# Ex Police Car buying...thoughts???



## twoscoops (Mar 26, 2010)

Well I have been thinking about a new family motor for a while as my wife is pregnant with our first baby but money is tight. I seem to keep coming back to the ex police car websites and find myself looking at the TDCi focus estates but does anyone have any expirence of buying any ex police cars????

They have a hard life but they are serviced regularly. They are just so much cheaper than anything else on the market and I could probably just about cope with a White car if I kept it clean.

Tim


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## uruk hai (Apr 5, 2009)

Not all of the cars in a Police fleet will be white so you may be lucky and get something other than white. There will be some really nice and well looked after cars, as you say they are very well serviced and maintained in a way that most private owners could only dream of. The down side is that some of the cars will have been abused beyond belief and despite the level of maintenance may have long term problems that show up later on in the cars life.

As with buying any car it’s all a bit of a gamble so good luck :thumb:


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## Adrian Convery (May 27, 2010)

It's a big gamble but your name will be the first name on the book I think


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## MrBoJangles (Feb 18, 2011)

Focus estates are usually dog cars. Not always though. If it's been a dog car it's less likely to have been driven really hard. You do sometimes find with ex police also that they might not have been blues and twos equipped, so civi pool cars etc, which also lessens the chance they have been hammered.


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## uruk hai (Apr 5, 2009)

The above must depend on which area we're talking about, around here apart from traffic almost every car is a Focus estate and the dog cars are Skoda's !


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## justina3 (Jan 11, 2008)

in swansea i often see the dog focus being hammered to get to a crime of some sort


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## sergeant (May 20, 2011)

:wave:
As someone with personal knowledge of these cars I would advise.......dont do it unless the saving is massive. It is a myth to say that they are well serviced many forces have cut back on service staff and vehicles regularly go without many service items being replaced. 
For example in my area BMW's are used and when the air con needs a new filter it does not get changed due to cost. This is one example I know of many more.
Most vehicles will have been hammered to within a inch of their life due to most Police vehicles being bottom of the range engines with no power and to get anything out of them the vehicle has to be worked hard, the suspension is the same. For example my work vehicle is a 1.7 diesel engine which I believe originated pre 1993 with a 0 - 60 time of 13.7 secs yet I am supposed to keep up with pursuits. 
If you find what you think is a good car I would suggest finding one with low miles they can exist (CID car for example) and go over it with a fine toothcomb look for rust where a cheap repair has occured or where equipment has been removed i.e lightbar.
Good luck.


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## Richf (Apr 26, 2008)

twoscoops said:


> They have a hard life but they are serviced regularly.
> 
> Tim


so are Taxis

Nuff said imo

Plenty of cheap cars at auctions


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## uruk hai (Apr 5, 2009)

sergeant said:


> :wave:
> As someone with personal knowledge of these cars I would advise.......dont do it unless the saving is massive. It is a myth to say that they are well serviced many forces have cut back on service staff and vehicles regularly go without many service items being replaced.
> For example in my area BMW's are used and when the air con needs a new filter it does not get changed due to cost. This is one example I know of many more.
> Most vehicles will have been hammered to within a inch of their life due to most Police vehicles being bottom of the range engines with no power and to get anything out of them the vehicle has to be worked hard, the suspension is the same. For example my work vehicle is a 1.7 diesel engine which I believe originated pre 1993 with a 0 - 60 time of 13.7 secs yet I am supposed to keep up with pursuits.
> ...


I think this just shows the difference from one area to another, the cars local to this area have absolutely no expense spared when it comes to servicing and maintenance.


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## Ming (Oct 16, 2007)

SYP's cars get beaten to death, bumped, scratched, abused and live a life far far harder thewn they were made for.
They do get serviced but everyone is battle scarred.
Most are diesel and usually very low specced at that.
The only ones I would consider are the senior officers staff cars cos they are very well looked after and will be low - ish mileage and probably good value.
Panda cars would have to be throw away money to consider in my opinion.

