BMW X5 Police Car
Discussion
This question may well have been asked before but why do supposedly cash strapped Police Forces (in the case Essex Constabulary) have such expensive cars???
Many of the cars I see around the area where I live are BMW 330d/530d or Volvo Estates (£35 -40k cars).
I used to work in a vehicle leasing company and know for a fact that they cost a fortune compared with, say, a Skoda Octavia VRs which would do a comparable job. What's more they the various forces don't even pool thier buying power as far as I know.
The final straw was seeing a 62 plate X5 today - a £45k 4WD that won't even go off road!!
WHY???
Many of the cars I see around the area where I live are BMW 330d/530d or Volvo Estates (£35 -40k cars).
I used to work in a vehicle leasing company and know for a fact that they cost a fortune compared with, say, a Skoda Octavia VRs which would do a comparable job. What's more they the various forces don't even pool thier buying power as far as I know.
The final straw was seeing a 62 plate X5 today - a £45k 4WD that won't even go off road!!
WHY???
pointedstarman said:
This question may well have been asked before...
Yes it has. And answered, ad infinitum. But in summary:All Police cars have to be "type approved".
Police do not pay list for vehicles, they are heavily discounted from the manufacturer.
"Better" cars have higher residuals when they are sold at the end of their service.
It's not just the cost of the car, it's the cost of servicing etc over the life of the vehicle.
Certain vehicles are required to carry certain loads, which require the ability to do so.
Reliability is taken into account, so brand X may cost £more than brand Y, but if half the fleet of brand Y is off the road, you'll need twice as many vehicles. So for example 3 BMW X5 at £20k each works out cheaper than 6 Vauxhall Fronteras at £12k each.
massage seats and all!OK, so the PH search engine ain't that great hence the tired topic but...
The discounted list of a BMW is still way above the list of a Skoda which could depreciate to £0 and still be cheaper to run that any 3 litre BMW.
It seems to me that, as with many public sector institutions, they don't know thier a*se from thier elbow when it comes to keeping costs down.
Mention reducing a forces budget and the immediate response is the usual hysterics of "less police on the front line" BS rather than really looking at where to save money. The car thing is a sympton of said incompetance.
The discounted list of a BMW is still way above the list of a Skoda which could depreciate to £0 and still be cheaper to run that any 3 litre BMW.
It seems to me that, as with many public sector institutions, they don't know thier a*se from thier elbow when it comes to keeping costs down.
Mention reducing a forces budget and the immediate response is the usual hysterics of "less police on the front line" BS rather than really looking at where to save money. The car thing is a sympton of said incompetance.
pointedstarman said:
What's more they the various forces don't even pool thier buying power as far as I know.
WHY???
Forces are doing this now, by region. And as has been said the "cheapest" car is not necessarily the cheapest in the long run.WHY???
ps there are also quite a few X5's that you won't have noticed (they aren't white/ yellow/ blue with flashing things on the roof).
Oh, and forces don't buy M Sports (shame), they are all SE's.
Edited by Red 4 on Thursday 15th November 19:08
Do not forget that they pay half or so price.
I have no issue with it, as prefer them to run around in decent vehicles.
The bit I cannot figure ...........why the Police are not allowed to "keep" the impounded vehicles and use them eg the number of decent 4x4's and German tackle, that the undesirables own and surely must be impounded would beggar belief.
I have no issue with it, as prefer them to run around in decent vehicles.
The bit I cannot figure ...........why the Police are not allowed to "keep" the impounded vehicles and use them eg the number of decent 4x4's and German tackle, that the undesirables own and surely must be impounded would beggar belief.
pointedstarman said:
OK, so the PH search engine ain't that great hence the tired topic but...
The discounted list of a BMW is still way above the list of a Skoda which could depreciate to £0 and still be cheaper to run that any 3 litre BMW.
It seems to me that, as with many public sector institutions, they don't know thier a*se from thier elbow when it comes to keeping costs down.
Mention reducing a forces budget and the immediate response is the usual hysterics of "less police on the front line" BS rather than really looking at where to save money. The car thing is a sympton of said incompetance.
Can you tell me the total cost over the Police lifecycle of the car for the following please?The discounted list of a BMW is still way above the list of a Skoda which could depreciate to £0 and still be cheaper to run that any 3 litre BMW.
It seems to me that, as with many public sector institutions, they don't know thier a*se from thier elbow when it comes to keeping costs down.
Mention reducing a forces budget and the immediate response is the usual hysterics of "less police on the front line" BS rather than really looking at where to save money. The car thing is a sympton of said incompetance.
