Chevy Impala Dallas Police Cars

Because a lot of states specify that municipal vehicles be American made. Although Toyotas (a lot) are domestic made, it is not a domestic brand.

Plus, a lot of municipalties have long-standing relationships with Ford and GM, and get (or go with) the big discount at the time.

One exception: back in 1980, Bloomfield CT's "Safety Officer" had a Volvo

240, and in the late 80's the CT State Police were using Mazda MX6s for 'stealth' patrolling and radar use on the highways. Of course, they had a couple Mustang GTs, too... ;)

And, I recently saw a MA State Police Charger earlier in the summer...

"Go Mavs" wrote in news:qq1Li.6076$tJ4.2424@trnddc05:

For the longest time, Ford was the only maker of full-sized police vehicles. PD's did not trust the smaller FWD cars on the grounds of durability (at least the ones in our area didn't), so the Crown Vic was all there was.

Our PD's did use Luminas and Impalas for non-pursuit roles, which are a lot easier on the car. We also have a few Civics, Cavaliers, PT Cruisers and Suburbans being used around here. These are typically for administrative duty, but are painted up just like the pursuit cars, complete with light bar on top.

Typically foreign trucks and cars are very small, often too small to be practical over here.

Companies that do in-town delivery do often use small foreign-made trucks. Hino (now owned by Toyota) is a big seller in that market.

When I was in Washington this summer, I saw a number of very tiny "not for road use" Asian-made trucks that were used on the sidewalks. I'd guess them about the size of a Yaris, but they look exactly like a cabover town- delivery straight truck. These are in common use in Asian cities.

Well, the Burbank Police have used BMW motorcycles. Then again, I don't know if they would rather ride a Harley

A town close by had a corvette... My guess is that the vette was donated because its highly unlikely that they would have aproved of that, at that time.

at least they arent using vespa's

Not if they've ridden both.

I'm a former Harley owner. Two of 'em. I was a little slow in learning my lesson when I bought the second one brand new. ;-)

A friend of mine rides a BMW as a Highway Patrol officer. I teased him recently about the "fact" that the CHP was going to switch to Harleys. You should have seen the look on his face.

He knows.

They don't specialize in guzzlers.

Yep, donated by a drug dealer. A lot of the fancy, stealth cars are confiscated from criminals.

Jack

The problem with FWD cars isn't durability, it's handling. FWD cars typically have tremendous amounts of under steer and can be deadly in a high-speed chase.

Ford was, until recently, the only manufacturer of full-size sedans that were also rear wheel drive. I don't think there are any race cars that are FWD. All NASCAR stock cars are rear wheel drive, even those that pretend to be FWD cars.

Jack

Imports do not build a certified police vehicle for one and their trucks are no match for domestic trucks in total cost of ownership. Domestic fleets, because of federal tax deprecation laws, generally keep the tools they use in their business for five years. Vehicles to a fleet are just one more 'tool' used in their business. We had Toyota and Nissan account executives trying to sell cars and trucks to the fleet buyers all the time, but with little success. The exception was rental car companies who replace their vehicles which to them is their 'product,' rather than a 'tool,' that they replace in a year or less.

No manufacturer domestic or import can touch the Interceptor in total cost of ownership or safety, period. While the FWD certified police cars cost around 2K less, the extra maintenance costs of FWD cars eats up any initial savings in the first 18 month. Insurance on the RWD Interceptor is much cheaper as well.

When I still owned my fleet service business those department the switched to FWD, hoping to save on fuel costs, soon reverted to the Interceptor. Another reason is the FWD cars do not have enough room in the back for the cage or in the trunk and the "stuff" they need to perform their duties. The new RWD Dodge has less room than the former FWD Dodge. In addition Chryslers electronics interferes with some types of speed timing devices. Philadelphia got stuck with a bunch of RWD Dodges that they can not use to check speeders, but Chrysler has tried to correct the problem.

It is mostly cites that buying FWD cars, state patrols prefer the superior handling of the RWD Interceptor as a high speed pursuit vehicles however and reserve any FWD cars they use to detective and supervisor work.

The Pennsylvania State Police banned FWD cars for patrol work many years ago, after several trooper where killed in pursuits on wet roads while driving FWD vehicles given to the state by the feds to enforce the '55 Alive' program.

One of my young'ins, a sergeant in the PSP, had an Impala when working as a supervisor in the Poconos. When transferred to the PA Turnpike was issued an Interceptor as a pursuit unit

mike

The CHP had a few Volvos at one time. It has been a couple of years since I have seen the one that always used to be around here. These days I only see the CHP using BMW motorcycles, in addition to quite a few city police departments.

Have you taken a good look in a cop car lately? The sheer amount of electronic crap would never fit in most imports.

DUH, the Interceptor is made in Canada. There is no restriction to domestics in biding in any event, the state of Tennessee used Nissan cars and pickups

That may be your opinion but the fact is the fleet discount offered by EVERY manufacture, foreign or domestic is around the same $800 amount. Because of liability and safety issues, departments prefer those vehicle that are 'certified' by the manufacturers as police vehicles and the word 'certified' generally is included in the bid request to the dealer, although they free to buy use whatever they want. In northern Florida there is a Ferrari Testrrosa unmarked police car, that was confiscated from drug dealers, that is running around I-10 LOL

mike

They are more likely to use Vespa scooters in San Fransico LOL

mike

Really? Did Toyota stop selling Tundra's and their big SUVs?

mike

The electronic gear is actually a lot smaller than it use to be. I remember the big box computers they once had. Now the computers look like small lap tops.

I think the reason is the tax laws and so forth.

Crime rate in the US is so high that we need police cars that are really tough.

Years ago, the CT State Police had Mazda MX-6's. They didn't last. The turbocharged Buick Grand Nationals they had didn't last, either.

GREAT bikes!

My hometown has two. They are literally the pride of the area, on both sides of the badge.