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"You don't want to buy cars from some
city where the streets suck, because they'll be beaten to
death, or areas where there are a lot of high-speed chases,"
Duchene says. "You want to find a peaceful county with good
weather and straight roads."
Individuals aren't the only interested buyers. When law
enforcement rolls its old workhorses, the taxicab industry
also comes running. Most police cars worth buying are
acquired by guys like Bob Shelley, owner of Transportation
Support Services of Portland, Ore., who handles all
maintenance for Broadway Cab Company.
Like Duchene, Shelley is a proud squad car owner. He bought
his 1999 Crown Vic with 38,000 miles on it for $2,100 and
then spent an additional $9,000 for a new paint job,
high-end stereo system, wheels, tires and plush "wrecking
yard" interior.
"The civilian equivalent would have cost me more than twice
that and I would have a lesser car," he says. "If you buy
these and put a little money into them, you end up spending
half what the civilian car would cost you for twice the car.
You can't go wrong."
Well, actually you can.
Know your used-cop-car market
Although police cruisers are built to run and generally
receive exemplary maintenance by both law enforcement and
the livery trade, by the time they reach the civilian market
they are, after all, used cars.
Police departments large and small buy the heavy-duty
cruisers from fleet dealers at roughly two-thirds what they
would cost the public. A new police car might run $24,000. A
used one good for another 400,000 miles sells at auction for
anywhere from $2,000 to $12,000 depending on condition and
location.
Shelley recalls a woman who purchased a police car at an
auction and then discovered it wouldn't move. Shelley knew
with a glance at the fluid stick that its transmission was
shot (not uncommon in police cars) and volunteered to
install a new one for her.
Buyers familiar with the secondary market can tell at a
glance if a cop car has seen years of action or led a
sedentary life of donut crumbs and stakeout coffee. You
might think the detective's car would be a better buy than a
police cruiser, but it's not. In fact, Shelley won't even
bid on them.
"I prefer the regular police car over the detective car," he
says. "The detective cars don't get driven as often, and
when they do, they're usually in city traffic, idling
around. The exhaust systems are usually rusted out. They're
more like a civilian car. Detective cars are cheaper than
the police package. They won't have the lifetime silicone
hoses or the heavy-duty radiator. It will be missing a lot
of the important things."
Similar caution is required if you take a chance on the
proliferating used-squad-car dealers out there in
cyber-lots.
"There is a lot of online buying nowadays," Shelley admits.
"The State of Oregon sells some of their cars online, but
they're usually the ones that are in poor repair. And you're
only seeing a picture of it, so it's buyer beware. You buy
it, you own it."
For a less problematic purchase, consider calling a cab --
for a heads-up, that is, on available squad cars.
"The way I got mine, and the way I would recommend it, is to
go and find out who does the taxi maintenance in your
hometown and see if they will tip you to one," Duchene
advises.
Shelley agrees. Taxi buyers not only know the cars, they
know where to shop for the deals, generally smaller towns
rather than big cities.
Turning heads, clearing roads
Although it may take some shopping around to find the used
police car of your dreams, owners say it's worth it. There
is, after all, that indefinable something about driving a
former cruiser.
"You can't appear to be impersonating a police officer. You
can't run stoplights, for instance. That's something that
you have to bear in mind," reminds Duchene. "That being
said, 75 percent of the drivers on the road give you some
room.
"The other good thing about a cop car is, you can never
really conceal them, so even when it's parked in your
driveway, it's doing its bit for the neighborhood."
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