Ex-police car - buy or avoid???

[BA Supa Pursuit]

Originally Posted by sbutler

No they said flogged !
Oh my god. You get a FULL & detailed printout of their service life, from the day they were delivered to the cops to the day they went to the sale yard. & I do mean FULL printout. Mine was serviced at every 7500Ks It told me when & at what Ks the tyres were fitted. You get the work's. Nothing is overlooked.
Anyway, the overwhelming fact is,99% of people that have had an ex chaser would have no problem getting another.

Please show me this printout? Do you mean something from the fleet company? I've never seen such a thing (doesn't mean it doesn't exist, I've just never seen or heard of such a thing).

They actually get serviced at every 10000kms too. Fleet refuse to pay for any more often. That has been the case well before your car.

[Crazy Dazz]

Problem with all these people saying "oh, they are driven hard, with no care, etc, etc" are assuming that your average 2nd hand turbo is going to be any different.

[XG_Falcon]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

Problem with all these people saying "oh, they are driven hard, with no care, etc, etc" are assuming that your average 2nd hand turbo is going to be any different.

Come on mate, that's not on. You know logic isn't allowed around here.

[TheInterceptor]

Indeed. Rwd turbo 6 cyl....made to the thrashed.

Otherwise it would be called a Mondeo or something like that.

Coppers gotta enjoy them before they get stuck with boring crap like the poms.

[sbutler]

Originally Posted by BA Supa Pursuit

Please show me this printout? Do you mean something from the fleet company? I've never seen such a thing (doesn't mean it doesn't exist, I've just never seen or heard of such a thing).

They actually get serviced at every 10000kms too. Fleet refuse to pay for any more often. That has been the case well before your car.

Clearly you dont understand, or cant read,
How can I show you the 3 page print out from the mob that was contracted to service my car, when Ive said twice now, I sold it last month ! The new owner has all that now, as I gave it all to him.

Or is this just a G up to make you look like you know something about them?
Or maybe try to make me look like I dont?

[Russ]

Originally Posted by 99AUXR

Courier driver who gets his vehicle service with us has done 220000km on his original brake pads. . . And they arent even close to being half worn

He's not part of this fleet is he ???

[BA Supa Pursuit]

Originally Posted by sbutler

Clearly you dont understand, or cant read,
How can I show you the 3 page print out from the mob that was contracted to service my car, when Ive said twice now, I sold it last month ! The new owner has all that now, as I gave it all to him.

Or is this just a G up to make you look like you know something about them?
Or maybe try to make me look like I dont?

No G up about it. You are just posting things about x HWP cars that are untrue. Your have stated on a number of occasions that your car cruised the hwy between Campbeltown and Marulan.

If this is correct than the car would have been attached to what at the time was the Mittagong office of the Goulburn HWP (now the Hume HWP). I can tell you where those cars were serviced at that time, and how often (and as stated it was every 10k, the same as every other HWP car in the state).

Furthermore, your car being on its original rotors at 135000 is laughable. At the time NSW Police fleet were spending so much on regular replacement of brembo pads and rotors, they trialled non genuine replacements.

Your car being at Mittagong would have had multiple sets of rotors during its service life. Those guys are going chasing speeds all day, going from stop, to max, to stop all shift (ever seen the Big Dipper?). Not to mention the odd high speed pursuit and the regular urgent duty runs to back up the "GD's" and attend serious collisions. That's just day shift, then the boys on arvo shift get in.......

I can also tell you that your car defiantly did not get the stated 40 odd thousand Kms out of tyres. Tyre replacements at this location are as regular as 10000kms, in fact 20000kms out of a set would be a big stretch.

I get that you were proud of your car, and so you should be, it looks great.

But either you have been lied to about what occurs, or you are feeding us BS.

I can also tell you that a lot of work goes into the cars when they are handed back, including paint and panel.

I just don't want forum members believing horse s#%t about what occurs. I won't be engaging you any further on this matter as I can see that it's emotive for you.

[Sprint]

I think a lot of you are missing the points, its not just the motor or bushes that would be thrashed but every panel would have a work out and may be replaced?, every door handles and hinges has been abused, the chassis is straight from going up gutters or ramming cars?, the interior has been used for work, the rear seat has been puked on, ****ed on and under the seat is full of sharp aids type things.

You would be better off buying a taxi@250000kms , on the other hand I can buy a BA with 40,000kms on it and the rear doors have hardly been used, nothing has been replaced or fixed. Either want a quality car or you don't really care, Not everyone that owns a xr6 turbo would be thrashing it, that's 21 year old thinking.

