Buying old police cruisers

[suspiciousmind]

Any of y'all ever buy any of these? My cousin buys and sells a bunch of strange stuff and he's gotten a few that were abused hard.

Just curious if anyone has actually bought one to be their primary ride and if they are ever worth it? I've been thinking about a Blues Brothers project for fun.

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[2.ooohhh]

Our dealership sells new ones and takes old in on trade. Most patrol cars traded off are so worn and wrecked/repaired they are barely worth scrap value. Occasionally though you get one that was babied by a chief or detective who didn't drive as much. I got several really clean crown vics last year when the local PD up there went to the police package explorers as the bosses all wanted the new SUVs.

For the Crown Vics at least all the "police" upgrades were available in other trims as well such as the taxi/heavy duty package marketed to fleet and livery companies, the few things completely unique to the P71 Police variant such as the different rear end ratios and composite driveshaft in later models aren't really that useful in day to day use.

 

I'm counting the days until they start turning in the explorers we sold them in the last few years, since I love the racks between the front seats for a shotgun and M4 combo, and the redesigned aux. accessory electrical system.

[peejman]

I've known several people who got low mileage detective cars in good shape and loved them.  Once you remove the 500 lbs of stuff added to a normal police car, they rode really well and were much quicker and more agile than you'd expect.  Plus they're freakin huge and have all the benefits of still looking like a police car. 

Edited August 23, 2016 by peejman

[Garufa]

I kinda wish all used cop cars went directly to the scrap yard.  I can usually spot them from a mile away and seeing the old heaps interferes with my driving pleasure.

[MacGyver]

My college roommate had one.  We called it the Vomit Comet - because if you didn't know what to expect you were going to vomit.

If my memory serves, it was an early 80's Crown Vic that was babied by some north Georgia police chief.

You could drive as fast as you wanted in that thing and all you'd see is brake lights as you went down the interstate.

Truthfully, it's a wonder we lived through our freshman year.

[NotYetGecko45]

I picked up a pretty well used Crown Vic interceptor my last 2 years in high school - got it at an auction for just above 1K, it had a an idle time clock on it that had 600ish hours, I forget what Ford equates an hour of idle time to - but the car was great, 4.6L engine, some heavy duty cooling equipment and I believe it has an increased gear ratio gave it some giddy-up-and-go. Made a little bit of cash selling the light bar, and extra equipment it came with, also helped lighten up the car.

Pretty fun, scares people and you get dirty looks from unsavory folk but theyre cheap and can be used as a good platform for a fun project car.

 

Edited August 23, 2016 by NotYetGecko45

[NextExit]

Back when I lived in NY,  there were lots of those at the state vehicle auction. I could never bid on one because all the NY city taxi drivers would come upstate and run the bidding thru the roof. They'd go for at least $4k and all those cruisers were junk. Bad engine, transmission, rear end, you name it. 

[seez52]

There is some interest in the newer version of the Chevy Impalas that have rear wheel drive. Some still have front but the ones with rear wheel are of interest to enthusiast drivers. There aren't many available yet as they have only been out a couple of years. They have LS engines and are built off the GTO platform. My son was telling me about them and I don't recall all the details but they sounded like a pretty good basis for building a real sleeper.

[Grayfox54]

I've previously mentioned than I was a mechanic for my city until I retired.I can only speak from my own experience. Our Patrol Cars were serviced regularly and very well maintained. Sure, some of them have high mileage, but most still have a lot of life left in them. 

What most people don't know is that Police Departments get State and Federal money to help purchase vehicles. If they don't use it, they don't get it. .Also Police Departments buy vehicles on the State Bid system for thousands less than the general public.  More commonly, old cars aren't sold because they're worn out, but rather to make way for new cars. Truth is that most PDs have more cars than they know what to do with. I've seen some very low mileage and hardly used cars sold just because new ones were already ordered.

That's not to say they're all perfect. Because sometimes cars that need expensive repairs are sidelined and sold  until new cars are purchased to save repair costs. So check them over carefully. However, former PD Crown Vics and Chevys can be excellent bargains providing many years of trouble free service. 

Now  the Dodge Chargers are a whole different critter. Frankly, these cars are junk and totally unsuitable for Police work. They can't take the hard use and if you see one of these for sale, you can bet its plumb worn out junk. 

[Pain103]

9 hours ago, Grayfox54 said:

I've previously mentioned than I was a mechanic for my city until I retired.I can only speak from my own experience. Our Patrol Cars were serviced regularly and very well maintained. Sure, some of them have high mileage, but most still have a lot of life left in them. 

What most people don't know is that Police Departments get State and Federal money to help purchase vehicles. If they don't use it, they don't get it. .Also Police Departments buy vehicles on the State Bid system for thousands less than the general public.  More commonly, old cars aren't sold because they're worn out, but rather to make way for new cars. Truth is that most PDs have more cars than they know what to do with. I've seen some very low mileage and hardly used cars sold just because new ones were already ordered.

That's not to say they're all perfect. Because sometimes cars that need expensive repairs are sidelined and sold  until new cars are purchased to save repair costs. So check them over carefully. However, former PD Crown Vics and Chevys can be excellent bargains providing many years of trouble free service. 

