Bubo Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 Looking at used vehicles and ran across used Police Vehicles Pros Lower cost than similar civilian Performance tuning and suspension, better brakes Regular oil changes and brakes Everyone slams on the brakes when you are passing by Cons Engine idle hours are very high Have seen idle hours equated to 10x up to 60x The Fleet argument being that the cooling sitting still is ineffective Water accumulation in the engine etc Police are believed to drive the vehicles hard for various reasons Rubberized floors are slippery - good for vomit, blood, urine etc ... In the cars Charger Hemi full time rear drive, 4 wheel when needed Taurus 3.7 smoking performance, 3x parts costs due to patents Full time front drive, 4 wheel when needed 4-6 mpg better than charger Taurus is half the price of the Hemis, due to demand ? In the SUVs It's explorer vs Durango vs Tahoe and a few suburbans Any thoughts or comments ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason str Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 Unless they are giving them away I tend to avoid beat to hell high mileage vehicles of any type. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grasshopper Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 I don't know if/when/how the military disposes of their cars now.... but they used to auction them off. I seriously doubt they get the use police vehicle get. And they got their oil changed every 6mo whether they were driven of not.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWOReilly Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 I have a relative that has owned many police interceptors over the years. Had a Honda once. Otherwise Crown Vics and most recently a Taurus (which did get raced by this dealer against a Charger). All have been quite good although the last 2 were quite new. Gotta find the detectives car. Probably been driven less hard. Personally I’d take the Taurus or the Explorer Interceptor. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubo Posted November 28, 2021 Author Share Posted November 28, 2021 1 hour ago, CWOReilly said: Personally I’d take the Taurus or the Explorer Interceptor. Both have smoking performance, Hemi may be a little faster But yes the $10K premium for the Hemi does cover a lot of tires, brakes and oil changes in the Taurus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubo Posted November 28, 2021 Author Share Posted November 28, 2021 1 hour ago, grasshopper said: I don't know if/when/how the military disposes of their cars now.... but they used to auction them off. I seriously doubt they get the use police vehicle get. And they got their oil changed every 6mo whether they were driven of not.... Have to take a look I wonder what I can score a used Bradley for ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubo Posted November 28, 2021 Author Share Posted November 28, 2021 1 hour ago, jason str said: Unless they are giving them away I tend to avoid beat to hell high mileage vehicles of any type. This is the question, how beat are they if at all Some appear to be in quite good condition, the idle hours being the wild card. Every 3K on the oil changes from what I have seen reading the records on the auction sites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiva Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 Lots of youtube vids on this topic that might be worth exploring. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreG. Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 "Blues Brothers" Anyone?!? 😁👍 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 I would just get a regular SHO. They're cheap enough. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubo Posted November 28, 2021 Author Share Posted November 28, 2021 1 hour ago, wuzzzer said: I would just get a regular SHO. They're cheap enough. Looks like they are 2x to 3x the price of the Interceptors that's a lot of oil changes Also looks like they have the dreaded Turbo a $5,000 repair that takes out the exhaust and throttle body and sensors when it fails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason str Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 3 hours ago, Bubo said: This is the question, how beat are they if at all Some appear to be in quite good condition, the idle hours being the wild card. Every 3K on the oil changes from what I have seen reading the records on the auction sites. Fleet vehicles are normally properly maintained but everything wears and a good manager knows when to get rid of something. You may get lucky but odds are not in your favor. Right about the turbo too, they don't last forever. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 1994 Caprice 9C1 big block, B-Body LT1 16 valve reverse-flow cooling. In layman's terms: turning on the ac in 100 degree heat actually cooled the engine. Best 350 ever at the time. 260hp w330ft-lbs. 28-30mpg downhill NC to FL, 23-26 uphill on the same highways. Oh at 80+ mph both ways. 20-26 city depended on the red lights. Mated with an aircraft grade aluminum driveshaft it purred like my`73 Charger at about 90. Better suspension than the Impala SS that was derived from it. Yea it was a big cockaraocha mobile, but rode well. Replaced the interior. With a 2800rpm torque converter it launched well. Two ton beast wouldn't do a road course but did a low 14 sec quarter mile at the strip across from the Cabbage Patch south of Daytona. Put a Corvette starter on it, a MSD Blaster coil, Magnecor wires, replaced all four 02 sensors, put an X-pipe where the exhaust was the hottest after the motor and Flowmaster truck-50s that flowed as well as their 40s without being obnoxious. The hoses were Lifetime hoses. They never failed, but were seafoam green. Crown-vic from then. HA! Got it with 180k miles, it was t-boned by a d*ngb@t with over 200k on it, the drivetrain had another 200k on it. The wiring harness being a central FL car not as much. So look into it a little more you might find something durable. That $2500 I paid to drive the above out of a junkyard was loads of fun for almost a decade! tag's retired long ago. