Bling emergency vehicles

[Small Car]

Going to work this morning I saw an Evoque ambulance. One of those quick response vehicles. Then on the weekend I saw a very nice spec'd Disco 4 with snorkel and all the kit. Is it me, or are the emergency services getting a bit image conscious?!! What next, a Kahn RRS?

[jay140285]

I have seen a few Disco's all prep'd up for the "camel trophy" as rapid response vehicles.

[markmullen]

They pay peanuts for them, hugely subsidised by the manufacturer, the last I hear the police were buying 530d tourers for about £13k.

[FoundOnRoadside]

Just got some Disco 3 and Freelanders as 5-0 cars here. Considering they were buying below bottom spec Focii, they must be getting the LRs for nothing.

[jay140285]

True, a friends in the police said when the cars are due for change some of the discounts they get offered by manufactures is massive.

[Dave Hedgehog]

jay140285 said:

True, a friends in the police said when the cars are due for change some of the discounts they get offered by manufactures is massive.

do the manufacturers view it as marketing or are they just making 70% out us lemons?

[Roadrunner23]

Highways agency traffic officers have Disco 4's now.

[markmullen]

Dave Hedgehog said:

do the manufacturers view it as marketing or are they just making 70% out us lemons?

A degree of both. The raw material cost of a car isn't that much, the vast majority of the list price is tied up with R&D, marketing etc. As such they can sell the car for very little but it won't help towards all the other costs involved. In terms of marketing it is pretty successful.

[Deva Link]

markmullen said:

They pay peanuts for them, hugely subsidised by the manufacturer, the last I hear the police were buying 530d tourers for about £13k.

I've never seen figures that low. Scotland’s Northern Constabularly got into a bit of trouble for buying Range Rovers for their senior officers and had to reveal the cost.

They replaced the Chief's car with a BMW 530 Touring estate car at a cost of £28,930.21. That includes the Police equipment, but they don't pay VAT.

[cptsideways]

How do you tell if the wombles have broken down? Their new Disco 4's are fitted with flashing lights on the roof to warn other road users there's a LR stranded again.



Who's going to womble the wombles??

[jay140285]

Deva Link said:

I've never seen figures that low. Scotland’s Northern Constabularly got into a bit of trouble for buying Range Rovers for their senior officers and had to reveal the cost.

They replaced the Chief's car with a BMW 530 Touring estate car at a cost of £28,930.21. That includes the Police equipment, but they don't pay VAT.

Its more under cover cars and blues and two's that they get deals on. The cars the public see and think copper.

[Small Car]

My issue with the Evoque is that there is probably still a waiting list, I don't know, and one is being used as an ambulance. Perhaps not the best use of dosh when there could be cheaper alternatives...

[Deva Link]

Small Car said:

My issue with the Evoque is that there is probably still a waiting list, I don't know, and one is being used as an ambulance. Perhaps not the best use of dosh when there could be cheaper alternatives...

It could just be a demonstrator. It's not an obvious vehicle for the ambulance service to choose for fast response work. Around our way they use Skoda Octavia's which are driven furiously when on a shout.

[Engineer1]

Not this st again....
If you buy a car for £13k but can sell it on for £20k because of the depreciation from full price you are better off than buying a £12k car that end up a £10k car.
Basically if you get a good discount you may sell for a profit.

[FreiWild]

Donation maybe? The Stuttgart FD got a Cayenne from Porsche FOC, for example.

[Deva Link]

Engineer1 said:

...sell it on for £20k

£20K? Dream on.

I think the £13K buy price is unlikely too, although that's confused by possible spec changes (I understand BMWs are standard though) and "Police" fittings.

The Astra factory is near me and they've lost a lot of panda car business to Hyundai. Apparently the Astras were £8K - almost anyone can get one for £12K and if you take the VAT off then the discount isn't that massive.

[bigandclever]

Engineer1 said:

Not this st again....

+ GAAAARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

[billywhizzzzzz]

[jbi]

Americans like their chrome... they also build the worlds best fire trucks.