No more BMW police cars

[James1979]

What’s not been brought up here is that manufacturers also use the police supplied vehicles as a sales opportunity. So it pays to offer them cheap to the force and recoup the money on sales.

Usually offer a discount to police employees but they still shift loads to officers and staff

Go into any Nick car park and you’ll mostly see the same makes and models as the work ones. I used to say it’s because they’ve no imagination But I suppose if you spend 12 hours sat in an X5 then you’ll either grow to love it or loathe it.

What better way to sell a car than the worlds longest test drive!

 

[James1979]

Can you remember when the east Anglian ambulance service bought all those American ambulances and had to take them all out of service after a few crashes. Apparently overloaded on the rear axle.

Ocean Stars. Floating Stars the crews called them!

Mates wife was a paramedic before she died. Heard all about it at the time. They spent years on an airfield (West Raynham?) before they decided what to do with them!

She reckoned they’d go like fcuk !!

The new merc ambulances were known for gearbox faults. Is that still a thing?

 

[premmington]

Ocean Stars. Floating Stars the crews called them!

Mates wife was a paramedic before she died. Heard all about it at the time. They spent years on an airfield (West Raynham?) before they decided what to do with them!

She reckoned they’d go like fcuk !!

The new merc ambulances were known for gearbox faults. Is that still a thing?

True - loads of them.

Merc Sprinter Ambulance on the road is £200-300k depending on spec.

Dr Alex gives tour of £250k London ambulance as he saves lives on frontline

Love Island's Dr Alex George generously gave his fans a tour of a London ambulance and insight into life as a paramedic on the frontline

www.mirror.co.uk

 

[Trevorleach]

10 year old Ambulance with a pooped engine is viable project - new engine/gearbox and off again to save lives.

Next time you are at A&E - look at the reg plates of ambulances - the reason they are so old is - they are silly money new...

I genuinely doubt many light commercial engines will make 10 years old.

 

[premmington]

I genuinely doubt many light commercial engines will make 10 years old.

I would agree with the above.

+1 for your comment

 

[Robotstar5]

I regularly see new Nissans car transporters near @eLuSiVeMiTe village heading to the scrap yard in ampthill

Test mules with the VIN numbers spray painted in the sides

JLR use some of theirs for training with West Mids Fire Service.

 

[GRW]

I genuinely doubt many light commercial engines will make 10 years old.

Work had a pretty new Hi-Top, XLWB huge VW Crafter in the workshop.
(Parcel Firm Van).
Driver had belted it through a flood, hydraulic-ed the motor and lunched it.

When the motor was out and on the floor, with all the ancillaries removed (to go on the replacement motor).... well it looked like an old Mini engine!

Tiny, lightweight Michael Mouse engine - it looked like someone wanting to motor a Bungalow with a Lawnmower engine.
It apparently made enough shunt - but it had to be working damned hard, and have a relatively short life expectancy (even without Numpty's drowning em).

Frankly - new vehicles are consumables, not durables - very expensive Carp.

 

[GRW]

JLR use some of theirs for training with West Mids Fire Service.

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Damn, that looked to be a straight, un-welded LDV Convoy they pitched over and chopped up .
Much tidier-looking than my much-patched van. Shame.

 

[Nomad]

I genuinely doubt many light commercial engines will make 10 years old.

True.
I changed the starter motor on a 2007 BMW 325i (horrible job - manifold and gubbins needs to come off before you can even see the starter), forums say the starter is so lightweight it is now recommended to treat it as a "replace at 100k miles" consumable item.

BMW have a very strange design ethos; (complicated, heavy, expensive) electric seats each with a built in airpump for pnumatic lumbar support, also magnesium "use-once" stretch bolts on the starter motor to save weight

Retro cars are normally over-engineered to a fair degree. A lot of modern designs have been through a weight saving process and are designed to last the life of the car - no more.
If you drive more than the "predicted lifetime" of the car, it's at your own risk.
Figures last year say the average age of UK cars is now 8.6 year old, if you're driving a 10 year old car you are well into "exceeded the predicted life of the car" bracket* https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/record-breaking-age-of-uk-cars/

* This forum isn't typical of most motorists, the newest vehicles I own are from the 1990's and I know I'm not the only one

 

[Robotstar5]

A Discovery Sport that couldn't be sold so make some use of it.

 

[bigegg]

I cant think of a replacement for the 530 touring that they can use and still be able to carry all the stuff they need like cones etc

Ovlov?

 

[ajlelectronics]

* This forum isn't typical of most motorists, the newest vehicles I own are from the 1990's and I know I'm not the only one

My newest car is the Scorpio, 1994. I have two 40+ year old Scimitars too.

 

[bigegg]

My newest car is the Scorpio, 1994. I have two 40+ year old Scimitars too.

20 year old Lexus with 250,000 miles on it, here.

Itll probably outlive my kids..

 

[brightspark]

A Discovery Sport that couldn't be sold so make some use of it.

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there slipping its normal;y the roof that comes off even if the cars mint and someone sits in it with suposed whiplash

 

[nickk]

If I booted my (somewhat) modified Cavalier turbo up a hill, I could see the petrol gauge go down

Lack of baffle plates in the tank?

 

[Kayos]

Lack of baffle plates in the tank?

450bhp, fuel computer showed 9mpg, however that's a low as it could go. Calculated it to 4

 

[maroon]

True.
I changed the starter motor on a 2007 BMW 325i (horrible job - manifold and gubbins needs to come off before you can even see the starter), forums say the starter is so lightweight it is now recommended to treat it as a

Seems strange to take a manifold off. Downpipe possibly. Normally attack them from underneath not from above?

 

[fizzy]

True - loads of them.

Merc Sprinter Ambulance on the road is £200-300k depending on spec.

Dr Alex gives tour of £250k London ambulance as he saves lives on frontline

Love Island's Dr Alex George generously gave his fans a tour of a London ambulance and insight into life as a paramedic on the frontline

www.mirror.co.uk

I get enough problems with brand new Sprinters. Nice to drive but feel fragile. Every one I have had plays up. Side doors are a common problem. Oh and front and rears
Various engine management lights come on. You learn to ignore them. Water leaks into the seat belts. Always being recalled for something or other.
And there seems to be very little rust proofing and loads of mud traps.
Oh and nasty burning smells and smoke when the dpf is doing a regen.

 

[redlig]

What’s not been brought up here is that manufacturers also use the police supplied vehicles as a sales opportunity. So it pays to offer them cheap to the force and recoup the money on sales.

Usually offer a discount to police employees but they still shift loads to officers and staff

Go into any Nick car park and you’ll mostly see the same makes and models as the work ones. I used to say it’s because they’ve no imagination But I suppose if you spend 12 hours sat in an X5 then you’ll either grow to love it or loathe it.

What better way to sell a car than the worlds longest test drive!

The unusual high % of similar private cars could also have something to do with the availability of trained mechanics and spare parts.

 

[bigegg]

The unusual high % of similar private cars could also have something to do with the availability of trained mechanics and spare parts.

I had an "internet friend" on another forum.
Plod speedy.
He absolutely loathed the BMWs.
They broke down so often they were having to borrow vehicles from other operational areas just to maintain presence.
He reckoned that out of the seven they had in fleet, there should have been 3 on the road and 4 "in reserve".
They had *one*, with 6 being repaired or "awaiting replacement"


Mind you: the vauxhall astra panda cars were worse: the joyriders used to ram them and write them off - every night.
He said "that stopped overnight when we switched to Volvo's"