Ex Police Cars - problem after problems

[NOACROSS 414]

1 hour ago, Casper said:

Not seen much of trade-girl either maybe its the forum holiday season and we've not been invited 

She's about in the secret room.  Or is she....

[awc1000 93]

not used in anger or driven hard....next be telling us they don't chase or ram criminals anymore.

[trade vet 702]

33 minutes ago, TangoVictor32 said:

In the earlier days it was met but in the later stage it was various as I did management so i would be chucked around from essex to South yorkshire.

I agree that punters might go mad about them as most think they're supercharged 

I recall I had plenty of S Yorks 827’s out of Rotherham but not so many of their well used Astras.I think we got mainly ex Essex Escort and Sierra estates out of Colchester.I remember discovering something  ‘untoward ‘ at the auction where they did not declare all the entries so I complained to Essex Fleet office.From then on they would notify me about what was being entered and they got more money for them.As for the Met,I must have had hundreds of Sri autos and Astras which were  really good,these were often average mileage with clean interiors and out of WOMA.

Regarding stuff being supercharged,those Senators were,we were carefull who we sold them to.

I am enjoying this thread but I imagine most people will be bored by it !

[Casper 272]

1 hour ago, NOACROSS said:

She's about in the secret room.  Or is she....

Maybe thats where they go on holiday 

[metcars 397]

5 hours ago, trade vet said:

We bought loads out of WOMA,mainly ex Met stuff.The unmarked cars are still good of course.Infact the best deal we have done of late was a fully spec’d petrol 3.2 Avant.In the 90s there were only 4 or 5 ex police car specialists and all did well.We traded as The Ex Police Department,sounds rediculous but punters would squabble for stuff so we had to introduce an ordering system....I kid you not !

No I completely believe it. They 'could' be astonishing value, and because the uneducated thought that all ex-police cars are ratty old rubbish the prices were down. I remember driving them home after the evening sale at WOMA in a convoy back to London including the ex Mrs MET! Keep fit windows and no radio, but they ran like a swiss watch. Interestingly the guy that Autocar ran the article on back in 1996 was called Paul Mimmack, a trader from Blackpool, who had quite a stock back in the day, mostly high-end stuff though it has to be said.

I used to have some success with the Astra's, and Omega's (which had to have working air, even back in those days they would not sell without it). I just had a little look through the old books and the last ex police cars I bought was three '96 Astra 5drs from Leeds in 1998. I wanted to get into the ex MOD stuff but it never happened sadly?

I did find that towards the end of my time doing ex-police we were noticing that the cars were being 'traded out' just before big jobs were due like any other fleet, which was a bore. I expected to spend my time sorting paint and rebuilding interiors/radios, but sort of expected the mechanicals to be spot on.

4 hours ago, David Horgan said:

Just shown this thread to two retired traffic cops who work here doing some driving for us .

They are rolling around laughing on the floor at police cars being in any fit state to sell 

I remember selling a couple of Senators to coppers back then?

Edited August 29, 2019 by met

[trade vet 702]

1 hour ago, met said:

No I completely believe it. They 'could' be astonishing value, and because the uneducated thought that all ex-police cars are ratty old rubbish the prices were down. I remember driving them home after the evening sale at WOMA in a convoy back to London including the ex Mrs MET! Keep fit windows and no radio, but they ran like a swiss watch. Interestingly the guy that Autocar ran the article on back in 1996 was called Paul Mimmack, a trader from Blackpool, who had quite a stock back in the day, mostly high-end stuff though it has to be said.

I used to have some success with the Astra's, and Omega's (which had to have working air, even back in those days they would not sell without it). I just had a little look through the old books and the last ex police cars I bought was three '96 Astra 5drs from Leeds in 1998. I wanted to get into the ex MOD stuff but it never happened sadly?

I did find that towards the end of my time doing ex-police we were noticing that the cars were being 'traded out' just before big jobs were due like any other fleet, which was a bore. I expected to spend my time sorting paint and rebuilding interiors/radios, but sort of expected the mechanicals to be spot on.

I remember selling a couple of Senators to coppers back then?

I think I remember Paul a youngish nice guy.I don’t think he had very much stock and he must have been promoting his business.The rest of us were doing the opposite because we did not want the other traders to know.WOMA was good,you would probably know me and our main buyer Nigel,then there was Greengrass ( blue overall,big boots and a beard ) ,the Finneys and Rod Stewart....those were the days.We were on the road night and day bidding against each other and offering each other fake information of one sort or another.

[Boycie 30]

Can we go back to the super charging please.

Are you saying that the Police were fitting superchargers to the 24v 3 litre Vauxhall Senators?

I'm fairly certain that Vauxhall didn't. It was the same unit that they put in the GSI3000 24v Carlton.

[Casper 272]

On 8/29/2019 at 9:38 PM, trade vet said:

I think I remember Paul a youngish nice guy.I don’t think he had very much stock and he must have been promoting his business.The rest of us were doing the opposite because we did not want the other traders to know.WOMA was good,you would probably know me and our main buyer Nigel,then there was Greengrass ( blue overall,big boots and a beard ) ,the Finneys and Rod Stewart....those were the days.We were on the road night and day bidding against each other and offering each other fake information of one sort or another.

Ive been in involved in the motor trade for about 20 years a lot has changed but i miss the old days and a lot of the characters every auction had them 

[Stalker 180]

8 hours ago, Boycie said:

Can we go back to the super charging please.

Are you saying that the Police were fitting superchargers to the 24v 3 litre Vauxhall Senators?

I'm fairly certain that Vauxhall didn't. It was the same unit that they put in the GSI3000 24v Carlton.

I think TV is getting confused with superchipping, there was a magazine article way back that claimed that superchips re mapped the patrol cars. 

 

[trade vet 702]

1 hour ago, Stalker said:

I think TV is getting confused with superchipping, there was a magazine article way back that claimed that superchips re mapped the patrol cars. 

 

Thank you,I did mean they were chipped.They were too quick for me,I used to smoke an 827.

[have a word with the wife 299]

On 8/28/2019 at 1:04 PM, Taz said:

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