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The Mercedes-Benz I bought earlier this year turned out to be a real dog--beautiful, but enough to make you cry with its problems. Now it's sitting dead with a blown engine--the timing chain broke. Enough of imports, I've had two bad ones in a row. Now I'm looking for something along the lines of a Ford Crown Vic, Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis...but: can all y'all think of something similar that I might be overlooking? I'm leaning towards a Town Car but I'm willing to hear other suggestions in that barge/land yacht area...I keep thinking I'm forgettting something. Thank you all!
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The Mercedes-Benz I bought earlier this year turned out to be a real dog--beautiful, but enough to make you cry with its problems. Now it's sitting dead with a blown engine--the timing chain broke. Enough of imports, I've had two bad ones in a row. Now I'm looking for something along the lines of a Ford Crown Vic, Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis...but: can all y'all think of something similar that I might be overlooking? I'm leaning towards a Town Car but I'm willing to hear other suggestions in that barge/land yacht area...I keep thinking I'm forgettting something. Thank you all!
Don't think you will much if any help on here, the cars that you mention are all as rare as hens teeth in the UK.
Personally I would not have a yank car if you gave me one, but if that floats your boat fair enough. At over £6.00 a gallon I could not aford to fuel one.
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Lexus LS - big inside and a big ('ish by US standards) V8 should meets your gas guzzling needs and only requires one and a half car parking bays.
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Go German and buy a BMW 7-series. Utterly ridiculous.
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I keep thinking I'm forgettting something. Thank you all!
You can't park one in town.. Ever.
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Have you seen American parking spaces? Could fit two Fiestas in them.
My detective skills have led me to believe the OP is an American living in America, as such tips on here will be rare as we don't have the cars in question over here apart from LHD imports which are mainly used as novelties.
What I would say is all three of the cars you mention all share the same platform and are therefore essentially the same car.
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Doesn't take much to deduce that Mercedes are imports and Ford/Mercury/Lincoln aren't - so it can only be North America.
For the OP - why not a Hyundai Equus - a Mercedes class car for Ford money but better than either.
Edited by RT on 28/11/2012 at 21:10
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What I would say is all three of the cars you mention all share the same platform and are therefore essentially the same car.
Correct--the so-called Panther platform. I've had a Crown Vic before and *loved* it. The Town Car is a stretched version--6 or 8 inches, if memory serves--of Crown V/Grand Marquis.
As for the poster who suggested a VW Phaeton: I'd like that a lot, but 'taint in the budget. Decent idea, though. Thanks for all your ideas...hmmm...perhaps a Buick Roadmaster? (Google it)
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Now I'm looking for something along the lines of a Ford Crown Vic,
I didn't think this was still available to 'civilians', or at least not in its traditional guise of body-on-frame, rear drive construction. Ford has been trying to divest itself of this platform for a long time and I thought this was only available to the Police and taxi companies.
Chrysler 300C?
Big, RWD, sedan etc...
Welcome to the forum btw!
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Yes, I think 2011 was the last year for the civilian versions, though Ford might still make them for taxis and police? Most taxis here are still Crown Vics, as they have been for a very long time. I could probably get an ex-taxi cheaply enough.
Chrysler 300C, maybe...the styling is a little odd, but they refreshed it this past year and made it a little better looking to my eyes. Perhaps.
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I thought the Chrysler 300C was a Mercedes underneath ?
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The 300C does have some Mercedes bits which Chrysler took from the E class to make the platform.
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OK, folks, resurrecting this thread to report on results. In the end, I did indeed buy a left hand drive, fuel sucking pig of a 2004 Lincoln Town Car. Wikipedia says: "Its large dimensions made it the largest car in production in North America. From 1997 to 2011 the Town Car was the longest car (but not the heaviest) built in the Western Hemisphere, measuring nearly 18 feet in length...Town Cars are typically operated in commercial service for at least 400,000 miles."
40,000 miles on this beast. I highly recommend it to all of you. Ditch your little hatchback for a cruise ship on wheels--it's the American way.
Edited by Pebble on 06/12/2012 at 04:44
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Personally I would rather romove my own testicles with a rusty saw than drive such a huge gas guzzling waste of space but each to their own.
As for the American way, you can keep it.
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I should have pointed out that I've always taken an interest in limousines/taxicabs/chauffeured vehicles, so when I saw this I was very interested. Leather interior, *two* CD players, dash littered with buttons I haven't figured out yet. I know you're supposed to "See the USA in a Chevrolet,", but I couldn't resist this. About the only way one could improve on this would be if the car had been the stretched-wheelbase version. Still, I'm not complaining. Price new in 2004: $52,500. The vinyl roof alone was four grand. Price now: special employee deal because I work for the dealer I bought it from.
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Surely you don't play both CD's at once?
I like this sort of car, the door panel alone of a Town Car has more buttons on it than most peoples computers. Cars like this suit America with its sprawling distances and wide roads but it wouldn't suit the UK. Also it's something of a mid range manufacturer and big executive cars from ordinary marques went out here a long time ago, the last one to be successful was the Vauxhall Omega.
I have a Jaguar S-Type and to get something like a Town Car here you need to be looking in E Class/7 Series territory.
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Pebble - out of interest, what are the Town and Urban MPG figures?
Our Petrol (sorry gas) costs $9.80 per imperial gallon here. That's why we run around in diesels and hatchbacks (well, apart from jamie745)
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Pebble didn't fancy a Festiva then?
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Or for benefit of our American friend who buys his fuel in US gallons it's $8.15 here.
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Or for benefit of our American friend who buys his fuel in US gallons it's $8.15 here.
The US gallon and Short Ton (2000 lb) are about the only things Yanks admit to being smaller than anything in Europe.
