Previous Owner: Metropolitan Police.....
Discussion
Looking to replace my boring car for somewhere between £1500 and £2000, and I've come across Skoda Octavia (02 1.8T petrol auto, 100k miles) which was previously owned by the Met. Had a look at it and I'm very impressed with the condition of the car (interior particularly, having been expecting all kinds of marks from the kit they install). It also has an impressive service history, with printouts detailing the maintenance they did up to 80k miles.
In short, I'm concerned it might be too good to be true, not to mention the fact that if anybody offered me one of our pool cars after 6 years of use I'd probably run a mile. So I thought I'd put it out to the PH oracle.
Does anyone have any experience of cars the police have had their mitts on that they'd care to share? It's looking very tempting at the moment, although time meant I couldn't drive it today and I've yet to decide whether I'd want to live with an auto gearbox in an older car. That's a different question though..
Occy
In short, I'm concerned it might be too good to be true, not to mention the fact that if anybody offered me one of our pool cars after 6 years of use I'd probably run a mile. So I thought I'd put it out to the PH oracle.
Does anyone have any experience of cars the police have had their mitts on that they'd care to share? It's looking very tempting at the moment, although time meant I couldn't drive it today and I've yet to decide whether I'd want to live with an auto gearbox in an older car. That's a different question though..
Occy
You'll get two types of replies - the ones saying yes, no expenses spared service record etc etc and those saying no as its been thrashed to within an inch of its life with no oil in it.
I come in somewhere in the middle - buy purely on condition. Compare it to other similar models etc.
I come in somewhere in the middle - buy purely on condition. Compare it to other similar models etc.
Whilst an Octavia wont have been driven by the local plod, it still will have had a good thrasing.
Some of our '330d Authorities' are in pretty bad nick already and they are only on '08 plates. Also if the car has been rammed, damaged or crash repaired, it wont show up on a HPI.
One of our 2006 Vectras is out there somewhere, after having the whole front end stoved in during a pursuit when it was brand new.
I had a look at some V70's a while back and they were in terrible condition. It sounds in good nick, but there's still the obvious bobby pitfalls.
Some of our '330d Authorities' are in pretty bad nick already and they are only on '08 plates. Also if the car has been rammed, damaged or crash repaired, it wont show up on a HPI.
One of our 2006 Vectras is out there somewhere, after having the whole front end stoved in during a pursuit when it was brand new.
I had a look at some V70's a while back and they were in terrible condition. It sounds in good nick, but there's still the obvious bobby pitfalls.
Over 20 years ago I was in the market for a secondhand car and had seen at a dealers a 1 'careful owner' 2.8i Capri special in white.
The 1 owner was local CID.
I was smitten.
I knew the son of the salesman so when I went for a test drive I was allowed to take the car unaccompanied, just asked to bring it back in one place and by the end of the day (this was mid morning).
I really loved driving the car so I took it to my dads mate that had been a car dealer for all his life before retiring to get it checked over.
His inspection led to the conclusion that at some time the car had been on its roof, there had been extensive repair work to the roof, windscreen and a pillars.
Needless to say even though the car drove superbly and was on the face of it in excellent condition I returned it to the dealer and didn't buy it.
These days we have HPI checks which can make spotting a dodgy motor a lot easier but I dont know whether police vehicles get entered into the database cause I dont know whether when a police car gets damaged it is subject to an insurance claim?
The 1 owner was local CID.
I was smitten.
I knew the son of the salesman so when I went for a test drive I was allowed to take the car unaccompanied, just asked to bring it back in one place and by the end of the day (this was mid morning).
I really loved driving the car so I took it to my dads mate that had been a car dealer for all his life before retiring to get it checked over.
His inspection led to the conclusion that at some time the car had been on its roof, there had been extensive repair work to the roof, windscreen and a pillars.
Needless to say even though the car drove superbly and was on the face of it in excellent condition I returned it to the dealer and didn't buy it.
These days we have HPI checks which can make spotting a dodgy motor a lot easier but I dont know whether police vehicles get entered into the database cause I dont know whether when a police car gets damaged it is subject to an insurance claim?
In Police terms a 1.8T Octavia is a "High Performance Car". It will have been used as such. In Central London.
Unless you are very, very sure of condition and have it fully mechanically inspected to cehck for crash damage, suspension wear, engine condition etc etc I would say avoid on principle.
Unless you are very, very sure of condition and have it fully mechanically inspected to cehck for crash damage, suspension wear, engine condition etc etc I would say avoid on principle.
Some pretty eye-opening comments there, thanks for them all. Still not completely put off though due to some wise sounding words from MondeoMan (lent weight because one of the other options I'm looking at is a 2.0TD Mondeo!)
The dealers have shown me the last two MOT certificates (both post Met ownership) with no advisories on so I'm hoping suspension should be OK but on the same note, Sod's law dictates it's overdue something.
Ahh dilemmas, where would we be without them
The dealers have shown me the last two MOT certificates (both post Met ownership) with no advisories on so I'm hoping suspension should be OK but on the same note, Sod's law dictates it's overdue something.
Ahh dilemmas, where would we be without them
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