What Panther is right for me?

[miamibob]

"Well I guess you could say they have the better intake because they've all already been replaced! 95 was the last year that didn't have the plastic intake manifold. That in combination with the 4R70W tranny make 1995 the best year for the Grand Marquis IMO."

See, I TOLD him to inquire about my '95 GM!

[killgore]

I think the main reason it is so chap is because #1. they are moving. But they have never done wrong by us (a car can always change that), and were upfront with all the problems surrounding it (that I found). But the car was owned by their grandma from 40K to 160K. It has had three owners before me, (1 from new to 40k, grandma, and then older mid 40's gentlemen). And we have helped them when they needed it, I think it is just a return of the help.

The purchase price leaves room for repairs if needed. On a 30 mile cruise it didn't sputter smoke once and was at the full line with older oil.

The reason I don't like the smaller topaz's and tempo's and such is because I am a large guy and I have large friends (football players). Its hard to find a vehicle that could fit all of us comfortably, but this one is large enough.

[Mr Bean]

Well I guess you could say they have the better intake because they've all already been replaced! 95 was the last year that didn't have the plastic intake manifold. That in combination with the 4R70W tranny make 1995 the best year for the Grand Marquis IMO.

But 95' has the fail aluminum intake same as 91-94 with EGR passages that clog up and crappy valve stem seals. Sure it's probably more reliable than the newer style plastic intake but it's down on power.

[LithiumCobalt]

Cleaning out EGR channels is a common issue, but honestly, it costs zero money if you don't count your time. It's not really all that involved to do it either. One hour tops. I'd rather clean the channels out every 50k miles than be stranded when the shitty plastic intake explodes in the middle of nowhere.

Yes, valve stem seals before mid 96 model year are also defective. $20 for a new set, but it's the 12-16 hours it takes to do the job that makes it a bear to replace them. Not really cost effective if you have to pay someone to do it since values on these cars are so low. Either keep filling up with oil or swap out the seals.

[miamibob]

Cleaned out the EGR channels on my '95 GM and it doesn't use oil (189K). So far so good!