Has anyone bought an ex police car? I'm thinking of going to look at one it's a white vrs so imagining it's had livery on etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Worth doing a search on Briskoda on the numerous previous threads on the subject.

 

It might or might not have had Livery on, because i see Dog Cars & Various others that were just White.

Best check the particular car,

What the Interior is like, was any modified like for carrying Dogs, Weapons Safe below Rear Seat etc.

Electrics, Modifications, Suspension or Drivetrain etc.

Then the Maintenance History, any Warranty History.

 

Which Area of the UK it was First Registered in & Operated in, Type of use etc makes all the difference.

Good , Bad or total cr4p.

 

Have fun looking.

I had a Skoda Superb that was an ex-police vehicle. Had no issues with it during my ownership.

As above it depends what it was used for.

Theres a few owners od ex rozzer vrs octys in the mk1 section.

if a mod were to transplant this thread over there, no doubt youll get better (owner) responses.

In general other than potential mods, they are proprly maintained and sedviced while in the service. Ragged? Perhaps on occasion, but very few mk1 s havnt been tbf, difference being the maintenance carried out between raggings..

Or like mine, which this time is not white or a Skoda,  

but like the ones i have bought before, Full Leather, Automatic, only the Drivers seat has had any real use,

and the mileage is low and it was Dealer Serviced & Maintained not In house, because it was a Senior Officers car and not a Patrol Vehicle.

Lots of different Police Out there, Civil, Military, Nuclear, Transport.

Edited 18 April, 201511 yr by goneoffSKi

One of the sellers I follow on ebay ( Peterincambs.) used to edit one of the car mechanics "type" magazines.

He has an ex police 2011 white volvo V70 Dr 202bhp diesel manual estate for sale for £6295.

It looks OK. He has a 100% rating.

I've owned one ex police and one ex RAF vehicle,2 best vehicles I've ever owned as far as reliability was concerned,both passed 5 M.O.T's in a row without me spending an extra penny.I've still got one of them,ten years on.

My mate bought a BMW 530d touring ex police car, it had in excess of 150k miles on it, the service history log that came with it was extensive, the car had been serviced every three months, all parts were receipted and I have to say the thing is a flying machine, no knocks, rattles, it had new pads and disks all round, nearly new tyres too, it was a bargain.

 

 He had it for a year and then sold it to one of his drivers, he has had it for three years with no issues at all.

Yep,the important thing to do is keep up the same rigorous service routine that the vehicle had in its police years,especially the more regular oil changes.

Edited 18 April, 201511 yr by faradaycage

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=231444713863&globalID=EBAY-GB&alt=web

Thinking of looking at this one as it's local to me. Plate is Severn Valley Worcestershire

That one is missing the climate control, jumbo box, rear electric windows pack by the looks of it. A fairly desirable option...

Id be more worried about the fact the seller doesnt know car it is - listed as a volvo v70.....

We used to see a few odd ex-police cars through the auction I worked at in Glasgow years back.

 

Most had amazing history but the dashboards were pretty knackered - lots of screw holes and bits of panel missing + holes in the roof (plugged). 

What's Jumbo box?

I've owned one ex police and one ex RAF vehicle,2 best vehicles I've ever owned as far as reliability was concerned,both passed 5 M.O.T's in a row without me spending an extra penny.I've still got one of them,ten years on.

Id never own a RAF Vehicle knowing how we drive them haha although trimble has put a stop to our antics recently!

Many moons ago, I had an old police dog van. It was mechanically perfect. Bodywork was another story though, I don't think there was a panel on it that hadn't been painted three times and didn't had a dent.

What about the blues on the roof, have they put holes in the roof for wiring.

'Fully Refurbished' should be exactly that, 'had a full refurbish',  Interior trim replaced as required. Wheels etc, Holes filled, repaired etc.

So you inspect what you are looking at.

 

What someone had years ago has little to do possibly with something 8 years old now,

or maybe it is as bad as from the days of old.

Proof is in the Pudding, or the Examination.

An ex workmate bought a Vauxhall Omega 3.2 V6 32v ex cop car a few years ago which ended up in a ditch but that's another story ( also reason hes an ex workmate as it put him over the accident quota for our works insurance(which was 3 in a work vehicle or 2 in a work +1 own vehicle))  ran ok but it was spartan inside no leather or electric rear windows (base spec but with the big engine)

Would you pay <7k for an 09 face-lift version or >£5k for the octy 2 pre 09?

That looks like a good car to be fair. Ex police car.co.uk and been in the business for a lot of years so I'd guess they're reliable to deal with or they'd go bust. Looking at the advert you've posted it'll be a driver training car, they are they only ones that are generally petrol nowadays and don't have super high mileage on them.

To be honest I'd have no issues buying a ex plod car. I drive them everyday and none get totally thrashed, the main issues are body damage and interior damage, almost all of our cars have the right side of the drivers seat bolster gone due to our equipment on drop leg holsters.