1993 Ford Crown Victoria LX review from North America

Well, in the short time I've owned it:

Exhaust seems to be getting a leak. Exhaust note upon acceleration is getting louder.

Front right coil spring seems to be sagging.

Front shocks replaced with cheapies from Canadian Tire. Don't know if the shocks that were on the car when I bought it were bad, but new ones were cheap so I replaced them.

Outer tie-rods replaced. The ones on the car when I bought it were getting worn.

Inner tie-rods are worn. Haven't replaced them yet.

Lower left balljoint is bad.

Idler arm is quite worn.

Wipers don't work on high speed. Low speed is fine.

Right rear window won't roll down from driver's control. Switch at right rear window will roll the window down.

Seems to burn a bit of oil now and then. I'm going to try some Valvoline Maxlife high mileage oil and see if it'll cut down on oil consumption.

Transmission seems to act funny when the car is cold. Bucking and kicking and odd shifting. I'm told it could be caused by anything from bad plug wires, to a TPS, to dirty transmission fluid and a number of other things. I just drive it in 2nd until it's warmed up a bit, then it's fine.

Small bit of rust on the fender lips. The previous owner fixed the rust and sprayed the fender lips with gray primer. Ugly. I'll have to get some proper paint soon.

Cruise control seems to be failing. It's really hard to get it to engage now. Don't have a clue what could cause it to not work.

Very little traction on slippery surfaces. Not the car's fault.

Transmission was repaired at some point in the past few years before I bought the car. According to the former owner, it cost $1500 for a tranny rebuild.

Heater core was replaced by former owner. Cost $300.

Ac system was refitted and recharged with R134a by former owner. Cost $500.

Has 4 ugly, cracked plastic hubcaps. Nothing I can do about that for the moment.

This is a great cruising car. Seats are very comfortable, but seriously lack lateral support. Very little noise at highway speeds, all I can hear is some slight wind and tire noise. Plenty of

power for passing.

Fuel consumption at highway speeds isn't too bad for a 4000 pound car. I estimate at 62 mph it gets right about 25-26 mpg. Increase the speed, and the fuel economy decreases. Fuel mileage in town is poor. 20 liters of fuel lasts only 100 miles or so.

Handling is..well, acceptable, I suppose, for a heavy car. As I stated earlier, there is next to no lateral support in the driver's seat so I have to lean into the turn if I take a quick corner. That is to be expected of a car like this though.

Not as hard to park as I expected. Turning radius is large, but not as large as some cars smaller than itself.

Won't spin the tires on pavement on a standing start, but I don't really need it to do that anyway. It will do brakestands easily enough however. I don't abuse the car like that all the time, by the way.

It'll do roughly 60 mph in 1st gear with my foot to the floor. Really tall gearing with the 2.73 axle. Helps with fuel economy, but around town it keeps going in and out of 3rd and overdrive so I suspect that with it doing that, it is actually harming fuel economy.

I've had the car maybe a month, and so far it's been an okay car for me. I expected a $900 car with as many miles at this one has to need some repairs, but I wasn't expecting it to need as many front suspension repairs at this one is going to need. Other than that, it's in great shape. Very very little rust on the body, and what rust there is on the body has already been repaired although I should repair it again myself. Primer is not a rust protectant paint. I seem to be getting an exhaust leak, the noise level on acceleration is starting to get louder. Carrying a full load of people doesn't seem to affect acceleration very much at all. This car will cruise along at 85 mpg with 5 people effortlessly. Interior is in beautiful shape, I like the cream colored interior pieces. Along with the plastic wood trim pieces, it really imparts a luxury feel to the car. I just hope the cost of fuel doesn't go up too much, I haven't had to fill it from empty yet, but when the fuel gauge was showing betweem 1/2 and 1/4, it cost 45 bucks to fill. Big ol' 20 gallon tank would cost probably 70 bucks to fill from empty. Ouch.