I imagine rust is a problem where you live, did that contribute to the troubles?
Not at all. 100k miles is less then 4 years. Rust starts showing at about 10 years here in NH. So the vehicle is long gone by the time rust starts showing up.
Who did the maintenance on the cars?
The preventative maintenance stuff we preformed at our town garage. Some things like transmission fluid changes we used a local transmission place.
“Dodge Charger Police Interceptors… Much faster and quicker handling but in police trim there is absolutely no room in them… Awkward to get in and out of.”
Having been in the back seat of a CV police car, I can tell you that there is essentially no “adult” leg room in those cars, so the leg room in the smaller Charger must be…strictly for kids.
I literally had to sit sideways in the back of that CV, as there was no way that my legs & feet would fit when sitting “conventionally” in the back of that car, behind the typical security barrier. And, I am only 5’10"!
Incidentally…Before anybody jumps to conclusions as to why I was in the back seat of a CV police car, it was in the aftermath of my friend’s Accord being T-boned while we were exiting a gas station. His car was destroyed, and one of the responding officers agreed to drive us about 7 miles to my house–after he got clearance from his Sergeant. He apparently needed clearance because I live in a different municipality from where the accident took place.
If any of my neighbors saw me arriving home in a North Brunswick police car, they were nice enough to not mention it!
You can tell if it’s police special CV by looking at the hub caps.
The police specials don’t have full size hub caps.
Tester
^
Also, they usually have a Police Interceptor badge on the left side of rear panel, next to the left tail light, in place of a Crown Victoria nameplate. I always find it amusing to see an “unmarked” police car sporting a Police Interceptor badge!
When I worked for our state’s child protective agency, back in the '60s, all of our cars were equipped with a “police package”, including a certified speedometer, HD suspension, HD wheels, HD brakes, etc. However, the standard 6-cylinder engine resided under the hood. We drove plain-vanilla Fords, Chevys, Plymouths, and Studebakers, but at least they did handle very nicely even if they didn’t usually accelerate worth a damn.
I had the privilege of taking our last Studebaker back to the Central Motor Pool in order turn it in and bring back a new Chevy. On the way to Trenton, I actually pulled over to look under the hood because I couldn’t imagine why the state had opted for power steering and a V-8 in that Stude.
To my surprise, it did indeed have the standard 6-cylinder engine and non-power steering, but because it weighed much less than the Fords, Chevys & Plymouths in our fleet, it seemed much more powerful and it steered with almost no effort. The brand-new '67 Chevy sedan that I drove back to the office seemed like an underpowered truck in comparison to that 4 year old Studebaker!
I knew a guy who would purchase police CV’s from his county sheriff’s department. He’d always purchase what was the chief sheriff’s car.
These cars had no lights mounted on the roof, no separation cage inside, and were painted a solid tan color. These looked like normal CV’s except they lacked any side trim and had the small hub caps.
Tester
I was just wondering who and what kind of maintenance the cars had that may have had a hand in the major problems. What kind of trouble did the cars have?
The small hubcaps are not a sure identifier…Some have full wheel covers. It’s easy enough to tell from the VIN as the P71 will be there…Also, they all have the “certified speedometer” whether they were used as police cars or driven by the building inspector. They have engine and transmission oil coolers, trick 100 amp alternators (they are clutched) beefed up transmissions, an aluminum drive shaft that is safe at 140mph, bigger brakes front and rear, a beefed up frame, dual exhaust, all stainless, the list goes on and on.
In Colorado, the State Patrol follows the factory recommended maintenance schedule to the letter as safety and reliability are number one concerns…Also, here, they come with a decent set of the special Goodyear Eagle Ultra-Grips, V rated, pursuit rated tires including a full-size spare, an $800 value that in normal driving last a long time…
Police cars can’t have full size hub caps.
With full size hub caps the valve stems pass thru the hub caps. During a hot pursuit where a lot of braking and accelerating occurs, the hub cap can spin on the wheel and cut the valve stem.
Tester
On my 2006 and 2007 P71 cars, the full wheel covers are bolted on! They do not come off or slip on the wheels. It’s somewhat of a pain to remove them. In an earlier post I included a link that contains a set of pictures of a Colorado patrol car being auctioned. Please note the wheel covers…
I have added a link to a P.I. Charger…It also has wheel covers. Carefully look at the interior pictures, the missing center console, the butchered dashboard, especially where you would expect a glove-box… Not many Vics left in the fleet!