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Posted: 5/5/2004 3:08:11 AM EDT
[#1]
You are a Deputy? I feel your pain. We tried them for a week the first year they came out and wouldn't touch them. My part time agency has one, but its a village PD; no need for speed there.
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Posted: 5/5/2004 5:46:07 AM EDT
[#2]
Your reaction is typical when a PD changes cruisers. Cops always think their old cars were better. We have 60-70 Impalas in our fleet and have been getting them since 2000. They are excellent cars for a municipal PD. Reliablity is good. Performance is good. We run mostly two man cars and we don't have any problems. Perhaps you should get to Lansing, Mich. this September and show them where they made their mistakes. I have contact info for their vehicle evaluation team. All you have to do is ask them for an invitation. They will even buy you lunch. BTW if your going 119+ MPH, you probably don't belong in a police car. |
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Posted: 5/5/2004 6:20:29 AM EDT
[#3]
Impalas? You have my sympathies. Maybe the powers that be will change their minds when the repair bills start rolling in.
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Posted: 5/5/2004 6:41:27 AM EDT
[#4]
Well, we are a city PD and we just got rid of our Impalas. They SUCKED. Our Impalas spent more time in the shop than out on the street. They had poor ground clearance. They were too narrow (unless there was no cad in the car, but leg room was good). They had less visibility in the 10 and 2 o'clock positions and the 5 and 7 o'clock positions (but this was because of our cages). They had poor acceleration and poor top speed.
Oh, and since we have an interstate (I 95) and a major state route (Rt 3) running through our city we have had plenty of times where we needed to go fast. |
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Posted: 5/5/2004 7:12:50 AM EDT
[#5]
I want my 97 crown vic with over 100,000 miles back
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Posted: 5/5/2004 8:37:50 AM EDT
[#6]
Dunno bout the Impalas, but I sure as hell miss our Chevy Caprice LT-1's. Those things made driving the vics like patrolling in a VW bug.
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Posted: 5/5/2004 2:18:18 PM EDT
[#7]
I feel for you! Hopefully yours won't have the massive electrical system failures that the group we got have had. It is real neat when you hit the switch to do a stop on that dark street, and the whole electrical system shorts out!!!hock.gif
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Posted: 5/5/2004 3:45:11 PM EDT
[#8]
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Posted: 5/5/2004 3:51:13 PM EDT
[#9]
Obviously you work for a municipal agaency. Let me ask you this.... If you were working a midnight shift and made a traffic stop out in the open country and suddenly you were jumped and was fighting for your life would you expect your partner, who happens to be 45 miles away, to drive 75 mph to back you? Or how about this...You are cruising along an open 4 lane divided Hwy and clock a vehicle at 104 mph. How fast do you need to go to catch him??? If your car only goes 110 mph it will take you 10 miles to catch the guy because your only gaining at a rate of 6 mph. Thats equal to a fast jog!!! I just wish all City Kitty's were required to go through some sort of training in common sense. Most feel that a 3-5 min response for a backup is common practice. When your the Lone Ranger and Tonto is a 40 minute ride away you sure hope his horse will get him there quick! |
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Posted: 5/5/2004 6:15:37 PM EDT
[#10]
Thanx, for your views. Then again some of us are patrolling the 55-65 mph roads, with 100 sq miles patrol areas. |
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Posted: 5/5/2004 6:52:18 PM EDT
[#11]
And yet others of us have NO backup at all out on the Great Lakes... or a remote National Park... etc. Oh that's right I forgot us greenpants aren't real LE.  Back on topic, sorry to hear you lost the Crown Vic. I drive a Vic when I'm on land patrol, & love it. |
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Posted: 5/5/2004 6:52:40 PM EDT
[#12]
I have a 92 Caprice ex-RCMP cruiser I'll sell you.
 bought it at a Crown asset auction 8 years ago..and the damn thing just keeps going and going. Our local RCMP detachment is getting Impala's now. I don't expect them to stand up well in our corner of the world. |
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Posted: 5/6/2004 4:56:15 AM EDT
[#13]
Never worked 8200 square miles of county,,, did you ????? Jay |
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Posted: 5/6/2004 7:34:40 AM EDT
[#14]
What is this driving thing? I walk!
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Posted: 5/6/2004 8:15:06 AM EDT
[#15]
After driving with you in Dallas...I can understand why they make you walk! 
