Buying ex-police from the auctions with factory warranty, Nothing to worry about?

[buggo]

Thanks everyone for there replies its great how I'm getting such diverse opinions and such strong points.

With the appeal for getting an ex-police, it's not the fact that its 'got a chip and is hectic fast brah', I know they dont differ at all from a regular car, I might be young but I'm not some bogan dumbass haha, nor is it the brakes either. If anything they are a bit of a turnoff with the cost of replacement and the life span. I researched the average life and people are getting anywhere from 25k km to 100k+ km. They do look good though.

It's more the fact its younger and within warranty. That appeals a great deal to me more than perfect paint or a flashy interior. Like I said earlier this can all be added later. And as mentioned it can be extended aswell.

@GT-E. Haha $38,000 is a bit above my budget mate. I wouldn't even be looking at auctions if that was my budget. I'm spending more along the lines of low 20's.

@Gyrkin GT. The place is manheim auctions. I think they used to be named fowles?
I went down on the weekend just to get a feel of what it is they offer. I saw the cars online but you can only get so much of an idea.
I went down with no intention of buying anything in stock, I just wanted a better idea and feel of the whole auction/ ex-hwp deal.
The one I'm after is in nitro, I sat in it and I guess 'connected emotionally', which I hear is a no no when buying cars.

My heads is saying 'man, you know nothing about this car, there's things wrong and thats only the superficial things, you didn't even start it up. Take a step back, relax, and think logically. If you do end up getting an ex police atleast know its history.'
But my heart says 'blue, turbo, 2 years old. Get it and love it.'

[Andy777]

buggo, i just went through this about 6 weeks ago

i had my cash ready to buy an ex hwy patrol xr6 turbo, this one i was looking at had 56,000km, a few scratches on its body, one panel had been resprayed in the past, and from the auction the week before i rough idea on what price to expect (give or take 1k)

the day before the auction my mate stumbled accross a xr50 turbo, with 20,000km that was like new, not a scratch on the car, for 4k-5K more then the price we were expecting the ex hwy car to go for.. less kms, leather, reverse sensors, premium sounds and it was like new i couldnt pass it up

times are tough out there and it is definately a car buyers market at the moment, that said my mate has bought a few ex hwy xr6 turbos and has not had any major problems, just the usual wear and tear

[Cashie]

I've owned an ex-hwy BA XR8, it looked like it was in ok nick when I got it, but during my ownership I had changed under warranty, plenum cover (paint was all blistered due to the amount of time it was left running on the side of the road I guess), transmission was rebuilt (sounded like a chaff cutter), diff was rebuilt (usual whine), radiator replaced (usual leaks), tried for the drivers seat base on trims as they were sagging and worn but the dealer wouldn't wear it.
I was always waiting for something else to wear out, wasnt a bad car but I don't think I would buy another ex-copper..

[Franco Cozzo]

Given I've been involved in building emergency vehicles, in my particular case Ambulances, Mica Paramedic Territories and Prison vans.

Avoid.

The amount of holes these things have in them, dodgy work carried out on the car itself during the conversions, plus you don't know what has happened in the back of it either, vomit, pee, poo etc.

I see an ambulance go out, it comes back in 5000km for a problem to be fixed and the interior looks like its done 250,000km because they simply don't give a flying poo about their cars, because they aren't personally assigned to that particular vehicle.

[TURBOTAXI]

I have had two ex HWP police cars. For my purposes - ie bulk miles, they were great. There is lots of misinformation out there about how the cars are driven, dont believe everything you hear. My 2005 XR6T has 270,000 k's now. The 2009 FG F6 is over 170,000. Both still run great. Both on dual fuel. Both serviced in my backyard since I got them. The comments RE Country LAC's is valid, warranty work is always a drama with a car approaching its 100,000k's but I have had thousands of dollars of warranty work on both these cars before they fell out of warranty.

[2011G6E]

The standard logic many years ago used to be yes, buy an ex-police vehicle, but try and buy a detectives car.

