Looking for a daily driver, and I can't find anything that I really want. But... came across a listing for a 2004 Crown Victoria P71 police car. Black and white paint scheme. Police push bar. Spotlights. Looks like it still has some of the extra lights behind the grill and inside the rear window. No lights on top though. Sounds silly, but when I think about it, it sounds kind of interesting too. Park it out front of the house, and less chance for break-ins. Heck the whole neighborhood might benefit with a drop in crime. [leo] Driving down the highway, and people might actually let me merge without flipping me off. >:( Less likely to be stolen. (Actually maybe more likely, I don't know.) ??? I've read that they are built to last, but they usually take a good beating during service. The thing still looks like a service car, how do I not get arrested for impersonating an LEO? Anybody have any first hand experience with these?
It's got a cop motor, a 4.6 liter plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks. It's a model made after catalytic converters so it'll run good on unleaded gas.
(as long as the cop livery is gone and the roof lights are also, you should be fine ;))
I've had a couple. As long as it does not say police, sheriff, or the name of a city or county you should be all right. Get rid of the numbers on the roof if they are still there. last one I had was Fla. State Trooper. Had to paint that one.
I wouldn't buy one with more than 100,000 and then for half retail.
there's a facebook group called "I hate it when people drive cars that look like undercover police vehicles"...
but it was taken over by people that actually drive these "slick-tops" and love that benefit. it's dead now but the posts are insightful -- and made me consider one.
No FHE here except the LEO's at work shrugging their shoulders at the mechanic... again.
and yeah; at 100k they have to retire them. 50% retail seems right it's like a rental^2.
I've got a buddy with a non-LEO Crown Vic, and another buddy with an ex-LEO Caprice.
Fuel mileage on the Crown Vic is unimpressive, but it's a V8 full size sedan, so whatcha expect?
The Caprice had been well-used (read: beat on a bit) during it's service stint. Figure into the cost that you may have to get the car freshened up.
My family has bought a few retired police cars. The trick is to get them from a guy that specializes in selling them. Some of the police Departments don't take of their cars. Like here in Florida Miami cops don't take care of their cars but if you get it from a central Florida department they are great cars.
Take it for a test drive if it doesn't drive like new walk away.
Quote from: Speedbag on October 23, 2010, 04:43:21 PM
It's got a cop motor, a 4.6 liter plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks. It's a model made after catalytic converters so it'll run good on unleaded gas.
Yes, but does it have a lighter. [thumbsup]
Quote from: DucNaked on October 23, 2010, 06:09:50 PM
Yes, but does it have a lighter. [thumbsup]
Yep, and it works.
;D
Yeah, they get beat up a bit during use but they also follow maintenance guidelines that a lot of people don't. Best thing would be to find a captain's car, all the cool stuff but not beat as a cruiser.
In Florida this is where I have bought all my cars and trucks for the last 30 years.
http://tmauction.com/ (http://tmauction.com/)
They get seriously beat on. Full throttle to full braking is the norm on much of a shift. They get drove over curbs, off sidewalks, flooded, and bashed into everything. If it's got a plastic back seat it was used for prisoner transport and has seen it's share of drugs, blood, crap, urine, and every other bio hazard the human (and sometimes non-human) body can excrete. The benefits? People may get out of your way and the spotlights will help if you get a job delivering pizza. More likely: You'll wonder why everyone is driving so damn slow around you and why your front yard is suddenly the regular victim of vandals.
You want a Highway Patrol or equivalent, whatever they call it in your area. Those cars are maintained. Local cruisers are a different story, more like buying a used taxi.
Ummm, also read at what hbliam posted while I was typing. Welcome back hbliam!
Quote from: 1KDS on October 23, 2010, 06:14:24 PM
Yeah, they get beat up a bit during use but they also follow maintenance guidelines that a lot of people don't. Best thing would be to find a captain's car, all the cool stuff but not beat as a cruiser.
Yep. Stay away from the black and whites. A command staff car or detective unit would be better.
We service alot of these at my dealership. The big city ones are usually beat to hell. The smaller town ones are the ones to get. If they rattle from the front of the engine budget for new chain guides. Not a real dificult task but you need to get it timed up right
My uncle drives one of those and it has the interceptor police package under the hood. That thing does move! He's had little trouble with it and has been pretty happy overall.
I wouldn't mind having one of these:
(http://vik.bitsofbytes.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/lamborghini_gallardo_italian_police_car.jpg)
Quote from: Grappa on October 23, 2010, 04:27:38 PM
Looking for a daily driver, and I can't find anything that I really want. But... came across a listing for a 2004 Crown Victoria P71 police car. Black and white paint scheme. Police push bar. Spotlights. Looks like it still has some of the extra lights behind the grill and inside the rear window. No lights on top though. Sounds silly, but when I think about it, it sounds kind of interesting too. Park it out front of the house, and less chance for break-ins. Heck the whole neighborhood might benefit with a drop in crime. [leo] Driving down the highway, and people might actually let me merge without flipping me off. >:( Less likely to be stolen. (Actually maybe more likely, I don't know.) ??? I've read that they are built to last, but they usually take a good beating during service. The thing still looks like a service car, how do I not get arrested for impersonating an LEO? Anybody have any first hand experience with these?
