New wheels.......

[Da-Law-Dawg]

We finally got my new cruiser in and upfitted. Got the chance to put her on the road last night.

2012 Chevrolet Impala, 302 HP 3.6 L V-6, 6 speed automatic. This little outfit will absolutely set the ground on fire! Myself and the Chief sat down and read the Michigan State Police test results on these after we ordered it and were skeptical on the results. According to the tests they ran, they called it a "Sheep in wolf's clothing."

We run a fleet of Impalas and our others are all 2010's and my last cruiser was the last of the fleet to get rotated out. After it landed at our department, I took the little gem out for a test drive. All I can say is.......HOLY SMOKES! Chevy got things right on these little outfits!

The 2012's were re-vamped with the same 3.6L V-6 that the Camaro runs vs the 3.9L V-6 in our 2010's and gave the 2012's about 80 more HP over the previous models. They gave them a 6 speed tranny and tuned the suspension and added Stabili-Trac. All I can say is that looks is where the similarities end. These are wicked little cars and will run off and hide from the Ford Crown-Vics. Save for the new Caprice or the Hemi Charger, these little outfits will hold their own!

I did the upfit on everything and we added the following equipment.....

Sound-Off Pinnacle front visor
Ran-Ton rear deck
Sound-Off side LED modules
Setina Push Bar with integrated LED's in bar
Setina Cage
Whelen integrated control box and Siren
Grafix Shoppe stripe kit

Total time on upfit was 8 working days, including striping.

On to the pics........

Blank slate.....

Push Bar after install.....

Lighting install video of it up and running.....



The finished product.....

 

[KillShot]

Re: New wheels.......

Very slick!

 

[The Mechanic]

Re: New wheels.......

They are a lot of fun. Drove one about a month or two ago. Very "Zippy". Handles pretty good also

 

[Switchblade]

Re: New wheels.......

Ya shoulda held out for the new Ford...four wheel drive, twin turbos, over 400hp...just sayin


"Capable of evading high speed pursuit"

 

[lroseen]

Re: New wheels.......

Very nice car but a perfect example of why our country is so far in debt. If its not bad enough that every individual wants to have everything brand new and thinks they need it, every sector of our government thinks the exact same thing. My father was a cop for 30 years, he retired in 2002. It wasn't until sometime in the last 5 years he worked that they started to buy new cars. For a very long time they would spend half the money on a semi-used car I would guess they probably had around 30,000 to 40,000 miles. There is no reason that normal law enforcment needs a brand new $40-50,000 car. No offense to you Law-Dawg, but I find this kind of spending by our public officials offensive.

 

[ArcticLight]

Re: New wheels.......

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MN sharpshooter</div><div class="ubbcode-body">There is no reason that normal law enforcment needs a brand new $40-50,000 car.</div></div>

FYI FLeet discount, used to be about $8000, significantly lower than a civilian would buy, a couple hundred bucks on lights, re-use radios/radar...

$10k - and MOST departments use them for up to 150,000 miles nowdays..

When maintenance at 150,000 miles begins to cost more than half of a new car they are replaced.

I hear what you are saying but things have changed.

 

[Da-Law-Dawg]

Re: New wheels.......

MN,

No offense taken my friend and given the state of the economy, small local governments are hit extremely hard.

I am a 14 year veteran in law enforcement and this was the first new unit I have ever had. This car replaced a 2004 Impala with almost 100,000 miles on it and it was starting to nickle and dime our department on maintenance.

Cost on the new car was far under your estimate however. I upfitted the cruiser while I was on the clock, between calls. That negated any expense paid for upfitting. Radio and other electronic equipment was taken out of the old unit and installed into this one to save on cost as well. Tally on the new car, upfitted, was under $30K. We saved every dime we could, as we are a small local agency and strained enough on our budget.

We took bids from different dealerships to get the lowest possible price and save where we could. A local dealership (we strive to keep our expenditures within the community) lost out as they were almost $3,000 over the lowest bid. We also stayed with the Impala, even though, they are scheduled for either re-fitting or to be phased out. We looked at the Caprice as well but due to cost we stayed with the Impala.

 

[smokshwn]

Re: New wheels.......

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MN sharpshooter</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Very nice car but a perfect example of why our country is so far in debt. If its not bad enough that every individual wants to have everything brand new and thinks they need it, every sector of our government thinks the exact same thing. My father was a cop for 30 years, he retired in 2002. It wasn't until sometime in the last 5 years he worked that they started to buy new cars. For a very long time they would spend half the money on a semi-used car I would guess they probably had around 30,000 to 40,000 miles. There is no reason that normal law enforcment needs a brand new $40-50,000 car. No offense to you Law-Dawg, but I find this kind of spending by our public officials offensive. </div></div>

Are you joking...

Time and again you can run the numbers and show over and over that running new cars to the 100-150k mark and selling saves more money over the course of ownership than the maintenance on used cars alone.

Let's not even talk about where any agency with more than 10 officers is going to find that many used cars at once. You would have a nightmare trying to maintain various models all of which would have no police package nor design features making them suitable for patrol use.

 

[Switchblade]

Re: New wheels.......

All joking aside, fleet LEO vehicles are the most robust and well built, in most cases, vehicles in a fleet. They are meant for long term use and performance. I can see the purchase of new vehicles in any community LE program simply because the new vehicles have technological capabilities the old ones do not. It is a long, far step away from Roscoe P. Copltrain and a CB these days, and if an agency can get teh ability to sync with Homeland and other agensies in one package, have at it, it benefits all of US

 

[The Mechanic]

Re: New wheels.......

It also has to do with warranty and liability concerns. You have VERY little maintainance costs when the vehicle is new. The warranty takes care of all concerns "even abuse". There is a liability issue that comes into effect also. If it is still under warranty and something fails it is much less likely to lose a lawsuit on issues of collisions etc. Also as vehicle technology increases you have better brakes, better mileage with higher horsepower, less emmissions, better safety equipment, better electronics, more reliable, less breakage and a better public image. Do you really want to see your local PD driving a 76' Ford LTD on a high speed pursuit?