An insider's guide to buying used police cars

Compared to the average model, police cars drink a lot of gas, idle for hours on end and generally take more abuse than any other vehicle on the road. But they also often last far longer, and offer an exceptionally nice firm ride.

On a dollar-for-dollar basis they are perhaps the cheapest used vehicles on the road — and if you don't drive that much, they can be well worth it. However, you have to do a lot of homework to find the good ones among the many badly abused ones.

So do you still want to even think about buying a Police Interceptor in Ford, Chevy or Dodge form? First you have to find a city or agency selling one, and while many post their excess vehicles online, it can be harder than you may think.

A few weekends ago, the city of Roswell, Ga., auctioned off 32 Ford Crown Vic Police Interceptors. There was just one small catch: Most people couldn't bid on any of them, as it was an auction for dealers and salvage pickers only. This often happens for several reasons; cities often will take less money to not deal with the hassle of shoppers who don't understand that "as-is" means "You now own it, and it's your problem if you can’t get it to start.”

So how can you figure out which government vehicles are the good ones and which ones are as rough as a worn-out mop — especially when you have 32 cars in front of you that all say: "SHOULD START WITH A BOOST, MINOR BODY DAMAGE, MINOR DAMAGE TO INTERIOR SEATS, IT HAS EXPOSED WIRES ON THE INTERIOR AND HOLES ON THE EXTERIOR."

My advice is to first start with realistic expectations. Some of these vehicles have been sitting at a backlot for weeks, months, even years after they were last on the road. You will almost definitely have to replace the battery, which means that if you want to inspect the vehicle in person, which I strongly advise you do, bring a jump box.

There is also a pecking order when it comes to Police Interceptors. Police cars that are used in the line of duty typically have a cloth front-seat, vinyl back-seat combination and you will see wires and holes wherever there was police equipment.

On a purely cosmetic level, black and white versions of these vehicles tend to be less expensive at the auctions than all black models, or other single color variations such as white or silver. Most public buyers prefer all black police cars and, as a long-time car dealer, I find that these black beauties are usually far easier to retail.