As long as you dont have functioning emergency equipment ( forward facing red light/audible siren etc...) you should be fine for not gettin' busted perpatratin' da role... [laugh]
Most Depts will take off ALL identifiable police markings and only leave the base colors...
Personally I wouldn't touch one of those cars with a 100 ft pole ( all varity of scumbag has prolly been in the back and lord knows what funk they've left behind.... You wanna breath that crap or expose close friends/family to that?)
I've seen cars with 20k on the clock that were HAMMERED... and L.A used to retire cars at 60k.... thanks to the economy they bumped that higher now...
It'd be great for a DEMO Derby car tho !! [thumbsup]
Disclaimer : " I'm not a cop...... But I did stay at a Holiday Inn once"
A friend of mine owned several (Ford) former highway patrol cars back in the late '80s and early '90s. Back when they were equipped with 351 HO engines. [evil] He drove the wheels off 'em, usually turning the odometer over 200K before picking up another.
Methinks a highway patrol car would be a much better choice than a city squad...
Quote from: Speedbag on October 24, 2010, 03:51:49 PM
Methinks a highway patrol car would be a much better choice than a city squad...
This
My brother owned an ex-CHP Crown Vic for many years and loved it! Car ran like a Timex. Handled pretty darned well for such a large car. His was repainted a dark metallic gray so it looked like a detective's ride.
Both of my parents are police officers and those cars are VERY well taken care of. At least down here in TX. If ANYTHING goes wrong it's immediately taken to the shop and repaired. I had a couple of friends in high school that had old cop cars and they all ran like champs.
I built those babys for 31 years ( well i should say since the Vicky came to STAP ), so if you need any advice or repair questions i can answer them .
A couple of things it has a cop frame (heavy duty ) , engine config could be all the way from virtually stock to supercharged most of the Interceptor engines had the marine heads
The cats are high flow
severe service tranny which has been "flowed" ie a mild shift kit
Some have bucket seats some bench
some have a locker in the 3rd member most have posi
steel high strength rims , high speed v rated tires ( goodyear only )
we built CVPI's in every imaginable option setup , chrome package , mags , 6 pack cd ,floor shifter ,supercharged
you will love this car it is indestructible, remember 99% of all CVPI's go onto taxi service and will end up with about 750,000 - 1,000,000 miles on them
(http://www.allfordmustangs.com/photopost/data/3942/medium/441989_California_Highway_Patrol_Mustang.jpg)
Quote from: corey on October 25, 2010, 06:27:37 PM
(http://www.allfordmustangs.com/photopost/data/3942/medium/441989_California_Highway_Patrol_Mustang.jpg)
This.
JM
We had a CVPI for a few years. It was a pretty good car. Eventually the transmission gave out. They do get run hard, and they spend a lot of time idling and not moving too.
One other thing - people DON'T move when they see you usually. They slow down to 5 under the speed limit. That was a pain in the ass.
I prefer this old Police car
(http://www.bluesbrothersact.com/images/TBBA%20Images/BB%20Photo%20Galleryjunkyard%20horizontal%20car%20and%20J&E.JPG)
One thing nobody has mentioned...
Big brakes
I snagged the brakes off the front of a caprice type cop car in the junkyard
HUGE rotors (13.75 I think) and big two piston calipers
Quote from: ROBsS4R on October 26, 2010, 05:23:02 PM
I prefer this old Police car
(http://www.bluesbrothersact.com/images/TBBA%20Images/BB%20Photo%20Galleryjunkyard%20horizontal%20car%20and%20J&E.JPG)
You may want to refer to my first post on the topic. ;)
Quote from: ute on October 25, 2010, 04:05:15 PM
you will love this car it is indestructible, remember 99% of all CVPI's go onto taxi service and will end up with about 750,000 - 1,000,000 miles on them
yeah - around the DC metro area a lot of the cabs area ex LEO vehicles and you see a decent number running around as personal vehicles.
Quote from: Monsterlover on October 27, 2010, 04:34:13 AM
One thing nobody has mentioned...
Big brakes
I snagged the brakes off the front of a caprice type cop car in the junkyard
HUGE rotors (13.75 I think) and big two piston calipers
Those were on the LT-1 powered cars.... which were way cool [thumbsup]
I would definitely rock a black one with a supercharger
(http://media.merchantcircle.com/28059474/used%20police%20car_full.jpeg)
The supercharged units were the rarest of the rare , mainly for CHP use . Texas used an aftermarket company to add the supercharger
When we would get one back to the plant for repair we would drive the crap out of them on the test track , man that whine was soooooooooo cool
You could always get a vortech or the like for it
You need one of these:(http://fernandonakayama.pro.br/blog/wp-content/uploads//RNEM734J.jpg)