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If their's is metal, maybe civilian motors could get one?
are they plastic too? would a truck manifold work under the hood of a Vic?
cops being forced to buy the Impala... If that doesn't cause Ford to make the manifold metal again, nothing will... unless they can find a way to sell more Expeditions to them instead!
These are edmunds US prices: 24,700 for a new Grand Marquis LS, 19,035 for a Taurus SE (mid range Taurus), 21,535 for the SEL. I knew the exchange rate of Canadian to US dollars made our prices look cheaper, but I didn't know it was 2 to 1!
(Of course, options jack the price up)
Would the law allow you to buy a car in the U.S. and bring it into Canada? If so, you could shave off another 700 U.S. and get a Crown Vic LX.
BTW, what is the exchange rate currently for U.S. vs. Canadian dollars? (Something more accurate than comparing the Canadian/US prices on the back of a book ;-)
It might be those Michelin tires, they are the cheapest Michelins you can get around here (South East US).
After all, we go over to Canada to purchase full capacity toilets duty free, as I understand. Maybe cars are different than toilets (unless we're talking Dodges (sorry, I just couldn't help it)) but you might just find a deal. Supposedly alot of those rules changed with the North American Free Trade Agreement a few years ago.
FWIW, I heard a story of an airliner that ran out of gas a few years ago when Canada first went metric, because the calculated the fuel load in kilos, but the guy gassing the plane thought the number was for pounds. (2.2 lbs= 1 kilo- only metric conversion I know other than celcius to farenheight)
Mike
The PH option was an absolute must.
I have has some trouble getting the seat comfortable, but that's a personal problem I have with 99.9% of the cars out there today. I need a soft seat for my butt, where the sciatica nerve in my rear is pretty sensitive. The only other comfortable car for was a 1993 Sable. I've come to learn that seats today are made a whole lot differently (and cheaper) than cars of a few years ago. That's why my '93 Sable seat was so nice with springs, yet the new ones are simply injected foam onto a sheetmetal pan... The GM is of the older seat design (That's one reason why I bought it, but it is still not soft enough.)
But let me get to my point-- I noticed after owning the car for three weeks that the steering wheel is not centered with the seat. The steering wheel is 1-2 inches left of the seat center. That means when you grab the steering wheel with both hands, you ain't reaching right in front of you- you're grabbing to the left. I did not notice this in my test drive, or even when I rented one of these babies last summer. It is weird. My guess is that Ford originally had things lined up properly when the car first had bench seats. When they redesigned the split front seats, the seat
designers didn't pay attention the car's key interior dimensions. That must have been an interesting discussion among their team of engineers. Unfortunately, their lack of discipline is causing me some annoyance.
Any pearls of wisdom or thoughts on this?
Thanks.
Sam G
No, I'm not a jeweler, although my Dad was a diamond cutter many years ago in NYC.
I did not elaborate on the my antics since I bought this car. My focus has been on rebuilding the seat to better fit my posterior. I went to a car upholsterer shop, where they dismantled the seat, carved out a recess for my toush, and added another layer of foam. They reassembled everything and it was better. But my leg still hurt, so they tweeked it again. This cost roughly $100 a throw. After more than I wanted to spend, I started dismantling the seat and tweeking it myself. I must be the only owner who has taken his seat apart at least ten times! I'm around 90% to where I need to be. Ugh. I know this is crazy. But if that's what it takes, I'll do it.
When I noticed the seat misalignment, I jumped too quickly and tried to re-contour the foam to shift me over to the left and be in alignment with the wheel. This visually worked OK. But now my left buttock was sitting on the hard metal seat frame! The most tender (or at least one of) part of my body was sitting on solid metal. Plus the backrest, which I also modified didn't line up with my back very well.
Net: I got a horrible backache! A new ailment...
(This could be a movie some day!) Two days ago I realized this is not a good path, so I reversed my seat shift modification, and I'm back to the offset seat, and reaching to the left for the wheel. Compared to my backache, this ain't so bad....