Good luck

Ming the EX Police car thrasher


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

I wouldn't touch an ex police car for anything but a massive "too good to be true saving"

I was a fully qualified traffic officer and a grade 1 advanced driver and believe me, 90% of the cars were absolutely ragged


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## herbiedacious (Sep 27, 2010)

as already said,they all get thrashed mercilessly,gone are the days when the cars were uprated (like the Bluesmobile). Back in the 70's when i worked in a rally prep garage we used to buy our rally cars from Liverpool Police cos they were debadged Mk1 Escorts with Lotus Twin Cam motors and uprated suspension,brakes etc.


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## Skodaw (Mar 19, 2006)

lol, you've only got to watch Police Interceptors or similar programs to really see how these cars are treated - and thats not very well to be honest.

A friend of mine bought an ex Police Omega/Carlton thing - to use as a convoy vehicle, it had the 3.0 engine, but even so was absolutely manic - must have been uprated in some way


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## twoscoops (Mar 26, 2010)

Thanks for all of the post guys, its always good to hear from people who have experience of these vehicles. I guess it is down to keeping an eye out for the CID cars or senior cars. I'm not too bothered with really low miles if it hasn't had too hard a life! But as you say it is a bit of luck of the draw with them just like buying privately.


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## LeadFarmer (Feb 23, 2011)

I'm on my 3rd ex-police car. I first had a Volvo S70 T5, then a red Ford Focus and my current Land Rover Defender that I've had for 6 years. All South Yorkshire Police vehicles. They have all been perfect, but then I've chosen them carefully having known them from new.

Like any 2nd hand car, it's buyer beware. Make sure you get it cheap enough to be able to replace clutch/gearbox etc if needed. The upholstry will no doubt be ripped/worn in places, and will usually be basic spec unless it's a traffic police car.

I'll post some photos later


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## Snowball (Jul 21, 2011)

my colleague bought an ex-driving school car from TVP... Standard white Vauxhall astra 1.3 TDI

wouldn't touch any we use on shift... They get properly ragged!! Let alone all the coffee spillages...

think we have an 09 plate astra and its done over 80000 miles, although they are regularly serviced... I would stay clear!

a focus estate could also have been used by roads policing as well as dogs. We use Americas or Ford Galaxy for firearms


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

Ex driving school cars are looked after (West mids anyway)

We never thrashed them innappropriately and they are driven hard but correctly. Believe me getting a grade 1 advanced is bloody hard and perfect car control from clutch to brakes is swore by.


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## David (Apr 6, 2006)

a ford focus in glasgow is a normal squad car - i'd never buy one of them, or any of the vans (vw transporter)

they use shogun sports to carry the higher up members of strathclyde police and have an easy life, as i'd imagine too the bmw x5 as they tend not to be flung around too much, but the normal squad cars are dogs - i cleaned one for someone and i'd have given them a refund if i could find a panel that wasn't creased, bashed, scored etc


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## Multipla Mick (Feb 5, 2006)

No idea how they compare on likely prices, but ex MOD cars might be worth looking into as well, if you haven't already. Not sure about now, but a lot of them used to be poverty spec and dull colours, a friend had a green Zafira that was ex MOD, and she didn't pay a lot for it from what I recall, t'was a few years ago now. They presumably won't have been ragged as much as ex Police vehicles either.


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## 182_Blue (Oct 25, 2005)

I really would not want an old police car !!


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## davewhitt (Aug 30, 2009)

i looked into just 5/6 years ago ,the place in Birmingham and the one up north .they look good in the pics but are crap when you get there ,it's like there are two cars in one ,all fresh new paint on the out side but the inside's are full of hole's, stain's, rip's,..i looked at a 330d estate look ok ish but the sills where bent under the car .must have been off roading .


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## David (Apr 6, 2006)

davewhitt said:


> i looked into just 5/6 years ago ,the place in Birmingham and the one up north .they look good in the pics but are crap when you get there ,it's like there are two cars in one ,all fresh new paint on the out side but the inside's are full of hole's, stain's, rip's,..i looked at a 330d estate look ok ish but the sills where bent under the car .must have been off roading .


probably been chasing someone and mounted a kerb - happens all the time


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## JAISCOSSIE (Apr 11, 2006)

Many years back i purchased an ex police mondeo st220 , was an ex traffic police car, once polished up i had never seen a car with so many 'small dents' the dent man came out and did over 60 on it! Guess its all the people that dont like traffic cops and slammed there doors into it when it was parked up.


