An insider’s guide to buying used police cars in Chicago
When compared to an average model, police vehicles consumes a lot of gas, doing nothing for hours on end and usually take more misuse than any other car on the road. But they last much more longer and also they offer a special nice firm ride.
On cash basis, they are generally the cheapest most used cars on the road and if you don’t drive that much, they are worth it. Moreover, you have to do a lot of research to discover the good ones out of the badly abused ones.
So do you still want to purchase a police interceptor in Dodge, Chevy or Ford in Chicago? Firstly, you have to locate a agency or city selling one, and while many of them put their excess cars on net, it can be harder than you may think.
Few weekends ago, Roswell city, Ga., auctioned off 32 Ford Crown Vic Police Interceptors. Most individuals could not bid on any of them, as it was an auction for salvage pickers and dealers only. This happens often for different reasons, cities most of the time take less money not to deal with the trouble of shoppers who do not understand that “as-is” simply means “you now own it and it is your problem now if you cannot get it to start.” Would this happen in Chicago? Maybe and maybe not…
So how can you know which government cars are the good ones and which ones are the bad ones especially when you have like 32 vehicles in front of you and they all say: ” it will start with a boost, it has exposed wires on the interior and holes on the exterior, minor body damage, minor damage to interior seats.”
Starting first with realistic expectations is my advice. Some of these cars have been at a Chicago back lot for months, weeks and also years after they were been seen on the road. Surely, you will replace the battery, which implies that if you want to examine the car in reality, which I advise strongly for you to do, you have to bring a jump box.
There is also what we call pecking order when it involves Police Interceptors. Police vehicles that are utilized in the line of duty do have a cloth front seat, vinyl back seat combination and also you will see holes and wires wherever there was police tools.
On a cosmetic level, white and black versions of these cars are not expensive at the auctions when compared to the black ones, or other single color differences like silver or white.
Police tools adds value to the selling price. Spotlights, rear window bars, push bumpers and the scarce model with a total rear cage all add impact to the selling price.
I always motivate people to focus on not more than two cars, examine the cars with a reasonable person before you place your bid, and also try to discover much about the history of maintenance as you can. Internet descriptions of these cars are usually rubbish, but most of the times there is a silver lining which is under the trampoline of misinformation. Sometimes, you might get lucky and discover that you got a car in Chicago which is worth the risk.
I purchased a 2000 Ford Crown Victoria from Atlanta city for $700, earlier this year. It had a scarce interior leather which implies that it was driven by a city councilperson, a fire chief or some other renowned public official who does not abuse cars. I was the only bidder of this lets say inoperable car which in line with the online listing shows over 200,000 miles on the odometer.
A fast Carfax search resulted a mileage reading of about 110,000 miles. I brought out a jump box to where the cars was situated and all of a sudden and miraculously it started right up. I ended up paying up for a client who spoiled it , but full coverage insurance is on it and in any event of an accident a financial payoff is guaranteed.) My net proceeds for that car were a more over $7,000.
Surely, there are some busts in the former police car game. Its nit everything you purchase turns out to be okay. Ford Crown Vics particularly have become the almost vehicle when we talk of retailing already used vehicles. This is the car everybody love to have but they never purchase it. A full sized gas guzzling V8 which has rear wheel drive and also more not expensive plastic bits more than the off brand Lego store usually does not translate into a highly wanted used vehicle.
Throw in already exposed wires which are from the police only parts which were removed, joined with well worn seats and you end up with a vehicle which is sometimes purchased for as minute as 10% of its original selling price after seven years.
The ones that Roswell city had already listed on Govdeals were much more cheaper and older. I dislike closed markets with much passion, mostly when it comes to vehicles. So I decided to open this market by offering my folks on Facebook the chance to utilize me as their bidder for these cars. After like 15 years of examining, liquidating and appraising government cars, I knew what they are expecting. Most of these Police Interceptors would sell good around the $1,000 range with maybe an upgrade of $1,509 to $1,800.
At the end of it, four vehicles were bid on and two were purchased. Each of them were 2003 models which sold for $1,300. They will maybe need about $300 to $700 worth of work in the appearance of alternators, tyres and also some other minor maintenance. Both had rear and front cloth seats, and both were worth the selling price.
But it took a long period of time to get there as you can see. So, if you need a police vehicle, be patience and also please avoid locking yourself in the back seat.
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