Keep or Sell my 2008 Crown Vic?

Geez-4 pages on should I keep the dinosaur.....
Your shtick gets old. We get it, you don't like older cars. We also very much understand that you don't think anyone should ever keep a higher mileage car, no matter what. Frankly, I'm just surprised you haven't mentioned the fact that you have a $60k truck yet, and how cool that is.

Seriously, you've said your piece. No one asked for you to elaborate.
 
Really, such as what? What is the superior vehicle in this class? Please be specific, including typical price. I'll wait @CKN

You are right. This vehicle is far superior to anything built in the last 20 years. It is EVERYTHING the amateur shade tree typical BITOG "thrifty" (read cheap) mechanic could long for. It would be foolish to think a Toyota Avalon, or even a Hyundai Sonata is an equal or better vehicle.
 
Your shtick gets old. We get it, you don't like older cars. We also very much understand that you don't think anyone should ever keep a higher mileage car, no matter what. Frankly, I'm just surprised you haven't mentioned the fact that you have a $60k truck yet, and how cool that is.

Seriously, you've said your piece. No one asked for you to elaborate.
That's the beauty of the Internet-you don't need to be asked. Shtick? Lets talk about if my owners manual calls for 5/30w if I can use 10/30w.
 
You are right. This vehicle is far superior to anything built in the last 20 years. It is EVERYTHING the amateur shade tree typical BITOG "thrifty" (read cheap) mechanic could long for. It would be foolish to think a Toyota Avalon, or even a Hyundai Sonata is an equal or better vehicle.
Hyundai ? Um. NO.

Toyota Avalon is a strong alternative. I assume since you don't like "dinosaurs" you are proposing a new one. They are $40,000.

What would the OP gain by a $35,000 loss in a swap from his CV to a new Avalon? Be specific please. Here's my summary/analysis.

Cost of ownership to buy either now and own for the next 20 years significantly favors the CV. The Toyota wins most categories individually, but the CV is the better value for reliable transportation. The difference in HP/Torque is going to be near meaningless in daily driving. 8mpg combined for 200,000 miles is ~ 4000 gallons of gas, representing a big economic edge to the Avalon of $10,200 over 200,000 miles. That is compelling. But factor probably a LOAN on a new car, plus interest, plus more expensive insurance over at least the first 5 years and that probably ends up being a wash or maybe an edge to the CV. Car loans come with fees and interest which is generally ~$10k on this value. The CV is 1/3rd less efficient, but a lot less expensive to own and insure. Let's not forget the $35,000 loss in cost out of the gate...

Let's look at specs.
CV: ~$4000 for a excellent example
Good front crash rating, moderate side crash rating
HP 225
Torque 265
MPG 18 combined, or 11,111 gallons over 200,000 miles. Total at $3 per gallon is $33,333.
Cargo 20.5 cu ft.
Cost to insure, probably 1/2 to 1/4 than a new $40k Avalon.


2021 Avalon: 10x the cost, or $40,000 for V6
Good front and side crash ratings, edge to the Avalon over CV
HP 300
Torque 267
MPG 26 combined is 7,692 gallons over 200,000 miles. Total @ $3 per gallon is $23,076.
Cargo 16 cu ft.
 
Hyundai ? Um. NO.

Toyota Avalon is a strong alternative. I assume since you don't like "dinosaurs" you are proposing a new one. They are $40,000.

What would the OP gain by a $35,000 loss in a swap from his CV to a new Avalon? Be specific please. Here's my summary/analysis.

Cost of ownership to buy either now and own for the next 20 years significantly favors the CV. The Toyota wins most categories individually, but the CV is the better value for reliable transportation. The difference in HP/Torque is going to be near meaningless in daily driving. 8mpg combined for 200,000 miles is ~ 4000 gallons of gas, representing a big economic edge to the Avalon of $10,200 over 200,000 miles. That is compelling. But factor probably a LOAN on a new car, plus interest, plus more expensive insurance over at least the first 5 years and that probably ends up being a wash or maybe an edge to the CV. Car loans come with fees and interest which is generally ~$10k on this value. The CV is 1/3rd less efficient, but a lot less expensive to own and insure. Let's not forget the $35,000 loss in cost out of the gate...

Let's look at specs.
CV: ~$4000 for a excellent example
Good front crash rating, moderate side crash rating
HP 225
Torque 265
MPG 18 combined, or 11,111 gallons over 200,000 miles. Total at $3 per gallon is $33,333.
Cargo 20.5 cu ft.
Cost to insure, probably 1/2 to 1/4 than a new $40k Avalon.


2021 Avalon: 10x the cost, or $40,000 for V6
Good front and side crash ratings, edge to the Avalon over CV
HP 300
Torque 267
MPG 26 combined is 7,692 gallons over 200,000 miles. Total @ $3 per gallon is $23,076.
Cargo 16 cu ft.
You forgot to give the edge to the Avalon for not looking like an undercover detective.
 
That's the beauty of the Internet-you don't need to be asked. Shtick? Lets talk about if my owners manual calls for 5/30w if I can use 10/30w.
If you're bored with the topics here, maybe you should find another board. No one is forcing you to stay here, and no one is asking for your repeated criticisms of cars you don't like or think are too old.
 
