Got my first car...Chrysler 300M Special! Finally! Picture time!

  • Thread starter Thread starter CDailey
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That's where the P71 is a good idea. The insurance may as well be nothing, the parts for it cost next to nothing...
 
Old cop cars are ragged on though, cops never turn them off and they don't really care how they drive them because they aren't their cars. I worked for the City of Auburn Hills for a couple summers and I've seen what sort of abuse these cars have taken, I wouldn't recommend buying one to anyone unless it was dirt cheap. I saw many things going wrong with cars with 10,000 miles on them, granted they were Dodge Chargers but it really can't be any different with anything else.

Also gas is becoming $4 a gallon, is a big V8 car really the best idea right now?
 
I'd suggest the Interceptor too... I was just looking at them, and I wonder if you got pulled over, you could impersonate an officer?

I wouldn't try it, but I still wonder if it would work :D
 
Joey D
Old cop cars are ragged on though, cops never turn them off and they don't really care how they drive them because they aren't their cars. I worked for the City of Auburn Hills for a couple summers and I've seen what sort of abuse these cars have taken, I wouldn't recommend buying one to anyone unless it was dirt cheap. I saw many things going wrong with cars with 10,000 miles on them, granted they were Dodge Chargers but it really can't be any different with anything else.

Also gas is becoming $4 a gallon, is a big V8 car really the best idea right now?
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There's where you're wrong. Its quite proven that Ford's V8's are reliable when maintained--which is what most city/state/etc municipality cars are. These cars are designed to be "left on" and or idle forever. That's why there are oil and transmission fluid coolers as well as a beefier alternator and the like. The sheer POINT of the P71 is reliability and ruggedness. I get quite cross when someone mistakenly assumes these cars are unreliable. Not only have I owned one but having worked for a Ford dealer for nearly 4 years I can attest that they are infact as reliable as a wood burning stove when maintained--which is what they usually are. The only problems I've encountered are heater cores needing to be fixed and or bypassed on high mileage (150k+) '96-99 models that weren't being maintained properly.

sLg
I'd suggest the Interceptor too... I was just looking at them, and I wonder if you got pulled over, you could impersonate an officer?

I wouldn't try it, but I still wonder if it would work :D
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I was pulled over and inspected once in mine, the only thing they were looking for were "undercover" strobe lights. It is absolutely not illegal to own, drive, and possess this car. Push bar, spot lights, Police Interceptor badge, and the lot are perfectly legal. Red/blue/green flashing lights however are not (and amber is illegal if you aren't a utility worker)--also "undercover" strobe lights fabbed into the head and tail light housings are not legal if they were done by the city/state municipality. You could theoretically do it yourself but that is asking for trouble--just consider the car and you'll realize why you shouldn't. Buy one then have it inspected by a DPS officer and you'll be ok. Also don't forget to have the front tint checked--my car had 5% tint all the way around as it was an undercover car. For civilians that's not legal (in the front). Also in Texas as a civilian you cannot have more than 2 antennas on your car.

My advise for people wanting to buy one is the following:
  • Buy it, you'll love it
  • Remove the spot light(s)
  • Remove the Police Interceptor badge
  • Remove any strobe, red, blue, green, and amber lights
  • Remove any cage or backseat partition
  • Remove all but the radio antenna (on some models they are integrated into the glass)
  • Do not wear any Police like clothing--IE Police blue looking shirts, your state's DPS/Trooper colors, and most importantly do not have a badge or something that could be mistaken as a badge in your possession
  • It is fashionable to wear an FBI or Sherriff shirt--just don't do it its not worth getting arrested for a misunderstanding
  • Concentrate on doing mods to it that aren't leaning towards making it look like a Police car
  • DO NOT act like a cop, in other words do not sit places at night with your lights off where normal cops would be and don't ever give the impression that you are a cop, it is a jailable offense


Follow those simple suggestions and you should be left alone.

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Oh, and if the car is paid for and the insurance is cheap (which is is) why should you care about gas mileage? I don't care about it much in my Camaro. I comment on it but it doesn't REALLY bother me.
 
Awww... maybe I'll go really BE a cop, then xD. I know someone with an undercover Tahoe. But, are the Interceptor badges illegal?

Anyway, this isn't my thread, so good luck, CDailey.
 
JCE
There's where you're wrong. Its quite proven that Ford's V8's are reliable when maintained--which is what most city/state/etc municipality cars are.
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:lol: That is possibly the funniest thing I've heard in a long long long time. Seriously go work for a municipality and see how they treat and maintain their vehicles. Auburn Hills has cop cars in the shop all the time for all sorts of things.