We are not all 21 here anymore.

[ratter]

When I worked in the dealer ship that serviced the TOG (now TMU) cars, the normal service interval for a commodore was 10,000 klms, but the TOG cars were done every 5000 klms,
They were not controlled by some outside fleet company but from the local station, any major repairs if required meant the local station would get approval from the main Police workshop (in Collingwood iirc)

I have no idea whether true or not, but have heard that on some late model cars, factory rotors are removed before the car goes into operation and a better rotor fitted and used during operation and then the factory ones refitted at time of sale but as I said no idea if true.


It might just be how local Taxi's are maintained and repaired but there is no way I would buy a Taxi

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by ratter

When I worked in the dealer ship that serviced the TOG (now TMU) cars, the normal service interval for a commodore was 10,000 klms, but the TOG cars were done every 5000 klms,
They were not controlled by some outside fleet company but from the local station, any major repairs if required meant the local station would get approval from the main Police workshop (in Collingwood iirc)

I have no idea whether true or not, but have heard that on some late model cars, factory rotors are removed before the car goes into operation and a better rotor fitted and used during operation and then the factory ones refitted at time of sale but as I said no idea if true.


It might just be how local Taxi's are maintained and repaired but there is no way I would buy a Taxi

We stored a lot of **** for Mica Paramedic Territory's when I was building those to chuck back into them when they were decommissioned, wouldn't surprise me with cop cars if they did something similar.

[BA Supa Pursuit]

Originally Posted by ratter

When I worked in the dealer ship that serviced the TOG (now TMU) cars, the normal service interval for a commodore was 10,000 klms, but the TOG cars were done every 5000 klms,
They were not controlled by some outside fleet company but from the local station, any major repairs if required meant the local station would get approval from the main Police workshop (in Collingwood iirc)

I have no idea whether true or not, but have heard that on some late model cars, factory rotors are removed before the car goes into operation and a better rotor fitted and used during operation and then the factory ones refitted at time of sale but as I said no idea if true.


It might just be how local Taxi's are maintained and repaired but there is no way I would buy a Taxi

Ok you are talking about Victoria. I'm talking about NSW.

[ratter]

yes Vic, have no idea about other states or whether Vic is still the same these days

[Iggle Piggle]

Guide to ex-police cars...



Buy:





Avoid:



hth

[snowcone]

I bought a VT Wagon ex police that was mechanically perfect. The body had some scratches but no dents. The only annoying thing with it was the headlights were on all the time so I had to get an auto electrician to rewire them back to normal.

My daughter bought a VT ex HWP and it was basically a good car, but as with all the V8's then, had to have the motor redone by GMH due to the high oil useage (square bores) . The only other problem was the usual failure of the power window switches that also happens on most VT's
It was still a good looking straight car though

[Pol84]

(I have another profile on here, but would rather not reveal my occupation on it)

As a copper who drives these things day in and day out - it'll be an absolute lottery on what car you get.

There are some cars (not many) that are fully marked up but will never do a lights/sirens run, but then there are others that'll do it multiple times a day - how do you know what you'd end up with??

Those highway cars would generally be ok mechanically because they are regularly serviced and anything of concern is replaced quick smart, but then they are driven harder than your average car/taxi/rental, so general wear and tear is greater. The other thing that many may not think about - I've had an SS Commodore sitting and idling for over 6 hours while we did an RBT - that's pretty regular. So we could have a brand new car with only 100kms on it go an sit for 6+ hours idling - glazed bores anyone?

GD's cars are even more of a no-no in my book. They'll have long idle times as well if needed (not as much as highway cars), but for us with a few diesel paddy wagon, they'll be going to near the redline on every shift if we're doing a lights/sirens run. That can be straight up cold from the car park, but more often than not the cars will be used every shift which means they'll be running 24/7 with only a break coming at service time. 60-80 thousand kms in a year? In my area quite often we'll end up on dirt & rocky tracks where you'll be bottoming out, cracking bumpers etc. Gutter hopping - I've misjudged a emergency u-turn and beached the chassis on a centre median strip, but thankfully had enough momentum and just enough force on the rear wheels to keep going over without stopping.

Then lastly you've got the remote, country stations (think Western NSW, Western QLD, NT, SA, WA) where the job might be an hour away on a corrugated road. You could be racking up 400-500kms a week on corrugated roads! And they don't get swapped out or anything for regular cars to reduce the wear, they'll go out there new and stay there for 2 years or so just driving corrugations, before being cleaned up and sold on. Wow....