Now  the Dodge Chargers are a whole different critter. Frankly, these cars are junk and totally unsuitable for Police work. They can't take the hard use and if you see one of these for sale, you can bet its plumb worn out junk. 

 I don't know where you worked or were told that but I've never seen or heard of any agency around here getting federal money to buy a car. I've seen a car given to an agency for a prize from the highway safety office. Most cars are dead lined either by mileage or age.

[Erik88]

My buddy bought one off eBay 10 years ago and didn't have many issues out of it. He only kept it a year or so though.

[Patton]

39 minutes ago, Pain103 said:

 I don't know where you worked or were told that but I've never seen or heard of any agency around here getting federal money to buy a car. I've seen a car given to an agency for a prize from the highway safety office. Most cars are dead lined either by mileage or age.

The little department that I worked at did get a grant to buy a new crown vic but I can't say if it was a federal grant or not. I am inclined to believe that it was; it was the only new car I saw the entire time I worked there. This same department bought used crown vics at the state auction so all the cars were used THP cars. Truthfully, I don't think they ever gave us more trouble than any car you could have bought used with more than 100k miles. I do think the crown vics were great cars. The impalas and intrepids that were bought before I came along had a legacy for being junk. The city council swore off buying anymore front wheel drive cars. There was one Impala that was estimated to have cost $10k in repairs just to keep on the road for one fiscal year. 

 

Contrary to popular belief, government agencies do not do the recommended maintenance. They are lucky to get an oil change every 6 months. 

[MrsMonkeyMan2500]

For Jackson County they used money siezed in drug busts for 3 used cruisers from MIssouri Highway Patrol Recently. No tax dollars used at all. And given the rough shape their older cars are in, I'm doubting they get much money from other sources.

[2.ooohhh]

It varies heavily from department to department from what I've seen working with them. Some department's/counties run their own maintenance department, others contract with a garage/dealership. Each's quality of used car varies greatly based on maintenance schedule and size/type of area served. With several, cars that have a lot of life left might be passed to other city organizations such as the fire department or codes enforcement. I will say that the quality of car I see around Brentwood, Franklin, and the WCSD is NOTHING similar to what I'm seeing at our dealership in IL. I think a great deal to do with that is partly the more affluent area but has a great deal more to do with the state leadership and the budget example they set. IL has operated for a year with no set state budget. . . .

http://mercatus.org/statefiscalrankings

[Pain103]

 If you can snag one of those Missouri cars you can get a really nice car. They had some rotation where they sold at 60k miles but many were in great condition. That was back in the crown vic days but I don't know how the new fords and chargers will be after being used.

[Grayfox54]

Pain103: You'd be amazed at the amount of State and Federal Grant money available. Not just to Police Departments, but all sorts of local government agencies. Fire, Public Works, Water, etc. Our small PD owns four Honda ATVs that very rarely get used and often just sit until the batteries die. Why do they have them? Because they got grant money to buy them. No other reason. Likewise, our Fire Dept has a ton of fancy rescue equipment that is hardly used, including a custom built ATV Ambulance. All bought on Uncle Sam's dime. 

Our PD had a Captain who's sole job was to seek out and do the paperwork to apply for these grants. He messed up and missed the deadline for a big one. The result was a huge ruckus that ended with him being told to retire. 

The money is out there. If your city and its agencies don't take advantage of these grants, that's their loss. 

 

[Dustbuster]

The only reason I would buy an old fury or crown Vic is to play blues brothers

[Pain103]

14 minutes ago, Dustbuster said:

The only reason I would buy an old fury or crown Vic is to play blues brothers

 You would have to wear the hat and sunglasses at all times while driving.

[TNWNGR]

On ‎8‎/‎24‎/‎2016 at 10:49 AM, MrsMonkeyMan2500 said:

For Jackson County they used money siezed in drug busts for 3 used cruisers from MIssouri Highway Patrol Recently. No tax dollars used at all. And given the rough shape their older cars are in, I'm doubting they get much money from other sources.

Those vehicles were generally sold at 50k miles w/o light bars and such so unless you had pre-used equipment to install in them it really wasn't a good deal. The agency I used to be at bought those vehicles for four or five years, then when all of the equipment was used up or broken we stopped. If you had to install new light bars and cages it was more cost effective to buy a package deal.

If you folks saw what most of those cars went through on a daily basis and the types of filthy people who were transported in them you'd be disgusted. I've had to set off bug bombs in vehicles and clean some of the most degusting messes out of the back seats. I kept a spray bottle of bleach and water in my trunk and a few times went to a self service car wash and pressure washed the rear seat area, used the wet vac and then sanitized it.

[i1afli]

I've bought two Knox County Sheriffs Office (KCSO) Crown Vics at auction in the last year.  I call them the best kept secret in used cars...a helluva lotta car for the money. I've also looked at some of the Knoxville Police Dept. cars but they seem to be in a lot worse shape. KCSO seems to take good care of theirs.  The "Performance White" paint is notorious for peeling so you'll see a lot of that. You definitely need to inspect them before you bid because they vary greatly. 

I've got a nice 2007 that's for sale.

KCSO sells theirs on GovDeals.com.

Edited August 26, 2016 by i1afli