They're usually higher-spec, will be a variety of colours, and aren't filled with holes for various equipment and have sticker marks all over them. We laughed at a guy way back in 1984 at a place I worked who went to Brisbane to the auctions, telling us he was buying a "police car", but her turned up with a two year old XE Fairmont Ghia in metallic gold, all options except for sunroof, for under half of what he would have paid for a similar car from Ford.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by MrEL

You have flawed and controdicted your argument within this post.
You say that a motor idling for many hours in a ex highway car running the aircon and disco lights is bad but further down the post say that taxi motors last longer then normal cars. Doesnt a taxi sit around for many hours idling running the airconditioning?
Cold highway patrol cars dont exist. They dont sit there overnight doing nothing. They come in from a 12 hour shift and get changed over to the other driver. Seeing as though it takes about 3 hours for a car to cool off enough to be considered cold they are not stationary that long.
I would happily buy a XR6T that you KNOW has had a hard time and has been maintained with only a limited amount of drivers that are actually qualified to drive them instead of an XR6T that has been driven by who knows , lent to the mate to run down the shop and been flogged , been flogged from cold and serviced and maintained when the owner could afford it or it was convienient.
The reason highway cars are cheap is because cars with 40000kms on them when 12 months old is not a selling point. Also the stigma that is created about them by numpties that dont know the actual truth , just what they want to believe dont make them desirable.
Im happy for people to think highway cars are big piles of poo to be avoided like a bad dose of the pox. It leaves more affordable , modern performance cars out there for smart people like me who actually know the truth to buy!

No actually taxis are always driving about, this is why they do hundreds of thousands of km per year. They last longer because they do usually do not stop very often. They very seldom sit and idle because that wastes fuel and costs money. I suspect you may be familiar with the concept of cheapest possible regardless of anything else.

Cold highway patrol cars don't exist? Guess again.

Maybe in the middle of Sydney but in the rest of Australia they spend enough time stopped. One lives up the road from me.

Now you may think you are a bit of a guru on the operation of HP cars but rather than guess and assume I have actually had many long conversations with people who drive them daily and strangely enough all of them both would not buy one themselves and warned me against it. One of my best mates drives one and before joining the job was a motor mechanic for 10 years. The concept of "well maintained" is also a bit amusing.

But still it comes down to why they are cheap.

But hey, there is another solution. If you are worried about who has previously driven the car then BUY A NEW ONE. Ford would be very happy with the sale.......

[XR8AU2121]

My 1999 Ex-HWP AU 1 XR8 is now over 13 years old and still runs like new, no rattles, squeakes or drive train backlash and the old BTR transmission still changes smooth as silk. Other than normal service costs/replacements the only failures have been Camshaft synchoniser, Fuel pump relay and a new set of coil packs.
The secret is to do your homework and source out a 12 month old country car. In NSW you can assume that a car with 70,000k and only 12 months old has not spent its life in the metro area.
If interested in a particular one get the serial or rego number and ring NSW Police Fleet Management and ask where it was stationed, then you ring the local LAC HWP and ask them about the car. They will usually give you an honest opinion, they normally like to talk about their cars

[Dave R]

Plenty of people pretending to know what they are talking about in this thread. Highway patrol cars are not fanged literally everywhere like some people will have you believe, it's a myth. Much of their time is spent cruising, that's a fact - particularly if it's a country car like sbutler bought - I believe that particular car did the run from Campbelltown down further South, nothing but country highway.

If the car has factory warranty, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Extend it and you're looking at an extra 3 years on top of what it has already. I have 4 mates with ex-highway XR6 Turbos and I've spent a lot of time driving them & cruising with them. They've had no dramas at all, I've probably had more dramas in my privately-loved FG XR6T. One of my neighbours is also a highway patrol officer, he says the same thing about them - they get a bad rap by some people but it's mostly myth. Remember, giving the car a fanging is not bad for it (many would say it's a good thing), particularly on the stock tune! Highway cars are well maintained vehicles, 7500 service intervals, all genuine Ford. They also don't do burnouts on Friday nights and they don't miss services like some cars. Brembos, whilst more expensive to maintain when the time comes, are a big bonus in my eyes - the factory brakes are garbage and you'd be spending the same amount upgrading them anyway!

Check out this guy's videos, he goes through his FG ex-highway FG XR6 Turbo http://www.youtube.com/user/madma0

[Jastel]

You can buy a brand new car and get a lemon and have problems, plenty of people with $80000 FG GT and blown diffs, or buy a nice shiny one from a little old lady who only drove to the church on Sunday...and hit every kerb on the way there.

