Ex Police Cars - problem after problems

[Taz 1]

Just gave buying ex police cars a go. They are very hard to shift. Wont be buying again 

[David Horgan 564]

Cant imagine selling those to anyone really .

Been banged over every kerb and speed hump going , Flat out to skidding stops on every shift 

Not maintained enough , Patched up and back out on duty , They aren't even cleaned enough now days .. 

We have two ex traffic cops driving for us and they laugh when they see them at auction .

Good luck getting out of those without a loss . 

[Lakeside 94]

Plus the weeks of graft getting them anywhere near back Into a sellable condition.

Funny thing is they always seam to fetch more than none police owned versions at BCA

Edited August 28, 2019 by Lakeside

[Casper 272]

Sometimes there alright for a cheap runabout mechanic friend of mine used to buy the focus estates and used them like a works van he wasn't selling them on though just ran them till they were scrap or only worth a few hundred 

[Mark101 536]

17 minutes ago, Lakeside said:

Funny thing is they always seam to fetch more than none police owned versions at BCA

When I was 18 and first "dabbled" in car sales a friend of mine (a bit of an idol actually, 2 years older and drove a Renault 5 GT Turbo).

He found "value" in smashing his own door locks and selling them as an unrecorded stolen recovered with just lock damage.  Reckoned people believed they were getting an easy DIY fix up bargain and sold plenty.

Back to @BHM's greedy punter mentality I guess.

[It's me 615]

selling old police cars is so last century

uber cars is the new scam 

[Casper 272]

21 minutes ago, jason doyle motor sales said:

selling old police cars is so last century

uber cars is the new scam 

I know a guy owns a driving school and registers the car in his personal name and removes the dual controls and polishes them up and trades them in as privately owned . 

[Tony911 79]

2 minutes ago, Casper said:

I know a guy owns a driving school and registers the car in his personal name and removes the dual controls and polishes them up and trades them in as privately owned . 

You know a lot of guys 

[Casper 272]

11 minutes ago, Tony911 said:

You know a lot of guys 

I do actually Tony lol my mate was just saying the other day that I can't go into a supermarket without meeting someone I know and funnily enough my sister says the same guess it the joys in the wee place I stay everyone knows each other .. and over the years I've got to know a lot of  other dealers etc attending auctions and was doing car buying for a few etc also my dad is popular and well liked in the area so met A lot of people through him .. obv some are close friends some just acquantinces

the driving school guy actually was the one that taught me to drive about 20 years ago still see him in the shops etc 

[David Horgan 564]

23 minutes ago, Casper said:

know a guy owns a driving school and registers the car in his personal name and removes the dual controls and polishes them up and trades them in as privately owned . 

Bet he keeps the little square of carpet and glues it back when the duals come out . LOL ONE owner well maintained over the 200,000 miles its done .

Really its 2000 drivers , cheap servicing , wrong oil cos its cheaper , kerbed 600 times , on the 4th set of wheels , Bent discs when he stamps on the duals , Death trap ditch finder tyres , 2nd Steering wheel cos the original has been gripped that tight its deformed , 3rd drivers seat and passenger seats due to wear and panic sweats , 2nd engine and 9 clutches later when its polished up its a bargain car for a new driver , low insurance , and knows its way round the town on its own 

How many owners ? well let me tell you a story 

Has it got two keys ? well there is two but one is smooth 

Are the mats glued in on these cars , ? Stops em slipping under your feet . 

Be worse than a police car wouldn't it ?

 

TAZ here's a tip mate . DON'T swap to buying driving school cars 

Edited August 28, 2019 by David Horgan

[Casper 272]

1 minute ago, David Horgan said:

Bet he keeps the little square of carpet and glues it back when the duals come out . LOL ONE owner well maintained over the 200,000 miles its done .

Really its 2000 drivers , cheap servicing , wrong oil cos its cheaper , kerbed 600 times , on the 4th set of wheels , Bent discs when he stamps on the duals , Death trap ditch finder tyres , 2nd Steering wheel cos the original has been gripped that tight its deformed , 3rd drivers seat and passenger seats due to wear and panic sweats , 2nd engine and 9 clutches later when its polished up its a bargain car for a new driver , low insurance , and knows its way round the town on its own 

How many owners ? well let me tell you a story 

Has it got two keys ? well there is two but one is smooth 

Are the mats glued in on these cars , ? Stops em slipping under your feet . 

Be worse than a police car wouldn't it ?

