Welcome to the Crown Vics ETC blog!

On April 6, 2000, I purchased a 1998 Ford Crown Victoria LX HPP with 23,490 miles. I decided to start a little website for it featuring a running log of my experiences with the car. Vic 1.0 was retired in 2015 due to rust and electrical issues. Vic 2.0 was a 2006 P71 in Blue Pearl that belonged to my boyfriend. It was a Ford demo and never saw actual police use. It was damaged in September of 2018 with well over 186,000 miles. It was replaced by Vic 3.0 in October 2018, a 2008 P71 in Silver Birch with 120,971 miles. To read posts prior to 2010, click a link at right, or go to Crown Vics, ETC.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

US closes Ford steering probe without recall | Fox News

US closes Ford steering probe without recall | Fox News


U.S. safety regulators have
closed an investigation into steering problems in more than 500,000 Ford
full-size cars without seeking a recall.


The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began
investigating problems in the 2004 through 2007 Ford Crown Victoria and
Mercury Grand Marquis and Marauder cars in July.
The agency was looking
into complaints that a heat shield could rust, dislodge and cause the
steering shaft to jam.



Investigators reviewed 18 complaints about the problem and found that
it occurred infrequently, only in 1.6 vehicles per 100,000. The agency
says one report of a rollover crash on a highway entrance ramp could not
be verified.


The agency also says six of the complaints came from one state police
agency which fixed the problems and hasn't had any further trouble.


Thursday, September 11, 2014

No way... really???

Filled up the tank, reset the trip odometer, and look what I saw:


Now, that is NOTHING compared to, say, a 2014 Ford Focus, but for a 16 year old full size sedan with a 4.6 V8... In fact, that distance-to-empty is the highest I've seen so far. 

Monday, June 23, 2014

UPDATE: Slow Leak...

One of my tires has had a slow leak for a few days, and today Todd took it off the car and sure enough, there was a screw head in the tread.  After removing it, it took three attempts to get the hole plugged, thanks to all tire patch kits seemingly being Chinese garbage.  But, plugged it is, and at laft is the offending bit of metal...

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

UPDATE: Ready for spring

Vic is ready for spring.  Snow tires are off and alloys are on!  Which means I can take corners faster now... The front snow tires are trash, with cracks on the sidewalls.  They will be junked as soon as I can get them off the rims.  The warm weather Goodyear RS-A's still look great.  Mobil 1 oil/filter change was done on the 18th.

Thing is, the rust on the front fenders really is getting on my nerves.  People now comment on it.  It kills me to drive a car that no longer looks perfect...

Also, I think that the rear shocks need to be replaced.  It's hard to describe why I think so.  Chaulk it up to having driven the car for 14 years now.  I just know.

Yes, hard to believe, but Vic and I have been together for 14 years.  Last month, I ALMOST replaced him with a P71, but we got outbid.  I will have to make a move at some point, though, because as the car wears out, and I get poorer, I may not have the money to replace it in the future.  The economy stinks, and in Massachusetts you can't get a decent job without a college education now.  Employers can pick and choose from a vast amount of applicants. 

Quite frankly, I no longer want to work FOR someone.  I'd love to work for MYSELF.  Because as I always say, the only person you can really count on is YOURSELF.

143,000 Miles


Saturday, April 5, 2014

Yahoo! Motoramic Says Crown Victoria a "high quality, low-cost used car"

(SOURCE:  https://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/the-top-10-high-quality--low-cost-used-cars-that-mechanics-buy-192211682.html)

Ford Crown Victoria: The Lincoln Town Car and Mercury Grand Marquis are based on the same platform. For those just looking for a beater, and don't drive very much, the price of a government issued Crown Vic is the cheapest durable buy you can find on a pound-per-pound basis. Government surplus auction models that haven't seen police duty are tough to beat.

* what do they mean, "don't drive very much"??

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Greenlight Releases 1/18 Police Interceptors with Lights, Sound

Greenlight, one of the better diecast manufacturers, is releasing 1/18 scale Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors with lights and sound!  For more info, visit their website at www.greenlighttoys.com

Thursday, January 9, 2014

UPDATE: Sealed and Delivered...

Windshields for late Vics come with the black rubber trim already attached, unlike the '88 Grand Marquis I had, which involved prying off chrome trim.

About a month ago, I noticed that the black trim on Vic's windshield was loose at the top-center.  After all these years and multiple windshields, I've never had this happen.  I've seen the trim come off the bottom of the rear windows, but not like this.  At first, I thought it would snug back down and that would be that.  But that wasn't that.  I could see that water was seeming under the trim, instead of rolling over it.  Just a little, but enough to make me worry.  I couldn't decide if I should try and fix the problem myself, or call up my glass people.  Instead I decided to wait and see if the cold weather, ice & snow caused the trim to lift more.

It did.  So did a car wash.  Water got under the trim, iced up, and lifted it off.

So I made the call, and on a windy 17ยบ day, a man from Precision Glass came out to see what could be done.  I didn't stay out there to watch, but I did periodically peek through the kitchen door to see what he was up to.  He seemed to use the same stuff that is used to do the actual window installation.  Sort of a black goo that they warm up in the van so it will flow.  It took him about 15 minutes, wasn't messy, and so far, has worked.  And it didn't cost me anything, either, which was a BIG help.

I need Vic to last as long as possible, and I didn't want water getting into the window frame and causing rust.  It has been too cold to really get a good look at the work he did, but so far, so good.

Just another chapter in the life of Vic...