[appaking]

Our small town (under 30K) paper had a report in it today from the city counsel meeting, front page of course. One subject that came up is the troubles they have had with the Charger police vehicles. They used language like "disasterous" and "total failure" to discribe their experience. Are other cities having similar issues? As a Mopar nut this upsets me. Here is the link to the paper. www.times-news.com .

Kev

 

[Sir Moses Wellington]

Older Chargers, doesn't surprise me all too much. And how old were their Crown Vics? Maybe they should try the New Charger cop cars, some of the interior issue has been fixed, don't understand the rest of it to be honest.

 

[Stratuscaster]

During the meeting, Rhodes also mentioned the disasterous experiences the city police department has had with its Dodge Chargers.

“They have not been real road-reliable in our environment. Driving in our town with the stops and starts has presented problems. I don’t know if it’s the design or what but they haven’t performed well,” said Rhodes in an interview following the meeting.

Cumberland Chief of Police Charles Hinnant echoed Rhode’s views.

“They have a small interior and they don’t stand up well. When we put a computer and the other equipment in them, they fill up fast,” said Hinnant.

“They don’t seem to have good visibility,” added Rhodes.

Traditionally, police departments used the Ford Crown Victoria.

“The Crown Vic was a tank. The suspension was built sound. We had few problems with them,” said Hinnant.

“They were built for police work. The Crown Vics have been traditionally very reliable,” Rhodes said.

Both men indicated that the Dodge Chargers needed frequent repairs. The city has five Chargers that they obtained in 2007 and 2008.

“We started having problems with them after the first year. We have had a lot of repairs ... engines, transmissions, wiring, you name it,” Hinnant said.

“They’ve been an extreme disappointment. We’ve had to use a couple of Chargers for parts. I think a couple of the Chargers have been totally replaced,” said Hinnant.

“The suspension and everything just doesn’t seem to be as strong,” said Rhodes.

Hinnant said they began getting the Crown Victoria again recently but said he is not sure what direction law enforcement will go with vehicles in the future.

Police vehicles are bid in packages through the state.

Wonder where they were getting Crown Victoria's from again - pretty sure production stopped on them.

 

[Sir Moses Wellington]

The last off the line were at the beginning of last year if I remember correctly.

 

[Doug D]

Our local sheriff's office is going with Ford Taurus' as the CV's go out of service. Seen a few around the county. The only law enforcement in the area with any Chargers is the MDTA that patrols the Harry W. Nice Bridge (toll).

 

[Bearhawke]

The last off the line were at the beginning of last year if I remember correctly.

Close. A few 2012 Panthers were built in Sept 2011 and that was it.

 

[TWX]

Working for an organization that owns a lot of vehicles and self-services, I wonder how many issues with the crown vics are simply known issues and fixed on-the-spot and frequently undocumented by the mechanics experienced with the cars, as opposed to the Charger presenting new issues that they're not yet practiced with fixing...

 

[Bearhawke]

Working for an organization that owns a lot of vehicles and self-services, I wonder how many issues with the crown vics are simply known issues and fixed on-the-spot and frequently undocumented by the mechanics experienced with the cars, as opposed to the Charger presenting new issues that they're not yet practiced with fixing...

Quite possible although the 4.6L V8 and AT used in the Panther platform have the rep of being almost bulletproof; it's nothing for a Panther to last 200K miles with just normal service. Plus the rear axle is quite simple and quite strong (8.8") unlike the IRS usually seen today in RWD cars.

 

[valiant67]

A lot depends on the attitudes of those involved. I had friends that worked for the City of Columbus police department and the Franklin County Sheriff's department back in the late 1990s. The city had been running Ford for years and had no real issues with them. The Sheriff's department missed the last time buy on the Caprice and had to settle for the Fords. And they had lots of issues with the Fords. The issues were probably amplified because they felt the Fords were forced on them.

My local county was one of the first to get Chargers in the area and even a couple Magnums. The Chargers are still used for the interstate speed enforcement, but now that the Crown Vic based Police Interceptors are discontinued they plan to test the Taurus based Interceptor and the new Caprice. They aren't getting more Chargers, though the Chargers are very popular with many county, city and the state police here in Georgia.

 

[AHBGuru]

Wonder where they were getting Crown Victoria's from again - pretty sure production stopped on them.

August of 2011 was the end of production for all Panther cars at STAP.