Ex Police car purchase - mad?

[crankedup]

We have decided, at long last, what our next daily runner will be, 325i bmw e90. Found a car that looks in good condition, full BMW service history and kept in great condition mechanically.
Being a 2011 car with 99,000 miles up it is being offered at just under 7.5k comes with long warranty.
Downside is poverty spec car.
Wise buy or go for a more expensive and older high spec car?
Whichever we go for it is a long term keeper.

[Charlie Hoskins]

This ?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2011-11-BMW-3-SERIES-3-0...
or you could look at this...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2011-BMW-325-I-3-0-M-SPO...

[anonymous-user]

police cars are looked after from the docs ive watched on tv. How much thrashing do they get verses just cruising up and down the motorway? As always buy on condition.

the one thing i would watch for is signs of clocking.

[crankedup]

Charlie Hoskins said:

This ?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2011-11-BMW-3-SERIES-3-0...
or you could look at this...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2011-BMW-325-I-3-0-M-SPO...

Yup, the first car on your links is the car in question.
The second car is a cat D insurance, I run away from these due to insuring the vehicle becoming more difficult and expensive.

Thanks for input.

[crankedup]

The Spruce goose said:

police cars are looked after from the docs ive watched on tv. How much thrashing do they get verses just cruising up and down the motorway? As always buy on condition.

the one thing i would watch for is signs of clocking.

Indeed, the car in question looks to have been used by suits rather than uniform, as a pool car.
I say this as no signs of police equipment damage to interior, of course I may be well off track.
Thanks for input.

[Tucker1]

I bought an ex Police Vito van to transport my motorbikes. Was a great van, needed minimal work and was sold on after 3+years use at a very small loss. I took bikes abroad with it in total confidence.

My understanding is that police only insure third party so their own vehicles are rarely written off. They have their own workshops and fix their own no matter how bad the damage.

My van had obvious signs of being jigged but was hpi clear and drove perfectly. The likes of wbac etc won't touch ex police without a big hit. If resale is a factor to you, value any ex police as cat D at very best. If resale is not a factor to you ex Police vehicles are sometimes a great buy. Just don't expect to buy cheap and sell at hpi clear prices as the market automatically assumes cat D or worse.

[crankedup]

^^^^

Thanks, I didn't know about the cat d stuff at all, interesting. Our next car will be a keeper but we never know what the future holds. I want a car that's clean as a whistle, if that's possible!!!
Think we will pass on the ex police car.

[RSTurboPaul]

crankedup said:

The second car is a cat D insurance, I run away from these due to insuring the vehicle becoming more difficult and expensive.

May I ask how this is so?

I don't recall ever being asked if a vehicle was previously damaged in an accident and repaired when ringing up for insurance, and I'm not quite sure why it would be harder to insure, given it would have needed to have passed an MOT and be declared roadworthy?

[peld]

insurance companies would know already as any category vehicle gets logged centrally.

[crankedup]

RSTurboPaul said:

crankedup said:

The second car is a cat D insurance, I run away from these due to insuring the vehicle becoming more difficult and expensive.

May I ask how this is so?

I don't recall ever being asked if a vehicle was previously damaged in an accident and repaired when ringing up for insurance, and I'm not quite sure why it would be harder to insure, given it would have needed to have passed an MOT and be declared roadworthy?

Curiosity a few months back I googled up Cat insurance cars and read about it being more expensive/difficult to insure than cars not listed on C. Reason given was that insurance companies are wary of repairs not carried out to perfect factory original.

[R8Steve]

I bought an ex police Volvo V70 T5 for towing my track car to the tracks and it's a great car.

Bodywork isn't A1 but the interior is clean and mechanically it's spot on.

It's an 08 with 184k miles but at just under £500 with a full years mot i really can't complain.

Looking the reg up i can see it's an ex Cheshire police ARV.