First Gear- PA State Police Taurus

"Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey" (dingersghost) 01/20/2015 at 20:49 • Filed to: First Gear, Police Interceptor

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"It's got a cop engine, cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks"

PA state police Interceptor! I'll gladly stay up front for this review. The back seats don't look very comfortable. And they're really cramped. The whole car is cramped though. The formula for this car is terrible: Let's take a very big car, make it nearly impossible to see out of stock, and then fill it with stuff that restricts movement. SPOTLIGHTS. AND SIRENS. SO TEMPTING. The shifters in police vehicles are apparently different than their stock twins, they have no gears lower than drive. They also move with one finger, probably because it would be easier to maneuver. And there's a bullbar! You don't realize how large a car is till you make it even bigger (will be discussed if I ever review a Police Charger, I have driven those too.)

First Gear is a new column, about a kid, a car lot full of new cars, and a habit of noticing random things. It's written from the view of a Ford dealer's lot attendent who for some reason thinks you care about the cars he spends very little time in. He also thinks you actually care about his random thoughts and will randomly post them to Oppositelock at his leisure. Just don't give him an excuse to break into full reviews. He can't handle that level of greatness.

jkm7680 > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 01/20/2015 at 20:51

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This is why the Crown Victoria will always win.

Does you be a LEO?

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > jkm7680 01/20/2015 at 20:54

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No not me, I'm a Ford dealer's lot attendent. First Gear is my attempt at reviewing a car after spending a very short time with it (often less than 3 minutes.) Really it's just a bunch of rambling about cars I find interesting.

jkm7680 > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 01/20/2015 at 20:56

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Oh, Haha. Gotcha.

Aaron Brown > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 01/20/2015 at 21:04

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WANT

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > Aaron Brown 01/20/2015 at 21:04

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DO NOT WANT

The Police Explorer is cooler.

Aaron Brown > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 01/20/2015 at 21:05

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Dude, no. Sorry I know you work at a Ford dealer, but if Im going to for a police SUV, it'll the last gen Tahoe.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > Aaron Brown 01/20/2015 at 21:26

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Hm Fair point there. I think if I were to choose my favorite police SUV, it would have to be Sheriff Longmire's Bronco, from the show Longmire.

Thunderface > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 01/20/2015 at 21:32

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What's a lot attendant?

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > Thunderface 01/20/2015 at 21:37

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Basically a lot attendent is the person(s) in charge of lining up the cars on a lot. We also fuel them up, check them in when they come off the carrier, etc. It's one of the many things I do at work, since I'm kind of the everything guy at the place. A lot attendent can be a cool job because you drive nearly every single car on the lot.

Most of my job invovles the service side of things. Some mechanic work with more and more everyday. Tagging cars for service, occasional test drives to find an issue, so on so forth. I started in August with Ford and I love it.

Thunderface > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 01/20/2015 at 21:43

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Who do they hire and what they pay?

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > Thunderface 01/20/2015 at 21:49

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My dealer hires mostly college kids for the job. Most of the time they're only temporary, but a couple guys have been there for a few years. I was hired on as a lot attendent, with intentions (from both me and my bosses) to work into a technician position. Right now I'm more Service Porter than Lot Attendent, because I deal much more with service than I do the lot.

When I started I wasn't making much, around $8 an hour or so but I've since been raised up because of my training and job.

I'm sure it varies by dealer and location who they hire. On top of the jobs I listed, you'll most likely be cleaning cars for the lot, even doing customer detailing. Lot attendents at my dealer usually are the ones running errands too. Honestly, I do so much of everything where I work I don't have a true job title in my mind.

Thunderface > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 01/20/2015 at 21:51

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Do you enjoy it?

MM54 > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 01/20/2015 at 21:52

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I've read review from a lot of cops, and the consensus is that the Taurus interceptors suck. A lot. The only thing they have going for them is raw speed, supposedly. I'll stick with my CVPI (maybe until police chargers come on to the used market...)