Then just in general - for the highway and GD's cars - think on the kind of people jumping in on the back seat. Some cars don't have seat covers or they're missing for whatever reason. So if we've got to carry around someone who's bleeding, wet themselves, vomitted etc - then there's a chance they'll end up on the back seat if there's no paddy wagons available. Not a glamorous job! And we don't have any cleaners or anything to clean a car after something like that so we're the ones to have to clean them afterwards and we're not that motivated. Then when it comes to washing the outside - we use a kitchen broom and soapy water....think of the paint!?

These cars are tools to be used, so some of you have obviously got lucky, but some of these cars should be scrapped after their time is done!

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by Sprint

I think a lot of you are missing the points, its not just the motor or bushes that would be thrashed but every panel would have a work out and may be replaced?, every door handles and hinges has been abused, the chassis is straight from going up gutters or ramming cars?, the interior has been used for work, the rear seat has been puked on, ****ed on and under the seat is full of sharp aids type things.

You would be better off buying a taxi@250000kms , on the other hand I can buy a BA with 40,000kms on it and the rear doors have hardly been used, nothing has been replaced or fixed. Either want a quality car or you don't really care, Not everyone that owns a xr6 turbo would be thrashing it, that's 21 year old thinking.

We are not all 21 here anymore.

I'd go for the ex Police car over a Taxi any day, just looking at the average taxi tells you how well they are looked after.

[Iggle Piggle]

Think a fair few of our taxis in SA started as GD cop cars - cars just miss a stint as a hire car to collect the whole set.

[sbutler]

Originally Posted by BA Supa Pursuit

I won't be engaging you any further on this matter

Thank Christ for that. !

[marty351]

Now -1 for ex cop cars. :(

[sbutler]

Mine when I first got it home,after I got the windows tinted, put spats on it, & fitted some slim line weather sheilds..Drove like new, & still did with its 135000K rotors on it ! Like ive said right from the start of this thread, look with care at all the service details, & that will tell you if its had an easy life. Also look at it like any second hand car, there's good & bad in them. I may have been lucky, but mine was the best car Ive had & Ive had plenty..

[Octane_Flash]

I went ahead and purchased the car.
She was taken for a full leather re-trim a couple of days ago and the seats are comfortable to sit in.
Tomorrow a XForce cat back gets fitted.
I just have to decide on what wheels I'm going to get to replace the factory wheels.

[Top_Ghia]

It looks great. Keep the factory wheels.

[Octane_Flash]

Maybe...maybe not.
I don't think I have ever left any car I owned with the factory wheels on it.
I am looking at this wheel for the car

[sbutler]

So is it a big heap of camel dung as some seem to think, or is it a nice car??

[ebxr8240]

Radar does most the work these days.. Much faster and they don't even have to get out of the car.. Airconditioning is good...

[Octane_Flash]

Originally Posted by sbutler

So is it a big heap of camel dung as some seem to think, or is it a nice car??

So far it's a great car.
Everyone who has seen it can't believe it was an ex HWP

[sbutler]

Good one ! As I said, there are good & bad in all second hand cars. By the look of it you good a very well looked after one. Good luck, oh & get the extended NEW car warranty for peace of mind. Before the standard warranty runs out..
http://www.ford.com.au/ownership/myf...ers/warranties

Throw the front Brembo pads away & fit some EBC red stuff in, They are pretty much dust free & are very gentle on the rotors..Only about $160 for the set.

[theBlake]

Ask a policeman, how many of them buy ex-copper cars!

I was going to buy one once, but my uncle ( an ex-copper) talked me out of it. But it was an inspectors car I said, never did any hard work I said. Yes of course the seller is going to say that.

[FGX335]

Originally Posted by theBlake

Ask a policeman, how many of them buy ex-copper cars!

I was going to buy one once, but my uncle ( an ex-copper) talked me out of it. But it was an inspectors car I said, never did any hard work I said. Yes of course the seller is going to say that.

My father in law used to be Hwy, and pines for the XD he had back in the day...

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by theBlake

Ask a policeman, how many of them buy ex-copper cars!

I was going to buy one once, but my uncle ( an ex-copper) talked me out of it. But it was an inspectors car I said, never did any hard work I said. Yes of course the seller is going to say that.

How long ago was your Uncle a Cop? that could be quite relative to how the cars are treated, & what his advice is based on..