The sheer POINT of the P71 is reliability and ruggedness. I get quite cross when someone mistakenly assumes these cars are unreliable. Not only have I owned one but having worked for a Ford dealer for nearly 4 years I can attest that they are infact as reliable as a wood burning stove when maintained--which is what they usually are. The only problems I've encountered are heater cores needing to be fixed and or bypassed on high mileage (150k+) '96-99 models that weren't being maintained properly.
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If they were taken care of is the key phrase there, which most of them are not. They aren't though, at least not in Michigan. I've known people who have bought retired MSP vehicles only to have them die after a short period of time. Yes I get it, you enjoy the car, which is fine, but you seem to overlook that cops just don't give a damn about them and neither do the mechanics working for them.
 
Not every cop is an idiot who beats on their mode of transportation. Not all mechanics are corrupt idiots who could care less about what the cops are driving.


I wish I could say that every (name removed by mod) wasn't an assuming idiot, but then I'd be wrong too.
 
TopHat
Not every cop is an idiot who beats on their mode of transportation. Not all mechanics are corrupt idiots who could care less about what the cops are driving.
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I'm sure they are cops who care, but honestly most city employees are pretty similar. Many of the guys I worked with at Auburn Hills all said the same thing about previous cities they were employed with. I'm going to trust the guys that work in the industry over the opinion of a few on the internet.

I also never said they were corrupt, you probably should quit saying false information.
 
I'd say go for the Starion... They're cool just because they are. You never see them anymore. Thing is, parts are probably quite expensive, and I can't imagine insurance rates being any better, but whatever.
 
Joey D
:lol: That is possibly the funniest thing I've heard in a long long long time. Seriously go work for a municipality and see how they treat and maintain their vehicles. Auburn Hills has cop cars in the shop all the time for all sorts of things.
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Its not the rest of the country's fault that your cops and your mechanics are dullards who don't know how to properly maintain and operate a motor vehicle. I don't konw how large Auburn Hills is but its a pretty good bet that my dealer--which resides in the DFW area--deals with a HUGE amount more volume than yours does. I've personally seen other munips' fleet cars--not to mention the local auction houses who sell these retired cruisers--and they (the cars) are not the dogs you paint them out to be.

If they were taken care of is the key phrase there, which most of them are not. They aren't though, at least not in Michigan. I've known people who have bought retired MSP vehicles only to have them die after a short period of time. Yes I get it, you enjoy the car, which is fine, but you seem to overlook that cops just don't give a damn about them and neither do the mechanics working for them.
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Your people you know who've bought these cars failed in one of two areas to get those timebombs. One, they bought cars that were driven far beyond the required maintinance period and then sent to auction before reconditioning. Two, recieved vehicles that were previous wrecked or neglected and driven with high mileage. It does happen, but the percentages at least here locally are VERY small of someone getting a timebomb. I still maintain that in my experience which I will definately assume is more than yours since I do work at a Ford dealer is that a P71 is a good buy and is infact reliable. Get to know your local auctioneers, schedule a test drive/inspection. Anyone who buys these without an inspection and or test drive is not very smart.

TopHat
Not every cop is an idiot who beats on their mode of transportation. Not all mechanics are corrupt idiots who could care less about what the cops are driving.
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This is quite correct. Most of these munip's send their cars to local Ford dealers--at least around here do. And I'd imagine large cities of more than 100,000 people would probably do the same thing.

I wish I could say that every (name removed by mod) wasn't an assuming idiot, but then I'd be wrong too.
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:lol: True.

Joey D
I'm sure they are cops who care, but honestly most city employees are pretty similar. Many of the guys I worked with at Auburn Hills all said the same thing about previous cities they were employed with. I'm going to trust the guys that work in the industry over the opinion of a few on the internet.
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I'm going to assume that my experience in the actual field of this discussion and the mechanics at my Ford dealer who have a degree to work on Fords is superior to people's opinion on the interweb.

Personal attacks, how very childish, but what can you expect? It's a car, get over yourself.
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Get a grip, he wasn't insulting you personally. Infact he was being sarcastic about the whole thing. I saw it clearly.

By the way you violated the AUP with that statement
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To use an American phrase, "taddle telling"? Seems equally as "childish" as you put it, and infact you are a hypocrite yourself because you just called him "childish"--which is a violation of the AUP as well.
 