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Posted: 5/6/2004 10:08:46 AM EDT
[#16]
Just wait till you have to put a drunk, combative, 6'7", 275 lb. football player in the back seat.
Grab a shoe horn and two friends to help. Dave |
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Posted: 5/6/2004 3:13:48 PM EDT
[#17]
I am 6'4" and tip in at 250. I don't think I have to worry about putting anybody in the back seat because once I get in at the beginning of the shift I try not to get out until the end! This POS also has a cage in it, and a Panasonic Toughbook mounted right in the middle of the hump!!!
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Posted: 5/6/2004 7:01:57 PM EDT
[#18]
I feel your pain, man. My Agency HAD 2 CV's and a marked Blazer. Last year, we went to 2 Impalas and the Blazer. Since we got them, 1 of the Impalas has been in the shop for a completely fried electrical system and the other is in and out of the shop with the engine shutting itself off while driving. The dealer "can't" find the problem, or so they say.
Both have such low ground clearance they scrape crossing half the intersections in town. We're told it's because of the air dam, which can't be removed It voids the warranty since it deflects air up through the radiator to cool the engine, or so we were told. Watch the brakes, they fade REAL BAD if you ever have to stand on them. Don't ask how I know. I'm 6'2" and these Impalas are the most uncomfortable excuse for a cruiser I ever drove. No leg room, no room to get comfortable. About half the perps we arrest have to ride sideways in the back because of the non-existant legroom in the back. We have constant electrical problems with both of them, even the one that had the system rebuilt. A local Agency just bought one that came from GM with the friggin' ENGINE MOUNTS loose. This torqued the tranny, which had to be replaced along with the engine mounts. Talk about a POS! We NEVER had these problems with CV's! We keep a marked CV with about 125,000 miles on it for when the Impalas break down, which is about once a month. Even with 125,000 miles, the CV is easily 100 times the cruiser the Impalas are. It out-accelerates, out-brakes, out-performs the Impalas and is more comfortable and has better gas mileage to boot! We mourn the loss of out beloved CV's but the Dept is replacing the Blazer this year...with another FRIGGIN' IMPALA!!! Parts commonality, dontcha know. What a crock! Bub |
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Posted: 5/8/2004 9:09:18 AM EDT
[#19]
never had a pursuit on the highway with a real bad guy (violent felon) before have you??? |
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Posted: 5/8/2004 1:05:04 PM EDT
[#20]
On the subject of Impalas:
Our service center had a visit from a GM drivetrain cooling engineer this week. It seems the 03's (I'm driving one) had the newly added tranny cooler plumbed wrong (not his doing). It goes tranny-cooler-radiator-tranny. It should be tranny-radiator-cooler-tranny. It is factory fixed on the 04's. On the 03's, he said to cut the lines behind the radiator, and switch them. 5 minute fix. FWIW, I like the Impala better than the CV. Also, GM is currently working on putting a 5.3 liter version of the Corvette 5.7 liter in the Impala. It will still be front wheel drive, about 300 HP, and about 330 torque. The biggest issue with this combo: Cooling. The nose might have to be extended a few inches to accomidate larger radiators, and external coolers, but everything else will pretty much stay the same. They wanted to import the Aussie built Holden for public and police use, but the UAW cried, and GM gave in. Jay |
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Posted: 5/8/2004 3:45:18 PM EDT
[#21]
What fun is it being a policeman if you have to drive a little clown car?
Oh some department near me supposedly went to-get this-rear wheel drive only Blazers (maybe they are explorers) we have more snow than many parts of Alaska, it certainly has cut down on the police attempting to chase down speeders from about November through April.
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Posted: 5/8/2004 7:27:05 PM EDT
[#22]
Walk? I take the subways. Takes me about 20 minutes to get from one job to another. |
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Posted: 5/8/2004 10:26:07 PM EDT
[#23]
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Posted: 5/9/2004 2:57:10 AM EDT
[#24]
I was Down Under in Feb and got the chance to ride in the Holden Commodroe squad car. It really kicks some serious ass!!! It is basically the Pontiac Grand Prix rebadged with a really big motor in it. 6.0 seems to stick in my mind!! Had no troubles getting up to 220 Kilometer per hour!! It was a stick too!
