2008 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor Review - No Longer "A Dime A Dozen" 

Hello everyone! This is Aaron, the owner of this car. I just want to say thank you Zack for a great review and I’m glad it worked out for us to get a clean Panther on the channel! Also, if anyone else has questions about this particular vehicle, please feel free to ask! I hope you all enjoyed, and great review Zack!

There are still zillions of those around, the problem is finding a nice one.

I'd say in 10 years or so P71 Vics are going to be extremely difficult to find. Many are destroyed in Movies, TV shows, demolition derbies, etc. I've seen videos on RU-vid tearing them up by the dozen in racing events. That's why it's so hard to find vintage police cars from the early 2000s and back. Try finding a 1977-1978 Dodge Monaco or Plymouth Fury cop car, not gonna happen. They were everywhere on TV and movies in the 80s, now they're practically extinct.

I’ve had my 2010 p7b for almost a year now and I’m so glad I chose this car over anything else. Best road-trip car ever. Put yourself in the left lane doing 90 and everyone will move out of your way :)

I love these so much. P71s were (and still are to an extent) treated as disposable and it’s just a shame. Not only are they incredibly durable but they drive just amazingly. Super smooth and comfy, and if you give it some thicker sway bars and update the suspension bushings, it’ll take a corner pretty alright as well.

Hi, I'm a former police officer and I've been driving Crown vics for over 30 years. Currently I own a 2008 unamarked, tan, with the "Street Appearance Package." Which means no antenna holes, no spotlight, carpet and plently of civilian chrome. I replaced the chrome grille with a fresh black mesh police grille because I think they look better. I bought this one a couple of years ago with 66,000 miles on it. It was a New York State Police C.I. car ("Concealed Identity"). It just turned 80,000 miles. It has only 1,980 idle hours and a spotless, rust-free body. Its an E85 "Flexfuel" model, so it runs on 106 octane alcohol. $3.79 a gallon as of yesterday. Two dollars a gallon cheaper than 91 octane gas in New York as of June 22, 2022. The only thing I had to do to the engine to make it a screamer was install new iridium spark plugs, a set of MSD Blaster ignition coils, a yellow top battery and a K&N air filter. It came with a 3.23 traction-Lok rear. I'll be putting in a 3.73, because I don't need to go 140 m.p.h. (I've had it up to 138) any more - but I could use a little more spunk on the low-end. The brakes were tired so I put a $1,000 set of Callaway cross-drilled and slotted big brakes and calipers on with ceramic pads and braided stainless steel Wilwood hoses. It stops like WHOO-GODDAM! It'll put your sunglasses on the dashboard. I converted the new factory original heaglight pods to HID with 5000L pure white bulbs. There were $4,000 worth of front and rear variable flash strobe lights left in the car when I bought it. An oversight, no doubt, because the button for them was hidden and not labelled. I've upgraded the niceties with a front and rear camera in the rearview mirror, remote door locks/alarm fob, remote engine starter and XM radio.I changed the red and blue bulbs to white bulbs to keep them legal (For stationary, warning use only!) Future replacements will be new KYB Extra Heavy Duty gas shocks all around, larger anti-sway bars front and rear, and custom made, 1 inch lower rear coil springs to bring that cabin boy ass down level with the front. Same spring rate. three additional gauges for trans temp, oil temp and voltage mounted in a triple pod on the A-pillar. I will install and a decent, optional, OEM Ford radio with a CD player and better speakers. All to appear 100% stock or out of sight. I'll also put new full, deeper, padded carpet, and cover the seats with custom-fitted, leather-like vinyl. My total budget for the restomod P71 is $10,000. I'm $7,000 into it now including the purchase price of $2,000. I won't be buying any $50,000 rice rocket deathrap with its $1,200 headlights, I can tell you that. If I won the Lottery, the only new car I would buy would an Aston Martin DB-11. And my daily driver would STILL be my Ford P71 - the strongest, safest, most dependable, durable, easiest and most economical to maintain contemporary American sedan ever produced. (The Aston will probably be spending a lot of time in the shop anyway - they break...)

I still sometimes see a police commissioned crown Victoria in san Francisco, literally on its last legs still doing its job. Really hope they keep it on, nice change of pace

10:23 My 2004 P71 had traction control. I paid $1500 for it in 2017. What a value!

