Long story short I need a car. Buying a relatively new one won't be an option for several months. I decided to get an old cop car in the interim. I've always wanted one and I guess there's no time like the present. So I turn to the oracle that is the Smith & Wesson Forum, does anyone know a good source for used police cars in the New York metro area? I'm not remotely interested in the NYC auction because I know first hand what happens to NYPD cars. So are there any good auctions or dealers in the Westchester/Rockland/North Jersey area? Ideally I'd like to get an unmarked that has mostly highway miles.

A little farther away than you might want, but Google Blue Streak Motors in Ashland, Kentucky.

Disregard Blue Streak. They used to sell refurbished patrol cars, I just looked and apparently they don't do this anymore. There should be a GSA (government auction) somewhere in your area. These old patrol cars look really good with 20" rims and bright colors.

Local government auctions , or , as always , EBAY! Ya can search within any number of miles. Many department also lease (with service contracts) their cars from dealerships , which sell them to the public after lease is up.

I bought my 1997 Harley Davidson ex-Police Road King on EBAY for $5000 a few years back. Couldn't be happier.

Pa state gov cars are auctioned in Harrisburg Pa. It looks like the PSP is getting a new batch of cars soon. Run a search to find site. If you want to buy an non marked patrol car check for rubber grommet plugs and such on the roof, this denotes a marked patrol car, these got a bit more hard use than the unmarked cars.

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Stay safe people!

Caprice Cars (818) 822-9502

Completely rebuilt LT-1 Caprice Interceptors...

Harrisburg, PA is the car auction center for the N/E area and worth a look. You will come back with something.

Here's a link...Big Bear Cruirsers

Selling some of America’s finest Reconditioned, Road Ready, Police Cars”

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"IN GOD WE TRUST"

There's some good deals as long as they are refurbished.

With police cars, you have to look beyond just the mileage and keep in mind the run time on the engine........AC in the summer, heat in the winter, keeping the computer inside powered up.......those cars basically run 24 hours a day.

I worked armed security for a few years and we used Dodge Dakota pickups, and they were so beat after 2 years they couldn't even be resold.

Jack Pike in Conway, Arkansas, buys and sells used police cars. He's a member of the Police Car Owners Association. I saw several on his lot just this week.

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government-fleet-sales DOT com
has a nice website with some good deals...Ive been looking for a mid mile Black 2006ish and they always have something in that line...just havent stepped up yet

People wonder why I drive the big, full framed rearwheel FOMCO Sedans. This especially since I cover 40-50K miles a year on business.

On the night of 15 May of this year, my Merc Grand Marquis (essentially a Ford Crown Vic) was rearended at a yellow light.

The opposing driver's BAC was .16

Posted speed was 50 MPH. I have no idea what his speed was, but witnesses on the scene estimated 30+. There was no sign that he had hit the brakes.

My Car:



His Car:



I drove home, he went to the can.

This is my 4th Grand Marquis and I'll drive these monsters just as long as I can find them.

Drew

How about a nice used Caddy hearse? Only been on short trips, usually with an escort.

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S&WHF 366

These folks had some Westchester co stuff listed

Auction Zip - Live Auction Locator - Find Auctions Anywhere!

Personally, I would not buy a used Police car. The Police tend to heavily use and abuse their vehicles, let them idle for hours on end, and in general, drive the hell out of them! Since they are not driving their personal vehicle, they have little regard as to what happens to them. You would be better off buying a similar vehicle from a known and reputable private source.

Just my .02 cents......

Chief38

Worst idea ever. I'd sooner buy a rental car.

Thanks for the replies. I did some car hunting today and wound up with a 2001 Grand Marquis. I'm picking it up tomorrow. High mileage but very well cared for, it should serve me well.

Your on the right track here. I have a 94 Caprice that was a Detectives car in the states. It has well over 200K on it. Some days the dash readout says it has 930K on it Who cares, it is a RUNNER! It is my summer beater. Fun to beat on and always starts. I bought my Daughter a '03 Grand Marquis from a friend last year(as she hauls one of my Grandchildren in it) and if she and decides to part with it I will be driving it also. Yes, the cop cars may have been run hard, but so have all my vett's. Wait till some punk tries to jump you at a light... Drive them, there damn fun, and safe if your inside of it Kyle

MTS,

Just keep the oil changed and watch the maintenance and you will get alot out of this vechicle.... All four of mine got well over 250,000 miles. One, a 1997 got over 300,000 miles.

The only thing is that at around 160-175,000 mile you can expect a transmission overhaul.

I think you'll be pleased.

Drew

Last year I bought my daughter a 2001 Crown Vic Interceptor that had been the local sheriff's department's transport vehicle. It had 186,000 miles on it and cost a whopping $1200.

A year later it still runs like a champ.

As Sebago Son pointed out, there is something to be said for a full size car made of sturdy US steel. I once spent a chilly Christmas Eve prying a dead lady out from behind the steering wheel of her Chevy Aveo. She was still wearing her seat belt, and the airbag was deployed. She had been hit head on by a .32 BAC in a full size Chevy pickup. No seat belt or airbag for him - but when the tribal cops got there he was wandering around in the snow looking only slightly befuddled. There is no substitute for mass. That's when I decided there would be no small cars for my kids.

The way I figure it, the car is already paid for, and any use now is gravy.

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Rule of law, not a man.