Yes he was buying them early. 2000s he actually changed to leasing for a bit but last time I spoke to him he had went back to buying due to the cost at hand back time from the lease company .. 

[BHM 994]

Trade Vet knows all about ex-plod cars - he made his fortune courtesy of them.

As a one man band I used to sell a few ex-services cars (I started about 10 years ago & had a moderate run of a few over about 3 years) then all of a sudden idiots at the block started bidding them up to bottom & middle book money when they had previously been about half book.

That then killed it for me because paying proper money killed the job when you have to de-sticker, fill & paint roofs, fill & paint quarters for various holes repair various body damage, replace bits of trim & missing radios.

Plod also used to go through the car, often service them, ensuring they were roadworthy (new tyres etc) and declare ANY AND EVERY fault but that also went out of the window.

TBH David Horgan summarised perfectly the current take on ex-services cars. A shame because I used to make reasonable money out of Focuses in white Bobby Basic wheeltrim specification and (don’t laugh) fluorescent yellow Focuses from the ambulance services.

A bonus was also the local post office still taxed the ex-ambulance service cars under the NHSV tax bracket (free tax) so the punters all left with a year’s tax 

[David Horgan 564]

1 minute ago, Casper said:

I spoke to him he had went back to buying due to the cost at hand back time from the lease company .. 

They don't see that cost coming from leases do they , I've had customers in tears here when they have tried to return lease cars to the main dealers and facing a £700/£1,200 bill to hand back . Easy when they signed up 

[Casper 272]

9 minutes ago, David Horgan said:

They don't see that cost coming from leases do they , I've had customers in tears here when they have tried to return lease cars to the main dealers and facing a £700/£1,200 bill to hand back . Easy when they signed up 

They always find something mate had a focus on lease same mate as the supermarket story  he really cared for it polished it ever Saturday there report said it had a dent which in actual fact was actually just the way the door swage line went on it looked at a few at auction the exact same and light car washes scratches it was put down as fair wair and tare so no cost but in reality in was mint for a 2 year old car with 20k miles 

a business friend of mine I buy for sometimes bought it from bca funny thing was what he paid on the lease and the purchase price was about 5k short or the retail price of the car 

the lease obviously must get good discount buying cars in bulk 

Edited August 28, 2019 by Casper

[BHM 994]

11 minutes ago, David Horgan said:

They don't see that cost coming from leases do they , I've had customers in tears here when they have tried to return lease cars to the main dealers and facing a £700/£1,200 bill to hand back . Easy when they signed up 

A number of down-to-earth punters have had a couple of terms on lease plans & the penny has finally dropped - they own fuck all.

[David Horgan 564]

1 minute ago, BHM said:

A number of down-to-earth punters have had a couple of terms on lease plans & the penny has finally dropped - they own fuck all.

I think the penny is finally  dropping pal , had a few recently trying to get out of the rent a car situation , they all thought the car was theirs , how wrong are they 

Like i said I've had them in tears here wondering how they are going to out of the mess there in with PCP , Leases , Roll overs so they are in Neg Eq . Time they looked at reality .

Money lending Huge companies are existing on these deals , When Joe public learns it will be interesting i am thinking . 

[Lakeside 94]

1 hour ago, BHM said:

Trade Vet knows all about ex-plod cars - he made his fortune courtesy of them.

As a one man band I used to sell a few ex-services cars (I started about 10 years ago & had a moderate run of a few over about 3 years) then all of a sudden idiots at the block started bidding them up to bottom & middle book money when they had previously been about half book.

That then killed it for me because paying proper money killed the job when you have to de-sticker, fill & paint roofs, fill & paint quarters for various holes repair various body damage, replace bits of trim & missing radios.

Plod also used to go through the car, often service them, ensuring they were roadworthy (new tyres etc) and declare ANY AND EVERY fault but that also went out of the window.

It’s not just buyers bidding them up, Thames Valley Police (Sold at Wolverhampton) put unrealistic reserves on their cars. About a year back I was the highest bidder on an 09 ex panda 1.3 cdti Astra H.... yes I know,  but I was getting desperate for stock and it was fairly low mileage for police. It made £500 but provisional. I was later told they wanted £1100 for it! I told them where to go.

[awc1000 93]

1 hour ago, David Horgan said:

I think the penny is finally  dropping pal , had a few recently trying to get out of the rent a car situation , they all thought the car was theirs , how wrong are they 

Like i said I've had them in tears here wondering how they are going to out of the mess there in with PCP , Leases , Roll overs so they are in Neg Eq . Time they looked at reality .

