RE: Shed of the Week: ex-Police Volvo V70 T5

[GranCab]

" ..... and to the static electricity generated by countless Primark shell suits in the back ..... "

[BenWRXSEi]

cannelldocam said:

Low mileage ex-plodders aren't that unusual depending upon which department they are assigned to. I had an ex-Police Vauxhall Senator, it had only done 60-odd k when I bought it because it belonged to the fraud squad and then the driving school rather than being hammered up and down the motorway all day and night. The spec was quite decent - no leather, but the seats were heated, cruise control still included.

Strangest thing was the electric window switches all in-situ but disconnected with a winder on the door. And when the screen washers packed up I assumed it was the pump. After a closer look, it turns out that the failure was a current suppressor in the circuit designed to reduce interference with the radio. And despite being grey, the DVLA documents all said it was white despite frequent requests to amend it.

Did me proud - I bought it in 2003 for £1000, I sold it in 2013 after 10 years and no MOT failures (other than tyres/exhausts) for £400 so that might be a testament to the Police maintenance programme.

Here are some pics, I still miss it even though I love my E39.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=l814tem&sour...

Interesting, thanks for that. I do keep looking at ex-plod cars out of idle interest - there's an Octavia VRS estate on eBay at the moment which looks like a reasonable punt.

Senator looks exceedingly cool

[Iceicebaby1980]

I had one of these about 8 years ago. I was the first owner after the police the car was high mileage about 130000 miles. Didn't have many mayor issues just water pump and a few electrical issues. It was a fast car on motorway handled like a barge. I part exchanged it for a Bmw 530d a bluebell Bmw wilmslow remember it over heating having to stop and top it up with water on the way to pick the 530d up.

[J4CKO]

Its a no from me, I am not immune to the charms of Swedish Turbo barges after a coupel of Saabs and an original 850 T5 estate but ex Police barges always seem to be driven by fat pretend coppers who hang round computer markets and have a mobile phone in a belt holster and a key chain.

Very specific I know but there were loads of them at the computer market I occasionally used to visit in Manchester.

[suffolk009]

Is this car pretending to be a large chest freezer?

[anonymous-user]

J4CKO said:

Its a no from me, I am not immune to the charms of Swedish Turbo barges after a coupel of Saabs and an original 850 T5 estate but ex Police barges always seem to be driven by fat pretend coppers who hang round computer markets and have a mobile phone in a belt holster and a key chain.

Very specific I know but there were loads of them at the computer market I occasionally used to visit in Manchester.

I know *exactly* what you mean. They like the feeling of the reflected power (however dim) from their knackered old barge having a link to the police, and are just the sorts to start all this bks down the pub about bigger turbos, mapped to 300bhp, super extra special versions for police use to try and big it up a bit more.

Edited by dme123 on Friday 29th April 16:17

[anonymous-user]

johnnyBv8 said:

I had a facelift 2005 ex-police T5 as a runabout for a while, with 180k on it. It was an unmarked/undercover car, so different colour and bodywork generally original. When it came time to replace the brakes we discovered it was specc'd with bigger discs and calipers - from an XC90 I believe.

That's standard on the 2005-on cars. They are very good indeed on the lighter S60

[Spannerski]

Limpet said:

Spannerski said:

I love a retired cop car.

As an ex Cop car mechanic, the Met did nothing to improve the performance of their cars except upgrade brakes on some of their response vehicles, that was it.

I remember this being covered in an old issue of Car Mechanics magazine. They concluded that the reason ex-police stuff always seems to go so well is a combination of lots of exercise, a level of maintenance that very few cars get (although it's manufacturers recommended servicing, they are inspected more frequently, and parts get replaced at the first sign of trouble), and the poverty spec making them a hundred kilos or so lighter than the equivalent civvy version.

Someone I know bought an ex traffic Rover 827 Vitesse back in the late 90s. I'd driven a few of them and this one was by far the quickest and sweetest of all, despite 160,000 miles on the clock.

