Thinking about picking up a P71

[StangerJon]

Thinking about replacing my jeep cherokee with a P71 this spring.


what are the pro's and cons of owning one of these? They seem to be basically bullet proof which is nice since the jeep has been relatively maint. free. Obviously winter driving will be a little different, but it cant be too bad if cabbies can figure it out right?

[Stormwalker]

Hmmm... I suspect someone is talking you into selling him the jeep.

[iamtheshaner]

Well there are differences year to year eventhough that body never got a full overhaul in 20 years. The majority of issues you can expect are those of a car that was BEAT on. I mean BEAT ON. Axle seal leaks, pinion leaks, the 4R75 had tailshaft bushing issues that would cause leaks, power steering pump failures, ball joints, bare ass interior stained to all hell, holes and scratches fucking everwhere inside and out, coil failures, heater core failures, blower motors/resistors, wheels bent/cracked...... that's the stuff of the top of my head.

Stay away from pre 03. They had the truck front end (with the dished/crome ringed wheels everyone likes and chrome grills). It wasn't problematic per say.... just expensive because you have the pitman, idler and drag links to replace plus they didn't have a very stable feel at higher speeds. I much more prefer the rack & pinion, newer SLA front end and aluminum crossmember that went in 03. They even make longtubes for the 03+ ones! lol. The 03's had variable power steering though and this was problematic. They had most of the bugs worked out by 04. In 05 it went electronic throttle so that will obviously get expensive (and it sucks unless you get it tuned). But.. with 05 you got a new dash with a tach and hour meter. There were issues with fuel boiling on these addressed with a software update. There were catalyst issues too that there was a TSB for...

Overall, the panther is one of my favorite platforms. They are fuking tanks but because there are eleventybillion out there you will find a lot of shitboxes. xgovernmentcars.com is a good P71 resource. I know a few people who know the guy that owns it personally and they swear he's a straight up guy....although I wasn't real happy with my experience with him..but shit happens.

If I where you I'd go 04. If you go 05+ get as new as possible. Let us know what you are looking at and what you see. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who does/used to own one that would be happy to give you 2nd opinons.

G/L!!!!

[Drunko McMoppo]

Xgovernmentcars is really expensive.

[mnstang]

I'd rather have a regular crown vic or grand marquis.

[iamtheshaner]

Xgovernmentcars is really expensive.

True, he is overpriced. But he swears he has a mechinic look everything over and put new brakes and shit on them / make any necessary repairs. who knows if it's true but you know damn well no private seller has even looked underneath it.

Plus I haggled 1000 off before I even got out his neighborhood so.....it is what it is I guess

[iamtheshaner]

This isn't a bad deal either... 5k won't get you much in the way of a nice P71... maybe an 06 with just as many miles.

http://www.tcstangs.com/forum/showthread.php?117662-2003-Marauder

[StangerJon]

There were issues with fuel boiling on these addressed with a software update.

Fuel Boil on my TCS, I dont think so.









thanks for the info. Now to decide if I actually want to get rid of the jeep.

[StangerJon]

This isn't a bad deal either... 5k won't get you much in the way of a nice P71... maybe an 06 with just as many miles.

http://www.tcstangs.com/forum/showth...-2003-Marauder

that is very tempting, but with 180k miles, it's not as tempting.

[octanehuffer]

A friend just bought from xgovernment cars and he liked the experience. The car was well taken care of to sell. They even included some interior pieces to help bring it back to civilian purpose. He was impressed

[Drunko McMoppo]

True, he is overpriced. But he swears he has a mechinic look everything over and put new brakes and shit on them / make any necessary repairs. who knows if it's true but you know damn well no private seller has even looked underneath it.

Plus I haggled 1000 off before I even got out his neighborhood so.....it is what it is I guess

i have repairs done as needed, im sure hes the same way. Its a specialty lot so you have to pay a little more, but no one can match his selection, good condition police cars dont grow on trees.

[iamtheshaner]

Fuel Boil on my TCS, I dont think so.









thanks for the info. Now to decide if I actually want to get rid of the jeep.

lolz. Forgot about that. I don't know what changed 04-05 hardware wise that could have caused it but the fuel would vaporize in the rail on really hot idle soaks and cause #5 to miss. The fix was a calibration that just upped the fuel pressure a bit and increase it's boiling point. We had to tell the dealers and police agencies to wrap the rail with header wrap for about 6 months... I've been dying to see one that still has the wrap haha

[tx9h6e4cuda]

http://www.chicagomotors.info/search/results.php?_s_col=model&_s_type=a&pageNo=1&DisplayType=L

For a little bit of a drive this place has lower mile squads for low price. A friend bought a Charger from them and they treated him pretty well.

[CAMSS30]

I would keep the Jeep.

[94fobrah]