No more BMW police cars

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

It amazes me how companies like Audi and BMW still have such a good reputation.

Folk seem to love them...mates caught fire on the motorway..he went straight out and bought another one

My mechanic hates them...he says the engine bay is full of things made of plastic that should be metal!

 

[Gavlar]

Fizzy, regardless what your mate tells you, BMW estates do not wear out tyres in 500 miles. That's about 12hrs use on traffic. They do, of course, go through tyres vastly faster than a sales rep driving the same car but that's to be expected.

 

[fizzy]

Fizzy, regardless what your mate tells you, BMW estates do not wear out tyres in 500 miles. That's about 12hrs use on traffic. They do, of course, go through tyres vastly faster than a sales rep driving the same car but that's to be expected.

It wasn't just my mate. Another officer told me the same. They had to have modified rear suspension. This was a few years ago. I did think if I ever got stopped for worn tyres I would check theirs as well

 

[maroon]

Bmw: Dream to work on mechanicly. one of the best. Fronts last ages. rears needed changing every 3-4 months, mind you I always change well before the line and drove hard. You don't get many miles out of them. I done about average 300pw at a guess. Had 5 e36 shape. (two were to strip and sell parts) moons ago...

Do a full filter change quicker than it takes the kettle to boil.

Worst car to work on is a toyota Mr2. Need to take the engine out to do pretty much everything.

 

[pint]

Worst car to work on is a toyota Mr2. Need to take the engine out to do pretty much everything.

that's because it's a corolla assembled in the wrong order

 

[armalites]

This is an interesting video, I was completely unaware the police have MOT exemption. For me it's more interesting as one of the places that auctions loads of these and is featured in this video is 10mins from where I live.

In addition to the story about the engine fires the video talks about cars that go through auction with 160K mile and then their first MOT is done at 80K. Because the cars have no service/MOT history it's going unchecked and they are being clocked. I suspect it's happening to dozens if not hundreds of them

After an enquiry Kent police said there was no extra residual value by adding an MOT, the reality is an MOT would harm the value as it's stops someone buying them and clocking them.

 

[redlig]

This is an interesting video, I was completely unaware the police have MOT exemption. For me it's more interesting as one of the places that auctions loads of these and is featured in this video is 10mins from where I live.

In addition to the story about the engine fires the video talks about cars that go through auction with 160K mile and then their first MOT is done at 80K. Because the cars have no service/MOT history it's going unchecked and they are being clocked. I suspect it's happening to dozens if not hundreds of them

After an enquiry Kent police said there was no extra residual value by adding an MOT, the reality is an MOT would harm the value as it's stops someone buying them and clocking them.

Yet again authority being "economical with the truth" and not being questioned about it thoroughly. And they wonder why the public have almost no respect for them.

 

[stuvy]

This just came up on Youtube, it explains the holes in the engines and after watching it I wouldn't buy a "low mileage" ex police car

This is an interesting video, I was completely unaware the police have MOT exemption. For me it's more interesting as one of the places that auctions loads of these and is featured in this video is 10mins from where I live.

In addition to the story about the engine fires the video talks about cars that go through auction with 160K mile and then their first MOT is done at 80K. Because the cars have no service/MOT history it's going unchecked and they are being clocked. I suspect it's happening to dozens if not hundreds of them

After an enquiry Kent police said there was no extra residual value by adding an MOT, the reality is an MOT would harm the value as it's stops someone buying them and clocking them.

Already posted in this thread

 

[armalites]

Already posted in this thread

@Robotstar5 has been ahead of me on every post in this thread!

 

[m_c]

This is an interesting video, I was completely unaware the police have MOT exemption. For me it's more interesting as one of the places that auctions loads of these and is featured in this video is 10mins from where I live.

All Emergency Service vehicles are exempt from testing.

 

[armalites]

Folk seem to love them...mates caught fire on the motorway..he went straight out and bought another one

My mechanic hates them...he says the engine bay is full of things made of plastic that should be metal!

To be successfull in business you don't need to sell the best stuff, you need to sell the stuff that everybody wants.

 

[redlig]

To be successfull in business you don't need to sell the best stuff, you need to sell the stuff that everybody wants.

i.e. Ratner before he got cocky told the world.

If you could Chrome S**t someone would buy it.

 

[redlig]

All Emergency Service vehicles are exempt from testing.

Of course . who wold want a safe reliable vehicle to take you to A&E and spend the night in it ?

 

[James1979]

I’m just wondering if this was an ambulance or a fire vehicle would there be so much anti feeling* or is it just because it’s a police car?

* in the internet generally, not on here

 

[Shox Dr]

I’m just wondering if this was an ambulance or a fire vehicle would there be so much anti feeling* or is it just because it’s a police car?

* in the internet generally, not on here

Doubt it. Its vandalism.
Typical authoritarianism thought process. We cant have so neither will you.

 

[Robotstar5]

I’m just wondering if this was an ambulance or a fire vehicle would there be so much anti feeling* or is it just because it’s a police car?

* in the internet generally, not on here

Ambulances have their own problems, particularly the FIAT based models, apart from reliability issues some crew can't even fit in them! - linky

 

[MetalMonkey]

I think it is very wasteful, but in their defence - you can sort of see why.
We seem to be heading towards the American approach to personal responsibility - i.e. lawyer up and make it somebody else’s problem.

I can easily imagine a scenario in the future where somebody ends up with the car, has an issue or accident that is entirely unrelated - finds out that there was a documented (and very public) problem with these police cars and then uses this as leverage to try and extract compensation or transfer liability. By borking the engine, they have covered their backsides.

 

[maroon]

I think it is very wasteful, but in their defence - you can sort of see why.
We seem to be heading towards the American approach to personal responsibility - i.e. lawyer up and make it somebody else’s problem.

I can easily imagine a scenario in the future where somebody ends up with the car, has an issue or accident that is entirely unrelated - finds out that there was a documented (and very public) problem with these police cars and then uses this as leverage to try and extract compensation or transfer liability. By borking the engine, they have covered their backsides.

If you're selling something at an auction, whether it works or dosent work, written off its not at the liability of the seller if you crash it. I can't understand why they're putting holes in the blocks. They would get more cash running. More in the taxpayers pot.

 

[MetalMonkey]

If you're selling something at an auction, whether it works or dosent work, written off its not at the liability of the seller if you crash it. I can't understand why they're putting holes in the blocks. They would get more cash running. More in the taxpayers pot.

If there is already a legal precedent for a case concerning a fatal crash, whereby the coroner has attributed the cause specifically as these engines used in this type of vehicle which was operated by the police, and these vehicles are subsequently passed on to a member of the public.... Well I can see an entire can of worms there which I'm sure any lawyer worth their salt would be rubbing their hands over. Regardless of if there is or isn't any actual case. We no longer live in a world of "buyer beware". It is what you can get away with.

I saw in the news today a Canadian women suing a bar for the damage she caused because she crashed while driving drunk. I don't think the UK legal system is quite at that point yet, but it is trying its best.

I still don’t really understand why people need compensation from VW for making their cars pass an MOT when they shouldn’t have. But apparently they do.
So I’m quite confident somebody somewhere will have eventually found a way to bring some sort of a case over this too.
It isn't their money, but it might be someone’s career - so why would they take a chance?

There was a recent thread on a very similar subject on here regarding saw blades.

 

[m_c]

Of course . who wold want a safe reliable vehicle to take you to A&E and spend the night in it ?

A MOT is an absolute minimum standard, and is no guarantee a vehicle is safe or reliable.
Emergency service vehicles are maintained to a far higher standard than MOT standards, so having a MOT is a pretty meaningless exercise.