Ex-police car - any good?

custardy

darich wrote: »

to the last 2 posters......you do realise this thread is 3 years old....don't you??

yes because i posted on it previously
ergo it is on my user CP
does the fact its an ongoing thread not make it relevant anymore?
it was posted on in 2009 and now in 2010
folks moan users post the same stuff over and over and then gripe when they post on old threads

Paul_the_Painter

A friend worked for AP Racing designing calipers for road and race use. A number of very strange brake kits were available, that is you couldn't really understand why for example you could get a set of 4 - pot calipers for a Ford Galaxy, but not for something else that you would have thought would have greater demand.

The explanation was police cars.

The tests they did on the Galaxy were interesting, 2 or 3 full effort stops from 100mph at a full load and the brakes no longer worked. Hence new front brake system for a grand or 2.

At one stage police forces really did try to spec things down to a crazy degree, one force tried steel wheels on a Cosworth. These did not allow the brakes to be cooled adequately, and they ended up just buying alloy wheels for them.

Lirin

I've an ex-Police car- and it's probably the best out of all I've had. The only signs it was used for other purposes are a damaged vent in the dash, which had been ripped out to make space for something else, and a handful of extra relays under the bonnet!
The body was in great condition, with only a couple of minor dents, which are now fixed.
Worst was the alloys, which I had to refurb completely- 3 weeks work. Not too bad, considering I had little else to do on the car. Engine wise, she'd been revved up a little, but nothing a good service/ clean wouldn't sort out.

There's a couple of aftermarket buttons wired up in the dash which I have no idea what they do. Will prossibly get around to checking sometine....

Low mileage, serviced more regularly than most private sale cars- would definitely buy again.

rev_henry

Lirin wrote: »

There's a couple of aftermarket buttons wired up in the dash which I have no idea what they do. Will prossibly get around to checking sometine....

Blue lights behind the radiator grille.

Lirin

Sadly, no blue lights came with the car!

Haven't checked to see if they're still wired up is wat I meant- haven't traced them yet.

lyndasharp

We've got 2 ex police cars at the moment, but they're a bit older as they are Morris Minors. We often get waved at by the police when driving around. There is a fairly active police car register and car clubs, with a lot of the modern ex police vehicles. I've seen plenty at shows in full police regalia, blue light etc, and people love to have their photos taken with them all. It's obviously illegal to drive in police markings on the road (unless you're in the police force ;-) ) but it's amazing what you can do with magnetic letters for show use...

rev_henry

Lirin wrote: »

Sadly, no blue lights came with the car!

Haven't checked to see if they're still wired up is wat I meant- haven't traced them yet.

Some wide load escorting companies often buy ex police cars and just replace all the blue lights with orange ones, and the battenburgs with a kinda civilian version.

spike7451

rev_henry wrote: »

Blue lights behind the radiator grille.

A friend once bought an ex RUC plain car (at the time,most cars here were'nt marked up & looked like ordinary road cars apart from some giveaways...) a Vauxhall Cavalier iirc.

He found a switch on the dash that made the headlights flash alternatly to each other!

kolin_2

I've an old police car. Ford Focus 2003 LX TDDi for £1995 with 95,000 on the clock and a FULL service history (everything from changes of light bulbs to wrong fuel put in (twice!), it also had it's cambelt changed at 92,000 miles.

Go the car in oct 08, now at 130,000 miles and still drives superbly! with an MPG of around 56. The dealers i got it specialise in them and the removed 95% of all the electricals, replaced the roof, gave me a spare alloy, removed almost all the scratches, amongst other things. They also left the sticker in the back window (a nice subtle blue/yellow checked effect. It's amazing how many people still slow down when overtaking!

My GF doesn't like the car, but i'll be sad when it has to finally go, a joy to drive!

Boobydoo

I have an ex police 4x4 and I have to be honest in saying I'd never buy another. I wanted the car due to it being white...........girly I know.
Whoever de commisioned it was an absolute t*at! The chevron markings are still under the back number plate because they couldn't be bothered to take the plate off first so took a knife to it instead and cut round the plate - just this alone tells me one thing! Also there have been heavy duty cables just ripped out and left hanging. The outside of the car is a mess!
I've since found out it was in the Manchester Police Force.
I've had some serious issues with it recently including a loose injector and having to replace both front and rear diffs - damned expensive and not something that normally needs replacing!
It's been used and abused and no doubt driven by people who have no understanding of how the 4wd system works - hence the damage.
The car wasn't really a bargain either.
You may or may not get servicing records with it.