Police cars. Why not british?
 

Saw 5 police cars this morning in a few minutes.

They were:

Skoda Octavia RS
Merc 220 (2 off)
Peugot 206
Volvo T5

Wouldnt it be nice if they bought British. Before the pro EU mob start baying think about it.

You wouldnt see a french or Italian copper in anything other than a French or Italian car would you.

Chip.

They used to be British, when we had a Car Industry. Or do you mean, made in GB which open the scope a little. Don't think you will get many villans in the back of a TVR or a Noble!

How about Rover. They make some OK cars now. Could always use them.

Chip.

No good in a chase though. They would just blow their head gasket ;)

The Police spend enough on cars already without repairing Rover's all day...you want them to get to crime scenes don't you?

;)

Besides Rover's are German, owned by BMW

WERE owned by BMW.

Erm, no they're not:)

Cue Nacro :)

Olly,
You been away a while have you. BMW sold Rover in March 2000.

Chip.

They've still got Range Rovers and Defenders:) They're kind of British, ain't they?

Could give them Aston's. Oh wait, they're American (Ford).

TVR. Now that would look ace. Photoshoppers, do your stuff. :D

Imagine them trying to chase a Scooby in the wet :D

They have to look at the cost benefit of them too.

Must be reliable, strong and retain some degree of value. That's why you see more bmw 5's and cars in silver rather than white. Like omegas, volvos etc., these cars also go on and on and on. Not something you can say for Rovers! If Rovers really were the best value then they'd use them but they aren't so they don't.

Anyway, I'd rather our police had the best cars for the job rather than pandering to misplaced, however well meaning, nationalistic opinions.

or a fleet of Lotus Elises:D

...but that's more to the point. They'll go for things that aren't s**t, & preferably won't fall apart or break down. With the maintenance those cars get, most things wouldn't break down, but you can see why they don't have some cars. Fiat Puntos, for example, which from my experience, are both unreliable, and fall apart. That's obviously no good for them, as it'd make them look unprofessional, among other things...

There is supposed to be an Esprit down south - will see if I can find the pic

I'm not sure about police cars keeping their value. Most ex Police cars seem to go for next to nothing, & far less than the market value, so I doubt that's at the front of their minds:).

Bl**dy Hell....that's a bit nice, isn't it:D

It is these days as forces have to be more accountable. That's the main reason why they're getting them in silver rather than white (silvers retain value better than white cars). If not at the forefront, it'll certainly sway the decision when the bean counters say to the force you can have 400 white Rovers or 500 silver Peugeots.

Think of a fleet of 1000 police cars. If they retain £500 more value at the end of their life, that's £500,000 to be spent elsewhere (probably cameras :rolleyes: )

Agree about the cost element here, however the french/ Italians are not driving particuarly great cars either, they just have this stupid notion that its a good idea to support your own countries infastructure- just one of the reasons manufacturing is shagged in the UK.... I was going to suggest bigger orders/ through put might help Rover build better cars, then I thought about Fiats.....DOH!

Our fleet manager has done a deal with Honda coz their made in the County. He's buying Civics and Accords like their going out of fashion (unfortunately not the Type R's). Alright as run arounds but no flippin use when you want go somewhere fast. Trouble is, they never break down, so we'll be getting even more of them!

I've seen a few Rover 75 police cars on my travels. Might have been the MG version - not sure...

The best looking Jam Sandwich was the Rover SD1. The scallops on the side were perfect for the stripes :) Sounded good too.

There is also the boring bit about EC rules for public sector buying. This means open competition within EC so you can't just say "Buy British". But as said the car industry's all but gone. DL (but arern't Reliant still going :D)

Dave,
You dont see the French pandering to the EU though do you.

Chip.

http://www.johngodwin.net/04e8fg66a0...unregd-osr.jpg :D

Can't be short of money :eek:

http://www.johngodwin.net/04e8fg66a0...rover-demo.jpg

The ambulance service I work with have a couple of MG ZTTs as fast response cars.

Not good.

Police mostly use Nissan Primeras around here, they're sort of British.

On the way home (Lincoln) from the Lake district on Sunday while driving along the A65 I saw two Classic Impreza's in full Police livery.

They looked sweet:D:D:D:D:D