Why do the police (UK) use so many Volvos?

Question

I watched something about the traffic police on the TV last night and every car was a volvo - something i have noticed before.

what's so good about them? - you could get a BMW for the price of one, do they get a discount or something?

Answer 1

It is up to the fleet manager of each individual force to decide which cars to use and the decision is usually based on 3 main points.

1. Suitability for purpose

2. Cost effectiveness

3. Safety

Pretty much any reliable diesel car will work as a general patrol car. That's why you see diesel Focus or Astras. Cheap to buy, cheap to run and even with 120000 miles on the clock people will buy them second hand.

Traffic cars need to be powerful enough to keep up with any car that may make off in a pursuit situation. The T5s are 250bhp and there are very few cars on the road that can get away from one. Volvo also offer big discounts so the costs are kept down and Volvo have always been market leaders in the safety department.

Traffic departments are often sent new cars from manufacturers to test for suitability and so Volvo have no exclusive right of supply. We had a Subaru Forrester to test with the same engine as the traffic Imprezas. That was very good plus it had four wheel drive which can only be a good thing in TPAC situations. The final decision was that it was not as composed in the corners as the Volvos and so we stuck with them.

In relation to the BMWs some forces do use them but generally they are more expensive to buy if you want one with the same performance as the Volvos and they are not as economical. They are probably as good but it comes down to cost.