LOL, please no flaming.

I rented a signature Town Car twice this year. Once while in Las Vegas, and a second time when I visited my parents in Austin Texas. I really enjoyed driving these, but don't know much about them: reliability, cost of operating etc. The ride was a bit more "floaty" then I'm used to, but it sure felt big and safe.

Anybody here have any experience with these cars?

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1994 C 280 117.5k, White (Good as new)
1997 Toyota Camry 149k Miles (Not so pretty anymore)

1990 190e 2.6 95k (Sold-Should not have)
1981 240d Stick ??? Miles...sold

It's essentially a rebodied Ford Crown Victoria on a slightly stretched frame. The 4.6 SOHC engine has been around since the '91 Town Car and has also been in use in the '92+ Crown Vic/Mercury Grand Marquis, including fleet versions of these vehicles. Probably the best part of the entire car. Not a rocket engine, but smooth and extremely durable (My 1999 Ford Expedition had this very engine, and ran flawlessly for the 94,000 miles I drove it). Definitely old school-tech, but battle-tested. Best purchased slightly used, as it's generally seen as somewhat less desirable than the more powerful front-drive deVille, and depreciates a little more quickly than the Cadillac as a result.

My opinion is that the Lincoln Towncar / Ford Crown Vic / Mercury Grand Marquis are probably the most fully perfected engineered cars on the planet.

They've been using the same basic platform and engine for about 15 years, and have been perfected over time.

Further, most of these cars have seen the heaviest duty imaginable in service car fleets, taxis and police cars.

I have personally ridden in a Lincoln Towncar in New York that drove me to the airport that had over 500,000 miles on it, was in immaculate condition, and was quiet and vibration / rattle free in the interior.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

wow. not bad for a ford

Yeah, no kidding. And talking about Fords, I've been in a number of Crown Vic taxis in the 200,000 - 300,000 mile range.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

they are pretty well made for sure.

kindof big though.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I almost bought a 2003 Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. It was black and white with a big ass pushbar on the front. I should have bought it.. noone would ever pass me in that car.

you'd pass everything.....

except the gas station.

those ex police cruisers are bruisers, but less than 10 mpg was not uncommon a decade ago. probably more like 12 now!

i rode in a cab in i think chicago about ten years back. the cabbie was a middle easterner (sleeper terrorist?). his car was an ex police with 300k plus on it as i remember. he said it was still pretty reliable.

i always like to talk with folks like that. you would be surprised what you can learn.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Wonder if they still blow up if they get rear ended? I swear I remember seeing a dateline about the Ford's still exploding upon rear impact.

The craftsmanship was there IMO. I disliked the column shifter, but that was about the only annoying thing. I liked the exterior styling, but wonder how dated it would look 5 yrs down the road.

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1994 C 280 117.5k, White (Good as new)
1997 Toyota Camry 149k Miles (Not so pretty anymore)

1990 190e 2.6 95k (Sold-Should not have)
1981 240d Stick ??? Miles...sold

Yeah, I think Ford tried to solve the tank problem by putting a rubber bladder around the tank. Not sure how well the fix works, though.

My dad has a Town Car and so do many of my firends (3). They all love them. One friend has one called the "country club edition", white with white leather, heated seats, a great car for road trips. Pick one up you'll probably like it. I don't like those column shifters either but it frees up the floor and the space between the seats and I think thats why they still roll with that style, you can seat 3 up front if you have to, too. Hard to beat for the money and reliable, repairs aren't cheap though.

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1984 300D turbo, 250K
1971 MGBGT, 101K
2007 VW Jetta, 4K

the collumn shifter and a bench seat will allow your honey to sit right up close.

the only drawback is you will slide around more on vigorous cornering.

oh i forgot, it is a lincoln. no problem from vigorous cornering!

actually they aren't that bad.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Sort of an ultra luxury Crown Victoria/Grand Marquis. www.crownvic.net

FoMoCo actaully considered dropping them this year but stopped when the livery compainies begain wailing.

Actually they are good cars in the traditional American idiom, plush, big floaty, large body on frame cast iron push rod V8, body on frame sloppyhandling, roomy cars that last a long time.

Very popular with senior citizens and rental fleets, livery companies and politicians.

With care they can last 500,000 miles, That's real good if you ask me.

I almost thought of buying a brand new 2007 Grand Marquis today, the Sacramento dealer has two of them on offer for only $18,000. (MSRP usually is $25,800 onthem, they must be desparate to move them) That's a LOT of value for the money. You get full size room for six, a huge trunk, a v8, ABS 4 wheel disk brakes, safety, reliability, 25 mpg, a car any dribble chin gas station mechanic could work on, reasonable comfort, reasonable safety, good standard equipment, Cruise control, PW, PL, analog guages, 234 hp, and nice looks. Trouble is I would have to sell the Mercedes and the '95 Subaru Outback and come up with a little cash to do it.

I started looking around the internet and the Mercedes cried to me outside, and suddenly the computer crashed. I took it as a sign not to buy a new car today.

I'm tempted on the Grand Marquis, for the price. but I don't like them in the color offered (white)

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Biggest problem with them is depreciation. Own one for a year and you'll lose your butt - own one for several years and it'll be worth nothing at all.

You can mitigate all this by buying a good, used one for cheap.

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

I actually want to quit my job at the grocery store and go to the high scale resort that is close to my house and apply as a valet or something like that.


I just applied for Personal Concierge.

I have a 1998 Continental with 88K miles on it so far. It's the same car as these other models underneath. I get about 18MPG around town in it. I had to replace all the ignition coils after I bought it, but haven't had too much trouble with it since.

It's nice to know we still build a few things here in the US (I guess it was built here) that are well-made and last for a while.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles