Police Cars are designed stronger for work and speed. They claim that they are well maintained. However, they take abuse and some big City Police Departments have those cars run 24 hours. I've seen big City Police Cars retire their fleet at 90,000 miles and/or 5 years.
Is it worth buying a used Police Car or retired municipal vehicle?
Can a well maintained used police car last 400,000 miles?
Can one go to a car dealership and request to buy a police package vehicle?
Can one go to a car dealership and request to buy a police package vehicle?
No. Why would they sell something meant to give the Police Dept an advantage over criminals to members of the general public? The cars that are being auctioned by municipalities have had everything law enforcement purposed taken out and replaced with civilian equipment. That Police Interceptor Ford Taurus from the city police force is now pretty much a highly abused Ford Taurus SHO.
Is it worth buying a used Police Car or retired municipal vehicle?
Can a well maintained used police car last 400,000 miles?
Depends on the model. An EcoBoost Taurus or Explorer? Absolutely not, unless you don't mind needing to replace the engine from it being all worn out. The government generally does not auction off perfectly fine, recently made police vehicles without a reason. They've been driven the crap out of. An old boat like a Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor? That might have some kind of use. They were made way better back in the day and used a V8 instead of fancy V6 turbos to get moving in a hurry. Will it reach 400,000 miles? No, unless they drove it like grandma the entire time, which they don't. They're government vehicles and the operators know it.
Is it worth buying a used Police Car or retired municipal vehicle?
No.
Can a well maintained used police car last 400,000 miles?
No.
Can one go to a car dealership and request to buy a police package vehicle?
Yes.
Most cop cars have what's called the italian tune up, with that being said its generally not a good idea. Especially with how poorly cars are built today, i mean would you want a ecoboost that was abused for ~5 years? Theyre just worn out. As far as run time/ idling, theyre built for it so thats not an issue. 400k miles? I dont think any new cars can really do that anymore, atleast not most ford/gm/chyslers without exceptional care. and no, i dont believe you can request the "police package", but you should be able to spec a car out to be pretty close to it (i think).
Overall only exceptions to this would be an early 00's crown vic, those cars were built like tanks. But theyre also just old now.
Are you looking at one in particular?
I was thinking about buying one for everyday city use, but I think that I'm changing my mind to not buying one at all.
I've heard the Crown Vic Police Interceptors had a special reverse gear for doing like 40-50 MPH backwards. I think I've seen it in use too. A wild ride! {black}:afraid:
At one time I was interested in buying a 1996 Chevrolet Caprice 9C1. 9C1 refers to the production code of special heavy duty service options. The civilian SS had almost the same performance options- the available LT1 350ci V8 engine.
In my research, it was highly recommended to seek out cop cars driven by supervisors, captains, lieutenants- the guys that don't do car chases so you won't have a car that's worn out and not feasible or costly to restore or bring up to specs. Cities also bought police cars without lights, siren or radios for municipal staff and managers to get volume discounts, or to have as spares.
Have the vehicle inspected before hand. These auctions usually have a pre-auction inspection period where you can look them over. Police cars are usually heavy duty with extra cooling and oil filtration. Understand the service is the worst kind. Long periods of idling with short burst of high speed. I am talking 24 hours a day idling in some cases. In my county they want you to remove all the extra lights and police stuff at your expense. You end up with all these holes in the roof and trunk/hatch that need to be filled.
I took a chance at a state Auction. Bought a typical Ford Escort with 60k miles that said "stuck in 3rd gear". The state was too lazy to actually diagnose anything. I go it for $800, scanned the codes, replaced (2) $60 shift solenoids and bingo the car shifted/drove just fine. Detailed the car and sold it for $2500. You can do pre-inspections and this one looked pretty un-abused. Looks are worth a 1000 words.