Yup. Back in the 90's they were serviced every 5,000 miles above and beyond the standard dealer services. Anything affecting safety was immediately dealt with. Tyres chucked at 3mm. When vehicles reached 100K they had all the hydraulics, incl brake lines totally replaced (We all hated doing these high mileage services). Clutches on response cars (Astras) lasted 7,000 miles thank you Gm for the quick release clutch system. And they were always the barest bones spec except for undercover work. but they were a different kettle of fish.

If you imagine a car that spends half of it's life being thrashed. It;s better than giving it what they yanks call an 'Italian tune up'. The carbon never gets a chance to hang around long and the bores don't glaze up.

[Northernlights]

I'm not in the market, but if I were the excellent description and comprehensive overview would make me much more confident. An oddly cool-uncool car too.

[B'stard Child]

rtz62 said:

As an aside, our Sergeants cars were always the ones to buy as they tended to be driven in a much more restrained manner overall as they weren't always chasing motoring crims etc
Alternatively, cars that belonged to the Police driving schools were a safe bet as they were only used for Grade 1 or 2 courses or ferrying the Chief about.
Indeed, I bought a black, un-marked Granada 4x4 that had been our driving school car and other than having a very basic spec it was excellent.

I've had several ex-police cars over the years but they've all been Senators

I bought this one



I got it with 200,000 miles (ex Herts Force) and as it had no history I contacted the fleet manager to see if they had any info on it - once I'd de-catted it and given the ECU an alternative chip it was a lot more fun it was a really quick car (I'd put that down to the lack of weight from any of the normal Senator luxuries) but significantly quicker than a CD spec Senator that I also had at the same time.

Turned out it was a driving school car and had never been liveried

At 160,000 miles it had a new engine dropped in it just before it left the force - that really explained why it was so strong

I sold it to a chap in Norway who was transplanting all the engine and running gear into a Rekord estate - delivered it to Newcastle docks where he paid me in notes and then drove it onto the ferry.

[kellyt]

That's a fine buy for someone. Why not me? I already have one, and it's not poverty spec. Otherwise, might well have been in the market. They are fantastic cars to drive. Admittedly not the same steering feedback and handling feel as a contemporary Mondeo. But in every other regard a much better car. (Yes, I've had them both.)

Personally I'd view the ex Police aspect as being a downside all round, as despite the good maintenance it'll have been very heavily hoofed (more probably that not) and the myths of performance upgrades (as already noted) are just that - myths. It didn't particularly need more performance for the jobs that they were doing. Topping out at 155, would it actually need more anyway?

I think the article is written nicely and is amusing and to me I can't help thinking Shed writes a more dreary article when the car itself is dreary too...

[Zombie]

Shed said:

Shed ran a V70 of about this vintage and encountered quite severe problems getting the alloys off to mend punctures, and not just because the wheel brace was ridiculously tiny. In the end one of them had to be machined off the car.

I may have been a mere child when I read that particular running report but, IIRC it had something to do with a locking wheel nut and a cack handed chump...

[rtz62]

B'stard Child said:

rtz62 said:

As an aside, our Sergeants cars were always the ones to buy as they tended to be driven in a much more restrained manner overall as they weren't always chasing motoring crims etc
Alternatively, cars that belonged to the Police driving schools were a safe bet as they were only used for Grade 1 or 2 courses or ferrying the Chief about.
Indeed, I bought a black, un-marked Granada 4x4 that had been our driving school car and other than having a very basic spec it was excellent.

I've had several ex-police cars over the years but they've all been Senators

I bought this one



I got it with 200,000 miles (ex Herts Force) and as it had no history I contacted the fleet manager to see if they had any info on it - once I'd de-catted it and given the ECU an alternative chip it was a lot more fun it was a really quick car (I'd put that down to the lack of weight from any of the normal Senator luxuries) but significantly quicker than a CD spec Senator that I also had at the same time.

Turned out it was a driving school car and had never been liveried

At 160,000 miles it had a new engine dropped in it just before it left the force - that really explained why it was so strong

I sold it to a chap in Norway who was transplanting all the engine and running gear into a Rekord estate - delivered it to Newcastle docks where he paid me in notes and then drove it onto the ferry.

