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A few years ago, I got the urge to buy
a rear wheel drive, V8 powered sedan. Naturally, I
ended up looking at a ton of Crown Victorias and Caprices
that had seen duty as police cars. When I picked up
that first car - a 1993 Crown Vic- I was appalled at the
condition of the car. The steering wheel had big
chunks out of it, the driver's seat looked like an unmade,
rumpled bed. Holes were drilled everywhere in the dash and
there was velcro and glue residue everywhere. The door
pillars had been cut to accommodate a prisoner cage and the
rear vinyl seat had numerous rips and tears.
The outside of the car was not much better - dents,
scratches, scrapes, paint chipped - it was awful. The engine
was tired and wheezing and the transmission sounded like
someone rattling bolts around in a five gallon bucket.
Police Cars Are Abused
Look at the ads on eBay for used Police
interceptors and see how many say they were "take home"
cars, "administrators" vehicles or "highway driven only".
As far as I am concerned, this is all a load of crap.
These cars are not being driven by your dad or your
grandmother! They jump over curbs, scream from 0-100
mph often and slam to a screeching halt. They idle
endless hours and the reports I have seen equate one hour
idle time to 33 miles of driving. These cars are built
for a specific purpose and they do it well; sometimes
though they just do not transition well to civilian life.
Some of my police interceptors have come with complete
service records and these records are interesting reading.
Brakes replaced every 10,000 miles, engine fans, belts, ABS
systems, AC systems, transmissions and even engines are
swapped out routinely. these cars see some hard use in the
role of police interceptor.
Internet Buyer Beware - All
Police Interceptors are NOT EQUAL
It didn't take me long to realize the
old saying "Buyer Beware" really applied to buying a used
police car on the internet. A common scam is to take a
Chevrolet Caprice Interceptor with a 4.3 liter V8 and pass
it off as having the more desirable 5.7 liter LT1 V8.
eBay has NO POLICY regarding accuracy of
the vehicle description! On numerous occasions I have
called this discrepancy to the attention of the seller and
the listing has never been revised - not once! I have
to believe the seller knows exactly what
they are doing and their intent is to intentionally deceive
the buyer! Another scam is the "southern
car" myth. No one wants to buy a rust bucket from up
north. You can be certain a car with a bit of rust on the
lower doors or fenders has plenty more rust that is not
readily seen. Working on these cars is a nightmare
because every nut and bolt is rusted. I have seen cars
advertised in Oklahoma as being rust free. A quick
carfax check showed they spent their life on patrol in
Boston or Chicago and were just recently purchased by the
individual in Oklahoma. Just being a southern
car does not guarantee it to be rust free. Some of the
worst rust buckets I have seen came from Beaumont, TX and
Miami, FL. The salt air and proximity to the ocean
just ate these cars up like cancer.
Another "Buyer Beware" is a high mileage car. They
will be advertised as being on routine maintenance programs
and the ad will also misleadingly claim "these cars
routinely run 300,000 or 400,00 miles". Once again a
carfax will reveal many of these police interceptor cars
entered taxi service when retired from the interceptor role.
Stay far, far way from any car that has seen service as a
police interceptor and taxi vehicle.
Buying from individuals can also be a problem. Most of the
Crown Victorias and Chevrolet Caprices need basic TLC when
they pass from government duty into civilian hands. Belts
and hoses need to be replaced, all fluids and filters
should be changed from the front of the car right to the
back, brakes and tires must be thoroughly inspected and
special attention should be paid to the electrical system.
Many police interceptors are badly butchered when the police
lights, sirens and radios are removed. Sadly, many
individual purchasers ignore the basic TLC and immediately
start adding performance and appearance modifications. A few
months later, this car will reappear on eBay for sale and it
will be a mess! Shadetree mechanic modifications and
serious mechanical problems are very, very common -- just
because the basic TLC items were ignored. Texas
Interceptors Takes a Different Approach
Experience may be the best teacher
after all. We no longer purchase any police
interceptors from any individuals and we purchase very few
vehicles on eBay. Just reread some of the reasons above.
Most of our vehicles are purchased directly from state
governments and local municipalities. One of the main
reasons is the finance director or maintenance director
generally represents the police vehicle in an honest fashion
and the proceeds of the sale does not go in their pockets.
Even this approach is not foolproof. I have purchased cars
with "bad transmissions" that actually had a bad
differential; cars with "low oil pressure" that had a rod
knocking so bad you could clearly hear it over the stereo.
In my business, this is part of the risk you take.
Each and every Crown Victoria or
Chevrolet Caprice we purchase is evaluated
and examined. Necessary repairs are made and then we
drive the cars personally - sometimes for several thousand
miles. By the end of our evaluation, repairs have been made
and the car is listed with an accurate description of known
defects. If I am not confident in the condition of the car,
we keep it until I am. If I am not Okay with my 18
year old daughter driving one of our police interceptors, I
will definitely not offer it up for sale. Read some of the
stories about
what we have been through buying the used police
interceptors. Buying cars based on a few
pictures and a brief description is not easy. We go a step
further and guarantee our descriptions to be accurate. If
you purchase one of our police interceptors and the actual
condition differs from our description, we will refund your
money - NO PROBLEM! Check our listings
by clicking the link at the top of the page!
Read Some Stories
About Our Buying Adventures Texas Interceptors
Andy Jones
PO Box 2146
104 S Main Street
Van Alstyne, TX USA 75495
Toll Free Phone: (800) 813-1315
Email:
cvpi@earthlink.net
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