Looking at the West Oxford auction site the police vehicles still have there police markings.I wondered if these markings were painted or stuck on and how easy they were to remove. I once owned a van that had been in a breweries livery. The stuck on signs had been taken off but the name could still be read because the surrounding paint had faded. It didn't matter on a van but would not look good on a car.
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This is a bit tangential, but . . . I talked to a police patrol officer recently, as reported elsewhere in a speed bumps thread. What I didn't mention there was that his attitude to potential damage to the car was, and I quote, "Ah well, company car, so . . ." That was disappointing, but perhaps not so surprising, and is possibly salutary for anyone attracted by the idea of buying a former police car.
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Rather a nice thought, now-you-see-it-now-you-don't fuzz insignia on yr car, only visible when the light is from a certain angle. To circle even further round the subject, I once had a white VW 411 Variant with a dark blue front boot panel that made it look a bit like a German police car. I pointed this out to a policeman who had pulled me once and said I was considering painting POLIZEI backwards on the panel.
He said with lugubrious relish: 'If you do that you'll be stopped more often, sir.'
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"possibly salutary for anyone attracted by the idea of buying a former police car"
Especially if the driver has been speed-testing it on a motorway...
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>>Looking at the West Oxford auction site the police vehicles >>still have there police markings.
Ideal for armed robbers and bearded gentlemen with turbans ...
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Interestingly (or not), FAB, the BMW breakers, have three - presumably ex-constabulary - 3-series Tourings in white with reflective markings mostly removed. (www.fabdirect.com/index02.htm - caution advised)
Andrew
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(caution advised)
Why?
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No one has yet answered the question.
How easy is it to get the markings off? Please.
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I believe they're just stick on vinyl transfers. Should *just* peel off, and use something like white spirit to remove any sticky residue thats left, followed by a good polish / wax.
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>> (caution advised) Why?
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mss1tw,
I felt that some people might not be too happy looking at wrecked cars that people may have been KSI in.
No one has yet answered the question. How easy is it to get the markings off? Please.
Alan,
These breaking examples suggested to me that the stripes don't come off that tidily.
Andrew
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They'll come off easily with hot water or a hairdryer to soften the adhesive.
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With car decals in general I find that when they are removed you can often see a faint outline of the artwork - even after professional compounding and mopping. This is probably due to UV light affecting the paint to different degrees - depending on how much light gets through the different parts of the decal. The stickers and glue residue will come off easily enough, with a bit of elbow grease and solvent. 'Panel wipe' should shift the glue, I think.
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The Battenburg markings are an absolute pig to get off. I know because I regulary point and laugth at our mechanics as they pick it off.
Protects the paint very, very well though!
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Leave it in the sun on a warm day, or use a hairdryer to soften it as suggested above
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"a warm day"
Best to wait a bit, then (currently 1.4 deg outside my window, in the Isle of Wight!)
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The vehicle WILL have been de-liveried, prior to sale.
There will also be residue, which petrol soaked cloth & effort remove, reasonably well.
The problem areas are the silver/white thick reflectives, which sometimes get left - verrrry strongly bonded & can cause damage removing.
Machine polishing can return the faded areas, but expect to ess paintwork repairs, leaving hard edges, where the fresh paint was applied up to the stickers.
VB
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"The Battenburg markings are an absolute pig to get off"
Surely Battenburg markings are a piece of cake!?
Jack
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Why would anyone want to buy an ex-police car ?
These are cars that are being sold because they are more-or-less worn out. They have mostly covered high mileages and been driven uncaringly by many different people, and in some cases been subjected to thrashings that most normal cars never see.
Okay there is the old argument that they get serviced more often and to a higher level, but just changing the brake pads more often doesn't make the overall fabric of the car any better.
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Prime example of this yesterday in Lancaster... Coming round the one way system, after a mooch around the shops, Police car on the curb, swithces on the blue lights and must have red lined it in 1st gear to pull off, bumped down the curb (catching the front skirt on the road), massive cloud of Black smoke, completely stupid driving as Red traffic lights 100yards in front, which he was at very least going to have to slow down for! Police cars must get an absolute thrashing!
I would imagine some of the beat cars up in the lakes might make a good buy though.....
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