Rear-Wheel drive in Michigan Winters (2 Viewers)

[Brad_V]

I'll add to this, but I think he's already going to get the Crown Vic.

I'm in a blizzard state, and FWD is better from a start, but from a roll a RWD will stay on track better when you hit snow drifts in the road and all that. A RWD with good tires is plenty good enough to get around in. I drove a light Merkur XR4Ti for a bit a couple winters ago, and with RWD and cheapie all-seasons, I was surprised at how good it was.

Normally, though, for the past years I've said screw it and have winter tires on an AWD. Now I basically drive around like the snow isn't even there.

 

[JasenP]

GEORGE IS GETTING UPSET!!!
I stopped by the dealership and as it turns out it has 165,000 miles and not 65,000 like I had originally thought. The mileage as written on the passenger window had a BIG FAT "65" with an ever-so-slender "1" before it. Very difficult to see from the road. Also, they didn't have the service records as they told me over the phone.
I am sure as a "Municipal" vehicle it was well-maintained, but I don't feel comfortable having a car with 165,000 miles on it as a daily driver.
I did take a test drive per the insistance of the pushy salespeople (I was double-teamed) and it drove beautifully. It had that luxury car ride and the brakes were really tight. The A/C was cold and worked flawlessly. The interior was OK, they had rubber mats instead of carpet and there were a few holes in the panels by the back window (for police lights.) Overall, if it had half the miles that it did I would have driven it home that night.
I am continuing to look....((((SIGH))))

 

[Brad_V]

I'd still consider it. Once you get around 100k miles, everything is up for grabs anyway whether it might break or not. Used cars can break, no matter the mileage. Maybe something will break, maybe it won't, but $5000 for a '97 Crown Vic that is in great shape other than what the odometer says sounds pretty good to me. And if something breaks, the money you saved would easily cover it.

1997 boats like that aren't cheap when they have lower miles on them. My mother has a '91 Park Avenue she got for cheap a few years ago because it had 135k on it, and now it has 190+k and barely uses a drop of oil or anything. She didn't want something expensive because she knew she'd put a ton of miles on it and it would lose its value anyway. Shifts great, power everything, and still going strong. That engine will go 250k easily, maybe even 300k. I've had turbo 4-cylinders hit 190k and still going strong.

If you're worried about the engine internals, have a compression test done on it and see what it says. I wouldn't be surprised if it's still well within spec and has a ton of life left. Who knows, maybe you can get it for $4000 or $4500. That'd be a sweet daily driver, and for pretty cheap.