newbie, advice please

[craig1992]

Morning, I was just wondering if anybody has previously brought an ex police vehicle and if so what to look out for bar the obvious has it been written off. Looking at buying a 2011 v70 d5 twin turbo with 136k on clock. Don't want to spend money hand over fist once Brought it so any advice would be great
T.I.A
Craig

[Craig S]

Hi Craig,

I have an ex-police D5 twin turbo and in the main it is a good car, which was serviced around every 9000 miles or so during its time in the force. Yes these cars have sometimes been in accidents (mine has) but it is still a nice car to drive. Any accident damage gets repaired pretty much straight away.

The things that I found were, firstly that my car has been fitted with a 3rd party radio, which doesn't sound like too much of an issue, but when you realise that all of the controls use the original volvo head unit as a display then it becomes an issue. So if you can find a car with the original Volvo radio head unit in it thats the one to go for.

You will also find that there are occasional extra holes in and around the car (the vast majority of which will have been repaired if you have bought it from one of the many ex police car specialists around). I have found one or two holes on the outside plastic work and in a couple of hard to reach places (round the back of the floating centre console).

Depending on how the police transfers have been removed you may find yourself having to do a bit of proper detailing on the car to remove any residue from the adhesives (which will be well hidden after the car is polished but will become evident after a while)..... I could in the right light see exactly where the police stickers were on the bonnet.

You will no doubt be aware that despite the fact that these cars are serviced regularly, you are still buying a car which has upwards of 100k miles on the clock, and things can start going wrong with cars of that mileage irrespective of being serviced.

[tt82]

One of the main things to mention is that Police vehicles are taxed on the old engine size classes, not emmisions. This means you will be paying more in Road Tax then you would normally for this vehicle.

[GrantA]

Originally Posted by tt82

One of the main things to mention is that Police vehicles are taxed on the old engine size classes, not emmisions. This means you will be paying more in Road Tax then you would normally for this vehicle.

Just like owners of VWs, Audis and SEATs will be if they have to be reclassified - wonder where Volvos stand in all this???????

[Brendan W]

Some of them had things spliced into the supply for one of the horns and it may not have been reconnected after they removed whatever it was.

[Sasha94]

Originally Posted by tt82

One of the main things to mention is that Police vehicles are taxed on the old engine size classes, not emmisions. This means you will be paying more in Road Tax then you would normally for this vehicle.

However if you buy a T6, you get it less than half price

Also Police cars don't have MoT's so check th car you're buying has one. Also be aware they are very basic inside and they usually have damage to the drivers seat as Volvo supply them with the El cheapo seat covering that splits. You'll find a leather interior at a scrappy cheap enough. That said some of them are fitted with sat nav etc so maybe find one of them? Also try and get a blue one, you find people move out of your way even quicker than if you have a white one haha