No more salvaged police cars?
Staff writers
Marion’s police department, which recently has purchased only salvaged vehicles as squad cars, may be switching to buying only new vehicles and replacing them every 120,000 miles.
“I think I’m gonna cry,” Mayor Mike Powers said. “It makes me so happy that this is the kind of thing that we need to start doing. We need to go forward and do things with a plan as opposed to just reacting to things.”
The plan, drafted by City Administrator Brian Wells and Police Chief Aaron Slater, calls for five squad cars to be replaced on one of two proposed cycles — every nine years or when they reach 120,000 miles.
Four of the city’s current five cars were purchased as salvaged vehicles.
“By moving to new vehicles vs. salvaged vehicles, I think we can stretch the life and the mileage and reduce the cost over time,” Wells said.
Council member Tim Baxa added that the city might be able to sell its used police cars for a higher price if the city had original, new titles to them instead of titles clearly indicating that the vehicles were salvaged.
“We prefer a current, new vehicle, which will have a factory warranty with it,” Wells said.
New vehicles come with full three-year bumper-to-bumper warranties and limited six-year warranties, while salvaged vehicles have only a one-year limited warranty, Slater said.
Current vehicles, Powers said, have “a very limited warranty for a very limited time.”
Wells told council members that the proposal, offered Monday not for action but to stimulate discussion and study, was the first of several similar replacement schedules he will present to the council in coming weeks.
The department now has five vehicles:
- A 2012 Chevy Impala bought used in 2016. It has 100,000 miles on it.
- A 2018 Ford Explorer bought on a salvage title in 2019. It has 73,000 miles on it.
- A 2019 Ford Explores bought on a salvage title in 2021. It has 81,000 miles on it.
- A 2020 Ford Explorer bought on a salvage title in 2021. It has 29,000 miles on it.
- A 2023 Ford Explorer bought on a salvage title in 2025. It has 8,500 miles on it.
The department puts an average of 12,000 miles a year on the cars, Slater said.
The average lifespan of a Ford or Dodge patrol unit is 100,000 to 130,000 miles, depending whether the vehicle is properly maintained, Slater said.
One plan called for replacement when a vehicle reached 120,000 miles.
On the 120,000-mile replacement plan, the Impala would be replaced this year with a 2025 Dodge Durango.
The 2018 Explorer would be replaced in 2028, the 2019 Explorer would be replaced in 2029, the 2020 Explorer in 2033, a fifth vehicle in 2035, and another in 2037.
Slater’s nine-year replacement plan also called for the Impala to be replaced this year with a 2025 Dodge Durango.
The 2018 Explorer would be replaced in 2028. Another Explorer would be replaced in 2029.
Slater’s plan didn’t predict replacement dates after that time.
“You’re planning on doing this for other departments, other vehicles?” Powers asked Wells.
“Yeah, street, everybody that’s got any kind of long-term investment,” Wells answered.
Plans will vary with the needs of individual departments and what each piece of equipment is designed to do.
“The goal is to try to get things where they’re kind of cyclical and not all bunched together, if at all possible,” Wells said. “It’ll take a little while to recover from that because that’s where we’ve been.”
Wells expects other city departments to have their replacement schedules ready by the end of the year.
Slater also told council members Monday that he had named officer Dustin Woodford assistant chief.