Govdeals.com,,,,they only list governemt sights and you can do a search by zip code

I can't imagen who would want a retired cop car. We drove ours until the wheels fell off. I remember we had a standing order, don't cut your engines off, ever. That was done at the maintence department when they changed the oil. They had some way to restart them. I know when I was a rookie, I made the fatal error, and they had to bring a truck out from maintence to get us going. Of course, in those days the only radio we had was in the car, consequently another reason to keep the engine running. When we were out of the car, we were on our own.

As far as old cop cars go, the later Crown Vic's and Caprices are ok, but I'd MUCH rather have a 1971 Galaxie cruiser, which was the ONLY year that the 429 Super Cobra Jet was available in the Interceptor Fords. Barring that, a 1969 Dodge Polara with the 440 Magnum would be my second choice. The hell with gas mileage, full speed ahead!

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MARK

Several factors are in play now that impact the conditions that used police cars are in when sold now.

Over the last 15-20 years, more and more departments are issuing an individual car to an individual officer, who probably drives it to and from work. Just the one cop drives that car and he is responsible for it's maintainence and condition. It soon appears just who takes care of their issued car and who abuses it.

Before this trend, the norm was for cars to be assigned to a pool or an area and that car would have 4 to 6 to 9 different officers use it during a given month. The cars ran 24/7. With that kind of useage, we learned that "when everybody is responsible for the car, nobody ends up being responsible for the car." The cars go junk fast.

Economics and the recession have impacted how long police fleets keep their cars. For about 12 years, my department used a style called "rapid rotation." We bought our vehicles from a bidding process conducted by the state. Thousands of vehicles were purchased annually by the state, the counties and the cities, and not just for the police. It was dealer against dealer, so bidding were cutthroat. We ended up buying several hundred new Crown Vics year for really low prices. We issued them to an individual officer, who drove his vehicle for a year. At that point, we could sell them as used but still in great shape, low mileage, already equipped with radios and lights. We generally sold them for about $2,000 or less than what we paid for them for the marked sedans, and even made some money on many of our 4WD trucks and SUV's.

Apparently, many governments don't do state bid vehicle purchases, so our still fairly new (a year old generally) cars with 10-25,000 miles on them, religiously serviced and maintained, were pretty attractive to other agencies in other states that had, as an alternative, to buy their cars at sticker price from their local car dealers and then get them equipped.

This rapid-replacement gave our department the lowest per-mile driven cost of any rotation methood we had tried. But it was hard to convince many taxpayers of this, as all they saw was us cops rolling around in brand new shiney cars and trucks all the time. So public pressure and some reorganizational changes led us to where we are now, planning on keeping our vehicles for 60,000 or 75,000 miles or more, which will also be factored into the car's record of breakdowns and it's calendar year model.

The recession has impacted most of the police agencies I know as concerns their vehicle practices. I am seeing cars in other departments that have 80,000 to 100,000 miles on them and are only 3 or 4 years old, and these are city miles, not highway miles. They are keeping them until they are all but junk before surplussing them. Not good prospects.

The Crown Vics keep track of not just gas mileage but hours spent idling. That is hard use, especially in the summer, and you should consider that while shopping.

The best ex-police cars to buy would be unmarked police packages that were assigned to administrators. They don't get driven hard normally, being used primarily for commuting and going from one facility to another for meetings. They don't spend a lot of time idling because their drivers are inside buildings all day and the car is shut off.

So talk to departments around your area and find what their vehicle purchase, use, rotation and sales practices are. If they are surplussed locally, find the fleet manager and take him to lunch. He may be able to point you to some of the better condition vehicles going to auction so yoiu aren't bidding on just appearance.

A similar but non-cop car can also often be well bought from a car rental agency. If you are looking for something like a Ford Crown Vic or Mercury Marquis, the rental versions are not too dissimilar from the fleet cars sold to cops and taxi companies. The kinds of people who rent Vics and Marquis aren't usually the kinds of drivers who are going to hammer the car while they have it. The cars receive regular scheduled maintainence and are kept clean. They can be good buy.

Couple years ago, I needed a car to haul my ricketty elderly parents around. My Ford F-250 didn't cut it. I needed something that they could get into and out of easily and which I could carry their two light wheelchairs in the trunk. My 2006 Mustang GT wasn't cutting it. I went looking for a 2 or 3 year old Ford Fusion or Taurus/500. First lot I went to had a 2007 Crown Vic LX on the lot. It had been in service with a big car rental firm in Phoenix for a year. 14,000 miles. It had brand new Michelin tires on it and a factory 100,000 mile extended warranty. Leather. Nice car. Huge trunk. Looked, felt and smelled like brand new. Easy in and out. Since I drive a Crown Vic at work every day and supervise a lot of others, I know that these cars tend to be reliable even in hard useage.

Turns out I knew the salesman; his late dad had been my lieutenant before he died. He told me the Vic I was looking at had been sitting there for 3 months, that no customer had even test-driven it and I could probably get a deal on it. We test drove it and it was flawless. I went home to the internet and did some research and crunched some numbers. Crown Vics and Mercury Marquis have terrible resale value. They are old fashioned and only geezers, Hispanics and Arabs seem to buy them, apparently.

I went back the next day and made them an offer of $16,000 out the door. No trade in, no finance. Just sell me the car. The sticker on the car new had been almost $28,000 when it was bought new a year earlier.

Salesman was surprised that his manager took my offer. Then, they asked me to review their finance plans. I already had a loan set up with my bank, but the car dealer's loan from another local bank was a full percent cheaper. It's been a good car. Softer ride than my work cop car but nice and cushy. Huge trunk. Back seat like my folks' living room.
20.5 to 22.0 mpg.

It's okay. I must be approaching geezerhood.

www.usedcopcars.com

Honest, Good Folks in Wisconsin.

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