Comfortable and Powerful; Watch the Perps Move out of the Way!!
Written: Nov 14 '04 (Updated Nov 14 '04)
Product Rating:
Reliability:
Seat Comfort:
Build Quality
Roominess:
Pros: Big and comfortable, effortless acceleration, holds everyone plus some, big trunk, time-tested design.
Cons: Not inspiring to drive, old interior, venerable design inside and out, handling quirks.
The Bottom Line: You get a lot of car for the money. So if you don't mind a little quirkiness because of its older design, this might be the car for you.
In what can only be termed my "lucky day", I got to drive a 2004 Ford Crown Victoria sedan last week. I brought my ever-reliable Chevy Impala in for service at my Chevrolet/Ford dealer and the service writer decided they needed to keep it for a couple of days. I'm in the service manager's good graces, so instead of the usual Cavalier or Ford Focus, he tossed me the keys on one of the dealerships better in-house cars, a 2004 Ford Crown Victoria LX Sport 4 door sedan. I could hear the theme music to "Dragnet" as they pulled the silver Crown Vic up front for me to take.
Exterior
The car is understated and restrained, and that's ok by me. I wished my particular car was equipped with the grille-mounted pushbar, blue lights and pillar-mounted spotlight. All kidding aside, the car looked spiffy with its aluminum wheels, shiny silver paint and color-keyed grille. But it also reeks of rental car or taxi cab also. The styling hasn't changed in years, and it's time for a change. I was a fan of the styling upgrade several years ago, but the styling has outworn its welcome. I do have to say that the dual exhaust out back is a nice styling touch.
Interior
As dated as the exterior is, the interior is even more dated. These shapes have been with us for a long time. The faux wood is just bad. It looks like an upscale version of every cab I've ridden in over the past 10 years. You certainly aren't going to confuse the interior with any Lexus or Infinity. While there was nothing awful here, none of it was outstanding either. The directional stalk felt particularly cheesy, both in the quality of the "chrome" on it and in its operation. The gages and other instruments were quite industrial in their application. Lots of black plastic and white stick-on letters here. It felt very "Hertz and Budget Rent a Car"-like inside there.
The radio wasn't bad, but wasn't great either. The seats, covered in leather felt good at first, but later felt lacking in support and overall comfort. Speaking of comfort, you will be surprised to know that as big as the car is, it wastes a lot of front seat space. Consequently, I had the seat all the way back. I do have to say that the power adjustable pedals is a nice touch.
The trunk was positively enormous, with more than adequate room for a full size spare tire and lots of other stuff. Huge.
Ride and Drive
The Crown Vic acquitted itself out on the road fairly well. We had fun playing cops and robbers while driving it (more on that later). This car has plenty of pep off the line, courtesy of the 4.6L V8's wide band of torque. I wanted more power, but found that this car by and large had enough. Flooring the gas pedal did push you back in your seat. Speeding up at highway speeds was a breeze too, as the V8 had endless power in reserve. Not bad for a two-ton yacht. The police drive this for a reason. No loud or inspiring noises to encourage high speed driving.
The transmission shifts very smoothly, although it's often slow to downshift at higher speeds. I would have preferred a 5th speed in the transmission also.
The car has 4 wheel disc brakes with ABS, and they work OK. I felt like they were a little grabby, but got the basic job done.
The suspension on the LX Sport is reputed to be a little stiffer than the normal Crown Vic. It felt pretty good in normal driving, but under high speed, I wasn't impressed with the handling. The car had a tendency to twitch in high speed cornering, and that left me feeling a little uncomfortable and distrustful of the car.
The ride was serene and comfortable, except that there will little ride motions at highway speeds that induced nausea if one was in the back seat. Perhaps the shocks could be even stiffer. For most non enthusiasts, this is almost a "Town Car" level of comfort.
For the most part, I drove it like an idiot and never got into any problems or trouble with it. I liked the car's ability to cruise on the highway at high speed. Clearly this car could be driven cross-country if necessary.
The sound of the engine and transmission reinforced the cars image as a taxi/police/rental car. Close your eyes and you can "feel" the yellow paint on the outside of the car.
Here Come the Cops
People definitely were concerned that this could be a real police car. And I milked that whenever I could. Driving the car home, I noticed that everyone slowed down around the car, until they saw the dealership's bumper sticker and me driving it. Then they sped up and went away.
Later, while waiting for a friend at a store, I sat with just my parking lights on and people all around slowed way down in the area. I guess they all recognize the car's front end for what it is. While on the highway, I started loafing in the right lane, then accelerated into traffic and watched people move over and slow down. It was fun for a while. And despite driving the car aggressively over a 2 day period, I wasn't stopped once for speeding or anything else.
Final Conclusions
If the car speaks to you, I'd recommend it to you. While not state of the art, it's a relatively reliable car that has plenty of power, safety and luxury for most people. You also get a lot of car for the money. And it's charming in an old world "they don't build them like this anymore" sort of way. So if you don't mind a little quirkiness because of its older design, this might be the car for you. I came away feeling that the car was a nice place to visit, but I don't want to live there.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 29000
Condition: New Model Year: 2004 Model and Options: LX Sport 4 door, well loaded
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