^ exactly this; if you drop on one that's an ex-driving school car, or the Sgts car from Roads Policing, they tend to have led a more sheltered life.
However, our driving school cars often went to Roads Policing after a few years, and were given lights, stripes etc and put to work.
If you can contact the people who service them, they 'may' be able to send you a printout of all the service work done (depends what mood they are in!). This was easier when the Police had their own workshops, now though many forces don't own their fleet, instead they are owned and serviced lay companies like Vensons.
I must say I always found the police owned workshops accommodating and did everything they could to help, but was often frustrated by the intransigence of their successor.
Back to the issue of bigger turbos, mentioned earlier, I can't speak for other forces but that is a load of eyewash for vehicles in our force, it was an urban myth perpetuated by cops and crims alike to explain why the pursuer couldn't be shaken off.
But hey-ho, if people think they are faster than standard cars, then who am I to argue?

[Roman Moroni]

BenWRXSEi said:

Not sure how long it was with the Police, but a look at the MOT history says it only managed 76k in its first three years...

Seems a little low, no?




....I'm still enormously tempted, though....

I got chatting to a bloke who's a Traffic Officer in London. He reckoned most of the people he works with prefer driving the 5 Series or X5 BM's rather then the Volvos and that often the Volvos sit in the garage for week on ends not being used. This may explain why the mileage is lower.

[Megaflow]

My first thought was 168k seems a very low for a 14 year old ex traffic car. A quick MOT history check shows it had only 76k on it in 2007, I'd wager it has almost certainly been clocked some time after leaving the police and being MOT'd in 2007.

[VolvoT5]

Roman Moroni said:

I got chatting to a bloke who's a Traffic Officer in London. He reckoned most of the people he works with prefer driving the 5 Series or X5 BM's rather then the Volvos and that often the Volvos sit in the garage for week on ends not being used. This may explain why the mileage is lower.

Can the police really afford to have cars sitting around unused because the drivers prefer a 5 series instead?

IDK I thought they normally kept these cars until they were getting a bit leggy and tired. I find it hard to believe they got shot at only 76k? As the previous poster mentioned I wouldn't be surprised if it had been clocked before its first MOT.

Having said that....... for 1k if the car looks and drives well I'm not sure it matters. Buy on condition not mileage at this money.

[Jakg]

Megaflow said:

My first thought was 168k seems a very low for a 14 year old ex traffic car. A quick MOT history check shows it had only 76k on it in 2007, I'd wager it has almost certainly been clocked some time after leaving the police and being MOT'd in 2007.

That would certainly explain the lack of service history.

[rtz62]

Monumental stupidity to clock what is obviously an ex-police car, and as previously stated that wouldn't account for the lack of device history - most cars have their records computerised.
The daily drivers log (which on our cars was a large, buff coloured book) records daily mileage and reports any issues found by each driver. I've never known one of these to make it into the hands of its first private owner, partly I guess because of Date Protection issues (drivers names etc) which is a shame as it really is a blow-by-blow account of its life.

[johnnyBv8]

rtz62 said:

Monumental stupidity to clock what is obviously an ex-police car, and as previously stated that wouldn't account for the lack of device history - most cars have their records computerised.
The daily drivers log (which on our cars was a large, buff coloured book) records daily mileage and reports any issues found by each driver. I've never known one of these to make it into the hands of its first private owner, partly I guess because of Date Protection issues (drivers names etc) which is a shame as it really is a blow-by-blow account of its life.

The clockers never appear anywhere on the car's history though, so doesn't really make a difference to them. There was an example on the MOT history thread, with links to an ex-police BMW fresh from being decommissioned/auctioned, ebay advert lierally saying "not had its first MOT yet wink wink", and then it reappearing a couple of week later on the MOT site, significantly clocked.

[njw1]

marshall100 said:

It's amazing how many people still fall for a 13 year old white Volvo with a builder wearing a high viz at the wheel.

I don't know what I hate more, people who put a high viz on the parcel shelf or Volvo's in general?

Haha, my mate had an S60 D5 for a while and always had a hi-viz jacket either hanging on the seat or on the parcel shelf, I was driving it once and pulled out of a junction behind a Golf full of young lads, all they did was keep checking to see if I was still behind them and would not go above about 28mph. I found it quite amusing, childish I know!