VE back to XR8.

[jdg]

the BF MK2 XT/Futuras look tons better in police trim than the VE i reckon anyway

Yeh mate, its all about the looks. :P

As other people have said, of course they dont "need" the spoiler, bodykit etc. I would guess that they would like the additional ride/handling over the base models, and that the XR's and SS's have significantly better resale value over the base models. Its all about the resale, sure they could get cheaper XT's and Omegas but theyd loose more money on them.

[ReVd_uP]

Just to shed a little more light on the BA xr8 cop cars stalling due to electrical load,... Ford actually has a PCM reflash that we only put into cop cars that sets their idle speed just a couple hundred RPM higher to cope with the extra gizmos, seems to cure the problem

[apolloxbgt]

Originally Posted by Slick_Aussie

The police don't sell them most of the time, And the car yards that do have a heap of them to sell, They get them from auctions so cheap if we were able to pick them up at the price we would buy 1 for the wife also. Maybe a second to sell ourselves make some cash.

As has been mentioned repeatedly,it's about resale.

The police get fleet discounts + no tax,and the sports models generally have the best resale.I've heard they make money on Highway patrol cars.

[FPV70]

Hmm, if it's about resale then why do QLD police drive red F6's as hiway patrol cars and not just XR6's and XR8's?
I'm sure an F6 will depreciate more in reguards to resale than an XR6/8
mind you, I don't mind that they have these F6's cause they dook so damn cool.
QLD police have 8 of them I believe, the lucky bums.

[Zed7fiddy]

Im surprised to hear that the NT Police have finally started using V8's!

[WASP]

Performance and reliability is the key. These guys need both or it just isn't going to work. The BF's are a tried and proven platform and the ZF 6 speed auto behind either the XR6T or XR8 more than makes up for an 'lack' of immediate power the VE SS would have. The VE's will be sorted out eventually and then I'm sure it will be the Orion Fords they will be complaining about. The issue is that they (the Police) have to go through this process with all new Australian models and I would hate to see the day when they decide using imports are a more reliable and cost effective option.

[TUF_302]

Maybe the NT has the smartest officers and they all demanded the best cars they can have!

[ED Classic]

Originally Posted by Slick_Aussie

I'm still of the beleaf that they shouldn't get these sporty cars anyway, All they need is a base model with V8 option and that's all, Wings huge rims full house electrics leather etc should be left to the public.

Amen...But Id take it one step further and limit 2 High performance cars to all Big city stations and leave the High Performance models to country areas. They dont need 5+ (taxpayer funded) fuel sucking V8s per staion in city areas. Chases are very very minimal,..... they have feautures like road spikes these days,.... the next big station is only 10 mins drive away,.... The std 6s are that fast now they can do huge speeds now perhaps just give them some sports brakes and thats about it.

[jdg]

Hmm, if it's about resale then why do QLD police drive red F6's as hiway patrol cars and not just XR6's and XR8's?
I'm sure an F6 will depreciate more in reguards to resale than an XR6/8
mind you, I don't mind that they have these F6's cause they dook so damn cool.
QLD police have 8 of them I believe, the lucky bums.

FPV's are meant to have good resale over the standard faclons arent they? Also, who knows what sort of discounts they get. I dare say it would be a 5 figure sum. Also, the F6's are good as promotional cars and offering more "presence".

[jasjul]

I don't know about other states, but Vic Police now have a contract with a lease company for their cars. That's why they get XR8/SS, so that they get better resale value. I would guess the police could get a base model with XR8 driveline if they wanted because all their VE Commodores come with curtain airbags. If you're a private buyer, you need to option leather to get those, not the police though.

[tapeworm]

I read somewhere that in Victoria, Holden are offering police free SS Commodores. They see it as advertising. eg. the police are choosing the Holden, it must be a superior car.

[genebaby]

Originally Posted by MRJUCY

We've had some pretty patchy quality with the VEs in our fleet at work some have been back numerous times with collapsed suspension, loose brake parts & dodgy wiring. It's still sadly quite common for all new models to have these sorts of problems I'm sure when the update model comes out they'll be on top of most of these.

The suspension in my mates GTS crapped out on him. MRC is not good at all when it fails. Said it was really like driving a boat, literally dangerous. Took the dealer a few goes to get it finally sorted.

[Van D]

Originally Posted by FPV70

I'm sure an F6 will depreciate more in reguards to resale than an XR6/8

Have you seen XR6/8 prices lately?

Plus, even if it WAS just looks, it's better for Ford.