Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Richmond, Maine

Car Man, Can you post the MF and residuals for both the E350 BlueTec and 4Matic sedan at 10,000 miles/year for 33 months? Thanks, Richard

Has anyone posted the lease terms/rates for February? I'm looking for the numbers on a 33 month lease for a E350 4matic. Thanks.

I have no statistics comparing the reliability of '01s and '91s, but my perception is that the '01s are generally more reliable than their counterparts of a decade earlier. I don't have any reliable statistics either, and even my personal experience is sketchy. For example, my '00 Intrepid was way more reliable than my '89 Gran Fury. The Intrepid was still going strong at 150,000 miles when it got totaled. The Gran Fury needed a new engine around 73,000, when the #8 cam lobe wore out, and the city of Richmond, VA, retired it. Now, the place I bought it from threw in a 318 from a wrecked '88 Diplomat with 75,000 miles on it. I got rid of that car with 118,000 (120,000 on the engine). So I guess you could argue that while the original engine only made it to 73K, the second engine made it to 120K! But, as far as things that Gran Fury needed under my watch, that the Intrepid never did: 4 or 5 new starters (I lost count!), fuel pump, radiator, freeze plug, two power window motors, distributor, and a water pump. Thing the Intrepid needed, that the Gran Fury never did: a/c compressor, new front rotors, and bearing hubs. It still ran okay when I got rid of it, but the water pump was starting to go. And by that time I had too many cars, so I was starting to pull parts off of it... But, on the flip side, my 2000 Park Ave Ultra, at 78,000 miles, doesn't seem like it's going to turn out to be half the car my grandmother's '85 LeSabre was. That car was pretty reliable up until around 144,000 miles, when she gave it to me, but then it started going downhill. Still ran well by 157,000 miles when we got rid of it, but the brakes had gone out, and I knew it wouldn't pass emissions the next time around. Plus, it was just one of too many cars that I didn't need, so we got rid of it. In contrast, the Park Ave has already needed suspension work, a rebuild on the front brake calipers, rotors, new belt tensioners and pulleys, and other odds and ends. My Mom and stepdad had a 1991 Stanza, which started to lose its transmission around 90,000 miles, although they managed to get it to 110-120,000 before selling it. It also needed exhaust work and a few other odds and ends. Their replacement '99 Altima lost its transmission completely at 35,000 miles, but was replaced under warranty, and the car now has over 330,000 on it. Oh, as for the cash for clunkers qualifications, I think the car had to be between 1984 and 2001, or something like that, and the combined EPA rating had to be either less than 18 mpg, or 18 mpg or below. To get the combined rating, I think they took the formula they apply to 2007 and newer cars and back-dated it to 1984. So for the most part, the only vehicles that qualified for it were trucks, SUVs, maybe a few minivans, and cars that had an engine displacement of around 5 liters or greater.

Having you considered Ebay? Check out some stuff from Virginia, or even a little further south. The car will probably been driven in better conditions, etc. You could easily do as far south as Richmond in a day if needed.

Cop cars shouldn't count as a true fleet sale in that they will probably never return to the retail market. Police cars are usually bought in bulk, and really aren't much of a high-profit item, so that presents its own problem. I'm not sure how long police cars stay in service these days. The CHP used to retire their cars after three years, but then they'd get often get auctioned off to county and local departments, so they'd actually stay in service as police cars for a much longer time. I had bought my '89 Gran Fury copcar in late 1998, so it was 10 model years old. It had been a sheriff's car for the city of Richmond, VA, and got retired when the #8 cam lobe wore down. For some reason, I've heard the #8 spot on a V-8 engine can be troublesome in general. I vaguely remember the 1979 Chevy 305-4bbl tended to foul up the #8 plug a lot. Maybe #8 tends to run hotter, or dirtier, or something that causes issues? Anyway, the place I bought it from specialized in old police cars, and they installed the 318 out of a recently-wrecked '88 Diplomat police car. They also had several similar-vintage Crown Vics and Caprices, and one '91 or so "bathtub" Caprice on their lot, so I'd guess, at that time at least, it was usually around the 8-12 year mark a police car finally leaves duty? A lot of police cars also get bought and turned into taxis.