These things pop up for sale periodically in my area for $5-6k, they look like a fun sleeper car project with the 6.0LS motor but I can’t find any reviews on them, anybody driven one as a dept car?
Maggie’s The new Chevrolet Caprice (PPV)
- Thread starter Dirty D
- Start date
isn't that the car chum lee on pawn stars made into a sort of low rider ? sorry that was a riviera . loved the national from Buick . If you like them you should do it , dump enough money in almost any car and you could make it faster . You won't get your money back but could have some fun or waist a lot of money .
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Parts are pricey and things like brakes and power steering (electric unit, not hydraulic) are problematic and did I mention pricey? Cool cars, but not cheap to maintain. Lots of older cars that were quite expensive when new now pretty cheap to buy-Mercs, BMW 8 and 12 cylinders, audi's. Problem is one big thing goes wrong and it costs more than the price of the car to fix. That's the reason they're so cheap, the owner likely had an issue and found out what it would cost to fix and just gives it away. If you know a mechanic or aren't afraid to drop some coin, or just love the car go for it. Just remember there's a reason it's cheap.
I drove one of these for work. Was great for a little while....then hit 30k miles and it turned into a real turd. Constantly going into limp mode, power steering would randomly cut out while driving and other gremlin type of shit. Wouldnt wish this thing on my worst enemy.
The DOD can be turned off with a tune and less likely to have a collapsed lifter. Changing the cam and lifters over to non DOD is best though.
As amazing as the LS motors are, I would not want a retired police car.
The Aussie built ones had Brembo brakes, upgraded suspension and exhaust and various other mods.
Parts prices and availability are the deal killer for me, I had originally assumed that parts support would be easy thru any GM dealer but it doesn’t appear to be the case.
As has been mentioned, you don’t want a use cop car anyway. If my Dept gave me one for free, I’d hock it immediately, regardless of make/model.
I would never buy a used police car. We drive the dog shit out of them. Just imagine one dedicated to traffic enforcement:
You're sitting on a hidden spot looking for speeders. You see one, and it's a drag race from 0 MPH to whatever MPH it takes to catch the offending vehicle. You issue a ticket and drive back to your cherry patch spot. Well say a 2.5-3 mile round trip beginning to end. Find another speeder. Drag race. Ticket. Back to the spot.
Do this 12-15 times in a 12 hour shift. 3-4 days a week until the car reaches the end of service mileage of 100,000 miles.
That's not including pursuits, other hot calls for service, etc.
Yeah.... Don't buy a used police car. We drive them until they nuke themselves.
Now, if you can trace the lineage of the car back to being one assigned to detectives, admin, or supervision... that's a definite plus.
Thing is though, one could luck-out and get one of those 'other' cars. You know the ones:
They sit (off) at the donut shop for 6 straight hours. Then they sit behind the curve of the service-road whilst the (operator) sleeps off the sugar buzz for an hour. Then for three hours, it 'cruises the streets showing the colors' at a good 20% speed than the rest of the traffic. Just to ensure that it's seen.
Still PLENTY of life left in those cars.
(oh come on, you KNOW that was funny)
Those may exist in some podunk town in the middle of nowhere. But here in my hood.... Negatron .... Population density is 7000-8000 people per square mile.... There's ALWAYS something going on.Thing is though, one could luck-out and get one of those 'other' cars. You know the ones:
They sit (off) at the donut shop for 6 straight hours. Then they sit behind the curve of the service-road whilst the (operator) sleeps off the sugar buzz for an hour. Then for three hours, it 'cruises the streets showing the colors' at a good 20% speed than the rest of the traffic. Just to ensure that it's seen.
Still PLENTY of life left in those cars.
(oh come on, you KNOW that was funny)
Thing is though, one could luck-out and get one of those 'other' cars. You know the ones:
They sit (off) at the donut shop for 6 straight hours. Then they sit behind the curve of the service-road whilst the (operator) sleeps off the sugar buzz for an hour. Then for three hours, it 'cruises the streets showing the colors' at a good 20% speed than the rest of the traffic. Just to ensure that it's seen.
Still PLENTY of life left in those cars.
(oh come on, you KNOW that was funny)
It is funny, but don’t forget that car idled for that entire time he was at the donut shop or any other location. Our cars sometimes run for days on end without ever being shut down. Being a motor guy, I suppose avoiding a bunch of cold starts is a good thing, but a Hobbs meter that never stops can’t be good thing.
About a week ago I responded to a truck with trailer blocking the road. Steep grade, twisty mountain road. Not a good place to be stopped. Collision waiting to happen. Turned out to be a lifted f350 with a 30 foot fifth wheel. I think he said the whole thing weighed 22k. No big deal, I’ve pushed/pulled many loaded big rigs. I told them to pile in their truck, we’re getting out of here. The look on their faces was priceless when the tow strap came out. Hooked them up, threw it in 4-low, and up the hill we went. No crash that day. I told him I wouldn’t post pictures of my 5.3L Tahoe patrol vehicle towing his super-duty up a grade. You do not want that patrol vehicle, trust me!
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