Panda cars - lifespan?

[Quhet]

I've just seen an 11 reg Mk2 Focus police car obviously still in service as there were 2 PCs sat in it. Struck me as pretty odd as I'd have expected police cars to be replaced every 5 years or so. There can't be all that many still in service after ~12 years can there?

Avon & Somerset police btw.

[Djtemeka]

Depends on the mileage they do. Some are permanently on the go and others are hardly used.

[98elise]

Quhet said:

I've just seen an 11 reg Mk2 Focus police car obviously still in service as there were 2 PCs sat in it. Struck me as pretty odd as I'd have expected police cars to be replaced every 5 years or so. There can't be all that many still in service after ~12 years can there?

Avon & Somerset police btw.

If it's in good working order and does the job, why spend money on a new one? We have a 2010 focus and it's a decent car with a reliable engine.

[Dogwatch]

Presumably if it's still reliable then why not?Would have been end of line as the Mk3's started on '11 plates so most of the bugs either well known or sorted. Early Mk3's had the same mechanics under the bonnet but came with their own set of bugs.

[Quhet]

Fair enough. I thought they would be on some sort of fixed lease deal or there would be a rule requiring replacement after x years.

[HantsRat]

Lots of 10/11 year old Fiestas still in use in Hampshire by neighbourhood teams.

[Far Cough]

Used to be 3 years or 60k miles but now I think the bean counters have had a hand in changing the system to what is financially cheaper / better.

Also the usage differs greatly depending on whether it's a 24/7 response vehicle which is hardly ever switched off or a local homebeat cop who hardly ever switches it on !!

[scorcher]

Avon and Somerset still got some old 1993 K reg Landrovers that get rolled out at riot time. Still see the odd 2010 marked 530 estates buzzing up and down the motorway occasionally aswell. Don’t think they use them for pursuits anymore though. Probably driver training etc

[NH-0]

Quhet said:

I've just seen an 11 reg Mk2 Focus police car obviously still in service as there were 2 PCs sat in it. Struck me as pretty odd as I'd have expected police cars to be replaced every 5 years or so. There can't be all that many still in service after ~12 years can there?

Avon & Somerset police btw.

Ha, saw that on the weekend and wondered how many miles it had done. As you say I thought it odd.

[Doofus]

So not Panda cars, just old Police cars?

[Quhet]

Doofus said:

So not Panda cars, just old Police cars?

What's the difference?

[Doofus]

Quhet said:

Doofus said:

So not Panda cars, just old Police cars?

What's the difference?

Panda cars were police patrol cars where, originally, they'd buy one blue or black one and one white one and swap the doors, bonnet and boot over. So, in black-and-white, you had just that, a black and white car, hence "Panda".

I think original Pandas didn't have sirens or blue lights because they weren't for response, they were for patrol.

I believe we have some plod flatfoot police officers on here, so they can put me right.

[Bigends]

Doofus said:

Quhet said:

Doofus said:

So not Panda cars, just old Police cars?

What's the difference?

Panda cars were police patrol cars where, originally, they'd buy one blue or black one and one white one and swap the doors, bonnet and boot over. So, in black-and-white, you had just that, a black and white car, hence "Panda".

I think original Pandas didn't have sirens or blue lights because they weren't for response, they were for patrol.

I believe we have some plod flatfoot police officers on here, so they can put me right.

Introduced in 1968 with the advent of the unit beat system -theory was that one officer in a car could cover the area of several old foot beats. Many forces used lightweight motorbikes prior to the cars being introduced. Types of cars used and their use varied from force to force. My force started with Vauxhall Vivas and moved onto Mk 1 Escorts in 1973. Both fitted with Blues and rear facing stop signs which could be used when attending jobs and stopping vehicles (from the front for some reason back then). I was driving on blues with less than 6 months in - different days back in the 70's - though area cars were the faster 999, double crewed 'response' cars back then - the job everyone aimed for. If you joined up without a licence - then a five week course got you your licence and the ability to drive a 'Panda' If you already had a licence - a three week course did the job, and if good enough pass - allowed for a test to drive Transit personnel carriers as well.

Edited by Bigends on Monday 15th May 22:56

Edited by Bigends on Monday 15th May 23:51

[GasEngineer]

Do the Sweeney still drive Granadas?

[trashbat]

Royal Mail have some ancient Combos on the go - they were made from 2002 until 2012 and ones I still see are probably towards the newer end, but nonetheless, much older than I'd expect for continuous commercial service.

[edthefed]

No such thing as a "panda" car anymore

There are marked and unmarked vehicles and covert vehicles

Marked cars and (ignoring things like traffic vehicles etc) can be allocated to teams such as

Response - in use 24/7 365 days a year covering 999 and urgent calls often over a large area, can easily rack up mileage quickly

Neighbourhood - in use 16 / 18 hours a day but not over such a wide area

Local beat officer who may work miles from anywhere

Support functions - eg marked vehicle allocated for use of the Special Constabulary or PCSOs

Driver Training - a lot of basic courses use unmarked cars but they need marked cars for blue light / initial pursuit training

Vehicles can be moved round between depts to even out use eg the driving school cars might be replaced every couple of years by a new fleet with the older cars sent out to a division to "put some miles on them"

Usage can vary immensely, many years ago i took my allocated beat car back to the garage to be decommissioned and replaced - it had 130,000 miles on the clock. I parked it next to another marked car - coincidentally with a number plate consecutive to mine, it had done 25000 miles in the same period, despite being based at a nick 5 miles away !

There used to be some guidelines for replacement but they were guidelines

From memory on a whichever comes first basis

Marked cars 5 years / 100,000 miles
ARV and traffic 5 years 120,000 miles
Motorway 4 years 150,000 miles

However it may have changed now...have a look at Brightwells Auctions to see the mileages of various Peugeot / Vauxhall / Hyundai cars in white which are ex Police

And of course forces are not immune from long lead in times between placing orders for new vehicles and manufacturers actually delivering them and budget cuts meaning keeping vehicles longer

[MonkeyBusiness]

Doofus said:

Panda cars were police patrol cars where, originally, they'd buy one blue or black one and one white one and swap the doors, bonnet and boot over. So, in black-and-white, you had just that, a black and white car, hence "Panda".

I think original Pandas didn't have sirens or blue lights because they weren't for response, they were for patrol.

I believe we have some plod flatfoot police officers on here, so they can put me right.

Every days a school day. Never knew that.

[Turbobanana]

I work for a major infrastructure provider and we still have some 62-plate Golf Estates on the fleet. Admittedly they're all being replaced by Toyota Hybrids or full BEVs from a variety of manufacturers though.

[HantsRat]

edthefed said:

Support functions - eg marked vehicle allocated for use of the Special Constabulary or PCSOs

Specials and PCSO's don't have their own cars. They simply use the vehicles that their teams have. E.G Specials and PCSO on neighbourhoods use any neighbourhood vehicle. Specials on response, use response cars. Specials on traffic use traffic cars.

[pavarotti1980]

Quhet said:

I've just seen an 11 reg Mk2 Focus police car obviously still in service as there were 2 PCs sat in it. Struck me as pretty odd as I'd have expected police cars to be replaced every 5 years or so. There can't be all that many still in service after ~12 years can there?

Avon & Somerset police btw.

Police station down the road from us are still chugging around in 64 plate Astra and Corsa's. They must have some miles on the clock by now