Nice one, Zack! I volunteer for our county Sheriff's office, and occasionally patrol. I prefer the Crown Vics over all the new SUV's. They are SO much fun! Our Crown Vics have the fiberglass rear sets with the cubby area for the handcuffs. That was likely a detective car, as you said. It clearly wasn't used for patrol. I always wondered why people would buy a Honda Civic and then proceed to dump thousands of dollars into them to make them hotrods, when you could take $500 to a surplus auction and buy one of these. Instant hotrod! You get the V8, the beefed up suspension, brakes, cooling, etc. cheap! You put a supercharger on one of these and they are insane quick.

Awesome seeing this video! I own a 2008 p71 as well. I'm almost at 150k miles on mine though, still runs & drives perfect with the original engine/transmission. Mine was a patrol car in Orlando, Florida.. when I bought it she still had the cage in the back, pushbar, spotlight, bars in the windows, emergency lights & siren. I have put about 45,000 miles on mine with 0 issues other than the typical maintenance you would have to do on any car. These things are TOUGH. I am pretty damn rough on my vehicles from driving fast, driving in rough terrain, etc and this thing has help up better than the SUVS & trucks I have had. It is pretty funny because my last car was a Lexus GS with heated/cooled leather seats, touchscreen radio, sunroof, and all the other extras. My vic doesn't even have cruise control and I love it 10x more than my lexus.

My Crown Victoria only has 68,000 miles 1,800 hours 2007 it's all black push bar tinted windows I got lucky I found one for a reasonable price at the auction mine's had super low miles because it was used at a university school therefore it wasn't beaten

Great video! Very informative. I hope your channel blows up bro 🙏

I bought my P71 last year for a couple grand. I absolutely love the car. Solid, well built, reliable. No complaints.

I love this, I daily drive an 02 P71 ex Maryland detectives car and it’s been such an awesome car to daily. We have 5 of these panther body cars here. We love these cars so much, and I even have an 03 grand marquis drift car, and it’s been such a tough, durable and awesome car. These cars deserve so much more respect than they’ve gotten in the past with people beating them up and practically throwing them away.

I’ve always LOVED how the Vic’s look. I think it’s just a beautiful… timeless design

Nice one glad you did a review of this ford Crown Victoria P71 AKA Police Interceptor that is blue in color which is different than most these definitely have a structural throwback of the 1950s

Excellent review!!👌 I had a 2002 back in the day..they are sweeeeet vehicles lol nice ride Aaron, Zack great delivery too man well put together 👍👍

Great review! This is a very good platform and there’s a huge community out here for them. I’m just getting into them.

I got my 08 p71 with 220000 miles on it and it still runs strong, no major breakdowns besides the radiator the entire life of the car...and now with gas prices going up since its flex fuel...gas is cheaper with the E85 lol

I really love the Crown Vics especially the P71 models. I told my fiance that this is my dream car and I hope one day I can finally get a Crown Victoria. Also great video I look forward to watching more content on your channel.

I've never seen a review that made me want a car as much as this one. That P71 Crown Vic is so cool! I'd love to own that car, but I need another vehicle like I need a hole in the head. And with the gas prices we have today, driving a full size V8 sedan might not be the most economical choice.

I used to work at the Pima county jail in Tucson. The sheriff's crown Victoria sat out front and I wonder if he even drove it. It was a beautiful ice blue. I think it would be classified as a light metallic blue. I lusted after that car.

I was just T boned in my SUPER CLEAN, fully equipped 2011 P7B… it only has 84 thousand miles on it 🥺

I bought mine for 1k at the start of the lockdown. I ended up falling in love with it and fixing it up. I'm thinking of selling it as the car market is high rn but the more I see these warnings of supply depletion the more I think I should wait and sell it later. 04 crown vic p71 supervisor car

What a terrific 2008 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor you’ve got there-A real fine police car-and it goes from 0-60

I’m a rookie cop in my state and the older officers miss these old cars. They said they were a breed all their own and tough as hell.

we still have a couple of these, on duty, in my town. They look a bit worse for wear but those and the first gen chargers are still running

I absolutely adore these cars. I had one for almost 4 years and it treated me very well. It was my very first car and I’m so happy I got to have that experience with it. Unfortunately she’s off to the local pick n pull, the head gasket blew and coolant got into the crank case and basically gave the motor a death sentence, which at this point would cost more to fix than the car is worth. She was a very fun and overall reliable car. I’m sad to see her go but I’m also happy to know she’s going on to help the ones that are still running strong. There’s just something really special about these cars.

Old Ford Crown Victoria are hard to find these days in nice shape.

