16th Apr 2007, 22:25

I recently purchased a 2003 CV PI from a dealer that specializes in police vehicles. This one came from Lebanon, Ohio. It appears to have been a patrol vehicle as it had a partition and deck lights at one point. The exterior is aspen green and it has a street appearance except for the low profile spotlight on the drivers side. Very nice overall for 87,000 miles. I replaced a coil, put new rubber on it and did a thorough cleaning inside and out. Came up with a few rifle cartridges rolling around in the trunk and a pipe wedged into the rear seat molding. ALWAYS go over a used police car carefully when you buy one! It does not appear to have been abused. The municipality it came from is a relatively quiet and upscale community. I could not be happier with the overall performance of the vehicle as well as the "respect" this car garners from other drivers. I always get plenty of room from others on the highway, friendly waves from law enforcement instead of a hard stare and it tends to slow down those reckless and annoying drivers. Once you get used to the rear wheel drive again it a real pleasure to drive. I may not ever drive anything else! It has been my experience thus far that these cars are relatively easy to re-sell and any depreciation is well offset by the use I get out of them while I have them.

15th May 2011, 14:06

I just bought an '03 LX Sport 2 days ago, and I love it. My other car is a '97 TBird LX with the same engine, although the CV seems to be a bit quicker.

The ride, handling (with Continental Touring tires), is very good, but doesn't have the Thunderbird's independent rear suspension. Too bad. Even after just 2 days, I'm sure that this will be a great car.

I may upgrade the exhaust to Magnaflow in the near future, and even a supercharger. I didn't know that these existed beyond a Marauder until I saw this Crown Vic. A 4 door luxo-barge with buckets and a console? Really cool.