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > Thunderface 01/20/2015 at 21:54

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I do enjoy my job yes. Especially of course when they put me to work in the garage but I basically do whatever they want me for. Like this week, I'll be driving the parts van most of the time because the regular driver is off. Some things can be very tedious and annoying, like moving almost the entire car lot to plow for example. But I'm a Ford guy, and I went into this wanting to work my way up. So far it's working out nicely for me.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > MM54 01/20/2015 at 21:57

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I would definitely choose a CVPI over the Taurus. For such a large car, the Taurus is nearly impossible to see out of, even as a civilian car. Plus I would imagine a CV in decent shape to be more comfortable for duty than the Tau.

ranwhenparked > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 01/20/2015 at 22:08

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This generation of Taurus has been an unfortunate flop all around, both with police and consumers. For consumers, the problem is the Fusion - which offers very similar interior space at a better price. For police, the problem is the Explorer - which is priced pretty much exactly the same but offers more space and ground clearance.

Its almost like Ford wanted to pull out of the full-size car market, but felt they had to demonstrate a clear failure in it before doing so, so they created this car specifically to fail. The space efficiency is terrible, and even for old people that still equate length with status, the exterior dimensions don't even measure up to a proper full-size.

Essentially, the Taurus has been on the equivalent of a human resources 90-day performance improvement plan since 2008. Ford made the decision to "fire" it 7 years ago and have just spent the intervening time compiling the necessary paper trail to corroborate that decision.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > ranwhenparked 01/20/2015 at 22:11

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You're right with the space efficiency. My biggest complaint with them. Huge car, tiny interior.

ranwhenparked > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 01/20/2015 at 22:16

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That's almost been a Full-Size Ford tradition over the years - the Panther cars had pretty tight back seats unless you ordered the LWB version - but the Taurus takes it to a whole new extreme - which is insane, because part of the rationale of moving to unibody construction was supposed to be to improve space efficiency, not make it even worse.

The fact that the Taurus has one of the most gigantic center consoles on the market today doesn't help either.

Thunderface > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 01/20/2015 at 22:58

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Was it a hard job to get?

BigBlock440 > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 01/20/2015 at 23:21

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Seems the PA state police like their Fords. Most of the locals switched to Chargers and the occasional Explorer. The Staties stuck with the Crown Vic then moved right on to the Taurus and Explorer. I've never seen a Statie Charger, probably don't even have one.

wafflesnfalafel > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 01/21/2015 at 00:04

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I work with a guy with a 2013 SHO in that blurple color. Agree - tight and kind of junky interior but damn fast with that blown 3.5 even for a car this size.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > Thunderface 01/21/2015 at 06:31

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I guess I can say this: I lost my previous job the day before my birthday, I was hired the day after my birthday, and started two days after my birthday. I just so happened to apply when they were looking for two attendents.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > BigBlock440 01/21/2015 at 06:33

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I think the State boys do have some Chargers, but they're a lot fewer and far between than the Fords

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > wafflesnfalafel 01/21/2015 at 06:33

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The Taus do carry themselves quite well for their size, even non-SHO

Thunderface > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 01/21/2015 at 07:10

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I see. BTW thanks for answering my questions :)

BigBlock440 > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 01/21/2015 at 07:46

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Holy shit, they do exist. I have seen a state police Magnum before though.

JKER > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 01/21/2015 at 09:32

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I've been in one of these, it didn't seem too bad. The cop that drove it said he liked it, especially the acceleration. It didn't seem cramped either, I'm 6'3" and 200lbs and it wasn't bad, but then again I didn't have a ton of gear on.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > Thunderface 01/21/2015 at 20:35

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No problem! Glad to do it.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > BigBlock440 01/21/2015 at 20:36

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HOLY PUSHBAR BATMAN.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > JKER 01/21/2015 at 20:37

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The gear would probably be a major downside.

BigBlock440 > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 01/21/2015 at 20:55

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Only picture of a statie Charger I could find, but that was my reaction as well. I wonder what the story is with that, I'd have figured they'd use the standard push bar that's on most other cars.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > BigBlock440 01/21/2015 at 20:57

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Wonder if it's a training car? Like for PIT manuever practice?

BigBlock440 > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 01/21/2015 at 21:13

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Best explanation we've got so far