Hello all,
Being a stranger to these parts, I have noticed that quite a few police vehicles around the Orpington/West Kent area are painted silver rather than the traditional white.
They are proper patrol/panda cars with full stripes, markings and lights. At first, I thought that perhaps it was a Met thing, but then I saw a silver Terrano from Kent Constabulary.
It doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things what colour the police choose to have their cars - I'm just curious as to why they seem to have changed to silver for all their recent deliveries.
Cheers
Rob
"Lord of Lard"
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Yup, I think Kent started it.
Simple reason is that white cars do incredibly badly at resale time so if you buy a white T5, you look like you're driving a cop car even if you're not. Cop cars that are white are therefore punished doubly, triply when you think of the high mileages they do.
The result is that the police reckon that, by going for a popular metallic colour (i.e., silver, because it goes well with the flourescent livery) they'll get more than the extra cost back at resale time.
It's the same reason why most German taxis are delivered in a metallic colour and then wrapped in their characteristic beige colour, rather than being painted that way from the factory, which is cheaper up front.
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Fluorescent, not flourescent.
They're police, not bakers.
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I heard somewhere that ACPO have decided to adopt the silver colour nationally so we should all see silver marked cars appearing.
I know North Wales police had a Ford Focus training vehicle in silver, fully battenburged and with blues and twos, that was 3 or 4 years ago.
Our local station have just had a Toyota Corolla D4D community beat car delivered in silver with full livery so maybe the next batch of pandas will come the same.
PP
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David will you PLEASE let us know how the exam results go?
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Parked in the street outside a nick near me was a Silver Audi A6.
Nothing odd about that, except my gaze was drawn to what I guess would be a tow hook recepticle in the front bumper. Normally covered by a small plastic square, it was instead filled by a small video camera lens!
No whip antennae on the roof, no appendages hanging from the ceiling between front sun visors, nothing on the rear parcel shelf. Infact, nothing at all to tell you it was a Plod car apart from what I noticed as I passed by.
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"..if you buy a white T5, you look like you're driving a cop car even if you're not"
Which will soon apply to silver ones!
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Hello, Rob.
I only joined here a short while back, and at that time I hated bus drivers, and posted all sorts of nonsense, winding folks up.
You are a truly BRIGHT bloke.
Sorry, I don't mean to be patronising. I'm a Yorkshireman, who says what he thinks.
Yes, you're absolutely right. Police Authorities are on budgets. They have suddenly realised that the proceeds achieved at auction go towards the cash available to buy new cars.
White is the "worst" colour. Silver is the "best", most popular.
This, across the whole UK is predicted to be the new police car colour.
Very well done. I didn't spot it, like you, I only read about it in "Car mechanics" and again in HJ's "Used Car Buyer".
Excellent work.
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The T5 that stopped me on the M11 was painted black.
It's my excuse as to why I didn't see him join the motorway behind me, despite the stripes and lights.
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Sean,
Yorkshireman or not you are something of a classic.
Keep posting, eh?
HF
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Thanks HF, I just read your profile:
One of my better skills involves talking utter carp on here and requiring frequent moderation.
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tell me about it. [sigh]
No chance of a quiet week, I suppose ?
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Every chance.
HF, pledging to try and talk sense for a week or not to talk at all.
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Car colour is a fashion thing. It has not always been silver - chocolate brown springs to mind. When the police come to sell their cars they will want them painted in the then-fashionable colour.
So buying silver now is already out of date - what is next year's colour going to be?
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Yes Cleveland police have silver cars appearing (an M class merc amongst them!) and the other day, whilst driving to Guiseley I saw a red Saab, with the "battenberg" markings on the side, Police on the bonnet but with no lights on top!
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Car colour is a fashion thing. It has not always been silver - chocolate brown springs to mind. When the police come to sell their cars they will want them painted in the then-fashionable colour. So buying silver now is already out of date - what is next year's colour going to be?
I know one thing, and so do the old bill. Flat white will NOT be the "in" colour! Colour choices by buyers has been remarkable consistent in the last 20 years. Reds, Blues, Silvers. ( and Black on some marques)
I think they should bring back the old rileys and wolseys, in black, with a winkworth gong (thats bell)
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What they don't seem to have considered, is the need for more expensive body repair costs, with a metalic colour.
If the FREQUENT repairs Police vehicles have & judging by the 'get it back on the road,I'll add my view that there should be no such thing as an un-marked asap' attitude of the majority of repairers/fleet managers have, this will not take place.
Result will be a lower residual,similar to any car needing extensive refurbishment.The premium for non-white vehicles, may well have been wasted.
Even the extensive & expensive vinyl wrap, which would protect some of the car, from normal wear & tear,just gets masked up following a shunt, adding to a patchwork of paint colours.
I'll also add, that in my view, there is minimum need for un-marked/civillian spec Police vehicles.If you've a high visibility car , being used by, say CID, on enquiries, potentially countless crimes would be prevented, just by it's presence.
VB
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"I'll also add, that in my view, there is minimum need for un-marked/civillian spec Police vehicles.If you've a high visibility car , being used by, say CID, on enquiries, potentially countless crimes would be prevented, just by it's presence."
No...all it means is that the crims will know that if they can't see a police car, then no police are around.
If they see a police car they'll go someplace else to carry out their vallainy.
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Vansboy makes a good point.
The local Ford dealers accident repair centre deals with Northumbria Police cars, every single time I have visited there are at least two, sometimes three Focus and Fiesta panda cars in getting fixed.
They are all in White which presumably makes it easier to fix, especially for the colour match. Silver will make that harder...
Whilst I can see why they are doing it, personally I think they look good in White and look far less impressive in Silver. Durham Consatbulary have Merc E classes and they look great, wouldn't look anywhere near as good in silver...
Blue
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Here in Manchester there are several yellow patrol cars appearing, although they may be community vehicles. Still fully blues & twoed up tho.
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Most likely to be wrapped cars in another colour then. Otherwise they'll be challenging white for least popular colour at auction.
Apparently the police sometimes buy surplus stock in a field and so can't always get the exact spec they want. Also, I'm sure that whatever they buy, they get a good discount as they take large volumes and are high visibility in the sense that people believe police cars must be fast and tough, so perhaps the extra up front cost of metallic is minimal or even zero if you factor in the likely better availability of silver versus white.
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At the risk of contradicting myself, most of the criminal low life, plus anyone with a bit of interest in registration numbers/makes & vehicle specs, could ID an unmarked police vehicle at a fair distance. Same for Government/Forces fleets.
But park a marked vehicle in a dodgy area, on the petrol station forecort & opportunist crime THERE will drop.Bit like CCTV, moving the bigger problem somewhere else, though.
We all slow down, whatever our speed, if we SEE a Police car.
VB
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Just to update things, the first BIG release of SILVER cars, is on Monday, next.
You'll find a dozen or so Y plate diesel Astras, 80-100,000 mls, Manheim Auctions, Leeds.
Be intersting to know how they are presented for sale, I'm unable to go this week.
My guesstimate, £15-£1,800, could be cheap transport.
VB
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White on a many vehicles is now special order only, eg Landrover Disco, Range Raver etc, so maybe that's why they go for other colours as well???
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Looks like Cambridgeshire Constabulary are also doing a colour make-over - I saw a Mercedes E-class estate in silver and battenburg just yesterday, out in the Fens.
It's the first one I've seen, and I have to say the fluorescent (I can spell, too!) stripes made it look like an Essex Man's shell suit!! Apologies to all those living in that fair county ;-)
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