Great review, I also watched your GS350 review and yes perhaps OEM headlight housings are over 1k from a Lexus Dealer, there are many aftermarket Solutions 4 less than five hundred bucks. But due to the amazing engineering of the Lexus Parts in general most of them can be salvaged and sanded down to made look like new👌🙏

Love the raced down in Florida quote, I am probably getting one in a couple weeks , not cheap, but very clean

Got to love the crown Vic. I’m going on 3 years with mine just so reliable.

Ford really shouldn't never stop making the Panther platform

I love these P71’s, they are tough and built to last.

Funny he should make the comment about leaving the window down while sitting in the backseat so he wouldn't get locked in. About 30 years ago, I came across a mid-eighties police Impala sitting in a salvage yard. I got into the backseat just to see what the " view " was like. When I went to open the door, it wouldn't budge because the rods inside weren't connected. For about 2-3 seconds I was really in a panic! Then I realized I could just climb over the front seat and get out the driver side door. Lucky it didn't have the cage still in it!

How do you have such little subscribers? Your content and video production is incredible!

Awesome video Zack👌

Have 3 crown vic's, and 2 95 caprices. Best cars ever built.

Great video! You're getting very good at these. You're super consistent too. I love the history you give about the cars Too bad only time I got to ride in one of those was in the back seat of a police interceptor. Lol. Many years ago

I own a 09 with small stuff that needs to be fixed but it’s perfect down where I stay you can get one cheep

I owned a P7B for almost 4 years before handing it down to my little brother…(who ended up totaling it when he Tokyo-drifted into a guard rail in winter). To this day, it was the most reliable and fun vehicle I ever drove. The attention that car got on the road was enough to put a smile on your face. Nowadays I drive a JK Wrangler, and I’m looking at purchasing a 2012 or newer mustang GT. If I didn’t want a mustang so bad to race in Mexico, I’d look into picking up another crown vic.

I got a blue 2009 as my first car. I can't wait to get my license and bring it to high school. I'm probably the only kid who has one.

Good Ole Crown Vic

I have a 2002 Crown Victoria LX with 210,000 miles on it and the engine runs like a brand new one.

I know I left a comment on another video but I have a black one that’s a 2011 with a mysterious past and a few mods and some equipment still in it. It also has amazing rear seats that might match a Grand Marquis or Town Car. It would be more interesting for you if the year were more different than this one though, from about 2006-2011 they’re extremely similar. Mine also had 84K miles when I got it, now has around 90

I just totaled my very clean 2007 and now I can't afford to replace it with one nearly as nice.

Fun fact: these are still being used here in Cleveland Ohio USA as cop cars I attest to this, along with 2010-2018 Ford Taurus as well

Yes another panther review on the channel, kinda sad to see these dwindling away as time goes on with people giving little to no care preserving them

I like the channel. Funny my 09 P71 has exactly the same amount of fuel and runs at exactly the same temp as when you showed it. Good stuff. 😂

we had one of these to work on when i was taking my classes at community college. i vowed that one day i would have one of my own...havent gotten there yet but im working on it. i want one from 2006-2011 because i want the tachometer.

Well they do have traction control it's under that trim piece below the headlight switch. it's a little connector thats already installed. Just most police cars don't need that option and it's just hidden under a trim panel & then all the things that will break or malfunction like the driver door window the intake leaking because it's plastic and some the whole dash board lights quit working from faulty solder joints and the transmission going out in 2nd gear. But i hope to find one soon but it depends on how much it will cost to fill the tank and other things

I have a 2004.....Very happy with it!!!! "Police Inerceptor"! Have HWY version 5 spd....'bout 26 mph.....

damn, I live an hour away from where that was built! I guess I gotta consider a crown Vic at some point in the future here

I bought a 2009 about 6 months ago and really enjoy driving it. I'm retired enlisted military so, the price was right. I also have a 2019 Tacoma, but around my small southern town, my Crown Vic is what I enjoy driving. My local PD still has a few as well. People on the road are very nice to me. In my subdivision, people will wave at me. Sometimes the cops will wave at me. It's all black with the push bar, and two spotlights. After a wash, it's simply beautiful, and a joy to drive. I once had one of the newer versions aggressively tail me after a stop and turn. Since the speed on the smaller road, I turned onto was 35, I slowed to 30 to give him time to read and check my tag. I have a government issue tag (retired Army), The "ARMY" is in large red letters, that no one seems to read, except for this officer behind me, as he/she quickly veered off down another road/drive. I also have a CCP for my pistol. Basically, they could hire me but I'm likely too old at this point. (Got my own car and pistol + military training)

I own a 08 cvpi p71 with 232k and 4k idle hours. Black in color. It still runs like a champ.

Awesome video dude.. I want one so bad.. dream car !!

