Buying Old Police Cars: A Smart or Not-So-Smart Move?
When it comes to buying an old police car, many people may think that they are a good investment. However, as Scotty from Scotty's Garage notes, they can be a bit of a trap for unsuspecting buyers. The main reason why police cars tend to end up on the used market is because of their high mileage and wear and tear. With over 10 years of use, these cars are no longer fit for duty and are instead sold off to individuals who want a reliable ride.
Scotty advises against buying an old police car as a daily driver, citing that they often have hidden problems such as transmission issues or electrical malfunctions. He notes that even if the car seems to be running well, it's likely that there are underlying issues waiting to be discovered. In fact, he shares the story of a customer who bought a 2007 Chevy Impala with two hundred thousand miles on the original engine and transmission. The customer tried various fixes, including adding Lucas anti-slip additive to the transmission, but ultimately found that it was not worth continuing to spend money on.
The same advice applies to salvage title cars, which are sold as rebuilt units often without proper disclosure of their history. Scotty warns against buying these types of cars, citing that they may be "fake" and have been repaired by someone other than the actual owner. He notes that it's best to stick with well-documented units that have a clean title.
So what makes a good police car to buy? Scotty advises looking for units that have come from reputable sources, such as Dalla or Dallas auto auctions, which tend to sell high-quality vehicles. He also notes that cars with heavy damage, such as hail dents, may be more affordable but could still be problematic.
One example of a good police car is the Ford Taurus Police Interceptor. Scotty notes that it's a reliable unit that can make for a great daily driver if you're willing to put in some work and repair costs. However, he advises that it may not be worth buying as a daily driver unless you're looking for a project car.
The 98 GMC 4WD Police Interceptor is another example of a good police car, with over 150k miles on the original engine and transmission. Scotty notes that Volvo sedans from the late 1990s and early 2000s are generally considered reliable units, but they can be expensive to repair when parts become scarce.
In general, Scotty advises buyers to prioritize reliability and maintenance costs when considering a used police car. He recommends doing thorough research on the unit's history and mechanical condition before making a purchase decision.
Additional Tips for Buying Used Police Cars
If you're thinking of buying an old police car as a daily driver or project car, here are some additional tips to keep in mind:
* Always check the title: Make sure the car has a clean title and no salvage or rebuilt history.
* Research the unit's history: Look up the car on websites like Carfax or AutoCheck to see if it has been in any accidents or had any major repairs.
* Check maintenance records: Ask the seller about the car's maintenance history and review the maintenance records.
* Inspect the vehicle thoroughly: Take a good look at the car's condition, including the interior, exterior, and undercarriage.
* Consider getting a mechanic inspection: If you're not familiar with the car's mechanical condition, consider hiring a mechanic to inspect it before purchasing.
By following these tips and doing your research, you can find a reliable used police car that meets your needs and budget.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: entoday I'm going to show you how you cankill germs in your car now cars areobviously closed small spaces good luckgetting inside here to clean you getgerms in there especially small oneslike viruses they can probably stay inthere for quite some time now this is anozone generator as scientists have saidozone is an excellent disinfectant withthe superior ability to kill viruses andbiological contaminants and from paststudies ozone gas has been proven tokill the SARS coronavirus from what I'veresearched there's over 17 scientificstudies that show that ozone gas cankill the SARS coronavirus as for the newone the encode coronavirus it's relatednobody's finished any studies yet theChinese are studying it but they're bothcoronaviruses since it's been proventhat ozone can kill the SARS coronavirusby breaking down the envelope on theoutside of the virus so that they can'tstick to healthy cells and it ends updestroying their strands inside - yesScotty's not a fool I was writing my PhDbefore I got married so I'm not justsome old mechanic guy I've got a fewbrain cells in here to know a few thingsand water treatment plants have usedozone processes to get rid of virus andbacteria and even to get rid of some ofthe metals that's in the water the waythat it works that it binds with stuffso wouldn't surprise me if a seriousozone generator like this could kill thenew corona virus since it's been provento kill the old SARS coronavirus I can'treally see why it would be any differentit's not gonna show you how you can killgerms in your car using one of thesethings to begin what you can see it'sserious this isn't a joke use anunoccupied space only when an ozonegenerator does this in an enclosed spacelike inside your car it creates ozone ittakes the oxygen molecules turns theminto ozone molecules you can breatheoxygen yes you have to but you can'tbreathe ozone let's say you put thisinside a car roll up the windows sat onsidewalks running well it would kill youto youthe oxygen to breathe it gets rid of theoxygen places it with ozone that's theserious warning use only an unoccupiedspaces and since it's a gas the tiny themolecules are small it will get insideyour dash it's gonna go inside everywherethis is a serious process like I saidyou got to do it in a non occupied areabut here's how you're doing first thingyou want to do is go inside the car andstart her up you want to turn it on toheat the hotter the betterfull blast recirculate say we want tohave it on recirculate air so the air isjust recirculating inside the car niceprotect you you tonight Hunter tent alsoyou just plug it in and all thescientific studies I've read said thatto really kill it you want 30 to 70minutes so I'll put it on 70 minutes 70minutes and sticker I'm gonna place itin the middle here know what just closethe door and now it's doing its thingit's gonna turn all the oxygen insideinto ozone and that can finish off moldbacteria for sure it finishes off theSARS coronavirus that's for the newcoronavirus