End of the Line for the Crown Vic in the THP

[Chris]

I will set it on fire if I get one

[Z71_Silvy2]

In what way? The Crown Vic was a slow, horrible handling pig of a car. The only thing it had going for it was durability/reliability and it sounds as though Ford has really worked to make these new ones up to snuff, though I'd still want RWD myself- the Caprice or Charger. MSP has a bunch of Chargers and they look nice in the MSP-specific blue. The MSP Vehicle Evaluation is supposed to be the bible for police car specs and they can be viewed here:

 

http://www.michigan....16274--,00.html

 

 

You keep quoting the MSP tests which only account for one thing...performance.

 

The people that actually buy the squads...city managers...really only care about initial costs and long term costs. A police car is a tool.

 

The Crown Vic was cheap to buy, cheap to fix, EASY to fix (meaning less down time in the city shop, and less often it had to be sent to Ford to be fixed), durable, reliable, simple, safe, and proven. Ford could have continued the Crown Vic with a simple powertrain upgrade, which would have still printed money for Ford as the Crown Vic was a cash cow (In speaking with employees of where the CV was made, it cost Ford anywhere between $10K-$12K to build a CV and they sold them--at fleet prices--for over $20K)

 

The Taurus and Explorer are really none of that, and with the added complexity of an unnecessary AWD system, fancy electronics, and the added complexity of turbos, etc, it really will be interesting to see the problems that will crop up. Hopefully the Explorer PI doesn't suffer from loss of steering like the civilian version does.

 

If I were a city manager, I would be buying the Tahoe, and for a trial the Caprice. The Tahoe has been proven for many years and the important bits of the Caprice (the powertrain) are as bulletproof as any GM small block. Plus, it's nice that the complete front clip of the Caprice can be removed in 20 minutes or so for ease of repairs.

[MikeNH]

 

You keep quoting the MSP tests which only account for one thing...performance.

 

The people that actually buy the squads...city managers...really only care about initial costs and long term costs. A police car is a tool.

 

The Crown Vic was cheap to buy, cheap to fix, EASY to fix (meaning less down time in the city shop, and less often it had to be sent to Ford to be fixed), durable, reliable, simple, safe, and proven. Ford could have continued the Crown Vic with a simple powertrain upgrade, which would have still printed money for Ford as the Crown Vic was a cash cow (In speaking with employees of where the CV was made, it cost Ford anywhere between $10K-$12K to build a CV and they sold them--at fleet prices--for over $20K)

 

The Taurus and Explorer are really none of that, and with the added complexity of an unnecessary AWD system, fancy electronics, and the added complexity of turbos, etc, it really will be interesting to see the problems that will crop up. Hopefully the Explorer PI doesn't suffer from loss of steering like the civilian version does.

 

If I were a city manager, I would be buying the Tahoe, and for a trial the Caprice. The Tahoe has been proven for many years and the important bits of the Caprice (the powertrain) are as bulletproof as any GM small block. Plus, it's nice that the complete front clip of the Caprice can be removed in 20 minutes or so for ease of repairs.

 

I said the benefit the CV had going for it was reliability and durability. Safety I'm not so sure about since I don't think it ever got side airbags, or at least a full set (seat mounted and roof). Time will tell how these new cars hold up but Ford let the CV die despite it being a supposed cash cow, so there must've been a reason. And I bet any northern department will welcome AWD with open arms.

 

 

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[Wolfmanjohn]

Chico PD is going to Tahoes. As this is a college town, payload is important to them on weekends.

[Chris]

Bakersfield Police Department has started to replace their Crown Vics with the new Taurus Police Interceptor. It was just on the news. So far they have purchased 3.

 

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[MikeNH]

MSP seems to have mostly switched to the Charger, though there are Tahoes too, mostly for DOT enforcement. Township police have Tahoes and a few Crown Vics. Plus a surplus Humvee.

[truckofwinandawesome]

MSP seems to have mostly switched to the Charger, though there are Tahoes too, mostly for DOT enforcement. Township police have Tahoes and a few Crown Vics. Plus a surplus Humvee.

 

 

the THP has SEVERAL Surplus Humvees for their Special Operations Forces (one of which was LITERALLY a Workshop on Wheels). how do I know this? because the THP had them dropped off at the Tennessee Technology Center @ Nashville's Collision Repair Department and I helped change their color from OD Green/Desert Tan to Flat Black. gave us a Crappy Sherwin-Williams 2 Part Waterborne paint too. (the Crap paint ran like Niagara Falls, but at least when TDOC had us paint their surplus Humvees, they gave us a PROPER Solvent Based Paint)

[truckofwinandawesome]

Bakersfield Police Department has started to replace their Crown Vics with the new Taurus Police Interceptor. It was just on the news. So far they have purchased 3.

 

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well, I had a little chat with my Brother (who is a Kern County Sheriff's Deputy) and I am EXTREMELY PLEASED to Announce that the Kern County Sheriff's Office is going to an ALL GM FLEET! Tahoe PPVs for the Supervisors, and Caprice PPVs for the typical Squad Car! It Pays to have Family in the right Places! (although it does nothing for Dickson County's VERY UGLY Ford Habit.)

[AgDoctor]

My county uses Tahoes and used to use the CVs. GA state patrol uses Chargers. My brother who was a patrolman said the Chargers were no where near as durable and dependable as the CVs, though they were faster. He said they had problems overheating and that when any problems occurred they were in the shop for several days. Maybe this was squad car charger 1.0.

 

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[Chris]

well, I had a little chat with my Brother (who is a Kern County Sheriff's Deputy) and I am EXTREMELY PLEASED to Announce that the Kern County Sheriff's Office is going to an ALL GM FLEET! Tahoe PPVs for the Supervisors, and Caprice PPVs for the typical Squad Car! It Pays to have Family in the right Places! (although it does nothing for Dickson County's VERY UGLY Ford Habit.)

 

Damn my uncle would have had a plain Tahoe. He was a Commander but worked at the county prison. He had a plain white Crown Vic

[truckofwinandawesome]

Damn my uncle would have had a plain Tahoe. He was a Commander but worked at the county prison. He had a plain white Crown Vic

 

well my brother also mentioned that the switch won't happen for a while because Kern county is like Dickson County: Broke as a Joke.

[Chris]

Well yea, we have Bakersfield Police wrecking $40k Taurus SHO patrol cars

[truckofwinandawesome]

Well yea, we have Bakersfield Police wrecking $40k Taurus SHO patrol cars

 

yeah, and their dispatchers aren't worth a crap either; (I'm actually HERE in Bako for a Family Emergency) my cousin and my sister were in a minor sideswipe a couple of days ago; no injuries, and they tried to get a BPD officer to go out to the accident scene to file an accident report for the insurance companies, and the Dispatcher they spoke with refused to send an officer out because it was a minor accident. well they got a nice BPD officer to file the report, and my cousin's car will be off to the body shop in the near future with insurance covering it.

[Chris]

Shit man, Lets meet up. Ill PM you