There is a way to change the way the trunk release button works so that the key must be on to open the trunk, the way they are set up from factory is than anyone can open it without a key. There are u tube videos on how to make the easy swap from one wire plug to the other.

@stephenryder1995 I know your post says a year ago, however that was one of the most informative and interesting posts I’ve ever seen about the Crown Vic!! I have a 2010 P7B that I bought in October of 2021 with 66,000 miles. It now has 70,000 and I’m gonna start fixing her up! I too am retired from NYPD, 1992-2012. I drove the Vics and Caprices. I also have a 1996 Caprice with factory dual exhaust and a 5.7 motor. Thanks for the very informative info and hope to hear from you!

Good review, Crown Victoria is one of best cars Ford made. I have a Mercury Grand Marquis 160K miles it runs great.

I’m building the p71 I inherited from my father. Gonna coyote swap it and pair it with the 10speed auto. I wish it was an ifs car tho. The interiors of these old cars still hold up to modern mopars 🤣

Got a soft spot for these cars. I learned to drive in this

I just purchased a 2010 light blue P7B street appearance package (3.27 trac loc, traction control, cruise control, power drivers seat, and power pedals) with 75k miles and 367 idle hours that was in service for prison in TX, no rust! Never had a cage and it’s in really good condition.

Just bought one, has 130k km and only 500 idle hr, super excited

This was my first car and I'll never forget it

I just won a 2003 P71 for a personal record low price of $350!!! It's a former Hemet Oreo. I am so looking forward to my upcoming road trip of 800 miles next week!

I have a P71 exactly like in this video, down to the color and year.

Ended up picking one up for 2400 2010 . Needed paint , trans and other maintenance. Overall its reliable now. Cross fingers 🤞

Don't overlook the secondary power port under the ash tray. I've lost track of how many of these awsome cars that I have bought and sold. I never had one hit me hard in the pocketbook. You can look for the usual wear and tear items on a used fleet car. I currently won two 2011's and one 2007. Love them all.

Those are GREAT cars to get!! Nice video............... 👍👍👍

They are so reliable that most police departments on the east and west coast are buying back or refurbishing theirs now that the chip shortage is happening

I wanted one of these when I was in high school. Reasonably quick, durable, sounds good, and tons of room although very basic. It's more of an F-150 sedan than a Mustang sedan though. They still look the business with that black grille and low chrome. Delaware State Police use a very nice metallic blue on their cars slightly lighter than this one. Those are all long gone. East Coast Classics is a channel you should check out to see what our state surplus auctions are like here. There's a scene in the Blues Brothers sequel where the kid was sleeping in the trunk of a LTD Crown Victoria. Mediocre movie, don't recommend. The police where I live have retired all of them and gone to SUVs. The state police have a few Chargers, Caprices, Durangos, and Explorers for evaluation but use Tahoes almost exclusively. County police have a few unmarked Tauruses but otherwise exclusively use Tahoes. My hometown and university's police departments have a pretty even mix of Tahoes and Explorers. I know the guy who outfits them with all the police equipment but I've never been able to con him into letting me drive one, even pre-outfitting. LOL at that dig at Cleetus. By the way, your channel is now big enough to attract the porn bot scammers. Congratulations, I guess.

I love my 2008 P71 SAP, got it with 57k miles and now just over 136k. I take very good care of it and clean her regularely.

Ford Panther Platform cars in general and Crown Victorias in particular are starting to get harder to find. But, you can still see one at times. I own an '05 Mercury Grand Marquis LS Premium. And in the town I live in, there's about 20 of them still going strong including my car. And we always wave at each other. Great cars!! I think there's an National Panther Platform Car Owner's Club.

I’m in the process of buying a 2007 P71. Only has 66000 miles. Probably picking it up this week. Hopefully it’s a good one.

I have a 2008 p71 I have had it for 3 years and it's clean and runs like a top

4:40 Police have big center consoles which likely have cupholders built into them.

The Panther platform cars are with the 91-96 GM B body cars the best cars ever produced!

mine of the same year has a big red "fire suppression" button i'll never do it but curious what happens if pushed lol

Bought a silver, P71 SAP in October 2020 at auction. Had 87000 miles and 1700 idle hours. Got it for $3,600. No way I’d be able to afford one now with these stupid prices.

These Ford Crown Victorias are more reliable then the Ford SUVs made for police. Unfortunately, Ford has decided to stop making sedans in America

Values going up on em, they are classics, I'm not letting go of my 2000.

