surprise_i'm_armed wrote:Here's an easy way to tell the difference between a civilian Crown Vic
and a CVPI (Crown Victoria Police Interceptor):
1. Civilian Crown Vics have chrome grilles in front.
The area between the tail lights and the license plate matches the car's color.
2. CVPI's have BLACK grilles.
The area between the tail lights and the license plate is also BLACK.
The only time this is ambiguous is if the unmarked LEO unit is black,
because then the black area on the rear would match what a civilian Crown
Vic would have.
Sometimes the cop cars will say "Police Interceptor" near the left tail light.
Sometimes..... they don't!
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As a general rule of thumb, cop cars of any brand/model do not have fog lights either.
So if a car approaches you from behind and he has regular headlights AND fog lights,
you can be almost 100% sure it's not five-oh. (Cops, you know, like Hawaii-five-oh!)
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By the way, for anyone who would consider buying a used CVPI, there is a place in
San Antonio that gets all the castoff SAPD CVPI's when they hit 80,000 miles. They
replace anything that's needed, they fix any dents, remove the decals, and usually paint
them solid white, but they will paint them any color you want.
A new CVPI lists for something around $30,000. The ex SAPD cars go for around
$12-13,000.
Cop cars also have exempt licence plates.