JCE
Its not the rest of the country's fault that your cops and your mechanics are dullards who don't know how to properly maintain and operate a motor vehicle. I don't konw how large Auburn Hills is but its a pretty good bet that my dealer--which resides in the DFW area--deals with a HUGE amount more volume than yours does. I've personally seen other munips' fleet cars--not to mention the local auction houses who sell these retired cruisers--and they (the cars) are not the dogs you paint them out to be.
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Never said it was going to be the same for all areas and I didn't say they were bad cars. If you manage to find one that works just fine I would imagine you wouldn't have all that many issues, I don't know. I just know how they are treated around here, which I would make a wager to say they are probably treated similarly in other areas.

Your people you know who've bought these cars failed in one of two areas to get those timebombs. One, they bought cars that were driven far beyond the required maintinance period and then sent to auction before reconditioning. Two, recieved vehicles that were previous wrecked or neglected and driven with high mileage. It does happen, but the percentages at least here locally are VERY small of someone getting a timebomb. I still maintain that in my experience which I will definately assume is more than yours since I do work at a Ford dealer is that a P71 is a good buy and is infact reliable. Get to know your local auctioneers, schedule a test drive/inspection. Anyone who buys these without an inspection and or test drive is not very smart.
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I don't know what conditions he bought the car under so I can't comment on this. I still don't think it is the best buy for CDailey, the Volvo is probably the best but the Starion is probably the most fun.

The cars around here are worked on either by a city or country garage, not by the dealer.

Get a grip, he wasn't insulting you personally. Infact he was being sarcastic about the whole thing. I saw it clearly.

To use an American phrase, "taddle telling"? Seems equally as "childish" as you put it, and infact you are a hypocrite yourself because you just called him "childish"--which is a violation of the AUP as well.
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We have rules and they need to be upheld, divulging personal information such as a last name is against the AUP which is why I posted it. If we fail to follow such rules put into place by the organisation then that is when things turn out poorly.

And if he has a problem with what I said then he can use the report button at his digressions. Since you feel it is in the wrong I will edit it accordingly.
 
That was a bit harsh, Joey. JCE, it's ''tattle telling''.

The Saab looks nice.. MOBB deep drove a Saab sedan in the Shook Ones Pt. 2 video.
 
The Saab would be a good car, with low miles. I'd prefer a Volvo over the Saab however.

What about this FTW?

1984 Celica "Supra":
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My favorite non-MR2 Toyota ever.

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Scratch that, it IS my favorite Toyota ever.

*edit 2*
AND, in that color and trim!
 
My mom had one of those when I was a kid (her's was an 82), thing ran for well over 200,000 miles and only leaked a small bit of oil. Also the power antenna crapped out but Michigan winters will kill anything like that. I see nothing wrong with those other then finding one in decent condition somewhere, every one I see now is rusted and looks broken.
 
Damn man, buy that Celica Supra :D

Or one of these P71 things. Anytime anyone brings up a "What car should I buy thread" 1/2 the people posting in the thread suggest a P71 and the other half suggest a Miata. Listen to these people.

And stay the hell away from Volvos. Anything later than a 240 is not worth your time. They will go wrong and cost a fair amount of money. I work at a dealer which amoung other marques, sells Volvos. So I've seen many of them go wrong. The newer they are, the more often and more catastrophically they will expire.
 
On the issues of insurance...every car I've got a quote for (Starion, P71, Volvo, and I think one other car)...every quote was between $128 and $132/mo for a 19 year old male on his own who has had his license for less than a year. I won't be making payments on the car as it will be payed for in cash, and I'll be living with my aunt, so all money I make will go towards insurance, improvements on the car, and random bills around the house.

On the issues of P71s...Joey (or anyone really, but Joey specificly), go read crownvic.net. Not a single person complaining about a badly maintained Vic. If you shop around and inspect it yourself before you buy it, you won't end up with a ****ty car. Mechanics say the wear and tear on P71s are twice what the odometer says. There's a reason these things are the taxi of choice pretty much everywhere, and are still running strong with 400k on the odo. If these weren't bullet proof, they wouldnt be the major choice for police departments for the past 20 years. The only reason people are switching now are because of an incident in the past year or so of exploding gas tanks, and Ford is killing the Panther platform in 2010.

I would like the Starion, but honestly, it's too old. The interior just doesnt do it for me, and i HATE HATE HATE those automatic seatbelts. They have been proven to be unsafe anyway. I only even considered it because its A) Rare, and B) I think they look damn sexy.

Also, EVERYONE please keep your arguing and **** out of my thread please? Mmkay?
 
I believe we should calm it down in here. when AUP violation accusations are being thrown about, things have gone too far.

Granted, the thing I don't like abut the Crown Vic is it's transmission. Slushy box.
 
