Ford Crown Victoria - advice/opinions

[g3org3y]

My housemate is very keen to invest in one of these, specifially one in Police 'persuit spec' complete with black/white paint job, decals, lights etc.

My understanding of these is that they are a 4.6 litre V8 (16 valve, SOHC). Neither quick (heavy), nor economical and I suspect a damn sight more expensive to run than his current car (Volvo estate 2.4 diesel).

He's looking at a 2009-2010 example.

Any ideas in terms of estimated costs for:
- purchase
- genuine running costs

Also any advice in terms of:
- where to purchase from
- where to service

I'm assuming expensive parts (US specific) and not much more than 15mpg in town.

Opinions/experiences gladly appreciated so I can pass on.

[steveo3002]

i rented a civvy spec one in 2011 for 3 weeks , wasnt half as fast or much fun as they look in movies , and it was very juicey

was so lame i had to have a look in the engine room to check it was a v8 lol

cool big car still , but the power doesnt justify how much fuel they use for the uk , was painfull at u.s prices really

[Camaro]

Just make sure...

Elwood: It's got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks. It's a model made before catalytic converters so it'll run good on regular gas.

(Yeah I know 440 ain't a Ford block but still...)

[tuffer]

I can only imagine that the Police spec ones have serious modifications to the suspension, the one I hired many moons ago was the biggest whallowy beast I have ever driven, a Military DAF 4 tonner was like a Lotus 7 in comparison.

[Roo]

18-20mpg as an average. Mid to high 20's on a run.

A P71 spec car will cost a lot more than a standard Crown Vic and you don't get much more for it. A P72 car has most of the good bits on them from the police spec cars and are a lot cheaper.

Oil and filter change every 5,000 miles will cost about £100. Road tax will be £220 and the insurance is reasonable.



Wish I hadn't sold it.

[Captain Cadillac]

The big selling point of a Crown Vic is that it's the last "real" Full Sized American car, or at least it was... Body on frame, RWD, V8 engined.

They are nearly indestructible, in NYC Taxi service they last for hundreds of thousands of miles and are simple and cheap to fix and service. I'd imagine oil is a fortune in the UK but over here a routine oil change at a Ford dealer is around $30-40 for one of these.

[g3org3y]

tuffer said:

I can only imagine that the Police spec ones have serious modifications to the suspension

That's what my housemate has been quoted.

Apparently (iirc):
- persuit tyres (runflats which can run to 100mph allegedly)
- Reworked suspension (not sure what/how)
- bullet proof bodywork
- not sure if any engine mods
- car will have decals/paint + lightbar, PA system etc

I think the mods take it up to 2 tonnes!

Ballpark figures being quoted are in the region of 13-15k for a ready to go fully loaded examples.

Are suspension components shared with other Ford models (and thus available from UK dealer) or will it be import parts only?

[zubair]

My friend has very good ford crown victoria P171 for sale it on ebay at the moment item no 230815578051 the best one are 03 to 07.the parts for these carsare very cheap the 4.6 v8 is the best engine out there .

[g3org3y]

Just come across this useful thread

Seems like a waste of money to get the 'premium' police spec version. Lots of extra cash for not much actual useful stuff.

Perhaps better to buy a regular example and get it wrapped with the police colours/decals and add the light bar?

zubair said:

My friend has very good ford crown victoria P171 for sale it on ebay at the moment item no 230815578051 the best one are 03 to 07.the parts for these carsare very cheap the 4.6 v8 is the best engine out there .

Who supplies parts for such cars?

[zubair]

you can buy parts for it from any usa spare importers most parts are cheaper then a vw polo.

[Matt Harper]

g3org3y said:

That's what my housemate has been quoted.

Apparently (iirc):
- persuit tyres (runflats which can run to 100mph allegedly)
- Reworked suspension (not sure what/how)
- bullet proof bodywork
- not sure if any engine mods
- car will have decals/paint + lightbar, PA system etc

I think the mods take it up to 2 tonnes!

Ballpark figures being quoted are in the region of 13-15k for a ready to go fully loaded examples.

Are suspension components shared with other Ford models (and thus available from UK dealer) or will it be import parts only?

