As far as buying an ex-cop car it's really a roll of the dice. First if you go through a dealer and they say it was the shift commander/sgt/detective they are probably lying to you. They don't know. Second don't be a sucker and think they cost $30k brand new because they don't. I was almost put on vehicle allowance. In 2005 they were going for $21,500. Now after all the crap the department puts on them they cost the department $30k or more. There is no way in heck I would pay anything over $3000 for a used cop car unless it was really new and had low miles. Then I would be wondering why they are selling it. However if you just really want a police interceptor I'll give you a hot tip!
Go to http://www.lonestaronline.com
They are always selling ex cop cars on there. You can usually buy one for a little over $1000. If you feel like investing the money take it to a mechanic and have them go through it, then get it painted, then buy new tires. After that you'll probably spend around $3750 total.
Please consider that these cars have been driven hard for the most part. If they were in a county with lots of open roads they probably spent most of their time above 75-80 mph. If they are from a city they spent a lot of time speeding up to a high speed and then stopping. Also expect the tires and suspension on the passenger side to be a lot weaker than on the drivers. The reason for this is that cop cars bust a lot of fast u-turns to catch up to a speeder etc. Hardly ever do you catch one in front of you. If they were sitting on the shoulder than they had to gun it to catch up to the offender. Oh yeah expect to have a whole in the roof that they just squirted a bunch of silicone onto. That's where the wires for the light bar were. Lastly the bumpers are often torn in two spots on the back. That is from cutting through ditches and hopping curbs. The bumpers have this little lip that sticks down on the back bumper. When the front end is about 6-8 inches higher than the rear any little high point (like a curb, or a high spot of dirt in a ditch or shoulder) the bumper will drag and produce these nice little rips going up both sides of the rear bumper. It makes a loud popping sound when this happens
!Lastly any cop car that has 80,000 miles on it has a ton of hours. This is because they idle A LOT. When I was in LE I left mine running when I went into the store, or to eat if I could see the car from where I was. K-9 cars run for 8 hours straight with the AC on to keep the dog cool. They are left running in order to keep the computer on. IF you shut down the car without shutting down the computer it can drain your battery. On the other hand if you turn of the computer you have to turn and power it back on when you get back in. Big hassle. Therefore most of the time the car is left running in order to keep the laptop running. Also to keep the AC running and car cool of course