I have been driving Panther cars for more than 30 years. I spent 41 years working for a large city fleet services department. I quickly discovered that the Panther cars were by far the most reliable vehicles we had. I started out with pretty well clapped out police cars. When they hit 100,000 miles they were "decommissioned" and sold at auction. I knew which ones were the best, and I would send a friend down to bid on them for me. They were fine for transportation, and since they were already pretty beat up, you didn't have to worry about getting a scratch or ding in one, you could haul parts and tools in them, and drive them wearing dirty greasy work clothes. They were very reliable and easy to work on when something did go wrong. I later switched to the Mercury Grand Marquis, because I likes their soft cushy seats, softer suspension, and super smooth ride. No their performance wasn't quite as good, but they were better cars for what I wanted. One of the biggest differences between the police Crown Vics and the Grand Marquis was the 2.73 rear axle in the Grand Marquis. You could cruise down the highway at just above idle, and get 30+ mpg. They had a 400 mile range with a full tank. You could just hop on the freeway, set the cruise control, kick back and relax. All you had to do was keep the car in the lane. You could drive from coast to coast in comfort. That 2.73 rear axle also made the Grand Marquis a longer lasting car than the police Crown Vic, because the engine and transmission turned over slower at any given speed. I currently have 2 Grand Marquis, a 2006 and a 2007. I bought the 2006 9 years ago, with 87,000 miles on it. It now has 281,000 miles on it, and is still going strong. Unfortunately it has the Performance White peeling paint option, so now it is half white and half gray. Not a problem for a transportation car. But I knew it wouldn't last forever (though I may replace the engine/transmission when they fail, not sure yet) and I wanted something nicer. I recently bought a like new one owner 2007 Grand Marquis with 36,000 miles on it. I got it from an older couple that lived in a retirement community. They had the original dealer paperwork, original window sticker, and a stack of service receipts. The bottom is as clean as the top. The only thing I could find wrong was that it needed new windshield wipers. Its an original AZ car, and was sold by a local dealer. I paid $10,000 for it, and considered that the deal of a lifetime. It should easily last 400,000 miles, which is a long time since it only had 36,000 miles on it. Buy a new car for $50,000, and you'll be lucky to get 100,000 miles out of it before it starts having some very expensive problems, right after the warranty expires. And because I worked on these Panther cars for decades, and have owned several, I know everything there is to know about them. Unfortunately, like you said, they are quickly disappearing, and really nice ones are getting very hard to find. Many of the ones from back east and up north are rusted out. While anything mechanical can be fixed, when the body is completely rusted out, they are pretty much done for. Always look under the bottom before buying one.

Love these panther platform cars! I’ve seen nice ones go for 10k, which is kind of crazy but the panther platform cars were the last of the American land yachts.

Getting harder to find a good one. I just picked up a 2011 from government auction. 200K miles and 4400 hours. Runs and drives great. Paid $2400.

I love ❤️ these cars started in 2003-2011

Ford offered traction control for the P71/P7B as an option.

yo my number one favorite car!!! thank you

The empty gun holster in the door caught my attention.

bro... did you shoot this in sugar grove?? I swear on my LIFE I recognize every single location in this video

These cars will outlive the new ones.

I own a 2004 Ultimate Town Car. Panther cars a drying up because people are learning. They all make fantastic project cars, daily drivers, or anything else. The good ones are more and more difficult to find because of that. There are still millions waiting for love though...

Got a 2005 P71 with 15k miles on it sitting in the garage with about 12k in parts next to it :D was a prisoner transport vehicle before sitting for 15 years.

Bro!! This is the best review video of Ford crown victoria interceptor 2008. I am also thinking to buy one. Can you tell the prize? Anyway awesome video ❤👍

I have a 1998 Oldsmobile intrigue with 88k miles on it. Best news is it only came with one engine. 3.8v6

These were made till 2011, I remember back in 2008 these were sold as certified pre-owned used as rentals for about 6 month with low milage for $15.000.00 US Dollars.

i just got a 2008 p71 with 85000 miles for 4500, really good condition!! it was a steal

I have a 2008 with 50,000 miles for sale that says animal control on the side with a custom center consul edit it is a P 71 and it is white fresh new snow tires 3275 hours idle with the C6 posi I believe that is the differential name

The plate in the back is not metal/also look at headliner to see any indeant on the roof

you are right my mother and brother and myself had these .... i just traded in a 2004 lincoln town car ultimate i still had to do work new ac work rear trailing arms i converted air bags to springs car is great but im not into it anymore too big ... seat moves back and forth water leaks carpet in back i like my 2006 chevy impalas better

I've got a blue Taurus interceptor, ex detective car love the blue