like i say they're studyingit they don't know yet whether it doesor doesn't I'm assuming they have arelatively similar structure and thatthe old don't you kill that too now ifyou watch the video I made a few weeksback about the guy in Dallas anexterminator who spends a lot of timeseven or eight cars every week gettingrid of bedbugs in uber cars people arefinding that hey sometimes the bedbugsthey get in there guess whatthe ozone kills the bedbugs too andsince a car is relatively small insidethere isn't that much space running itfor 70 minutes is going to permeateabsolutely everything and get rid of thegerms and the bugs that are inside yourcar but as far as I'm concerned you gota small space like a car if you have anyviruses in your car anybody sitting inthere is going to be pretty close towherever it is cuz it's a small spaceand obviously the closer you get to avirus the more chance you have ofgetting it you stick in andgenerator and you kill all the stuffinside just sounds like a good idea tome hey if I were an uber driver goingback and forth to the airport all thetime every night I put that thing in foran hour just to be sureI mean why chance it and now you want toget rid of the ozone so roll down bothwindows leave the car running and put iton fresh air now it's on fresh and toreally air it out open the doors and inthis case the hatch too now it's wide opensince the ozone is a gas the gas is allgonna escape quickly I mean leave itthis way for ten minutes it's gonna suckat all away now that the ozone gas is goneyou have oxygen back in your car and youcan go back in and breathe and not worrythis isn't like using some kind ofchemicals pesticides really strong stuffthat a lot of people are allergic to afteryou treat it with ozone it can't do anythingshegets in the car doesn't affect her atall cuz the ozone gas is gone it doesn'tlinger it's a gas and since it's notsome kind of spray with chemicals in itthe chemicals aren't stuck on anythingit's just a gas that binds and killseverything inside the car 17 studies saythat ozone kills the old SARScoronavirus to me it's only logical thatprobably kill the new coronavirus toolike you say they're starting it nowthey haven't come to any conclusions yetcuz they don't even know that much don'teven know how long the thing lasts but Iknow is this ozone stuff does a greatjob at killing mold bacteria the oldvirus so it certainly can't harmanything as long as you remain outsideof the enclosed area while it's doingits job and here's some bonus questionsand answers mountain dew it says Scottydo you think buying old police cars areany good can it be a saint by I've beenthinking of getting a fod tauruspolice interceptor as a daily driver whichmy court kicks the buckethey they generally have the Hat beat outof them and that's why the police getrid of them and are all worn out as adaily driver no not such a smart move ifyou want a project car that you'rewilling to put transmission engine workinto it and bodywork and you want a toycuz you can get up dirt cheapgo ahead but as a daily driver not so muchnot so much it's I've had customers doit and then they later kicked themselvesand sudden you got pretty much money inthis thing and then they just sell it ata loss and go on to another car they'refun toys if you like messing with carsbut not as an everyday driver c60 wantsto Scottie would you buy a car toosalvaged title from a youtuber thatvideos the whole rebuild process no youcan fake things in video so you don'teven know if it's real enough but carsare Salvage is because they're destroyedin an insurance company says hey thedamage is annoying the cars worth here'syour jacket and some of these sleazyguys will go out and buy them and thenfix them as cheap as they can and try tosell them to people it doesn't matter ifit's a salvage recondition reconditioneddoesn't mean it was actuallyreconditioned correctly you know it'sbest to stay away from those kinds ofcars the only ones are those that I'vehad customers that were happy enough forthe cars we're ones that bought onesthat around here came from like Dallascuz a lot of hail up there and if yourcar gets whacked by hell it's got amillion dimples on it it would cost afortune to get rid of them right so thenthey sell them well if you don't mindhaving a car that's full of dimples thatdoesn't affect the driving or anythingI'll bet it's just the car that looksgreat because it's got a million dancingthat's okay if you don't mind the dancebut otherwise wreck flooded stolen nowyou don't want to mess with the salvagetitle Honda John so Scotty my friendhas a 2007 Chevy Impala with two hundredthousand miles on the original engineand transmission shocking I know thetransmission slips sometimes she is knowshe should fix it or solid or what wellif it slips sometimes keep driving ittel her to have a quart of fluid sucked outof thetransmission and put a quart of theLucas anti-slip additive in and just seewhat happensbecause it's got two hundred thousandmiles it's a 13-year old pal it's worthnothing you try to sell they're tradingin you'll get practically nothing maybe$600 for it or something now what theheck she tries that Lucas don't stop slippingmaybe the last a while cuz when it goeswere nothing now so then you just jumpthe car and get something else she'sliving on made money now on the bank'smoney with 200,000 miles I just said trythe Lucas driving around see how long itlasts and when it finally doesn't go atall just spins junk the stupid thing it'snot worth putting a bunch of your moneyand doing if she saw that you'll get nothingwhy not just keep driving it and seeJohn's long gone says senior Scotty I'mlooking at a 98 go us 1950 1k 1,500bucks other if you say it's one of thebest of last rear drive Volvo sedanslearn about your take on it yeah youknow they were good cars whenever knew itbut that thing is one I mean it's 22years old 151 thousand miles at that ageVolvo's generally start to havetransmission problems and airconditioning problems and electronicproblems yeah that's why it's gone for$1,500 when it was new it cost a wholebunch more than that if you wantsomething to toy around and a weekendthey're nice-looking cars they ride niceit may be not a bad toy but as aneveryday driver I don't think I'd touchthat thing too many miles Volvo partsare too expensive and let's say if thetransmission did go on it then you justeat to $1,500 because to rebuild one ofthose transmissions last time I had acustomer done one of those it waslike $4,500 you're gambling withdynamite there, so if you never want tomiss another one of my new car repairvideos remember to ring that Bell\n"
