I had a friend who fell on hard times and needed a car. One thing led to another and I was able to gift her with an ex-police car Crown Vic. I did have to track down an intake manifold for her after a few years, which apparently was difficult since the police version uses a different part than the consumer ones, but the local sheriff's office was able to help with that. Great car. And she had a lot of fun with it. Who wouldn't have fun with a police car? Fun fact: Most Crown Vic police cars are all keyed alike. She helped some poor local cop get back into his cruiser after he locked his keys in it. He was floored that her key fit his car.For the last 25 years I ran Fords with a 4.6 liter engine, a 1999 Crown Vic I bought new in 1998, and a 2008 I bought used from my dad around 2017. Neither needed any major repairs, only wear items, tires, brakes, tie rod ends. The Crown Vic did need a fuel pump at about 200,000 miles, and an intake manifold when it was about 12 - 14 years old. I don't recall how many miles it had when it got totaled in a rear impact accident, that's when I got my dad's Grand Marquis, that now has over 300,000 miles on her.
That's another issue.... Turbo-charged engines to comply with new regulations. An efficient V6 with no turbo just lasts and lasts. Engine laid back in its power delivery. A Turbo-charged engine is like a crazed Meth Head tearing off all his clothes and running around for 10 minutes faster than a cheetah before dropping dead because his heart literally exploded from a massive overdose. Turbos were never meant for passenger vehicles. Performance cars only. The kind that go through a set of tires per every two laps on a race track. Nowadays they're being bolted onto engines that you'd expect to find in a Riding Mower! So you get all of the headaches of a Turbo, including lack of longevity, with practically none of the performance!I wish environmental regs focused on reliability and durability of the vehicle. The amount of resources it takes to build a brand new car is enormous compared to keeping one on the road. What good is an efficient car if it gets sent to the scrapyard in 5 years? You won't see any older Kia/Hyundais on the road.
My 1st car… 1961 For Fairlane Police Interceptor… Ex Iowa State Police Car, 2-door, 390ci, 330hp, 427lb, 3 on-the-tree (moved to floor).. factory bucket seats, all black with the spotlight… Bought off of a friend of my brother, for $300 and a ride to LAX in 1964.. It made people nervous when I would drive up on them from the rear… It still looked like a police car… The trunk was enormous, it would hold 3 friends on a trip to the drive in or Lions Drag Strip.I had a friend who fell on hard times and needed a car. One thing led to another and I was able to gift her with an ex-police car Crown Vic. I did have to track down an intake manifold for her after a few years, which apparently was difficult since the police version uses a different part than the consumer ones, but the local sheriff's office was able to help with that. Great car. And she had a lot of fun with it. Who wouldn't have fun with a police car? Fun fact: Most Crown Vic police cars are all keyed alike. She helped some poor local cop get back into his cruiser after he locked his keys in it. He was floored that her key fit his car.
awesome 61, my 61 original paint VW bus turned to 60,000 a while back, which means it has 160,000.My 1st car… 1961 For Fairlane Police Interceptor… Ex Iowa State Police Car, 2-door, 390ci, 330hp, 427lb, 3 on-the-tree (moved to floor).. factory bucket seats, all black with the spotlight… Bought off of a friend of my brother, for $300 and a ride to LAX in 1964.. It made people nervous when I would drive up on them from the rear… It still looked like a police car… The trunk was enormous, it would hold 3 friends on a trip to the drive in or Lions Drag Strip.…
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Butch
That’s fantastic! 160K miles isn’t much for a ‘61…awesome 61, my 61 original paint VW bus turned to 60,000 a while back, which means it has 160,000.
Cool thread. I've missed hanging out on CPF. Update. After I retired, we 'retired' the Camry and the Prius. Sold the Camry to a couple for their daughter - it had 245,000 miles on it, and we see that family at church regularly, and the Camry is still going strong. Nothing but routine maintenance. Original brakes and hybrid batteries. I sold the Prius to a young couple in graduate school - it had ~184k on it. I have little doubt that it's still going strong. Bought my wife a 2024 RAV4 Hybrid (had 10k on it) - basically the same drivetrain as the Camry. Little car gets 40MPG regularly.2013 Camry XLE Hybrid - 208,000 and going strong
2013 Prius V - 138,000 and going strong
My ‘newest’ ride - 2004 Land Cruiser - 263,000 and going strong!
I'm seriously looking at the possibility of a slightly older Lexus V6 IS350 as the replacement for my Mazda 6 V6 sSport trim in the next three years.
We're looking at replacing our 2018 Mazda 6 Signature with a Lexus LS. Sadly, it appears Lexus has lost their way and has discontinued the LS. We like the Mazda 6, but it's one category too small interior and trunk wise for what we need. The VW Passat was perfect for this, but alas, German "quality" means those cars need major repairs around 100k miles.
www.lexus.com
www.lexus.com
Sometimes considerably sooner than that, unfortunately.We're looking at replacing our 2018 Mazda 6 Signature with a Lexus LS. Sadly, it appears Lexus has lost their way and has discontinued the LS. We like the Mazda 6, but it's one category too small interior and trunk wise for what we need. The VW Passat was perfect for this, but alas, German "quality" means those cars need major repairs around 100k miles.