Ex-police vehicle purchase - is this fishy?

dilby

Hi all - I'm trying to purchase a second hand van for a camper conversion; as second hand vans are becoming thin on the ground and astronomically expensive at the moment it's not an easy task. A private one-off dealer close to me has got 8 vans in that are exactly what I'm after which he says have come straight from the local police. They are pretty dinged on the outside which he says are from kids throwing stones at them, but he says they are well maintained and only used for spying/general presence and never chases etc. I wanted to see if the sourcing of these vehicles sounded fishy to anyone or is quite common. The vehicles are from 2015, which to me seems quite old for a police van as I thought they were updated regularly. And also the fact he's got 8 in one go - I'm wondering if they weren't actually direct from the police but via some kind of auctions and therefore who knows what's wrong with them. But maybe it's normal - i dont know how these things work! It ticks the box but is also the kind of thing that I'd do and someone would say 'oh everyone knows not to buy an old police van!'

Thanks!

teachfast

How on earth would he know how they have been used by the police?

daveyjp

Police vehicles have hard lives, but they are well maintained.  No surprise vans are over 5 years old.  They have quite easy mechanical lives, surveillance, patrolling, picking up offenders etc etc.

Dealers may well pick up a few of them, especially at the moment when vans are in demand.  They are in the trade and will take up offers.  A mate is a car and van dealer and a couple of years ago he had 15-20 motorhomes, bought as a single lot, sold them all, but hasn't had any since as they were too much hassle post sale.

Usual warnings apply.  Lots of due diligence on paperwork and a good inspection and test drive.

Ebe_Scrooge

I guess the usual caveats apply.  Yes, police vehicles are sold on pretty regularly.  Yes, they tend to be well-maintained - often by an in-house mechanic, and on the basis that the police can't afford to have them breaking down mid-shift.  Look out for holes in the dash/roof where extra electrical equipment/lights/etc. has been installed and subsequently removed.  Bear in mind some of the unsavoury characters that may have been passengers in the vehicle - who knows what bodily fluids have found their way around the interior (though hopefully cleaned up!).  Overall they can be a good buy, but as per the previous comment, you do need to take the time to check them over thoroughly.

neilmcl

I wouldn't be concerned about the age, vans tend not be replaced as quickly in the fleet as say pursuit vehicles, and yes they will have probably come via an auction which is quite the usual process when police vehicles are disposed of but that doesn't mean there's anything particularly wrong with them, it's just how it's done. Police forces have their own fleet management teams who will be responsible for having the vehicles debadged and the equipment removed and then entered into specialist police vehicle auctions.

Herzlos

They tend to keep the unmarked stuff a bit longer, I think about 5 years so that makes sense.

You should be able to tell if they were registered police vehicles by looking at the MOT history - police vehicles are MOT exempt because they are maintained to a much higher schedule.

If there's no cell in the back, or mounting points for one it's probably not have undesirables in it but you're tearing the insides out anyway so it's no biggie.

They won't be any different to any other fleet vans (random drivers and abuse), but with better maintenance and various random modifications (lights, radios, bars, etc).

Them unloading a batch of vans once they hit replacement seems reasonable too; they likely replace them in sets.  With there being 8 identical ones you may even be able to get the dealer to give you the best body with the best wheels and best seats, etc.

I don't see any reason to avoid them, subject to the usual due diligence.

DB1904

The V5 will tell your dealer they're ex police vans. Remember he is a dealer and if there is a problem with the van there was nothing private about the sale.

I disagree with what others have said. They will have been maintained at minimum cost, so check everything before you part with any cash.

AdrianC

There's an auction near me that has a weekly sale of all sorts of 4x4s, cars, vans - a large proportion of which are ex-police, ex-ambulance, ex-military. Some are utterly shagged. Some are tidy. Some are totally "plain", some just have the blue lights and lettering removed. And, yes, some of them are far from new.

I'm not sure how the vendor came by them affects much, either. Are they knackered or not?

Herzlos

DB1904 said:

They will have been maintained at minimum cost, so check everything before you part with any cash.

Just like everything else, but with their own in house mechanics and to tighter schedules.

DB1904

Herzlos said:

DB1904 said:

They will have been maintained at minimum cost, so check everything before you part with any cash.

Just like everything else, but with their own in house mechanics and to tighter schedules.

The only tight thing will be purse strings. If you're lucky you'll find one serviced roughly to manufacturers recommended schedules.

jimbo6977

Don't know if it's the same one AdrianC is referring to but

https://www.auctioneers.co.uk/