Retails Sales Ranking in California: 1) Toyota 2) Honda 3) Ford4) Chevrolet

Compare Avalon to CV on Edmunds:

http://tinyurl.com/fqke8

The market price is almost identical.

The Avalon has more power, is generally better equipped and gets much
better milage. Over 100,000 miles, the CV will burn about 1000
gallons more fuel than the Avalon. At the end of this period, the
Avalon will probably be worth a few thousand dollars more.

Outside the CV much larger and less maneuverable. Inside it is a
little larger and carries one more passenger (if you don't mind front
bench seats). It's biggest advantage is about a third more trunk
space.

The final advantage for the Avalon, it isn't primitive.

 

I hate to agree with Mike, but he is correct on this one, at least for
the moment. Ford has a * $6,000 * rebate on the Grand Marquis and
according to carsdirect.com they will sell you a base model for $17,544
after discounts and rebate. That is for a car with a nominal MSRP of
$25,555. Even a well equipped "LS Premium" version can be had for under
$22,000. Not my kind of car, but a bargain if you like that sort of
vehicle.

It seems that Ford is giving these things away to try and clear
inventory. The St. Thomas, Ontario factory which builds them has been
reported to only be running one shift and is probably on the close-down
list. I wonder what will become of the taxi and police vehicle market
if Ford shuts that factory? Maybe they all move to Dodges ????

John

 

http://www.officer.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=2&id=28545

 

Yep, it sure looks like Ford is handing the police car business over to
Daimler-Chrysler. An interesting side story is that just before Ford
bought Volvo, Volvo had an active evaluation program going with the
California Highway Patrol for a police version of the 850 turbo as a cop
car. They are used as such in several European countries. When Ford
bought Volvo they immediately killed the project as Ford saw no reason
to foster competition for their lucrative Police Interceptor line. Yet
another short sighted decision. The Crown Vic is an ancient design and
the Police Interceptor's days have long been doomed. It was always just
a question of when!

John

 

By 'ancient design' do you mean RWD, like the 'new' Dodge? LOL

Fords current plans are to build the CV and GM through 2008


mike

<snip>

..> The Crown Vic is an ancient design and the Police Interceptor's days
have long been doomed. It was always just

 

No, I mean that the vehicle was introduced in 1992 based on 1980s design
work. Sure there have been tweaks, updates and freshenings along the
way, but it still is the oldest car design still being sold in the US today.

John

 

I have no idea where you got your information but there have been far more
than tweaks. The engine is state of the art SMEFI OHC V8, with individual
coil packs that can get 25 MPG. The tranny is an electronically controlled
unit. The CVs frame, body and suspension are all new, as well, since 2000.
The CV and GM are both built to far exceed both the front and rear NHTSA
crash standards. A build standard that exceeds every other car on the
market. Hardy of ancient origin


mike hunt

 

You forgot to say in my opinion. The current CV/GM have nothing in common
with those built in the eighties or the nineties except that they are still
build on a RWD chassis LOL

mike hunt