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If they switched to the imperial gallon the average American would complain the fuels got more expensive.
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Search says 16 MPG city, 24 highway, so converted into Imperial gallons, something like 19/28. This car has a 19 US gallon tank, so you can go a ways.
Edited by Pebble on 06/12/2012 at 23:03
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Surely you don't play both CD's at once?
Ha ha! No, there is a single CD player in the dashboard, then in the trunk there's a multi-disc CD changer that you can fill up and set on "shuffle." Cassette player, too.
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Cars like this suit America with its sprawling distances and wide roads but it wouldn't suit the UK.
Where I am in Las Vegas, once you get out of town the nearest cities of any size are Los Angeles (320 miles), Phoenix (350), and Salt Lake (420). In between there's nothing but desert and mountains, so you'd best settle in for a long, cushy drive. Thus the appeal of a big Lincoln or Cadillac, just set the cruise control and relax on the Interstate for 6-8 hours.
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Hi pebbles ,
Risking ridicule from other forum members .
I've always had a fancy for a Chevrolet bel air ,from the late 50s or early sixties ,
The model I fancy would be a 4 door saloon ,
Are restored versions readily available in the states ? Roughly what does a restored one cost ,where's the best place to buy ,private or trade .
What's the best engine and gearbox combination ,I'm not to concerned about fuel use as I want it for a toy .
Do they suffer from any particular problems other than rust .
Regards
Tony g
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Buy a German magazine "AUTO" its full of American cars and trucks of all ages you are much better buying in Europe fetching from the states and doing all the conversion work costs an arm and and leg.
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Hi collos ,thanks for the tip ,I've found a few German websites that offer a good selection of American cars ,sadly not found a bel air yet ,
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Hi pebbles , Risking ridicule from other forum members . I've always had a fancy for a Chevrolet bel air ,from the late 50s or early sixties , The model I fancy would be a 4 door saloon , Are restored versions readily available in the states ? Roughly what does a restored one cost ,where's the best place to buy ,private or trade .
Ummm...I guess so--especially here in Las Vegas, and in southern California, you see quite a few restored beauties from that era. The 1957 Chev seems to be the most popular one, judging from how many have been restored. What they go for, I'm not real up on, though I did see a nice looking '57 for sale recently for $20,000, and that's probably not out of line.
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I must correct myself--I previously stated the only thing I could improve on with this car would be if it were the long wheelbase version. The other thing is: this car is burgundy with a tan vinyl roof. It's beautiful, but it occurred to me that if it didn't have the vinyl roof, I'd be sorely tempted to have it painted glossy black, like a limousine.
That said, what makes are currently used in the UK for taxi/limo service? I was in Germany 30 years ago and remember seeing Peugeots, and a single Chevrolet Impala, being used as taxis.
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I have to say I feel pretty executive when I drive this car...just call me Sir Topham Hatt. Perhaps I should hire a driver to chauffeur me around.
Edited by Pebble on 06/12/2012 at 23:22
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That said, what makes are currently used in the UK for taxi/limo service?
In terms of limos for executive chauffering, imported American limos are sometimes used here for those who want to go all the way with the minibar in the back etc. Aside from that it'll be a long-wheel-base Jaguar XJ, Mercedes E Class and theres some Volvo limos too.
As for run of the mill taxis you'll find Ford Mondeo, Skoda Octavia, Peugeot 508, Toyota Avensis and so on.
The XJ has to be the favourite car 'to be driven in' though, you may have noticed our senior politicians have had them as Ministerial Cars for years.
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My mother-in-law is in the taxi/limo business;lots of airport pickups and the like. Many people use MPVs rather than large saloons. More room for passengers and luggage.
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The XJ has to be the favourite car 'to be driven in' though, you may have noticed our senior politicians have had them as Ministerial Cars for years.
Because they are concieved as British.Very nice cars all the same.
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Because they are concieved as British.Very nice cars all the same.
Well yes but they haven't always used British names have they? I remember a fleet of BMWs being used under the Blair Government. Then they went British with Rover 75 Limos.
The XJ's they have now are superb though, if I remember rightly they set the Sentinel model at £300k+ and then the Prime Ministers car is adapted to withstand grenade blasts, x amount of gunfire and has its own onboard oxygen supply for in case of chemical attack. It's not a cheap piece of kit I tell you.
Of course none of them mention it's owned by an Indian company though.
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The XJ has to be the favourite car 'to be driven in' though, you may have noticed our senior politicians have had them as Ministerial Cars for years.
Because they are concieved as British.Very nice cars all the same.
It's only the later version of XJ that were used by Ministers, the earlier versions were too low in the roofline and not exactly dignified to get in and out.
They used the Rover P5B for many years, buying a big batch before production ended and storing them for call down as required - they've done the same with the Vauxhall Omegas - which are just as German as a BMW!
Edited by RT on 07/12/2012 at 16:31
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Ummm...I guess so--especially here in Las Vegas, and in southern California, you see quite a few restored beauties from that era. The 1957 Chev seems to be the most popular one, judging from how many have been restored. What they go for, I'm not real up on, though I did see a nice looking '57 for sale recently for $20,000, and that's probably not out of line.
Arizona has a big advantage over other parts of the US, and Europe, in that the climate is hot and dry - the lack of rain and no necessity to salt the roads allows even "rust-buckets" to last a very long time.
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Arizona has a big advantage over other parts of the US, and Europe, in that the climate is hot and dry - the lack of rain and no necessity to salt the roads allows even "rust-buckets" to last a very long time.
That's right. Vegas is the same: 4 inches of rain a year and no road salt, so you see noticeably more 30/40 year old cars being used as daily drivers than you would ever see back East where I grew up. In my Minnesota hometown they would have all rusted away years ago.
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