Intro

[cgchad]

Hello all,
I stumbled on this site while doing some research into different state laws regarding motor vehicles. Specifically a retired squad car. (I actually don't understand the criticism that some of you have for the retired cars, so far mine hasn't missed a beat, and its been on road trips everywhere from central Michigan to Dallas Texas.)
I am not a LEO don't claim to be, don't want to be. I do have a background as a volunteer with the USCG Auxiliary (12 years now, but not the typical Aux since I am closer in age to the average USCG officer). Not in it to fuel some sort of power trip or anything of the sort. I do it because of my extensive background in boating, and enjoy the search and rescue / public education aspects. As a result I am involved in the surface operations programs, and occasionally I am tapped by either the local Marine Safety Detachment or Sector to work a marine event as an Auxiliary Patrol Commander (AUXPATCOM). I received that tasking after being designated as such by the Capt. Of the Port. A side effect of that is I do end up working closely with various state / local / federal agencies. So it's possible I know some of the people on here, although I usually know the CLEO's more so than the patrol officers.

Having worked on water patrols for several major marine events every year, I can honestly say, I wouldn't cut it as a LEO and I know it. It didn't take long before I realized that the general population NEEDS LEO's, mainly to protect themselves from themselves.

My actual job, I design communication towers/poles, traffic signal structures, and power transmission towers/poles. Literally I can claim that every day you will at some point encounter something I designed. Unless you shut the power off to your house, turn off the radio, don't drive anywhere, and don't use your cell phone.

I also would like to take a moment to thank the moderator's whom helped with a preliminary question I had prior to this posting.

[marinepilot]

cgchad, Welcome to RP from the Florida Panhandle! And thanks for the amazing intro! Even though you're not interested in becoming a LEO, I hope you'll stick around and check out our site, and maybe throw in your opinions once in a while. Tons of great stuff here, so dig in and really explore the space.

[mcsap]

Welcome to RP.

The criticism we have for our retired cars is this.....the vast MAJORITY of them were used hard and have roughly twice the amount of miles on the odometer than what is showing due to idle time. The newer Vic's have hour meters which only register when the car is in Park or neutral. Ford claims 32 miles of use should be added to the odometer for every hour of idle time.

You may have been lucky to get one that was an admin car etc. After we get rid of our 3-4 yr old Vic's , there is NO way I would ever buy one. Not to mention they are gas hogs and unless you NEED a big car , why have one ? My Civic gets a lot better mileage than a CV ever will.

[cgchad]

Thank you for the welcome's,
I can agree's with Ford's assesment of 32 miles per hour on the chronometer. I have often used that same comparison when people ask about number of hours on a boats engine compared to miles on a car.
I do not drive a CV, actually its one of the 04 Intrepids, and I am averaging about 20 mpg in town, which I don't think is terrible for a large sedan. I am not certain as to if it was an admin car or not, some of the residual marks / scars would kind of indicated maybe it was, but on the other hand, the tiny little rust lines at the roof line where the light bar was mounted contradicts the other things I see about the car.
The whole reason purchasing it is 2 fold. First, I needed another inexpensive car in decent shape. My previous car had put a near death scare in me as the steering column broke while I was driving in town. Not bad considering the car had close to 300,000 miles on it. I drove it for 6 of its 11 years of life. Secondly, I pay child support. By no means a deadbeat, but close to dead broke. The child support I pay comes to about 42% of my net pay. I have also realized getting a second job to have extra income does not help. Actually it makes things worse, since they will increase your child support every few years, based on your overall income.

[Safety Steve]

Good morning cgchad and welcome to RP! Enjoyed reading your intro! Stick around and have fun, lots of really good people here.



Be Safe.

[pac201]

Welcome to the site, it feels as if I already know you...good intro.

[greg72982]

Thank you for the welcome's,
I can agree's with Ford's assesment of 32 miles per hour on the chronometer. I have often used that same comparison when people ask about number of hours on a boats engine compared to miles on a car.
I do not drive a CV, actually its one of the 04 Intrepids, and I am averaging about 20 mpg in town, which I don't think is terrible for a large sedan. I am not certain as to if it was an admin car or not, some of the residual marks / scars would kind of indicated maybe it was, but on the other hand, the tiny little rust lines at the roof line where the light bar was mounted contradicts the other things I see about the car.
The whole reason purchasing it is 2 fold. First, I needed another inexpensive car in decent shape. My previous car had put a near death scare in me as the steering column broke while I was driving in town. Not bad considering the car had close to 300,000 miles on it. I drove it for 6 of its 11 years of life. Secondly, I pay child support. By no means a deadbeat, but close to dead broke. The child support I pay comes to about 42% of my net pay. I have also realized getting a second job to have extra income does not help. Actually it makes things worse, since they will increase your child support every few years, based on your overall income.

Not trying to beat you up but those Intrepid police cars had some major issues. The brakes would literally melt in pursuit situations. Hopefully for your financial sake it stays reliable because if not you'll be paying twice what it's worth in repairs. Dodge seems to have always struggled with brakes and automatic transmissions. We have a new Charger at work with about 3K miles on it and it already shifts rough.

[cgchad]

Greg,
I believe your referring to the phenomena with Dodge's that was nicknamed FBS, or Flaming Brake Syndrome. I read the reviews of the intrepid's through various sites, including the Michigan state police testing. It looked as though that problem was more prevalent on the 02's when they were first tested.
I have noticed with this car, and pretty much most Dodge vehicles, that they have a tendency to have a somewhat excessive amount of body pitch to them during braking. It's very noticeable on their trucks if you watch one rolling up to a stop sign, and compare it to one of the other full size trucks.
The intrepid's in particular seem to exhibit this same condition, so it takes a little bit of learning the car so to speak. I put some of that blame into the "cab forward design". Being a boat fanatic, and working in engineering, I understand the principles behind what is causing the excessive pitch. Quite honestly, by going to the "cab forward design" shifted the center of gravity forward on the vehicle by several inches. This in turn places more stress on the front brakes, versus a more symmetrical application of the braking pressure. Understanding at the same time though, that normal braking applies about 70% of the force to the front brakes. Dodges tend to be closer to 80% more in the front, in my opinion.
Since I am used to operating boats, I simply apply the same theories when driving. Boats don't have brakes, short of throwing the engine in reverse. So even before this vehicle, I always tended to be rather light on my brakes by allowing physics to do a vast majority of the work.
As for the other repairs, I know the two most expensive parts to contend with on these tend to be the cooling system (Its really installed upside down, the thermostat is on the bottom of the engines), and the transmissions. Tranny's do tend to run considerably more for Dodges than other vehicles. I suspect that's a supply and demand issue. Not enough used or rebuilt one's out there to keep up with the replacement rates.
The concerns are the same though, regardless of make or model, when purchasing any used vehicle. Even a one owner vehicle doesn't mean much if that one owner neglected or abused it the entire time. So I usually try to budget myself to replace the vehicle with another $5-6000 vehicle every 3-4 years. If they last longer, that's just a bonus. (This one was about half of what I had intended to spend)

[greg72982]

You also can't discount that FWD and police vehicles don't mix. Impala police cars eat trannies so I can only imagine the problems Dodge has. They are already crap.