Ex-police car - would you?

[matt-ITR]

Any reason not to go for an ex-police car?
Generally higher mileages, but tend to be well looked after and often specially prepared.

Anything else negative to consider? Holes in interior/exterior maybe?

[ModernAndy]

Weigh up all those things and compare prices really. They usually have low specifications too

[SystemParanoia]

They often have to get cleaned up because of "contamination" in the cars interior.

Vomit
Blood
Scabies
HEP-C
HIV
Lice

great cars.. just dont sit in the back

[6fire]

matt-ITR said:

Any reason not to go for an ex-police car?
Generally higher mileages, but tend to be well looked after and often specially prepared.

Anything else negative to consider? Holes in interior/exterior maybe?

My old man was a copper. I asked him the same question once and he said not on your life.

He reckons:-
It will have 1 careful owner and 500 not very careful users.
'Panda' cars will have been thrashed to within an inch of their life daily and will be poverty spec and shagged.
Specialist (eg Traffic) cars will have gone from cold and stationary to flat out many, many times in their career. They may also have unrecorded damage repairs.

[Red 4]

They are serviced and repaired, I wouldn't say "looked after".

As with everything there are good ones and bad ones. It can depend largely on what the car's role has been.

Personally I wouldn't touch one and I've driven quite a few.

[fjord]

I swear i see this thread every week.

[LHD]

6fire said:

matt-ITR said:

Any reason not to go for an ex-police car?
Generally higher mileages, but tend to be well looked after and often specially prepared.

Anything else negative to consider? Holes in interior/exterior maybe?

My old man was a copper. I asked him the same question once and he said not on your life.

He reckons:-
It will have 1 careful owner and 500 not very careful users.
'Panda' cars will have been thrashed to within an inch of their life daily and will be poverty spec and shagged.
Specialist (eg Traffic) cars will have gone from cold and stationary to flat out many, many times in their career. They may also have unrecorded damage repairs.

We look after a number of Traffic Discovery 4's.

I'd not touch one with a double bagged, 50ft stunt cock.

[Bodie390]

My old man bought an ex police car, it was John Andertons old Granada and it was full of tricks but this was 30 yrs ago.

[ModernAndy]

LHD said:

I'd not touch one with a double bagged, 50ft stunt cock.

Have taken a note of this phrase to use in future conversations. Brilliant...

[mrmr96]

SystemParanoia said:

They often have to get cleaned up because of "contamination" in the cars interior.

Vomit
Blood
Scabies
HEP-C
HIV
Lice

great cars.. just dont sit in the back

This is why. Scrotes are fixkin horrible.

[digger the goat]

Don't bother unless its for snotter money....
I do some of the maintenance on a local police station and asked the service mechanic everything we want to know !
NO....they are not chipped...NO...there are no handling upgrades...
And most importantly......NO.....They are not serviced more regularly than any 'normal' car.
They also carry more weight and are driven at higher average speeds !!
Buy one as a snotter.....not as a keeper..

[matt-ITR]

Understand that high possibility its been driven hard at times. Doubt this particular car was a traffic cop car though.
Certainly not a pursuit car or high performance.

[Sir Fergie]

I wouldn't - and im generally happy to drive mega mileage cars.

Yes the maintenance is good - but it really needs to be because imo these cars are driven extremely hard and chasing criminals etc increases the chances of a car been pranged imo.

There are other more viable options - ex fleet cars with high mileage on them - by high mileage i mean 120 000 miles on a 4 year old car. Also consider looking at cars that are unpopular but actually okay - i mean i know that stuff like Saab 9 5s have their issues (engine oil sludging) but a good 9 5 imo would be a better purchase then say a 150 000 mile ex police Volvo S60.

We have an ex company car in the family - and it will have been here for 11 years this February, best car that ever came into the yard here for reliability.

Sir fergie

[ben5732]

Have an ex plod T5, was a north west motorway patrol group vehicle so spent most of its time on the motorways, owned it a year now not had one problem with it. Would I buy another? Yes I certainly would. However I would not touch a panda car or a met with a barge pole.

[vrsmxtb]

Yeah, but they're all remapped with upgraded suspension innit

[digger the goat]

Volvos can take the extra punishment.....however, they are all serviced as needed.

[ben5732]

matt-ITR said:

Understand that high possibility its been driven hard at times. Doubt this particular car was a traffic cop car though.
Certainly not a pursuit car or high performance.

What sort of vehicle is it and if you have the reg you can do your research on it.

[Rochellc01]

vrsmxtb said:

Yeah, but they're all remapped with upgraded suspension innit

and evry1 wud think u are a coppa init bled, it wud B ace!

[mat777]

digger the goat said:

They are not serviced more regularly than any 'normal' car

I disagree. There was an article on Trafplod Range Rovers in a Landy magazine, one of the coppers explained how oil, tyres, brakes etc were changed at half the service/wear intervals

[ben5732]

mat777 said:

I disagree. There was an article on Trafplod Range Rovers in a Landy magazine, one of the coppers explained how oil, tyres, brakes etc were changed at half the service/wear interval

Depends which force, I've got a full history of mine and it was serviced more than a regular car,.
Also the v70 had different suspension to the standard car.