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## LeadFarmer (Feb 23, 2011)

Heres how my current Land Rover Defender looked a few days before I bought it..










and how it looks today after a lot of hard work..


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## glo (Feb 8, 2011)

First of all there is no such thing as a senior police officers car as they are used as pool vehicles. 
Yes they are services regularly but take it from me you wouldnt want one. A focus estate is likely to be a prisoner car, which was ultimately used by response officers (ie 999 calls). 

I wouldnt have one. I would have an ex traffic or motorway police. High mileage but very well looked after and well driven. they are also driven by car buffs.


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## Reflectology (Jul 29, 2009)

I have had an ex police car mate and to be honest the sweetest motor I have had to date....was a while back in the late 90's and twas a CID Sierra 4x4....i would definitely buy another one....


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## Obsessed Merc (Apr 10, 2011)

LeadFarmer said:


> Heres how my current Land Rover Defender looked a few days before I bought it..
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's a transformatioN ! What combination of pad/polish did you use to achieve that ?


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## geoff.mac (Oct 13, 2010)

^^^ foam applicator and a bit of elbow grease :lol: :lol: :lol: 

good looking landie you've got there :thumb:


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## The_Bouncer (Nov 24, 2010)

Before I picked up the Merc, I was looking at getting one of these - they were doing some crazy deals on the ST's

There stock changes very often - check out the stock pages, these are cheap cars :thumb:

http://www.expolicecar.co.uk/stock_special.asp


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## dooka (Aug 1, 2006)

Beware of Coffee spills and left over doughnut remnants  ..


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## LeadFarmer (Feb 23, 2011)

Obsessed Merc said:


> That's a transformatioN ! What combination of pad/polish did you use to achieve that ?





geoff.mac said:


> ^^^ foam applicator and a bit of elbow grease :lol: :lol: :lol:
> 
> good looking landie you've got there :thumb:


Just used my CYC EP800 with a metalic grey pad. And yes, lots of elbow grease.

Nowadays I like to give it a 'good coat of looking at'.


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## twoscoops (Mar 26, 2010)

Thats a fantastic Defender, it looks so much more modern than in the 1st photo.

Thanks for all the responses guys and there seems to have been a range of experiences and opinions. The suggestions all seem to suggest that the fords might be a bit of a dog due to their hard life and that traffic or CID cars may be better options.

I tried to hunt around for MOD cars online but they dont seem to be as easy to find.



LeadFarmer said:


> Just used my CYC EP800 with a metalic grey pad. And yes, lots of elbow grease.
> 
> Nowadays I like to give it a 'good coat of looking at'.


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## LeadFarmer (Feb 23, 2011)

Most white or silver coloured Astras, Focus, Peugeot etc may have been used as beat cars responding to incidents, and will have had some hard use. If its a different colour then it will probably have been used as a 'get-abou't car for CID and other squads to drive themselves about in. These will generally be lower mileage.

My brother has an ex-police red Ford Focus that I know was a 'get-about' car for a plain clothes squad. Hes not had an ounce of trouble with it.


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## PWOOD (Apr 30, 2007)

sergeant said:


> :wave:
> As someone with personal knowledge of these cars I would advise.......dont do it unless the saving is massive. It is a myth to say that they are well serviced many forces have cut back on service staff and vehicles regularly go without many service items being replaced.
> For example in my area BMW's are used and when the air con needs a new filter it does not get changed due to cost. This is one example I know of many more.
> Most vehicles will have been hammered to within a inch of their life due to most Police vehicles being bottom of the range engines with no power and to get anything out of them the vehicle has to be worked hard, the suspension is the same. For example my work vehicle is a 1.7 diesel engine which I believe originated pre 1993 with a 0 - 60 time of 13.7 secs yet I am supposed to keep up with pursuits.
> ...


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## Martin_HDI (Aug 19, 2010)

First thing that puts me off is what fluids have been in the back of that car, I wouldn't want my kid near that unless I could source new rear/all seats for cheap (within budget).

Then theres how hard it'll have been driven.

Smart repairs that are nasty, dents etc.

I thought about it a while ago but decided against it.

Martin.


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