You forgot to give the edge to the Avalon for not looking like an undercover detective.

While subjective, the Panther platform is handsome Americana. Legacy of service.

The Avalon looks like every other bland aerodynamic car on the road and most could not identify it from a lineup of other bland cars... I love Toyotas btw, but this is a silly point. If you like throwing away $40,000 on looks, be my guest. And for the record, these new carp or wide-mouth bass looks are so absolutely ugly I don't understand why they are so popular. They are HIDEOUS...

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While subjective, the Panther platform is handsome Americana.
Back when these vehicles were in the production, exports to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia made up most of the non-fleet sales. You had five different trim levels for the Crown Victoria, which included a long wheel base (P70), barebones (P72), base model (P73), LX and the LX Sport (P74). The Grand Marquis also had five different variants, including the LSE and an export only long wheel base model with a "GSL" designation. It was basically your top of the line LS with an additional 6 inches of legroom in the rear. All vehicles were equipped like a Police Interceptor with high output alternators, heavy duty batteries, ATF/PSF and engine oil coolers, H-pipe dual exhaust, heavy duty fixed ratio steering and even Lincoln Town Car seats (velour or leather) with rear air conditioning on the inside. Ford called it the "High Ambient Temp/High Speed Package". The barebones Crown Vic was always a favorite; from the late 90s right up to 2012 you could pick one up brand new, right off the lot for $15,000-$18,000 (depending on year and exchange rate) and a lot of people bought those over the likes of a Camry or an Accord.

Ironically, they were much more appreciated by the Arabs than the Americans and it being "American" was a selling point, despite being built in Canada. Ford even said its dealer in Saudi Arabia was the "top Crown Victoria seller by volume". They had proven themselves time and time again in terms of reliability, comfort and ice cold air conditioning. They are pretty hot on the used car market right now. In fact, the "hottest" nostalgia cars on the used car market in this part of the world right now are old American pick up trucks (80s and older GM products in particular), 70s Buick, Pontiac and Chevrolet muscle cars, '78-'90 Impala/Caprices and Crown Vics. The older ones, prior to decontenting, are deemed more desirable.
 
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CV: ~$4000 for a excellent example
Good front crash rating, moderate side crash rating
HP 225
Torque 265
MPG 18 combined, or 11,111 gallons over 200,000 miles. Total at $3 per gallon is $33,333.
Cargo 20.5 cu ft.
Cost to insure, probably 1/2 to 1/4 than a new $40k Avalon.


2021 Avalon: 10x the cost, or $40,000 for V6
Good front and side crash ratings, edge to the Avalon over CV
HP 300
Torque 267
MPG 26 combined is 7,692 gallons over 200,000 miles. Total @ $3 per gallon is $23,076.
Cargo 16 cu ft.
In 2011 the CV got a moderate side crash rating--in 2021 what would it get? I'm guessing poor, but that's just a guess. Point being, IMO one has to be careful comparing models from very different times.

I wonder what 0-60 and 60-0 is like.
 
Can we get a Mod to lock this thread? OP stated on page 3 that she's going to keep her CV and we're starting to get pretty off-topic and chippy.
 
Keep the car. You know what you have and you like it. That's not to say something else can and/or will go wrong. I'm in the same boat with 335000 miles on my MB diesel. (2005). Things start to go. Cars only worth $2000 -maybe because of the miles. What does it cost to replace it, and you're buying a pig in a poke. Also, the video is great, I've been there on a 2010 Lincoln I have. I'd suggest a 1/4 in drive socket set however-smaller. It's a tough one for someone not interested in doing such work. It can be very frustrating. steve
 
But is that a bad thing, or why does it even matter? New car being a status symbol only works in 3rd world or the slums when it's just a 4dr sedan.
I think the point was: it doesn't look like a cop car and make people slow down around you or otherwise drive differently. You can drive more invisible to everyone else.
 
I know shop mechanics are instructed to carry air bags at an arms distance. I believe capacitors are used in air bag circuitry , which store an electric charge for a significant time. These can energize an air bag wo being connected to a battery. I guess one could wait for the charge to dissipate to be safe but for how long?
Yes the system (or the airbag itself I'm not sure which) apparently does have a capacitor. And that's a good idea - in case the battery somehow gets disconnected before the airbag needs to fire.

@Dave9 says 30 minutes after disconnecting the battery the capacitor can be assumed to be discharged.
 
I think the point was: it doesn't look like a cop car and make people slow down around you or otherwise drive differently. You can drive more invisible to everyone else.
If my vehicle made people drive more safely and consciously, double win!

Why would I want to be more invisible on a public road? Just not distracting and if someone is distracted by what they think is a LEO vehicle, they're probably up to no good anyhow.
 
While subjective, the Panther platform is handsome Americana. Legacy of service.
That is the 100% truth!!

At one time my entire family had [4] 4.6 Panthers. No major issues with any of them in 200-300K miles. We all moved on to the other Full Size vehicles and all of them [GM&Ford] have had more service in the first 100K miles then any Panther had in 300K miles.

There will never be a low maintenance vehicle like the Panther ever again.
 
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