Car Guy's am I getting old ?

[Breedlove]

Next year 2018 both of us will be retired and we plan to vacation . Always before we are on schedules flying here flying there ( even domestically ) Our plans are to take a trip across the U S and around the U S on our time . No we don't want an RV or MiniVan .
I am looking at buying a good used Lincoln Town car , or Mercury Marquis . There seem to be lots of these around with low miles cheap. I like the full frame ,rear wheel drive and just the last of the large sedan's .

I want to use the Lincoln as just a traveling car . My daily driver is a Honda Ridgeline DW has an Optima . What do you think ,is this the early stage of getting older ??

 

[Big_Hitter]

no, i'd totally rock a buick roadmaster right now

 

[FIREmenow]

no, i'd totally rock a buick roadmaster right now

I remember a Jay Leno shtick about his Buick Roadmaster, after a monologue/rant about how small cars were getting - he said that he was getting tired of washing it on weekends and having to clean out the crumpled up Toyotas from under the bumper.....

 

[Another Reader]

Must be the late stage of getting older. I'm still buying Honda Accords and I'm in my early 60's.

A Roadmaster could be a camping vehicle as long as you don't go too far off road. Should sleep two comfortably.

 

[foxfirev5]

In my later work travels and before my company vehicle, I bought year old Cadillac Devilles and drove them into the ground. Nice highway cruisers. It was kind of like driving your living room couch around.

 

[FIREmenow]

In my later work travels and before my company vehicle, I bought year old Cadillac Devilles and drove them into the ground. Nice highway cruisers. It was kind of like driving your living room couch around.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

My Dad has a Town Car that we have taken on couple of road trips and I personally hate the car. It's large and very much handles like a land yacht. It is comfortable for the passengers, but just a terrible car to drive. Of course, this is only an opinion.

 

[RunningBum]

You should get whatever car you like, no matter what anyone else thinks. But I would take such a car on a good long test drive and try parking it a couple times to make sure it was really something I wanted to deal with.

 

[Breedlove]

Something about a large U S built Sedan . Real simple cars built for luxury cruising , quiet and easy to work on . Put some nice wheels on it , these cars don't have all of the new bells and whistles just a nice BIG car .

 

[gauss]

You should get whatever car you like, no matter what anyone else thinks. But I would take such a car on a good long test drive and try parking it a couple times to make sure it was really something I wanted to deal with.

I have been driving a series of Oldsmobiles starting from the late 1990s continuing up to this day. (TMI?)

My buddies who drive the the VWs and Miatas etc (and are all still working mind you) love to give me grief for being an old guy. I am the same age as them.

-gauss

 

[RunningBum]

I have been driving a series of Oldsmobiles starting from the late 1990s continuing up to this day. (TMI?)

My buddies who drive the the VWs and Miatas etc (and are all still working mind you) love to give me grief for being an old guy. I am the same age as them.

-gauss

You don't tell them they are driving chick cars? That's what a friend of mine used to tell me about my Miata, and Honda CRV at the time. Didn't bother me in the least.

 

[Beldar]

Have you considered renting a vehicle for your road trips? Weekly & monthly rates can be rather reasonable, and you would be driving a current year landcruiser with pretty much no maintenance worries.

We plan to do something similar with a small SUV / crossover type vehicle for week long or longer road trips. That way we're not stuck with the vehicle year round.


_B

 

[38Chevy454]

Ask just about any police officer and they will say they miss the old Crown Vic's. They were always a favorite for comfort, and the V8 engines had enough for when needed.

The Crown Vic/Mercury Marquis get surprising good mpg out on the road. They are an excellent road trip car choice. Big trunk to hold lots of stuff, plenty of room inside, and at night people move over thinking you are a cop car! Easy maintenance if needed on them. Don't worry about the perception of being an old person car, it's a great choice for what you want. Even better if you can find one from an older person that was garage kept and lower miles.

 

[Big_Hitter]

i see retired crown vic police interceptors for sale on CL all the time

however almost all of them are high mileage and pretty ragged out

 

[38Chevy454]

i see retired crown vic police interceptors for sale on CL all the time

however almost all of them are high mileage and pretty ragged out

Used ex-police cars will have extra holes in the dash and exterior, a vinyl backseat and rubber floor mat, and probably two tone paint (black and white) or a very cheap repaint job that will not hold up.

Just buy one from a private party.