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubo Posted November 29, 2021 Author Share Posted November 29, 2021 7 hours ago, jason str said: Fleet vehicles are normally properly maintained but everything wears and a good manager knows when to get rid of something. You may get lucky but odds are not in your favor. Right about the turbo too, they don't last forever. Good intel One of the Explorers on the auction site, I read the service records Mostly $50 oil change and check everything, top up fluids Then break pads and machine rotors Next $500-700 for front end parts, rotors etc 3 in this range, and up for sale with 75kmi 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubo Posted November 29, 2021 Author Share Posted November 29, 2021 5 hours ago, JohnJ said: 1994 Caprice 9C1 big block, B-Body LT1 16 valve reverse-flow cooling. In layman's terms: turning on the ac in 100 degree heat actually cooled the engine. Best 350 ever at the time. 260hp w330ft-lbs. 28-30mpg downhill NC to FL, 23-26 uphill on the same highways. Oh at 80+ mph both ways. 20-26 city depended on the red lights. Mated with an aircraft grade aluminum driveshaft it purred like my`73 Charger at about 90. Better suspension than the Impala SS that was derived from it. Yea it was a big cockaraocha mobile, but rode well. Replaced the interior. With a 2800rpm torque converter it launched well. Two ton beast wouldn't do a road course but did a low 14 sec quarter mile at the strip across from the Cabbage Patch south of Daytona. Put a Corvette starter on it, a MSD Blaster coil, Magnecor wires, replaced all four 02 sensors, put an X-pipe where the exhaust was the hottest after the motor and Flowmaster truck-50s that flowed as well as their 40s without being obnoxious. The hoses were Lifetime hoses. They never failed, but were seafoam green. Crown-vic from then. HA! Got it with 180k miles, it was t-boned by a d*ngb@t with over 200k on it, the drivetrain had another 200k on it. The wiring harness being a central FL car not as much. So look into it a little more you might find something durable. That $2500 I paid to drive the above out of a junkyard was loads of fun for almost a decade! tag's retired long ago. If I do go this way For example Taurus, I was thinking "try to find a SHO Junker" and strip the interior for a few hundred. Explorer also seems interesting. Again, strip a junker Durango and Blazer-Yukon not so much Charger Hemi is a head turner, probably the wheels too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted November 29, 2021 Share Posted November 29, 2021 Had a 96 Durango that turned me against my first love - mopar. Charger? what Charger. The 4-door variant is a Coronet d#mn*tt !! At the same time we had gotten a 96 Taurus and it served us well for a decade. The SHO's then were impressive to me! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubo Posted November 29, 2021 Author Share Posted November 29, 2021 JJ How much weight did the aluminum drive shaft take off ? The vette mill was iron block ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted November 29, 2021 Share Posted November 29, 2021 @Buboyeah , iron block , aluminium heads , the last Iron LT1 made before the all Aluminium engines ,the Vette motor was more reliable that the non LT1 Caprice classic 350/ 5.7 liter Police cars that were sold by GM before 95 ,same engines as in the Camaro Police Pursuit cars used on the Highways - 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEH Synergy Posted November 29, 2021 Share Posted November 29, 2021 All of my buddies that bought "police auction vehicles" and maintained them, NEVER had a problem even years later and many many miles added. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubo Posted November 29, 2021 Author Share Posted November 29, 2021 7 hours ago, RandyH said: @Buboyeah , iron block , aluminium heads , the last Iron LT1 made before the all Aluminium engines ,the Vette motor was more reliable that the non LT1 Caprice classic 350/ 5.7 liter Police cars that were sold by GM before 95 ,same engines as in the Camaro Police Pursuit cars used on the Highways - I'm guessing the Vette mills had better metals and stronger design requirements When I followed it, years ago, Merc Benz SLs would sell for next to zero when their engines failed. There was a cottage industry that made conversion kits to drop rebuilt Vette engines and 4-5 speed manual transmissions into them Better, faster, lighter, way more reliable and more affordable I believe it was a shop in NC that Engineered and manufactured the kits for the conversion I think it was the awesome Pontiac G8 from Australia that had a heavy duty truck engine short block with vette heads, cams etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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