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Toyota Road Trip

I hope no one tells that to the drivers in the European racing leagues. Or to the drivers in the import/tuner classes in NHRA and IHRA.

Not true. Ford subsidises the dealers bids on fleet sales. You can take this from someone formally in the business of servicing and BIDDING government fleet vehicles. Two years in a row the purchasing manager I consulted to in the department I worked had to get letters, for the purchasing boards, from the local GM and Chrysler dealers stating why they declined to bid on new vehicles. Their letters stated the subsidies from Ford.

The two smaller V6

Very few government bids consider residual cost, only initial cost. If it is a significant dollar figure and the purchasing people are made aware of it then it can be considered as a qualifier. By law, it has to be done in a certain manner, to protect the taxpayer, or it can't be allowed.

No police department worth its salt uses FWD vehicle for

Why then are you seeing them more and more? Do you remember the Ford Taurus that had the HighPerformance Police Special 3.8L engine in it and was used for patrol work by many departments? I think that was the first I saw in the mid 90's. Now GM makes the Impala with Police Package and I think Chryco offers the Intrepid also.

The PA State Police even ban unmarked FWD cars from

Many factors could be involved in this other than the sole factor of the vehicle being FWD. Many state officers wreck their cars in chases and the chances of getting killed may be greater in a FWD due to it being smaller. My sympathies to any officer killed in the line of duty, and their families, no matter what the circumstances. I talked to an patrolman once who drove a Taurus 3.8L Police Special. He stated it would out-accelerate any of the RWD police vehicles he had ever driven. He declined my offer to substantuate this for him. :-) davidj92

Reply to
davidj92
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You are free to believe whatever you wish but I know of which I speak I was Group Sales Manager for one of the largest mega dealership groups on the east cost for ten years. We sold literally thousand of cars to cooperate and government fleets. Dodge and GM TODAY offer government volume discounts as well. The Taurus you refer to was NEVER certified by Ford as a POLICE Vehicle. That Taurus 'Specialty' vehicle as Ford called it was designed for 'Security' work like mall cops and gated community security forces, but you are correct some departments used it as a police car even those it was not warranted for such use. The only other Ford Certified Police vehicle was the late eighties Mustang LX V8. We sold lots of them to the Florida state police Indeed the CV is offered, through Ford dealers with a larger discount of around $1,200 to governments only, in place of the $600 fleet discount, as does GM and Dodge on their FWD certified police vehicles today. But Dodge and GM, when they built RWD police vehicles, offered higher discounts back in the day than Ford. Currently it is quite easy and legal to prevent other dealers from bidding on the police cars you want by specifying a RWD V8 or a V6 FWD drive train. Many police departments that specified FWD have gone back to specing RWD because of the higher maintenance costs of FWD, however

mike hunt

. "davidj92" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@sigecom.net...

Reply to
Mike Hunter

Certainly.

Certainly.

Heh. Certainly.

Reply to
Gary L. Burnore

Drove a 1.8L Corolla with 150k miles on it from Boston to Seattle and back this summer. That included crossing North Dakota at ~91mph indicated since the car shakes between 85 and 90 ever since I T-boned a Taurus that didn't yield at the stop sign. The trip also included passing many slow lifted pickup trucks on badly rutted dirt forest roads at 30+mph. A new Corolla should survive a trip from MO to CA and back at 65mph. :-)

In either case, make sure you put a few thousand miles on the car before setting the cruise control for 65 for several days straight. Also change the oil before leaving and before returning.

Reply to
someone

I also know what I spoke was/is true and would testify to it under oath.

Dodge and GM have always offered discounts to fleets, especially to government fleets and even more so to PD's.

The Taurus you refer to was

You may be correct on the certification, I can't argue on that. I can say it definately was used as a front-line vehicle by the PD in my city. I woulnd't swear to it, but I think I saw them used by the state I live in as well.

The only other Ford Certified Police vehicle was the

We used those in Indiana as well, I stand to be corrected but I believe all have been replaced by Camaro's set up for high-speed use.

Indeed the CV is offered, through Ford dealers with a

I still state with no uncertanty that Ford subsidized the dealers bids to government fleets to outbid GM and Chryco. That may not be the case now, I can say that all the new vehicles purchased this year, in the two departments I'm associated with, are Fords. Question there?

But Dodge and GM, when they built RWD police

Wrong, not true. We still are using and purchasing new GM Impalas on our city PD. I talked to the Lead Mechanic in the department that does their maitenance and he says the maintenance costs are not significantly higher than RWD. Since this is a Toyota NG I'll reference them. The FWD Toyotas don't cost any more to maintain than a RWD and last just as long, so I think I'll believe the Lead Mechanic.

Lastly, I've read farther in the thread on this and it has turned into a personality contest, which I refuse to participate in, so I am finished with this thread. davidj92

Reply to
davidj92

You obviously proved my point, can't debate on a technical level, so you have to resort to personal attackes. (Find any mispellings, find any incorrect punctuation, make you happy? WOW, you are soooo smart.) People like you have to try to make someone else look bad in a vain attempt to make themselves look better. This ng is for the passing of information and trying to assist someone in need. This is the last conversation I'll have with you. davidj92

Reply to
davidj92

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