2004 LX Sport as daily driver?

chief455

chief455

New member
very nive SB exterior, perfect silver leather interior, new tires, very nice example in great working order, stock. 98k miles.
What is fair market value? What can I expect for gas economy, with a tune? will it run out on 87 octane? no idea what rear gear is in the car yet. ~300 miles/week is my commute.
Love it as a suedo Marauder - hope to justify paying for the fuel to NOT be in a Honda every darn day:help:
 
I think it's the same engine as the regular CV so it should burn 87. 24-7 hiway less around town. Not sure about the ratio.
 
I think the LX sports came with 355 gears in them, but they still run on 87

The only current panther to use 93 was the marauder
 
I had an 03 Cv sport before my marauder..3.27 gears..yes , runs on 87 octane..can get a tune for 87,91,93 and MartyO can provide one too. I didn;t know Marty O at the time so I never ran a tune....Never got over 23mpg for me in the 2-3 years I had it. average was 19-21..lower in winter on winter blend fuel, higher in summer on summer grade fuel...I did not drive it on average in a city environment but more open country type roads..where speed avg was 45-50 mph...If you get, let me know..If silverfrost is the color, i have a honeycomb grille with the surround painted silver frost I would sell cheap.
 
RubberCtyRauder said:
I had an 03 Cv sport before my marauder..3.27 gears..yes , runs on 87 octane..can get a tune for 87,91,93 and MartyO can provide one too. I didn;t know Marty O at the time so I never ran a tune....Never got over 23mpg for me in the 2-3 years I had it. average was 19-21..lower in winter on winter blend fuel, higher in summer on summer grade fuel...I did not drive it on average in a city environment but more open country type roads..where speed avg was 45-50 mph...If you get, let me know..If silverfrost is the color, i have a honeycomb grille with the surround painted silver frost I would sell cheap.
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same driving style in my life, 1 mile in stop lights, a few miles 45-50 then 25 miles on the highway each day to/from work. 60 mile round trip x 5 days = 300 miles/week = 15 gal fuel x $4 = $60
My Honda will go 425 miles on $60.
I'll feel that increase.
MERCURY 2003LSE said:
It will be a lot cheaper on fuel than a Marauder .
No Prem fuel needed .
3:27 rear end gearing on the sport LX.
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I'm getting dead on 18mpg with my Marauder for 3,000 miles various driving. Stepping up to 20mpg will and paying around .30 cents less per/gal may add up...
guess it will boil down to paying ~$20/week to be in a CV Sport rather than a Honda
 
How you drive it will have the biggest impact on the fuel economy. Unless you are really heavy on the throttle it should do a little better than a 4.10 geared Marauder but definitely not econo-box like fuel economy. However vs something like an Accord or Camry with the V6 it will only be about 1-2 mpg worse and well worth it to not drive something like that. An 04 should have 3.23 gears, 3.55 gears were available on 03 LX sports during part of the model year.
 
Sports has 3.27..they never had 3.55 gears in 2003..Back in like 2000, before the "sport" designation, the HPP models had 3.55 gears..but I believe it was for only one year. Member GDMjoe will know, he has a sport and numerous facts and info about sports, vics etc...
 
If I was going to buy a 2nd car, I'd want something different. Like a 240z, a truck to haul stuff in, a big SUV, an old GTI, something other than a less-potent version of what I already have.

Is the MM your only car at the moment?
 
very wrong choice if ur looking for even decent mpg. if you want size and mpg the mkz hybrid or 13 14 accord hybrid are very great choices. or any timing chain corolla
 
All good input guys, thanks.
It may take the place of my brothers tired high mile 99 Park Avenue Ultra,
I'll keep Marauder and 30mpg Accord daily driver as is.
At least we would have 2 SB 2004 sporty Panthers in the driveway.
$4500 good price for a very nice example with 98k and minimal paint wear?
 
4500 doesn't sound bad, but I'm not up to date on CV pricing since going to a Marauder..I was going to estimate $4500 -$5500 pending condition, does it need tires right away or a brake job?
 
clmrt said:
If I was going to buy a 2nd car, I'd want something different. Like a 240z, a truck to haul stuff in, a big SUV, an old GTI, something other than a less-potent version of what I already have.

Is the MM your only car at the moment?
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I sometimes miss driving a stick shift car. So, I like the idea of an old Foxbody (or maybe newer) Mustang as a second car. I know those cars and they are easy and inexpensive to work on (and values are going up). If you drive them normal, I used to be able to get an easy 20+ MPG driving and probably more looking at chief's daily commute. Just don't let the mod bug get you too bad! :rolleyes:

Otherwise, that sounds like a decent deal, depending on what it needs. Also, for a panther platform car, the older Town Cars are great too! You can buy those cheap! My old 1992 got ~18-19 in town and as much as 27 on the highway!
 