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Posted: 5/9/2004 8:01:30 AM EDT
[#25]
It's the 5.7 liter Corvette motor. It would be simple enough to have it EPA certed here, but again, the UAW stands in the way. Jay |
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Posted: 5/9/2004 10:02:41 AM EDT
[#26]
I hate Impalas because I worked on a die thatwas a real clusterfuck for that car back in 1999. The part is an aluminum W shaped brace that goes around the steering column to spreak the drivers legs to keep them from breaking in a crash. A typical stamping die takes 6 months to build, this one too 15 months! It was a really complex part and needed to be done in two different stamping presses, but GM insisted on having it done in one. I spent 6 weeks laying on my back in a stamping press grinding on that motherfucker. Eery time I see one of those cars I am reminded of that hot summer, sweating, covered in grit trying to get the part right.
Just awful. Dave |
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Posted: 5/9/2004 10:29:45 PM EDT
[#27]
Apparently, Dodge is producing a 2005 police package Intrepid - rear wheel drive with the V8 Hemi. Should be a fast car with a little less room inside than the Crown Vic. Never drove an Impala, but the city guys like them for town use. I gave up the Camaro after about four months. Sucks to get in and out of.
Looking forward to the Dodge for a new era of police interceptors! |
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Posted: 5/12/2004 12:17:11 PM EDT
[#28]
They made you go to an impala? that sux baaad! |
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Posted: 9/9/2004 1:29:56 PM EDT
[#29]
Well, got 13000 miles on this now, and what a dog it is. Only warranty work I had done was when I pulled up to the gas pump, got out and took key with. When I got back into the car the key went into the ignition but would not turn at all!!! Ultimately had it towed to GM Dealer where they replace lock cylinder.
What a POS!!! |
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Posted: 9/9/2004 2:29:57 PM EDT
[#31]
As a friend of mine that works on police Impala's said, "I have the best job security in the world. As long as idiots keep buying them, I've got all the work I can handle." He even attends local city council meetings to try to encourage them to buy Impalas. It's still better than the Dodge Intrepid that the city bought a few months ago. According to a customer of mine that's seen the service records, he said it spends almost 10 days in the shop for every day on patrol. Why would someone buy something like that for the police to drive? I'll never understand that.z |
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Posted: 9/11/2004 3:19:26 PM EDT
[#32]
GM gave up on the new GTO project?! That sucks. |
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Posted: 9/11/2004 4:15:52 PM EDT
[#33]
What about SUV's...
Where I live our regional police drive suburbans.... plenty o' room in there I assume
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Posted: 9/11/2004 6:54:27 PM EDT
[#34]
From what I've seen of civilian Intrepids, they have no trunk room, so after an agency outfits them I willing to bet your going to have everything you cary in your lap. |
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Posted: 9/13/2004 5:13:15 PM EDT
[#35]
Could this be the answer to the Impala?
. . .  . . Officially, the Dodge Magnum will be offered with a police package in the 2006 model year. However, Dodge is also offering a Dodge Magnum SXT to police departments for "special service use" (which means it isn't fully equipped for squad / pursuit use). We suspect it will be included in the A squad version of its LX replacement2004 Michigan State Police testing (we will report on it in November). The standard 3.5-liter High Output V-6 engine on the official police package will have 250 horsepower and 250 lb-ft. of torque, and will be coupled to the Mercedes five-speed electronic automatic, with 18-inch V-rated tires and steel wheels, heavy-duty police brakes and linings and heavy-duty suspension. The Hemi with cylinder deactivation will also be available. The 2006 Dodge Magnum police package will include a certified speedometer, column shifter, emergency rear door lock override, heavy-duty five-link suspension system, heavy-duty alternator, heavy-duty battery, heavy-duty brakes, inoperable rear door locks and rear windows, and special police electrical wiring. Optional equipment includes daytime running lamps, dual spot lamp, police-type heavy-duty front seats with manual lumbar adjustment and full-size spare tire. Regards, Gary |
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Posted: 9/14/2004 9:41:25 PM EDT
[#36]
The present model Impala's suck. The Intrepids aren't much better.
I want my old Pursuit Caprice back. |
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Posted: 9/14/2004 9:47:15 PM EDT
[#37]
Im sorry, I buy used Vics and use them for my cars. I got a 95 Impala now, but I want another Crown Vic. I dorve a normal 2001 Impala a few times, it just sucks.
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Posted: 9/15/2004 7:09:47 AM EDT
[#38]
My Dept. has now replaced all of our Impala's with Crown Vics which are definitely proving to be more reliable, but they are not performing quite as well as the Caprice's did.
