Dear Tom and Ray:
I am looking for a used vehicle for less than $10,000, and I was curious about used police cruisers. I have heard that they are built for durability. But how reliable are they as used cars? A company I am looking at sells them with 71,000 miles on them, at a year or two old. Are they going to be money pits, or does their build quality offset the beating they probably have been put through?
--Matt
Ray: I think I'd head in another direction, Matt.
Tom: It's true that police cars -- most notably the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor -- are beefed up to some extent.
Ray: They come with sturdier suspensions, for when officers have to drive onto sidewalks to cut off or apprehend suspects.
Tom: They have beefed-up frame and body mounts so that when cops go over speed bumps at 80 miles an hour during a chase, the car won't come apart.
Ray: They have bigger engines. And their transmissions allow the engines to rev higher in each gear so that when the police need to pursue suspects, they can make jackrabbit starts.
Tom: And most importantly, they have external transmission coolers so the car can idle for hours in front of crime scenes. Or doughnut shops (apologies to our police brethren reading today, but we're contractually obligated to make that joke whenever we write about idling police vehicles).
Ray: These examples of how police cars are driven are all very good reasons NOT to buy a used one.
Tom: And 71,000 miles is a meaningless number. Most police cars never get shut off. When's the last time you saw a police car that wasn't idling? When one officer finishes his shift, another one gets right into the car and takes off. So the odometer reading doesn't account for the huge number of hours the engine has been running.
Ray: They do have the advantage of being relatively easy and inexpensive to fix. That's why cab drivers use these cars as well. In fact, they buy most of the used police cars. But unless the car is, say, half the price of a comparable nonpolice Crown Victoria, I'd stay away. They've just been driven too hard.
Tom: For $10,000, you ought to be able to get a very decent used car, Matt. One that's been used only occasionally in high-speed chases. Good luck.
(Car Talk is a nationally syndicated column by automotive experts (and brothers) Tom and Ray Magliozzi. Write to them at the Car Talk Web site.)
8 Comments
By gail on September 12, 2009 6:25 PM
I think you may be slightly in error about the 24 hour usage of cop cars. I have a renter on site here at my property and his state patrol vehicle is only used about 10 - 12 hours X 4 days a week; and the remainder of the time it sits idle. However when he leaves on vacation more than five days; his car is turned in so someone else can take advantage of it. Your facts about usage needs more actual data.
By JImmy on September 12, 2009 6:59 PM
Gail -
No where in the article did they mention police interceptors being used for 24-hours. The sentence "Most police cars never get shut off..." was a figure of speech.
By steve on September 13, 2009 11:33 AM
Jimmy, no it didn't say they were used for 24 hours, it did say " When one officer finishes his shift, another one gets right into the car and takes off. So the odometer reading doesn't account for the huge number of hours the engine has been running." That implies 24 hours. A lot of cop cars don't get that treatment. A lot of officers take their cars home with them and are the only ones to use them.
Please read the article before telling her she is wrong.
By Leroy Jenkins on September 13, 2009 12:37 PM
A lot of cop cars may not get that treatment, but most do.
By Chris Kramer on September 14, 2009 9:26 PM
I have owned two Ford Crown Victoria p-71 Police Interceptors. I agree withTom & Ray. While they are indeed very safe and very satisfying to drive, I spent lots more on repairs (front suspension parts, head gaskets, etc. ) than on the original purchase price. due to pure hours of usage.
If you like a Crown Vic, get a civilian model with dual exhaust. (or add it.) The real difference on police models is dual exhaust, beefy suspension, trans cooler, rear axle (mustang GT) and computer chip to change transmission shift points. (motor is identical.)
They are sporty and cruise effortlessly at 85mph, but by 130,000 miles, mine were all done, and I used them gently as family cars. (seat 6 w/huge trunk!) Let taxi companies keep them running.
By bballjonez on September 15, 2009 4:35 PM
steve,
Mind your own business. It is NOT implied that once the cars are purchased by a department and started for the first time, they are never shutdown. It IS a figure of speech and jimmy is free to tell gail whatever the hell he chooses (within reason).
She does make another very small error by claiming her experience to be with a renter who works for the state patrol. Waaaay different than a big city cop and the way he/she drives her cruiser. The comparison between them is miniscule.
By Joe Bloe on September 17, 2009 7:46 PM
If you want to own something huge and that has a definite status about it, by all means buy one but... Nearly every Crown Vic I've seen being driven by cabbies has had a major ring seal problem. Lots of blue smoke from the exhaust, crappy hammered suspension and dubious body repairs. They've been driven hard and are really not worth too much.
I've a preference for Chev Caprices and had the chance to buy an ex-state patrol one but opted for an '88 with a 305. OK, so I've had it since '94 and have dropped a new 350 engine in and sunk in loads of cash but it's now a labour of love. My point is, if you really love that land yacht drive, do it, but not because you think you're going to get a great deal on a "sleeper" ride. They're too old and beat for that but you can get them back up to their glory days by spending that $10K *after* you've bought the car...
By Dan on September 18, 2009 12:42 PM
Guy I used to work with 20 years ago. He had two surplus police cruisers. One was his beater that he would take fishing and hiking and didn't care what happened to it. The other was his commute car. When the beater got to bad he would sell it for around $500 and buy a new cruiser at auction for about $1000. Cycle time was around 2 years. The most important thing he would look for at the auction was good tires.