growing up and are finding my E36 a bit cramped, plus the big boot might swallow all the camping gear.
Before I started looking I thought that it would easy to find one over here for around £2k. Just wanted a wallowy Yank V8 for a bit
plus I thought it would be useful as my three kids are growing up and are finding my E36 a bit cramped, plus the big boot might swallow all the camping gear.BLUETHUNDER said:
They were at a show I was at in August. They want £29 grand for near enough new ones. £15 grand got you a well used example. By the way these were the P71 police interceptors. But most haven'nt seen police service but been government agency cars. They decorate them to suit when they get over here.
Still stupid, stupid money. P71 is a downgrade in terms of trim and comfort, aside from a trans oil cooler the drivetrain is identical, so effectively all you get is stiffer shocks, steel wheels, bigger sway bars and a plastic floor covering.I can buy a P71 from a local police auction for $2k. These cars have a very hard life - they go signal 3 (lights and sirens) 3 or 4 times per shift, meaning flat out, ragged in every gear, crashing over kerbs and medians and being puked and pissed in on a daily basis.
That's why they're only worth $2k after 5 or 6 years and have around 150k miles on them during that time.
Noted about the STS, it's just that the Vic is an icon which they no longer make but it was just an idea. As I say they do seem pretty pricey for what they are but then I suppose they can fetch a price over here as there are so few of them.
I'm talking about the standard ones not the police P71 models.
I'm talking about the standard ones not the police P71 models.
I had an STS V6 for 3 years and absolutely LOVED it.
Anyhow... Crown Vics... They are damn near indestructible cars. Capable of hundreds of thousands of miles in NY City traffic, you can't kill these things.
You do NOT want an ex police (P71) car. They get the stuffing kicked out of them, and they also sell cheaply here. The only way I'd buy one was one that wasn't used as a patrol car, go for one with the "street appearance package" in a dark metallic or silver color, those would have been detectives cars and won't have been beaten to death.
Any Crown Vic sold after 2007 went to a fleet, that means cop car, taxi or rental car.
If you can find one, an LX Sport is the one to get. Or be really different and import a Mercury Marauder
MPG? Try 25 US on the highway and 15-17 in the city. So that's close to 30 UK on the motorway and pushing 20 in town.
Anyhow... Crown Vics... They are damn near indestructible cars. Capable of hundreds of thousands of miles in NY City traffic, you can't kill these things.
You do NOT want an ex police (P71) car. They get the stuffing kicked out of them, and they also sell cheaply here. The only way I'd buy one was one that wasn't used as a patrol car, go for one with the "street appearance package" in a dark metallic or silver color, those would have been detectives cars and won't have been beaten to death.
Any Crown Vic sold after 2007 went to a fleet, that means cop car, taxi or rental car.
If you can find one, an LX Sport is the one to get. Or be really different and import a Mercury Marauder
MPG? Try 25 US on the highway and 15-17 in the city. So that's close to 30 UK on the motorway and pushing 20 in town.
Been looking at that, cheers. How the hell has it only done 31k miles in over 10 years. Looks good in the pics tho'.
Shame it's up in Blackpool. A bit far to go and find out it's not as good as it seems although a long train journey and a good book sounds a nice way to spend a very long day if I ignore how much the train ticket will cost me
Shame it's up in Blackpool. A bit far to go and find out it's not as good as it seems although a long train journey and a good book sounds a nice way to spend a very long day if I ignore how much the train ticket will cost me
Edited by croyde on Tuesday 2nd October 18:53
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