CDailey
On the issues of insurance...every car I've got a quote for (Starion, P71, Volvo, and I think one other car)...every quote was between $128 and $132/mo for a 19 year old male on his own who has had his license for less than a year. I won't be making payments on the car as it will be payed for in cash, and I'll be living with my aunt, so all money I make will go towards insurance, improvements on the car, and random bills around the house.

On the issues of P71s...Joey (or anyone really, but Joey specificly), go read crownvic.net. Not a single person complaining about a badly maintained Vic. If you shop around and inspect it yourself before you buy it, you won't end up with a ****ty car. Mechanics say the wear and tear on P71s are twice what the odometer says. There's a reason these things are the taxi of choice pretty much everywhere, and are still running strong with 400k on the odo. If these weren't bullet proof, they wouldnt be the major choice for police departments for the past 20 years. The only reason people are switching now are because of an incident in the past year or so of exploding gas tanks, and Ford is killing the Panther platform in 2010.

I would like the Starion, but honestly, it's too old. The interior just doesnt do it for me, and i HATE HATE HATE those automatic seatbelts. They have been proven to be unsafe anyway. I only even considered it because its A) Rare, and B) I think they look damn sexy.

Also, EVERYONE please keep your arguing and **** out of my thread please? Mmkay?
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Can you hop on your Aunt's insurance? That should bring the price down by at least 50 bucks.
 
Omnis
Can you hop on your Aunt's insurance? That should bring the price down by at least 50 bucks.
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Possibly, but I'm more than likely going to hop on my moms insurance. I was just getting quotes to see a rough idea of what it was going to cost me.
 
Jim Prower
Granted, the thing I don't like abut the Crown Vic is it's transmission. Slushy box.
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Just bolt in a manual tranny from a Mustang of the same year (V8 version) and fab up mounts/driveshaft/pedal assembly/clutch cylinder brackets and you should be good to go (maybe some electronics as well...who knows?) since they used the same V8.

On another note, it's funny to see the Crown Vic has used the same exact engine since it's redeisgn back in the early 90's! :lol:
 
And P71's don't drop much in price after you buy them retired. I see all day long '98 models through 203 models all for the same price range. Buy it drive it for a year or two and I can probably guess you'll get 90-10% of your money back. They are highly sought after by certain types of people.

And thankfully Buickgnx88's suggestion is actually quite a good one. Since the P71 doesn't have a center console you could easily fab up the manual tranny linkage and etc. I have seen it done once.

Also, for $2500 you could get one of these which also can be a hoot to drive and quite special...
1104198_1.jpg


Anytime you can buy an SE-R for that cheap its a bargain. I owned a '98 SE-R and it was a riot. Plus since its a Nissan expect bulletproof reliability.
 
If you can find a Starion, get a Starion. That is all. The best car Mitsubishi ever made.
 
Toronado
If you can find a Starion, get a Starion. That is all. The best car Mitsubishi ever made.
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*cough* GTO/3000GT was a pretty damn good car you know. And I'm not just saying that because I had a twin turbo model either. :p
 
True. The Starion was better, though. These days the 3000GT just seems like the Nissan GT-R minus about 150 BHP (alternatively, a small house). Or, if you were unlucky, a very very heavy version of the Dodge Avenger.
Besides, Jackie Chan drove a Starion alongside Jaws while racing Burt Reynolds and Frank Sinatra. Man, the 80s kicked ass.
 
Toronado
True. The Starion was better, though. These days the 3000GT just seems like the Nissan GT-R minus about 150 BHP (alternatively, a small house). Or, if you were unlucky, a very very heavy version of the Dodge Avenger.
Besides, Jackie Chan drove a Starion alongside Jaws while racing Burt Reynolds and Frank Sinatra. Man, the 80s kicked ass.
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Game. Set. Match. That's the winnar! I loved that movie. :lol: Its still almost impossible to find a good condition Starion or Conquest. I have literally seen less than a handful on the road being driven. I've seen a dozen in junk yards however...sadly some in good shape. But I wasn't interested in that car then--boy I wish I could find one of those today. :ouch:
 
pardon? somebody provide a blowup of the cannonball car. i SWEAR it was a SUBARU!
 
Sniffs
pardon? somebody provide a blowup of the cannonball car. i SWEAR it was a SUBARU!
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If it was the car that made the record setting Cannonball Run, it was a beemer
 
Lol, they are talking about the movie Cannonball Run.

Also, Wikipedia says Jackie Chan drove a Subaru.

Jackie Chan plays Jackie Chan, the driver of the Japanese entry, a Subaru that was constantly getting lost despite all the high-tech gadgetry aboard.
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