RubberCtyRauder said:
4500 doesn't sound bad, but I'm not up to date on CV pricing since going to a Marauder..I was going to estimate $4500 -$5500 pending condition, does it need tires right away or a brake job?
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has recent tires and the rest is recently sate inspected - seems like a solid turn key ride. the link above shows they are pretty rare, too!
sflrainmaker01 said:
I sometimes miss driving a stick shift car. So, I like the idea of an old Foxbody (or maybe newer) Mustang as a second car. I know those cars and they are easy and inexpensive to work on (and values are going up). If you drive them normal, I used to be able to get an easy 20+ MPG driving and probably more looking at chief's daily commute. Just don't let the mod bug get you too bad! :rolleyes:

Otherwise, that sounds like a decent deal, depending on what it needs. Also, for a panther platform car, the older Town Cars are great too! You can buy those cheap! My old 1992 got ~18-19 in town and as much as 27 on the highway!
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the LX ort doesn't need anything to drive right now, interiors is mint, mechanics are very good and everything typically wrong, is all working.
I would have my brother put a tune in and that's about it.

I gave up on it as my daily, fuel economy and as pointed out, why drive a car like Marauder every day? would take some fun away from my weekend toy.

If we miss on this Sport, I see he Town Cars are cheap these days - could be something to watch for.
 
Just had a spark plug back out on the highway on my grand marquis. Was seriously thinking about replacing the car this morning. I found brand new Focus STs are only $24k around here. Not too bad for a turbo 4 banger with a manual that gets way better mileage than these cars.
 
Well, this is a topic I actually know about. My daily driver is a black 04 Sport. This last week I bought my Marauder. To me they are both different enough that I don't get bored with either. I will have to see how I feel about that in a few months. For know it's very nice to have both. My commute is 15 minutes one way to work, so the mileage hit isn't that bad. My wife has a 4wd FJ so that takes care of any towing or hauling that we could need.

 
CoreyM75 said:
Well, this is a topic I actually know about. My daily driver is a black 04 Sport. This last week I bought my Marauder. To me they are both different enough that I don't get bored with either. I will have to see how I feel about that in a few months. For know it's very nice to have both. My commute is 15 minutes one way to work, so the mileage hit isn't that bad. My wife has a 4wd FJ so that takes care of any towing or hauling that we could need.

http://s607.photobucket.com/user/2000-cvpi/media/20140722_144626.jpg.html
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Nice! thanks for the input. I'm pretty sure I'd be happy in a panther 7 days a week, a few days with twice the power of the other :eek:
the price of gas is the killer on my commute.
And my daily is a 2013 Accord EX-L coupe all black, so it doesn't really suck to drive. It actually gets attention and compliments too.
 
CoreyM75 said:
Well, this is a topic I actually know about. My daily driver is a black 04 Sport. This last week I bought my Marauder. To me they are both different enough that I don't get bored with either. I will have to see how I feel about that in a few months. For know it's very nice to have both. My commute is 15 minutes one way to work, so the mileage hit isn't that bad. My wife has a 4wd FJ so that takes care of any towing or hauling that we could need.

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Ok, Spill the beans..you bought a Maraduer...looks like DTR..pics, details, mileage etc..not worried about price..you bought what you wanted.. oh and congrats!:beer:
 
RubberCtyRauder said:
Sports has 3.27..they never had 3.55 gears in 2003..Back in like 2000, before the "sport" designation, the HPP models had 3.55 gears..but I believe it was for only one year. Member GDMjoe will know, he has a sport and numerous facts and info about sports, vics etc...
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RubberCty is Dead Accurate on the 2000 HPP.

I have one with 81k on the clock and it get far less gas mileage than my Dads 1997 HPP with the 3:27 rear ratio. My 2000 with the 3:55 on it's best day with the cruise control set on a thrifty 65 MPH will get 24 MPG at best...in town , 15MPG is about average.

I think the Crown Vic Sport is a nice and cheaper alternative for a Daily Driver...My only Beef with the SOHC 4.6 L is the damned plastic intake manifold. Whomever thought that up should have their ass kicked right off the planet. It's an expensive and labor involved fix. It's a mother of a price if a dealership does the work.

98k might sound like a lot of miles , but with the PI heads on that model , you should have No real issues under the hood for a long time , assuming it was cared for as discribed.
 
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