Ford Introduces New Taurus-based Police Car

[Tros]

It is not popular opinion on the matter, but at the end of the day, departments choose the vehicle with the lowest daily operating costs (within the vehicle type they are looking for, of course).

The Crown Vic had a cult-like following for good reason. It was cheap to buy, cheap to maintain (durable), the RWD platform was prefered over a FWD platform for high-speed stability, plenty of room, ease of trunk space access, and departments could typically transfer it's aftermarket accessories into the newer vehicle if the budget is tight.

Unibody designs haven't seemed to fare as well to abuse as the traditional body-on-frame design, but I do beleive they can be made to; it's just going to take a company to be serious about it to make things happen. I do like to see AWD as an option, however I am curious about the price jump to get the AWD. The Taurus appears to have plenty good things going for it, but only time will tell.

At the end of the day, whoever has the most durable, low cost to own, and moderate performing large sedan is going to control the LEO market. It just remains to be seen if Ford's gamble will pay off.

 

[Drew2000]

Another factor to consider is Ford wants to shed it's fleet image, esp. for the Lincoln brand. Too many folks associate Lincoln with the Town Car and livery vocations.

With the great new cars that Ford already has, and others arriving shortly, Ford is concentrating on it's new image as a viable alternative to Asian brands with high quality cars and trucks that are more fun to drive.

The average price paid for the 'Vic is more than 25% off Ford's MSRP, much higher than the 4-6% discount off their other models.

Reality is Ford doesn't make very much money on the 'Vic fleet sales and will continue to concentrate on cars that are popular, sell in larger numbers and most importantly are profitable.

If the new police Taurus is sucessful, Ford will be very happy with the increased sales, but if not, the effect on the bottom line will be fairly small.

 

[Nick R]

Gary you said that they make good Taxis. I Would disagree with you here. They are big inside, and comfortable yes. But again heres the thing. At least in big cities, they spend 90% of the time idling in city traffic. Maybe a car like the volt would be better suited to this enviroment.

Not the volt, god no its too small and probably uncomfortable, but I mean an electric car. Or at least a 4 cylinder powered car with engine-auto shutoff and an electrically run A/C compressor. This would cut fuel costs and consumption by a magnitude. Maybe the Buick Lacrosse 2.4L, with the mentioned modifications.

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

Originally Posted By: Drew2000
Another factor to consider is Ford wants to shed it's fleet image, esp. for the Lincoln brand. Too many folks associate Lincoln with the Town Car and livery vocations.



I really do not see what is wrong with associating your car with livery vocations...I guess not everyone sees it that way and thats fine.

I do not buy any vehicle unless it has been tested by the police and livery tested...I drive from Miami to NYC and beyond every so often and sit in bumper to bumper traffic alot in jungle heat with the a/c on all the time..I figure if it holds up for the police/livery its good enough for me....So far by doing that it has worked out well for me...My family does it now also.

I talk to the cops in Miami Beach often enough so I generally know if there are any issues with their cars...Miami Beach is all stop and go driving with alot of gridlock.

It will be interesting how the new Taurus holds up once law enforcement get their hands on it...South Florida seems deadicated to Ford [for the most part] so I have no doubt I will be seeing the PI around when it comes out.

 

[oilboy123]

Yep time will tell, I hope it works out for Ford and the users. According to the video they have done a lot of homework on the TPI "Taurus police interceptor".

I hope enough is done to the TPI to enable it to have good reliability and toughness, as well as reasonable maintenance expenditures. I guess making a video and talking the talk only go so far.
CROWNVIC4LIFE let us know when you get feedback, I would love to know how they do.

 

[Gary Allan]

Originally Posted By: rudolphna
Gary you said that they make good Taxis. I Would disagree with you here. They are big inside, and comfortable yes. But again heres the thing. At least in big cities, they spend 90% of the time idling in city traffic. Maybe a car like the volt would be better suited to this enviroment.

Not the volt, god no its too small and probably uncomfortable, but I mean an electric car. Or at least a 4 cylinder powered car with engine-auto shutoff and an electrically run A/C compressor. This would cut fuel costs and consumption by a magnitude. Maybe the Buick Lacrosse 2.4L, with the mentioned modifications.


Good points, but just like police duty, NOT having down time and having to replace a unit (up to 400k reported in taxi service, which may be the equivalent to 1M in passenger car service) at who knows what cost goes a long way to offset that aspect of efficiency. Not all taxi service is bumper to bumper idle work. It's flashing from the air port to wherever with luggage and multiple passengers ..etc..etc.

Now there is surely room in the market for other entrants, but as far as I have seen, the market itself did not seek these alternatives out of it's own volition. The Crown Vic was the chassis of choice for this service.

 

[Dualie]

Puts card to forehead: "epic fail"

Open envelope: what is the new Taurus based CVPI?

CHP will never adopt a FWD or AWD patrol car. Ford just handed all of those sales over to the general.

And most of the local departments just look at what CHP does and fallows. A rear drive full size 4 door V8 body on frame platform works best for the kind police work that happens on the west coast.

 

[GMGuy]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan

Not as they're doing it now. They could have easily combined the PI with the taxi production. Not a big adaptation, imo. Same engine, same trans, same fail safe cooling system.. 6" longer wheel base and mostly the same parts. I'm sure the Canadian production would have managed it all ..at a profit.


Unless I'm misinterpreting you, the Crown Vic, Grand Marquis, in all its iterations (cop, civvie, taxi, and town car) all come down the line concurrently. There is no separation of building a bunch of cop cars, then a batch of taxis, or a batch of whatever.
Long Wheel base also comes down the line with anything else, only the body is pulled off at one stage for fitting the 6" extension and hanging the rear doors.

Late '08 they added the Town Car to STAP, so theres an interesting political twist. Spend the money to move TC production to a plant they knew they would be closing...

Alex.

 

[super20dan]

i will be happy to see the vic go but for diff reasons. i am sick to death of seeing ex police vics driven by gansta thugs thinking they look cool ! it should be illegial-impersinating a ploice officer type offence

 

[Gary Allan]

Originally Posted By: GMGuy
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan

Not as they're doing it now. They could have easily combined the PI with the taxi production. Not a big adaptation, imo. Same engine, same trans, same fail safe cooling system.. 6" longer wheel base and mostly the same parts. I'm sure the Canadian production would have managed it all ..at a profit.


Unless I'm misinterpreting you, the Crown Vic, Grand Marquis, in all its iterations (cop, civvie, taxi, and town car) all come down the line concurrently. There is no separation of building a bunch of cop cars, then a batch of taxis, or a batch of whatever.
Long Wheel base also comes down the line with anything else, only the body is pulled off at one stage for fitting the 6" extension and hanging the rear doors.

Late '08 they added the Town Car to STAP, so theres an interesting political twist. Spend the money to move TC production to a plant they knew they would be closing...

Alex.


I didn't know the intricacies of production, just that while the CV was not available to the public after a certain point (I forget the year) the taxi, with identical drive train could still be purchased by anyone. An "end run around" if you will on the restricted Grand Marquis requirement. Naturally you got the traditional Ford "taxi/limo" package ..but the same fail safe cooling system ..etc..etc.

I've yet to see minivans widely adopted for taxi service. The demand for this chassis has to be enough to sustain some level of continued production.

Progress for progress's sake and let the costs be darned. New patents ..new parts contracts..new designs ..new new new ..and all with well masked $$$$ in the mix.

 

[EricF]

Just bring back the Maurader and make an AWD version too.