I was so impressed with LT-1 Caprice's, back when we had them, that I ended up buying an unmarked (no spotlights and only two antenna holes) '94 and fixing it up. Since then I have bought three others (well, one was a '96 civilian model w/ all the options, including the LT-1, that I got for my wife). They are a "poor man's '94-'96 Impala SS" and are safe and reliable. My latest Caprice ('95) is Dark Grey/Green Metalic with an LT-1, ceramic metalic coated headers, two 590 cfm Random Tech catalytic converters, a K&N air filter in a drilled airbox (with custom plumbing to the throttle body intake), Megnecore ignition wires, an LT-4 knock sensor, and an Earton Posi unit. I am going to be replacing the stock mufflers with some Summit Turbo mufflers and replacing the stock intermediate exhaust tubing with some custom bent pipes, but I want the outlets to stay stock. With this setup, the car should still sound stock at idle. 
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Posted: 9/15/2004 7:37:04 AM EDT
[#39]
My Dept. has nearly 50 Impalas in our fleet. We've had no serious or unusual problems. We've been buying them since 2000. Other than being on the small side, they are fine for urban police work. In fact they have taken a lot of abuse, typical of police work and have held up very well. I think they've held up better than the Caprice Classic's.
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Posted: 9/15/2004 2:21:06 PM EDT
[#40]
That's interesting. Do you guys have take homes or are they pooled? Our cars can get up to 20 hours of use per day. One of the biggest problems we had was the ground clearance. It would drag the chasis over speed bumps or when we had to hop curbs. The front wheel drive was allways getting out of alignment from pothole/curb abuse also.
The lack of horsepower also was a pain. We have an interstate running through the city and it was nice to be able to get to someone marked out on the interstate quicker in the Caprice or the Crown Vic's. The marked caprice's could easily do 135, but more importantly, they got up to speed quicker. Some departments like them....that's ok, but they just didn't work out here. I did like the power seats though :) |
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Posted: 9/15/2004 7:40:23 PM EDT
[#41]
Our cars are pooled. The early models had a problem with ground clearance and GM designed new sub frames and replaced them all under recall. The warranty type repairs we are experiencing aren't showing chronic problems with major components. We have replaced a lot of front wheel bearings and the cooling fans, though never twice on the same car. The vast majority of problems we experience are not design or mechanical problems, they are operator induced. It should be understood that Officers need to be trained to operate front wheel drive cars. They need to understand the limitations of the car and to keep the car within it's limitations just as they need to drive within their own limitations.
An Impala is not a full size rear wheel drive V8. It won't perform like one. But it is a solid reliable car and will take quite a bit of abuse. Our Caprices were junk piles by the time they got to 100K. Many of our Impalas are at the threshold and are going strong. |
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Posted: 9/15/2004 8:05:25 PM EDT
[#42]
The ever-famous Chevy 350/5.7L (Firebird, Camaro, Corvette, Caprice, old Impalas)... Pontiac brought over the smaller Holden coupe as the GTO... Oh yeah, the local SD over here uses Impalas for freeway patrol & the PDs all have Vics... A V6 vop car seems kind of odd to me, MCSD has ended up using Explorers for high-speed chases... |
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Posted: 9/16/2004 6:34:52 PM EDT
[#43]
Dang! Were getting them also. 5K cheaper. My Semi-marked camaro will be missed when its gone.
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Posted: 9/18/2004 6:07:17 PM EDT
[#44]
My desk is faster than your desk....oh yeah. I'm stuck on the desk most nights...curse these stripes!
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Posted: 9/19/2004 9:12:04 AM EDT
[#45]
The difference between the CV and the Impalas costs my city's dept. $3000 each. So 90 cars x $3000 = roughly $270,000 in savings, (going with the "Wimpalas"). I do say, those are sharp looking cars, but they're too small for a cop car. If they could make it a tad larger, with the Caprice LT1 Engine, you'd have a REAL cop car. That and brakes equivalent to NASCAR's. LOL so2315: You could never be more right bro. If I was in an accident, and the closest car to start was pretty far out there, I'd want him to have the fast car - at LEAST a standard V8. V6? WTF is that? Before you know it, you'll be hooking up a battery charger to your cruiser at the end of your shift - (Fuel Economy)..... |
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