Could be a flood car.

Ah, another crown vic owner on here If you are interested there are two good sites, www.crownvic.org and www.crownvic.net. You can take brakes from a 98+ and put them on your 96.

John

One nice feature of the coupes, any coupe really, is the fact that there is no side pillar right next to your head. This gives better side vision and a bit more "spaciousness" and airiness. No pillars means you can have one big opening during summer drives with all the windows open.
A drawback is trying to open the side doors in a tight parking spot (the only coupes I've ever owned were a 1972 Delta 88 and a 1971 T-bird.)

__________________
Bob Roe
Lehigh Valley PA USA
1973 Olds 88, 1972 MB 280SE, 1978 Datsun 280Z, 1971 Ford T-Bird, 1972 Olds 88, 1983 Nissan Sentra, 1985 Sentra, 1973 230.6, 1990 Acura Integra, 1991 Volvo 940GLE wagon, 1983 300SD, 1984 300SD, 1995 Subaru Legacy L wagon, 2002 Mountaineer, 1991 300TE wagon, 2008 Murano, 2007 R320CDI 4Matic 52K, some Hyundai, 2008 BMW 535xi wagon, all gone... currently
2007 Honda Odyssey Touring, 2014 E350 4matic

Nate, negotiate for a lower price as you would with any car. There are many reasons that the car at one time may have had a salvage title-many of them have nothing to do with floods or wrecks. Ask to see the title. I'll bet it is not a salvage title at all but a Rebuilt title. See if he knows the history. If I lived where you do, I be all over that car like a chicken on a June Bug!!!
Bill Rokaitis
1985 300SD 151,000 miles young.

turbodiesel,
thanks for the info on the C Vic siites- I have reaserched the brake upgrade, big downside is that the bigger rotors and calipers also require 17" wheels. Another big gripe I have with the car is that the door panels only have 2 screws attaching them to the doors, the rest is up to a bunch of plastic hooks molded in the door panel, which are failing on the driver's side. New ones are 800 bucks at the dealer.
My real poing of conention is that Ford has done little to fix the design in later cars.

I recently had the pleasure of test driving a 300SD in Monterey that was well cared for, owner asking 3900- I realized then that I'd be much better off selling the Vic and plowing that money into a well-maintained 300SD--- there's no comparison. @ reasons I didn't buy the SD- it had a noisy rear end and it had lots'o'blowby, 234K on the original motor.

Sixto- thans for the hint about coverage. I didn't even think of that angle! I probably wouldn't have collision on this car, but comp will be an issue.

Robert, I feel your pain, I had a '79 Cordoba. Doors big enough to sleep in. At least the CD is really a compact compared to that.

To ALL, I will keep you posted. Seller eas not in on Friday, will check back Monday.

Thanks!!
Nate

To all,

Re the insurability of a Salvage vehicle-- I checked with my local State Farm office, and was told that the underwriters advised her that SF will insure any salvage vehicle as long as it is repaired to what they referred to as 'industry standards'. When I pressed for clarification, the person I talked to was not given a definition of that term.

I guess if the car is repaired and does not show obvious poor workmanship, it will be OK- and the CD in question has all original paint.

When I contacted the seller again on Monday, he informed me that he saw no suspension or frame damage, and believes that the car got this as a result of going through a lien sale.


Nate

"Salvage" certainly means no warranty and perhaps no guarantee the car can be registered for use on public roads in its present condition. Nate, I think your move into a sales discussion
here rather than a repair item or DIYer inquiry. The `83 300CD has a story to tell but the challenge is to discover what it might be. Something tells me the fundamentals are not what they should be at the front-end of this transation. At least much, much more is needed to be known.

Zero value (for sellers records) could mean he is legally giving you the car so he has no income from the "deal" to put in his books on which he may have to pay any business income tax or sales tax. If so, both you and he could be in jeopardy of prosecution for fraud (tax evasion).

If this former "mercedes" no longer has DMV value as a "vehicle" but is now a mere collection of glass, paint, rubber, electronic wiggles, carpet, upholstry fiber, plastics, resins, metals, leather byproducts, wood, various hazardous fluids plus carbon deposits, then one should realistically look upon this "item" for what it now appears to actually be. From all list ensuings, it is near-impossible to know for fully certain what is being proposed. It remains a mystery. Since so much remains "unknown" about sales issues &
the particular unit, the conservative posture would be to move on
and keep looking elsewhere; there's always another car out there. And yes, there are always a few good coupe`models as well.