The computers run these cars, the engines are hard to cook or over rev or abuse, the diffs are a known weak spot on all Falcons, luck of the draw on that one. Cars are still very easy to drive into gutters and over kerbs etc.

Check it out thoroughly, if it is roadworthy it should be basically ok.
If you are loaded and like the new car smell and losing 50% value of what you paid in depreciation in 6 months go to a dealer.
If you want value for money with a small increase in risk of problems and dont mind a few scratches go to the auctions.

My credentials for the above post - bought 30 or so cars from auctions over the years and run Falcon taxis.

And Flappist please send me any taxi drivers you find that know how to turn an engine off while parked/waiting....it rarely happens anymore.

[jaydee]

I got my XC from the auctions in 1981 with 120 kay on the clock and it was ex Highway and driver training, so how thrashed do you think that had been, and it's still going strong. The only warranty was until you drove it out of the yard.
But then, they don't make cars like they used to do they.

[RAPID_BA]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Given I've been involved in building emergency vehicles, in my particular case Ambulances, Mica Paramedic Territories and Prison vans.

Avoid.

The amount of holes these things have in them, dodgy work carried out on the car itself during the conversions, plus you don't know what has happened in the back of it either, vomit, pee, poo etc.

I see an ambulance go out, it comes back in 5000km for a problem to be fixed and the interior looks like its done 250,000km because they simply don't give a flying poo about their cars, because they aren't personally assigned to that particular vehicle.

we laugh but its the truth.

[OLDFORDNUT]

have you ever watched cops in a hurry ? they get thrashed regulary(especially in country ares and at night when they think no ones around, its also amazing hoow hard they can hit gutters and keep going,yeah im sure cop cars are well maintained but as for carefully driven nnnnoooooo

[ChRiDDa]

Id think very seriously before buying one... I see first hand how these things get driven and let's just say they're not driven in a kind manner..
Most of them run 24/7, some get driven harder than others...
Bear in mind, some of them sit there for hours on end, constantly idling, others go up n over gutters, making some awful sounds coming from underneath!
There's a reason why they're cheap - On the other hand, could pick up a performance car for a relatively cheap price!

[RAPID_BA]

A few years back i was looking at an xr6t..

For the same money i could get a ba xr6t in mint condition, 38000km , leather, sunroof and premium sound. 4 spd auto

Or a rushed to buggery 60000km bf 6 spd auto ex copper xr6t. sure the gearbox was better being the 6spd but what went with it??? Clunky suspension , freyed seats, scuffed rims, loose feel to steering, no leather, no premium sound, my stomach couldnt handle the poor condition. Looked and felt 10 years older than the ba

The ba xr6t presented as new and really exaggerated the police treatment . I bought the ba xr6t.

[mik]

i would say different stations/officers have different work load/different treatment of the cars, hence some cars go back to the dealer at 1500 k`s with bearing rattle , others do their time with no serious problems, check it out carefully Buggo.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by Jastel

You can buy a brand new car and get a lemon and have problems, plenty of people with $80000 FG GT and blown diffs, or buy a nice shiny one from a little old lady who only drove to the church on Sunday...and hit every kerb on the way there.

The computers run these cars, the engines are hard to cook or over rev or abuse, the diffs are a known weak spot on all Falcons, luck of the draw on that one. Cars are still very easy to drive into gutters and over kerbs etc.

Check it out thoroughly, if it is roadworthy it should be basically ok.
If you are loaded and like the new car smell and losing 50% value of what you paid in depreciation in 6 months go to a dealer.
If you want value for money with a small increase in risk of problems and dont mind a few scratches go to the auctions.

My credentials for the above post - bought 30 or so cars from auctions over the years and run Falcon taxis.

And Flappist please send me any taxi drivers you find that know how to turn an engine off while parked/waiting....it rarely happens anymore.

For the first part, how many of these 30 cars were ex HP turbo 6s or V8s as opposed to povvo I6s to be converted to LPG?

For the second part most of the taxis up here are owner/driver or the drivers have respect for their bosses wishes and care about the viability of their job. Maybe it is different in other places......

But this is getting off topic.

The question has been asked and answered.

Unless the OP wants it to continue I will close it.