So there you have it. Chapter 3: what the dealer says, to be continued. I have a buddy with a new town car. I'll check it in the next few days.
SamG
I will contact the dealer tomorrow about the offset seat.
You need to test drive a different car equipped the same as yours (tires, P&H package, etc.) to verify the way it should sound. Should yours need to be repaired, this will also give you a comparison to tell the service department that the other car does not have this sound.
Guess what, the dealer and the zone manager for Ford told me basically "tough s--t" on my Thanksgiving Day cracked plastic manifold on my 96 Ford Crown Vic with 85K miles on it. They said I did not fit the recall and because I don't have the extended warranty, there is nothing they can do for me. I think they know very well that they should work with me, but refuse. As a "retired" attorney, I'm going to blow the dust off the degree and drag their [non-permissible content removed] into district court on the basis of a known defective part, nothwithstanding any recall or extended warranty issues. Where is there a well respected industry publication which would back up in reputable terms the problems Ford has had with the plastic manifolds?
This question is also directed to anyone out there that can help!
We'll supply the part for free and you pay for the labor" crap. I'm confident in your quest.
Thanks for the information and the moral support.
I'll let you know what happens.
SB
It was a Taurus wagon with 64K miles and blown headgaskets 4 months after the 60K wty expired that did it for me. Other problems too numerous to mention here but you get the gist - Go for Everything you can take from them!! Maybe eventually someone there will get the message that people are fed up with dealer and Ford rep attitudes.
Personally - I can't wait to buy a new Chevy Impala LS next year. My old Grand Marquis is still going strong but I'm just not going to buy another Ford product anytime soon.
Turnpike Ken
I started having perhaps the same problem with my
'99 CV LX. Only after driving for a while though.
I can't get a sound when cold, but after driving around for a while I'll get a squeak or rattle whenever I hit the slightest road irregularity OR
if I (purposely) swerve to reproduce the symptoms.
Since it seems to be temperature-related I wonder if it's a heat shield or something.
I spoke with the sales manager. He was well aware of the offset steering wheel....of course he tells me this AFTER I buy the car.
He just came back from a nation-wide Ford conference, with dealers and the corp folks. He acknowledged that Ford does not even give the dealers any direct contact with the development engineers to review design issues & problems. Seems the design folks are basically shielded from the wrath of unhappy dealers & customers. He was understandably reluctant to bad mouth his product, but he did sympathize with my view that this was an inexcusable way to layout a car.
I did a brief survey in some parking lots in my area. The older 1993 vintage GM's are not offset. The 2000-2001 are off by around 1-2 inches. The easiest way to eye-ball this is the stand directly behind or in front of drivers seat and align yourself with the drivers' headrest & the steering wheel. You'll see the offset clearly. This offset also exists on the 2000 & 2001 Town car.
Sam G
I have to say that my 2 Grand Marquis (88 and 90) have given me collectively 190K of smooth and comfortable driving but the new ones just don't do a thing for me from the styling perspective - I want something more aggressive and yet still providing the big car comfort and accomodation for myself and family.
Everything I read in Town Forum about Impala LS suggests it is worth a try - and I love the aggressive looks, nimble handling and comfortable, roomy accomodations. To say nothing of the attractive pricing and the reminders of my first car - a 65 Impala. Check the Impala forum if you haven't - those people LOVE their cars.
Ken
I agree with tpken; I love my '90 Vic to death, but I can't get myself to commit to a new one... I too am seriously looking at Impalas... maybe the '02 Vic will change my mind?
I had heard that this engine has this and is a known problem to Ford. This situation has caused some injuries/deaths and Ford has been quiet about it.
Do any of you know if Ford has issued a recall for this? I have replaced this module once before and don't want to spend the money on it again if Ford is 'handling' the situation.
Any 'gotchas', 'look out for...', or words of experience would assist greatly.