Keep or Sell my 2008 Crown Vic?

I fixed a blend door on a crown vic once. It isn't easy, I didn't remove the dash. There are several how to's on you tube. Be sure and tie a string to your wrench, you are going to drop it a lot. Good luck.
 
I also feel it's worth $1000 to repair your current car. It is a known quantity, reliable and solid and safe. It sounds like you would not even think of selling if it weren't for the repairs needed. Whereas getting a replacement will take time and effort, inconvenience, DMV hassle, etc. You'll have something that is not a known quantity and will have to prove itself over time, and you may regret selling the Vic after all. My $0.02
 
There is something very nice about a Crown Vic in good shape, the way they drive, ride, handle, and feel. And of course, the interior layout is roomy and comfortable (when in good shape). Replacing it with something more modern is not necessarily a bad idea, but you do lose something intangible. In my mind, the CV is the last and best of the big American cars. Short of purchasing a Tesla Model S, which by the way is a foot and a half shorter than the CV, the big American car is gone.

In FL, I purchased a 65,000 mile CV Police car for my friend in CT, and drove it up to him. I loved the 1200 mile road trip in it. He fixed it up, renewed the suspension (I think it was used for curb hopping while chasing criminals) and it's been a fantastic car that drives perfectly. He even went to the junkyard and picked up a luxury leather front seat for it.
 
I would try to find a real good honest independent mechanic and fix it. Blend door is common issue in the Crown Vic. I had that issue but after a week the problem disappeared as it fixed itself. Eventually had to fix the accumulator and had a independent mechanic fix it.

With that said I miss my 05 Crown VIc. Had 300K miles on it as made a ton of trips from Miami-NYC. .

There will never be another low maintenance vehicle like the Ford Panther ever again.
 
Some folks have done it without removing the dash. I only replaced mine when I had the dashboard out for a heater core job, but I'm certainly glad I did. Pulling the dash is very straightforward, but quite time consuming and I like to take my time with interior trim, so I don't break any of the plastics.

If you have another vehicle you can drive, and can tackle this yourself, you will certainly save yourself quite a bit of change.
 
I understand what you are saying, and at the same time, I hope you are wrong. We need more reliable, low maintenance vehicles.

What in the world is "low maintenance"? Just about any vehicle will go 100,000 or 150,000 miles without any thing but normal maintenance.
 
What in the world is "low maintenance"? Just about any vehicle will go 100,000 or 150,000 miles without any thing but normal maintenance.
it means they’re scared of technology

that being said it’s always an uphill battle at this mileage. timing chain guides could be up pretty soon.
 
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it means they’re scared of technology

that being said it’s always an uphill battle at this mileage. timing chain guides could be up pretty soon.
While I appreciate everyone's input, and while I'm very much leaning towards keeping this car for all the reasons above, it's comments like yours that I want to hear also. Although I'm pretty sure the timing chain guides are good because the oil has been kept so clean, at 200,000 miles, what expensive repairs might it need down the road?

I drove a 1986 Crown Vic until around 2008. It started developing metal fatigue. Seats started coming loose. It had a terrible leak around the oil pan seal that would have required lifting the engine to fix. Weird electrical and wiring faults that no one could fix. When it began stalling out around town and two mechanics failed to diagnose the problem, I gave it to my neighbor.

Most of you guys do the work yourself so repairs are trivial. But for me, those same repairs can be big-ticket items.
 
It's in the shop right now. The A/C compressor clutch is working fine, so that's good. There's a freon leak somewhere, they can't see it. They're filling it up and adding dye to find it. They don't expect it to be too expensive of a fix. Fingers crossed...
 
Great news! It's even better than they first thought. When it failed the vacuum test, it turned out that their machine was at fault. They charged it with dyed freon and ran it for an hour plugged into an electronic sniffer. No leak was detected. The freon might have just dissipated after 13 years. They suggest I just drive it and bring it back if it gives me any more problems.

Full car inspection, A/C inspection, freon charge with a new service valve, an oil change using my oil and filter, cleaning the PVC, tire rotation. Out the door for $220.

They agree with you guys that I should keep it. Thanks to everyone for your input. It's much appreciated!
 
It's in the shop right now. The A/C compressor clutch is working fine, so that's good. There's a freon leak somewhere, they can't see it. They're filling it up and adding dye to find it. They don't expect it to be too expensive of a fix. Fingers crossed...

My 05 Crown Vic did the exact same thing. In my case it was the Accumulator. Took the independent mechanic awhile to find it. He keep putting Freon and Dye in for weeks till he finally found it.
 
Why would you sell a perfectly good panther? Wonderful cars. One of the few cars always on my radar when it comes time to look for a replacement.
 
What in the world is "low maintenance"? Just about any vehicle will go 100,000 or 150,000 miles without any thing but normal maintenance.
Some models require new spark plugs at 30-50k while others can go 100-120k miles on a set of plugs. This is just one example :)
 
I changed the plugs in my 05 Vic at 170K miles. They still looked good. There was zero difference in any kind of performance after the new Motorcraft plugs went in. I ran only 87 octane Mobil.
I pulled one plug out of Whitey Ford, my '05 Crown Vic at about 55k miles. Looked almost brand new. Very hard to tell any difference between it and a new one on the combustion chamber side. Stuck it right back in.
 
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