Here is some helpful information for people considering purchasing a retired Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor (CVPI), some of this info will help with other makes and models vehicles previously used in law enforcement.

Things to consider prior to purchase:

Was the previous owner a city, town, county or state?

Police vehicles operated by major cities are often the worst. Big cities generally do not let officers take home their patrol cars after their shifts due to lack of number of cars in their fleet. Most of these vehicles, even though the mileage may be lower, are often run hard from call to call by 2 or 3 shifts a day. This means that a normal day for a car may involve city driving and idleing up to 18+ hours a day! Quite often routine scheduled maintenance is overlooked as well and some vehicles may not see fresh oil for 10,000 miles. Despite what you see in a lot of listings, most cars are NOT supervisor and administrator take home cars that have been babied.

Smaller towns, counties and highway patrol units can sometimes be a better value, but not always. Small towns generally are driven "softer", not a whole lot of high speed pursuits in Mayberry. Large counties and highway patrol units will generally have higher mileage but most of them will be highway miles. This may sound good until you think about how fast highway patrol trooper have to accelerate to catch up to someone doing 90 MPH from a dead stop. Furthermore, all cops love good A/C in the summer and heat in the winter so most all of these cars sit at idle for quite a few hours a day with no mileage being added to the odometer. Newer Ford police cars have an hour meter on the gauge cluster.

What makes some better than others?

The first things to consider are year, mileage and overall condition. For Ford CVPI's 2003 or newer is best. In 2003 Ford did quite a few modifications to the CVPI including interior upgrades, electrical upgrades, 17" wheels (optional, now standard) and some minor exterior cosmetic changes. Spending a little more now on a newer one and you may be happier in the long run.

Options! Some nice options in the Ford CVPI are full carpeted floors, cruise control, cloth back seat (not all are vinyl), 17" wheels, AM/FM casette player (you can upgrade to a Ford 1.5 DIN CD player!), and the street appearance package ( I'm not big on this, chrome trim and hubcaps don't float my boat!).

Problems you are likely to encounter after purchase:

Aside from major engine and transmission repair ( hopefully you will not have to suffer through that!) you should expect to replace and repair certain things on a used police vehicle. I certainly suggest to anyone with a bit of mechanical aptitude to purchase a repair manual or Ford shop manual and become familliar with your parts, repair techniques, signs of wear and impending failure and cost of parts from different sources. It's always important to regularly check all underhood electrical parts, pulleys, belts, hoses, fluids and the A/C compressor clutch. Due to excessive heat and idleing for years of service you are probably going to replace a water pump and possibly the power steering pump, alternator and the A/C compressor clutch. I recommend inspecting all suspension and steering components as well, these are often worn and require replacement, this is one area of the vehicle often overlooked until there is a serious problem.

Parts, Parts, Parts!

 Replacement parts are pretty inexpensive and easily available at most auto parts stores. You do not always need to replace worn parts with "police" parts, this topic may cause some debate so I will just plead my case and you can decide for yourself. The original design was for these types of vehicles to run all day, jump curbs, high electrical loads due to police radios and lights, heavy suspension loads due to installation of steel prisoner cages and a trunk full of equipment. Usually just regular Ford Crown Victoria parts (from Ford or aftermarket, your choice) are just fine for replacement. You don't really need the ceramic brake pads, and 190 amp alternator if you're not going to use it. Check with Ford for parts comatibility before any repair or replacement. I do suggest Ford factory parts for critical components, namely steering pumps, suspension and steering joints and the cooling system. I highly recommend Bilstein shocks for replacements, they are a bit more $$$, but well worth it!

The overall thing with police cars is that you should expect to put some money into them. Even with a mojor engine of transmission repair you'll still be ahead of the game considering you probably paid around $5,000 for a $30,000 car that's only a few years old!

The way I look at it is this:

Used Ford Police Interceptor $5,000

6 antennas $150

NEVER being tailgated again.....Priceless!

Hope you find these tips a bit helpful and with a little care your Ford Police Interceptor should bring you years of joy!