Money lending Huge companies are existing on these deals , When Joe public learns it will be interesting i am thinking . 

nothing to worry about with pcp, unless you abuse the car of course and get hit with a bill at hand back time, cant have neg eq in a pcp either, the return rv is underwritten by the lender not the punter, indeed some pcp returns in certain brands have / are over performing, it's just that most punters are unaware of this come hand back time.

regards rollovers and subprime it amazes me how some of you chaps manage to deal these folk again,hats off to anyone who can lol.

ref police cars - brightwells leominster still have their police entry's with faults declared by some of the police authority's, some are even getting sent here with brand new tyres to be fit for purpose, talk about wasting authority budgets heh...some decent cars amongst the entry's too - internal user in decent colours too, not my bag but got a trade friend that does ok on these.

[trade vet 702]

4 hours ago, Taz said:

Just gave buying ex police cars a go. They are very hard to shift. Wont be buying again 

Hi Taz

I am highly qualified with regard to retailing ex police cars.The majority of car dealers have no idea and shudder at the thought about retailing ex police stuff.However the fact remains that when they are correctly marketed,they have a big following.Unfortunately now and especially with patrol cars,the costs for renovating paintwork and dashboards alone can be considerable.Also a lot of forces are now decommissioning them beyond 120k which makes them a lot harder to sell.

What cars do you have,which forces are they from,have they been renovated and how have you described them.Alternatively get in touch and I will pass on a few tips.

[trade vet 702]

1 hour ago, Lakeside said:

It’s not just buyers bidding them up, Thames Valley Police (Sold at Wolverhampton) put unrealistic reserves on their cars. About a year back I was the highest bidder on an 09 ex panda 1.3 cdti Astra H.... yes I know,  but I was getting desperate for stock and it was fairly low mileage for police. It made £500 but provisional. I was later told they wanted £1100 for it! I told them where to go.

I have to say that you are not very brave.£500 for a low mileage Thames Valley and £30 buyers fee.They would not have dared to submit your bid.TVP stuff nearly always used to do over reserve.

[BHM 994]

1 hour ago, trade vet said:

I have to say that you are not very brave.£500 for a low mileage Thames Valley and £30 buyers fee.They would not have dared to submit your bid.TVP stuff nearly always used to do over reserve.

He’s referring to a 10yr old Astra that’ll be bottom spec, will need bodywork doing, probably have trim to replace & a radio to buy. Hardly prime stock + hours of recon to go into it. At the end you’re left with a bottom spec Astra from a source that, nowadays, is viewed with suspicion by punters.

[trade vet 702]

28 minutes ago, BHM said:

He’s referring to a 10yr old Astra that’ll be bottom spec, will need bodywork doing, probably have trim to replace & a radio to buy. Hardly prime stock + hours of recon to go into it. At the end you’re left with a bottom spec Astra from a source that, nowadays, is viewed with suspicion by punters.

Thames Valley stuff is usually very clean,you would be very surprised.Now had it been,South Wales,Glasgow or Liverpool it would have come for £300 !

[Lakeside 94]

2 hours ago, trade vet said:

I have to say that you are not very brave.£500 for a low mileage Thames Valley and £30 buyers fee.They would not have dared to submit your bid.TVP stuff nearly always used to do over reserve.

When I say low it was still just shy of 100k but low for a TVP car, most of their Astra J’s are over 150k. Also yes it was povo spec, caked in glue, needed the usual stereo, Ariel, dash trims, bodywork and mot. I would of struggled to get much over £1500 but as said I was desperate for stock and was worth the hassle at £500 but not £1100. I could get a clean one out of another sale for that.

Edited August 28, 2019 by Lakeside

[trade vet 702]

29 minutes ago, Lakeside said:

When I say low it was still just shy of 100k but low for a TVP car, most of their Astra J’s are over 150k. Also yes it was povo spec, caked in glue, needed the usual stereo, Ariel, dash trims, bodywork and mot. I would of struggled to get much over £1500 but as said I was desperate for stock and was worth the hassle at £500 but not £1100. I could get a clean one out of another sale for that.

OK but it sounds more like a West Midlands car to me.We used to buy stuff from Police forces all over the U.K.

[Lakeside 94]

39 minutes ago, trade vet said:

OK but it sounds more like a West Midlands car to me.We used to buy stuff from Police forces all over the U.K.

Almost certainly TVP as it was an OU prefix, West mids tend to be BX