Buying Used Police Cars - Trash Or Treasure?

When you think of buying a used police car, visions of a stripped, worn down piece of junk might enter your mind. Or you might have thoughts of a cool ex-cop car with all the fixings under the hood. Well, when it comes to buying used police cars, you should expect something down the middle of the road: not a complete piece of trash, but not your super heavy duty, high speed chasing cruiser.

Police cars are just like any other regular car, with the exception of a few modifications. Once the police department buys these cars, they get special add-ons such as heavy duty brakes and super-charged engines for high speed chases. That's in addition to the lights, sirens, division gate inside and the plastic backseat that gets installed.

It would be cool to buy a used police car just like that. But, there are returned to factory condition before they are auctioned off. So, you won't have a chance to rev up that heavy duty engine, flash those flashing lights or sit in that oh so comfortable backseat. The only think that remains about the same is the paint job. The good news is that these cars are usually well maintained with frequent and scheduled check ups. They are also sold at auctions in every state through out the year. Finding one can get kind of tricky though.

First, you can call the police department and ask them when their next auction will be. Depending on the time, day and the person who answers the phone, one of two things will happen. 1) You will get exactly what you're asking for without any hassles. 2) The person on the other end of the phone will act like thy don't know what you're talking about or just wants to be a jerk that day.

If you're left with the short end of the stick, head on over to the computer and join a car auction site. It will give you plenty of locations near you, as well as what type of cars they have for sale. Their listing also include government and police seized vehicles if you prefer not to ride in a car that someone has probably thrown up in the backseat of.

So, used police cars can be a pretty cool deal when you know what to expect. They won't look like an ex-cop car by the time you buy it, but it will be well maintained and taken care of.