BMW X5
Skoda Octavia VRS
Volvo V70
BMW 320d
BMW 530d
You seem to know so much about these figures, enlighten me.
pointedstarman said:
OK, so the PH search engine ain't that great hence the tired topic but...
The discounted list of a BMW is still way above the list of a Skoda which could depreciate to £0 and still be cheaper to run that any 3 litre BMW.
It seems to me that, as with many public sector institutions, they don't know thier a*se from thier elbow when it comes to keeping costs down.
Mention reducing a forces budget and the immediate response is the usual hysterics of "less police on the front line" BS rather than really looking at where to save money. The car thing is a sympton of said incompetance.
Do you know the price that each force pays for their BMWs? The discounted list of a BMW is still way above the list of a Skoda which could depreciate to £0 and still be cheaper to run that any 3 litre BMW.
It seems to me that, as with many public sector institutions, they don't know thier a*se from thier elbow when it comes to keeping costs down.
Mention reducing a forces budget and the immediate response is the usual hysterics of "less police on the front line" BS rather than really looking at where to save money. The car thing is a sympton of said incompetance.
Dibble said:
Yes it has. And answered, ad infinitum. But in summary:
All Police cars have to be "type approved".
Police do not pay list for vehicles, they are heavily discounted from the manufacturer.
"Better" cars have higher residuals when they are sold at the end of their service.
It's not just the cost of the car, it's the cost of servicing etc over the life of the vehicle.
Certain vehicles are required to carry certain loads, which require the ability to do so.
Reliability is taken into account, so brand X may cost £more than brand Y, but if half the fleet of brand Y is off the road, you'll need twice as many vehicles. So for example 3 BMW X5 at £20k each works out cheaper than 6 Vauxhall Fronteras at £12k each.
Sorry, but whilst each of the above may be true (excepting the last - a £20K X5 & a Vauxhall Frontera????) it don't justify buying BMW's / Disco's etc over Skoda's / Hyundai's etc when the latter are a) more reliable; b) available with similar discounts but from far lower list prices; c) cheaper to service.All Police cars have to be "type approved".
Police do not pay list for vehicles, they are heavily discounted from the manufacturer.
"Better" cars have higher residuals when they are sold at the end of their service.
It's not just the cost of the car, it's the cost of servicing etc over the life of the vehicle.
Certain vehicles are required to carry certain loads, which require the ability to do so.
Reliability is taken into account, so brand X may cost £more than brand Y, but if half the fleet of brand Y is off the road, you'll need twice as many vehicles. So for example 3 BMW X5 at £20k each works out cheaper than 6 Vauxhall Fronteras at £12k each.
Also, as I recall from direct experience many forces lease vehicles ands don't pay that much different from the likes of BT / local councils / NHS. Can't remember the last visiting nurse I saw in a BMW..
Volvo and BMW also offer a much longer warranty to police forces than other marks. Also in the case of traffic... If my car gets stolen I'd rather they be able to catch the idiot than wave as it flies past. The older V70s could take a fair amount of abuse and could carry a decent load. I don't think they could catch someone with a fully loaded police vehicle if they were driving a 520D.
Red 4 said:
J5 said:
Can you tell me the total cost over the Police lifecycle of the car for the following please?
BMW 320d
No 320d's round here. 325d's.BMW 320d
Soon to be replaced with 530d's.
edit: Unless the 325 is a 2.0l diesel too, i lost track with what engine is in what in a BMW these days!
ben5732 said:
Volvo and BMW also offer a much longer warranty to police forces than other marks. Also in the case of traffic... If my car gets stolen I'd rather they be able to catch the idiot than wave as it flies past. The older V70s could take a fair amount of abuse and could carry a decent load. I don't think they could catch someone with a fully loaded police vehicle if they were driving a 520D.
Skoda VRs is type approved, has similar performance (have owned / driven both) and is 50% the price of the BMW. It'd be a similar story with a Mondeo (given the number of Focus cars used I would guess Ford offer cars on good terms).The maths do not add up whichever way you look at it.
T5R+ said:
The bit I cannot figure ...........why the Police are not allowed to "keep" the impounded vehicles and use them eg the number of decent 4x4's and German tackle, that the undesirables own and surely must be impounded would beggar belief.
They can and this has happened, quite a few times. If I recall correctly Derbyshire kept a Golf R32 seized from a prominent drug dealer in the area and converted it into an unmarked traffic car.ben5732 said:
I don't think they could catch someone with a fully loaded police vehicle if they were driving a 520D.
Indeed. Even a 530d once fully laden with equipment (and two burly officers) isn't exactly a rocket ship - you'll probably find the performance is only slightly above your average family saloon when empty, excluding top speed.Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff