grbeck Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Yep... one of my favorite police car the 1975-78 Plymouth Fury. I grew up watching American TV shows while living overseas in the 80s. The Fury (and Dodge Monaco) were the default police car in many TV shows. I believe that Hazzard County, Georgia, was keeping the Chrysler Corporation in business for a few years, judging by the number of police cars the department wrecked on a regular basis. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traxiii Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 (edited) The CHP bought all PIUs to replace their Panthers and every LEO I've talked to raves about their Explorer, or wishes they had one. Only one municipality I've seen here in the South Bay Area is buying non-Fords. I tell them I feel sorry that they're driving chevy sedans, and they have all agreed. The PUI is now sort of a status symbol in the LEO community, especially the EB. Edited October 20, 2015 by traxiii Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 My town replaced everything with Explorer PIUs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 (edited) The CHP bought all PIUs to replace their Panthers and every LEO I've talked to raves about their Explorer, or wishes they had one. Only one municipality I've seen here in the South Bay Area is buying non-Fords. I tell them I feel sorry that they're driving chevy sedans, and they have all agreed. The PUI is now sort of a status symbol in the LEO community, especially the EB. CHP also bought PIU to replace Tahoe and F-150. That was a big deciding factor... to replace 3 fleets with a single model. Edited October 21, 2015 by bzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Rosadini Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 I believe that Hazzard County, Georgia, was keeping the Chrysler Corporation in business for a few years, judging by the number of police cars the department wrecked on a regular basis. Speaking of wrecks, I believe LA (City or County?) had two frame straightening machines in their shop-wreck the CV's on Monday-back on road a week later, or so I read someplace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Speaking of wrecks, I believe LA (City or County?) had two frame straightening machines in their shop-wreck the CV's on Monday-back on road a week later, or so I read someplace. It was LA city if I'm not mistaken. They were livid to say the least when the CV was axed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 (edited) i wonder if adding an Explorer EL with longer wheelbase (like Flex) would displace even more Tahoes? Edited October 21, 2015 by jpd80 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fgts Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 i wonder if adding an Explorer EL with longer wheelbase (like Flex) would displace even more Tahoes? It wouldn't. Like having a Suburban PPV, btw an Expedition SSV is available in short or EL wheelbase. http://www.fleet.ford.com/showroom/speciality-vehicle/expedition-special-service-vehicle/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullynd Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 i wonder if adding an Explorer EL with longer wheelbase (like Flex) would displace even more Tahoes? You seem to really like the idea of an Explorer EL. The Flex doesn't give Ford anything to help. The new stampings wouldn't be cheap. Retail doesn't care. PIU is too small a market. Besides, I doubt agencies choosing the Tahoe over the PIU are doing so due to middle row legroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 (edited) You seem to really like the idea of an Explorer EL. The Flex doesn't give Ford anything to help. The new stampings wouldn't be cheap. Retail doesn't care. PIU is too small a market. Besides, I doubt agencies choosing the Tahoe over the PIU are doing so due to middle row legroom. Yeah, I take that back because I can see why some PDs are now switching away from Tahoe to PIU; the rear leg room is almost the same, it's just the hip/shoulder room that slightly less. I can see the PIU costing a lot less than Tahoe, even with Ecoboost. On another subject, The added hip and shoulder room over the Taurus PI is where the PI Ute really shines, so it's not surprising to see Pds move in this direction, particularly when PIU is such a good package. Edited October 21, 2015 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 (edited) It was LA city if I'm not mistaken. They were livid to say the least when the CV was axed. Not true... LAPD was actually the lead agency calling for something besides CV. LAPD worked with Carbon Motors to develop a purpose build unibody police car that went nowhere. LAPD then encourages Chrysler to develop a Charger PPV and was the lead agency in field testing the model. It ended up placing one of the first order for the model when it became available. LAPD then worked directly with Holden and an Australian company to convert US-spec Pontiac G8 to police duty without input from GM US. This project went sideways when GM pulled the plug on Pontiac. And finally, when Ford PIS and PIU became available. LAPD ordered a whole bunch of both. PIS replaced Chevy Impala for both patrol and detective fleet. PIU replaced the Crown Vic and older Chargers and Toyota 4Runners. Edited October 21, 2015 by bzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fgts Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 LAPD is still majority CVPI, they ordered v6 only Chargers with 3.7 PI/PIU mixed in a while ago. Ironically a city known for cars and the pd hate to buy a new fleet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 LAPD is still majority CVPI, they ordered v6 only Chargers with 3.7 PI/PIU mixed in a while ago. Ironically a city known for cars and the pd hate to buy a new fleet. I think you'll find that Ford fed as many CVPIs to LAPD as they would take before the end, a large PD like that needs to be sure about switching so no wonder they are takingtheir time... It also gives Ford time to improve the vehicles by slow evolution, iron out bugs, maybe new engines... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 (edited) LAPD is still majority CVPI, they ordered v6 only Chargers with 3.7 PI/PIU mixed in a while ago. Ironically a city known for cars and the pd hate to buy a new fleet. That's only because LAPD had a huge CV fleet. It takes time for them to cycle out. LAPD has a very large motor vehicle operation department and it is known for having multiple fleets. They were stuck with CV as the main patrol vehicle for a long time due to lack of choice. The current LAPD patrol fleet consists of the following: Crown Vic (being phased out) Impala (being phased out) Caprice (LAX airport police only) Charger Tahoe and a handful of Yukon (being phased out) Expedition PIS (replacing Impala in patrol and unmarked fleet) PIU (replacing Tahoe, 4Runner, and Crown Vic) 4 Runner (being phased out) Tacoma I live in West LA and I haven't seen a Pacific Division CV in a while. It's all PIU and Chargers, and Tacoma. BTW, the 2016 PIU have arrived at LAPD... LAPD Ford Utility w/ Valor Lightbar by sig meister, on Flickr And the unmarked PIS... Los Angeles Police by CODE 4, on Flickr Edited October 23, 2015 by bzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Ford gave LAPD all the CVPIs they wanted right up to the closing of STAP and now it gets to progressively replace them with PIU - excellent foresight. Will we be seeing changes in the engine line up, the 2.0 EB seems a little small in Taurus when the 2.3 looks so much more capable without hurting gas mileage. And what of the 2.7 Ecoboost, could it be offered as an engine that potentially has a bigger sales footprint than current combined V6 and V6 EB sales? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old_fairmont_wagon Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 It looks like a lot of the suburb parishes surrounding New Orleans are beginning to cycle out the Chargers that they tried out to replace their CVPIs with PIUs. Same goes for some of the smaller surrounding cities. Kenner (surrounds New Orleans International Airport) went with the Caprice at first, but seems to have bailed on that recently and is now buying PIUs as well. State still seems to be sticking with the Tahoe, as do a lot of the lower lying areas (high ground clearance and tolerance of driving through flooded streets is a major factor around here). The federal agencies are still heavy Tahoe users, but higher ranking LEOs tend to have PIS and PIUs. I've seen a couple of new special services Expeditions in unmarked use recently. I talked to someone that does vehicle management for one of the agencies recently and it looks like the PIU may start to see extensive federal LE service going forward. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted October 24, 2015 Author Share Posted October 24, 2015 When is the Caprice going away? Looks like the NJSP are using them to replace the CV, but if its going away in the next year or two, I wonder if they'll go back to Ford. MDSP use a mix of PIS and Caprices...along with the local sherrifs office. The town next to me is using PI sedans and the other town has a few Chargers and PIUs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 When is the Caprice going away? Looks like the NJSP are using them to replace the CV, but if its going away in the next year or two, I wonder if they'll go back to Ford. Holden is closing its elizabeth plant in 2 years time, but they are expected to forward build product for Australian domestic market, so maybe they build enough Caprice and SS into CY 2018. The sales numbers are quite small so I don't see it mattering to much either way. MDSP use a mix of PIS and Caprices...along with the local sherrifs office. The town next to me is using PI sedans and the other town has a few Chargers and PIUs Holden has just released updated VF II Commodore and Caprice for the run to the finish, there is no GEN 5 DI V8, so the cars will stay with 6.2 PFI to the finish, probably all that's needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Ford gave LAPD all the CVPIs they wanted right up to the closing of STAP and now it gets to progressively replace them with PIU - excellent foresight. Will we be seeing changes in the engine line up, the 2.0 EB seems a little small in Taurus when the 2.3 looks so much more capable without hurting gas mileage. And what of the 2.7 Ecoboost, could it be offered as an engine that potentially has a bigger sales footprint than current combined V6 and V6 EB sales? I doubt we will see any engine changes in PIS since Taurus is deadman walking (as far as we can tell). 2.0 EB is not pursuit rated so it is a general service vehicle for departments that need cars for community service liaison or DARE program - things of that nature. If a PD is looking for patrol vehicle, it is either 3.5 V6 FWD PIS or 3.5 EB AWD PIS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 I doubt we will see any engine changes in PIS since Taurus is deadman walking (as far as we can tell). 2.0 EB is not pursuit rated so it is a general service vehicle for departments that need cars for community service liaison or DARE program - things of that nature. If a PD is looking for patrol vehicle, it is either 3.5 V6 FWD PIS or 3.5 EB AWD PIS. Might be a good option for detective vehicles too, where they need to get somewhere in a hurry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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