P71 "Police Interceptor" is nothing like as trick as many make it out to be.
Motor is boggo 4.6 modular + C4 column shift (and a bit puny for a car of this size). Has an oil cooler and trans cooler though.

Suspension is still dire, but has larger poly-bushed sway bars and 'heavy duty' shocks. Steel wheels and slightly more cooling efficient brake discs. Good Year 'police spec' non-run-flat tires.

Interior is carpetless and pleather and invariably smells of puke and piss. Perp-screen severely limits otherwise good rear legroom.

Underpinnings shared with Mercury Grand Marquis and (partially) Lincoln Town Car.

I just do not get the PH allure of this car.

[g3org3y]

Matt Harper said:

P71 "Police Interceptor" is nothing like as trick as many make it out to be.
Motor is boggo 4.6 modular + C4 column shift (and a bit puny for a car of this size). Has an oil cooler and trans cooler though.

Suspension is still dire, but has larger poly-bushed sway bars and 'heavy duty' shocks. Steel wheels and slightly more cooling efficient brake discs. Good Year 'police spec' non-run-flat tires.

Interior is carpetless and pleather and invariably smells of puke and piss. Perp-screen severely limits otherwise good rear legroom.

Underpinnings shared with Mercury Grand Marquis and (partially) Lincoln Town Car.

I just do not get the PH allure of this car.

I didn't expect it to be (technically) any good, especially compared with other equivalent Europeans.

Independent rear suspension or not? Column shift I assume is (4 speed)) auto?

Seems like a better option is a visually tarted up standard model?

Mpg is potentially scary (with no actual trade off of good performance!).

[zubair]

What makes a euro car superior i hear and read about it everwhere do they have a better engine better transmission or a better rear axle better components or they better engineered i really would like to know because in my own experiance most of them are preety ste.

[g3org3y]

zubair said:

What makes a euro car superior i hear and read about it everwhere do they have a better engine better transmission or a better rear axle better components or they better engineered i really would like to know because in my own experiance most of them are preety ste.

All of the above. HTH

[Roo]

[g3org3y]

Thanks Roo, v helpful.

[300bhp/ton]

Matt Harper said:

I just do not get the PH allure of this car.

I don't think there's that much allure, only that they are "off the telly" and films and something you don't get in the UK as a norm.

Personally I quite like them, but I'd class them as a bigger more thirsty Mondeo/Senator type of car rather than a BMW/Jag competitor.

[Matt Harper]

Fair enough - perhaps it's the fact that I've been driven around in far too many yellow ones, weaving through city streets, crashing over kerbs, piloted by swarthy foreign types who can't speak English and don't know where they're going. In fact I just got out of one, having endured a suspensionless, lurching death-ride from IAH Houston to the Galleria. Utter misery.

Where I live, the local Sheriffs office have finally off-loaded their last few Vic's, in favour of Impalas and Chargers. The problem is these cars have such a hard life that unless you get lucky and snag a watch commanders car, they're all dogsh!t by the time they get to public auction.
Orange County also strip off all of the police adenda - including the decals of course. Cabbies like the perp screen and the A-pillar spotlight, so they tend to get left on.

[Roo]

I had a white Impala as a rental in Houston back in 2005.

Because it had DRL's everyone would get out the way each time I drove it on a freeway.

Great fun.

[downthepub]

Another "I had" post, but back in 2007 I had a Lincoln Town Car (off the same platform) as a rental in Texas for a month. I think this particular variant was on run out or had indeed ran out so no wonder the local Avis location where keen to pin it on us. Anyway, whilst it was an "upgrade" and was fun for about 5mins, the poor dynamics quickly took hold and the Ford Fusion (the US one, very different to the UK) it replaced was quickly mourned. The ability to rock suspension whilst gunning the throttle at a standstill was very much cherished with company fuel. The Crown Vic and it's variants are very much a throw back to how 'merican cars used to be (it's on a platform which dates from the 80s), the throwback is good and bad. The good is the icon (perhaps esp to a Brit), but the bad is the intergalactically wallowy suspension and vague and unfast the actuality is.

In my ultimate garage, I'd still have a Crown Vic in full battle colours. Every time, love them.