How to buy cheap Crown Victoria Interceptors P71s cop cars
Posted on 28 April 2012 | 4:00 pm (Interceptor with glass packs)
Traditionally, police have driven v8, rear wheel drive, body on frame cars. This is for a few reasons: they are reliable, easy to repair (mechanical and body work), cheap, and in general have better performance than front wheel drive cars which are more common today.
In the past, there were a number of models that fit the bill, but at this point, Ford’s Crown Victoria is really the only one left (this is an automobile architecture that started going out of style / became obsolete decades ago).
So what does this mean? Crown Vics are continuously being used (and used up) by Police Departments around the country. This means there are tons on the marketplace that can be bought for very low prices. If you get them directly from federal / state auctions, they can be had for a fraction of the blue book price.
Not only are these cars cheap, they are powerful and super durable. Even though its an American Car, and the design is totally old school, the cars are dead reliable. Basically Ford has been working out the kinks since before I was born. The fit and finish are pretty poor, but you’ll be able to drive one of these things forever. Check out JD Power’s reliability ratings for the stock Crown Vic. For the 2004 model:
- Overall dependability
- Powertrain dependability
- Feature and accessory dependability
- Body and interior dependability
Are all rated as 5 stars, except feature/accesory dependability which is 4.5. Compare that to a 2004 Honda Civic, which has 4.5, 5, 4, and 3.5 stars respectively. The 2004 Toyota Corolla fares even worse. That’s almost hard to believe, an American car more reliable than one of the most reliable Japanese cars ever made? I’m not sure what to say, but the very high numbers may be a result of all the really old people that buy crown vics (since they are old-style cars) and don’t abuse them at all?
So thats the stock Crown Vic. The version that police get, which is called the interceptor (also sometimes the P71 since it is part of all interceptor VINs) has some modifications to make it even better than stock. Some of the enhancements include:
- 200 amp alternator
- Heavy duty suspension
- Transmission/Power Steering oil cooler
- Reinforced body
Basically they have addions that make them more durable. Other upgrades are optional and are not standard, but may be included.
Sold? Now the question is where to find them. The easiest places to look are craigslist and ebay, but Interceptors there are usually sold by dealers, taxi companies, or private parties. Basically people who bought them for much cheaper straight from the government.
In general you can buy these cars either directly from police auctions, or from auctions organized by another group. Basically for these links, if its .gov its directly from the government, and if its .com its a private company that sells the government’s surplus goods.
Generally, the cars you find from these sites will be well under blue book price, and well under the Craigslist / Ebay prices as well.
So here’s the list!:
Additionally, there is an excellent interceptor buyers guide on ebay that has more information than you could hope to ask for. If you are in the market, read it.
And a video:
I should point out here that there was a disconcerting issue of fires/explosions when Crown Vics are rear-ended by another car. There was an investigation into the issue and Ford was cleared, but they have since begun offering the car with an extra safe fuel tank. Consider yourself warned, I’m not sure if this happens because of an engineering mistake, or just because police cars are often parked near fast moving traffic – would most cars do this? I’m not sure.
Enjoy.
Update: This guide is good for all other fleet vehicles used by branches of the government, including other cars used by police. The Michigan state police dept thoroughly tests all vehicles made for use by police annually and publishes the results, so if you’re in the market, its definitely worth a look.
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Filed under: I'm Flying, Mars Attacks, Medication, original Tagged: | auction, buy, cars, crown vic, crown victoria, ford, interceptor, p71, panther
How to Buy Cheap Cars Car Auction Reviews
Posted on 27 April 2012 | 1:56 am
Online Auction For Land, Water and Air Vehicles
This is one site where all sort of transport vehicles (i.e. land, air and water vehicles) can be auctioned off for cheap. Why so cheap? This is because every month all sorts of cars, trucks, vans, motorcycles, dirtbikes, RVs, ATVs, buses, aircrafts (planes, helicopters, etc.), boats and other watercrafts are seized vehicles and become government or bank property owing to seized and foreclosure laws.
Benefits Of Shopping Possessed Vehicles Through Online Auction
Lawful possession of vehicles can unfortunately be a problem to the government. The usual problem is not to keep them in possession for a prolong period owing to the enormous space required just to store these vehicles since there will be so many of them, including new arrivals, available daily.
The only way to save storage cost is to sell them off promptly. The fastest way is to auction them off online via the internet before any of these vehicles can reach the warehouse so that they would not pile up. Since time is of the essence, these vehicles, especially when there are 1000s of cars available daily and waiting in line, must be sold fast and cheap.
There is no better way to get a cheaper car and other vehicles on line than at Car-Auction for the constant exchange of vehicles and horrendous storage expense, forces the government to sell these vehicles as quickly as possible.
Thus the necessity and the pressure to sell gives buyers the advantage of getting them at a rock bottom prices which can often be up to 80-90% off the retail price. Therefore buying direct from the sources such as government and surplus auctions give buyers the opportunity to buy cheap and, thus, save a lot of money. The attractive part of such online auction is that the bidder can commence bidding as low as only $100. The other advantages of repo vehicle auction are:
* The bidder gets access to secret Repo auction.
* Bidding can start off at $100 or even less.
* Vehicles supplied for auction comes directly from the source and not through a middle person or another outlet.
* Vehicles are actually seized vehicles by police, IRS, etc. and are under legal possession.
* Vehicles are listed in every Country and State and thus it is a national bidding site that satisfies every person from varying locality nationwide.
* Vehicles are so wide range that the interested bidder can’t miss out to choose a particular make or model.
* Vehicles can be auctioned off at the most 90% cheaper than their respective retail prices.
* Vehicles are well serviced and maintained and can be of low mileage.
* Bidders get new supply of vehicles daily for auction.
Cost Of Joining In The Bid
Just to get unlimited access to view all seized vehicles for auction (i.e. Car Repos, Truck Repos, Bus Repos, Plane Repos, Motorcycle Repos, Boat Repos, Canoe Repos, RV Repos, Camper Repos, ATV Repos, Dirtbike Repos, and more) the membership fee is only $9.95. But, to engage in repo auction, there are 3 possibilities of joining in for the bidding:
* You can subscribe for V.I.P. Unlimited Repo Auction (originally at $59.95), now offered at $29.99. This is a single time fee only. You will never be re-billed for getting direct access to Car-Auction automatically. However, you must check out for this offer since this particular promotion is not permanent.
* You can subscribe for 1 year Repo Auction for $19.99
* You can subscribe for 2 year Repo Auction for $24.99
Click Here to Vist Car Auctions