 

[Car-Guy]

As I've mentioned in other threads, the older I get, the more I want luxury and comfort in my daily drivers. So I guess it comes with age for some of us "car guys".

Personally, I still want (need ) high performance cars with my daily drivers too. Also I like some "size and weight" in my long distance traveling vehicles. I rented a Town Car some years ago for a very long (5000 mile) trip. It was very comfortable, luxurious, big and heavy, and had all the bells and whistles. But for me, it's performance dimension was pretty poor. (no doubt that could be fixed to some degree but probably not enough to satisfy my needs without major modifications and engine swaps) YMMV

 

[Gumby]

Here's the land yacht for you - 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz. 19 feet long, and 5100 lbs of American luxury driving.

 

[ls99]

Gee, I forgot that cars used to have vertical stabilizers. And the key is in the dashboard!

For comfort I like my 99 GMC Suburban 7200 pounds, with a 7.4 engine and modified computer for extra ooomph.

 

[Breedlove]

I guess I just love cars , we own a small ranch so the Lincoln TC would only be used for road trips . Insurance would be cheap . I see the Low mileage Lincoln TC's actually pretty cheap . I was in the country last evening I talked to an old guy driving a Lincoln Navigator at a Valero . He told me he had owned three Lincoln TC's over the years and actually got 24mpg and dearly missed the TC's . I asked him about handling he never thought of it as an issue .

 

[Racer X]

I love the idea. DW and I are doing something similar when she retires next year. In our case, we didn't want a comfortable car so much as a fun car. When considering power, amenities, handling, comfort, and other factors, we settled on a Dodge Challenger Hellcat. We will use this car to road trip across America and visit as many National Parks as possible. Some people probably think that's goofy, but we're really looking forward to it.

 

[Tom52]

/\ a Hellcat! You lucky dog

 

[Car-Guy]

I love the idea. DW and I are doing something similar when she retires next year. In our case, we didn't want a comfortable car so much as a fun car. When considering power, amenities, handling, comfort, and other factors, we settled on a Dodge Challenger Hellcat. We will use this car to road trip across America and visit as many National Parks as possible. Some people probably think that's goofy, but we're really looking forward to it.

I don't think it's goofy at all. Of course you and I may be the only ones here that think like that.

Normally I subscribe to the belief that you can never have to much horsepower. However, I know two Hellcat owners and both have had major problems with their cars. One had a problem with the engine (supercharger and crank) and one with the transmission, along with a few other minor issues. 707hp maybe be to much for the drive train, maybe . I don't own a Hellcat but I do have an SRT and so far after 40k miles, the only thing I've had to do is change the oil, tires and add gas. You may want to check out some of the 6.4 SRT's rather than the 6.2 SRT Hellcat if reliability is important to you. The bigger 6.4 naturally aspirated engine (but 200+ less HP than the supercharged 6.2) and 8 speed automatic are absolutely awesome and so far, bulletproof for me. YMMV.....

 

[meierlde]

I love the idea. DW and I are doing something similar when she retires next year. In our case, we didn't want a comfortable car so much as a fun car. When considering power, amenities, handling, comfort, and other factors, we settled on a Dodge Challenger Hellcat. We will use this car to road trip across America and visit as many National Parks as possible. Some people probably think that's goofy, but we're really looking forward to it.

One question is do you want to get off paved roads, then at least a high clearance vehicle is needed (possible 4 wheed drive also), but the high clearance is a necessity if going very far off paved roads in the west in particular.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Get yourself a well-kept S class Mercedes Benz. I'd prefer a W126 or W140 chassis with the 4.2 or 5.6 V8. Avoid the diesels in the W140 ... but an old-time OM617 turbodiesel in the 126 would be nostalgic. Reliable, too.

I used to commute to work in a W123 chassis 300TD. Every time I sat down in the driver's seat I marveled at how comfortable it was, with a box spring under the cushion.

 

[Bamaman]

When working for Ford, I often got new cars. Mostly those that were not selling well.

MegaCorp sent me a new 1979 Lincoln Town Car--White with White leather. This was the last of the land barge Town Cars--and it got 12 mpg with the 460 engine.

After 2 days, I made my auditor swap cars with me. He was a 300 lb. black guy, and the car suited his rather ample back side better.

I later had my wife and young child in a more modern 1992 Town Car with the 4.6 engine. And it did get 24 mpg on the road. You cannot kill those cars--250,000 mile lifespan.