when you read the adverts for ex police cars which promise such benefits as "serviced with genuine parts" "driven by trained drivers" "checked daily" and "chipped to 300bhp" I suggest you treat these comments with a great big pile of salt. I drove police cars of all types for 20 years and now work within police fleet management so I like to think I know what Im talking about. Please consider the following before parting with your cash...............

• police forces are short of money and they DO cut corners with servicing,it is rare for the council workshops to use genuine parts if cheaper is available. This is particularly true with high performance VOLVOs
• the officers are supposed to conduct daily checks but in my experience this is very rare and almost unheard of with beat and cid cars.
• the drivers are trained but lets not forget that the cars are regularly driven to their absolute limits, most ARVs and traffic cars are driven daily in excess of 140mph....yes every day!
• police cars are rarely modified other than having larger batteries and additional wiring for all the lights etc.
• police area cars such as astras and focus are driven in response situations every day and are pushed to thier limits as they are fairly low performance and yet are still expected to arrive quickly.
• If you buy from the police direct or from an auction it will be taxed as police not plg ,this means a trip to a regional tax office to reclassify the car as this cant be done in a post office. 
• When buying dont forget to factor in additional costs such as stereos,speakers,paintwork and plugging holes in the dash.
• there is no such thing as a police liason car..these cars are ex cid vehicles and tend to have a very hard life,just because they dont have blues doesnt mean they dont get hammered.
• most police cars sent to auction are knackered!! thats why they are sent

its not all bad new........if you want a cheap van or a van with a dog cage their mileages may be better and the large vans tend to have an easier life.