World’s highest mileage police car? Retiring after more than half-a-million kilometres

It turns out police fleets are among those stuck in the queue waiting for new cars – both in Australia and overseas – following a slowdown in vehicle production during the global pandemic.

Police in Australia were required to hold onto their patrol cars for a longer period of time – and over a higher-than-usual odometer maximum – until fresh supplies arrived.

Most police cars in Australia are replaced within 90,000km to 100,000km or two to three years (depending on the region and their role), however in some rare instances vehicles were not grounded until eclipsing 140,000km or four years – or more – until back-up arrived.

Given the beating police cars cop – and the around-the-clock use – 100,000km of law enforcement deployment is often the equivalent to a lifetime of motor vehicle wear-and-tear in civilian hands.

Which is why you should probably add ex-police cars to the list of ex-rental cars to approach with caution when buying secondhand.

Police in the US hold onto their cruisers even longer – usually 100,000 miles (or 160,000km) – and in some cases for up to a decade or more, wringing every last ounce of life from their vehicles.

A California Highway Patrol division in the remote town of Needles – near the border of California and Nevada about 180km south of Las Vegas – has just grounded a Ford Explorer patrol car with an incredible 384,857 miles – or 618,932km – showing on the odometer.

A photo was posted on the Facebook page CHP Cars Past & Present, which celebrates the restoration of classic highway patrol vehicles.

It appears one of the officers who helped accumulate the 384,857-mile tally posted the images noting: "The highest mileage patrol unit in the state with 384,857 miles was finally retired."

Commenters were quick to point out that, in some regards, the milestone probably should not be celebrated.

"That's kind of sad. We used to retire (patrol cars) at 75,000 miles. I realise today's vehicles will run much longer, but the kind of punishment we put these vehicles through says we shouldn't have to depend on something this age, especially when it could be a life or death situation."

Another officer weighed in: "Like you said, dangerous in a life or death situation if something happened to that car on its way to a call."

Yet another commenter added: "Just 284,857 miles too late," a reference to the retirement age of 100,000 miles recommended for most police cars in the US currently.

When a commenter asked if one highway patrol officer did all the mileage in the soon-to-be-retired Ford Explorer, someone with apparent knowledge of the vehicle said: "No, it was a team effort on this one!"

While this particular Ford Explorer is believed to be one of the highest-mileage police cars on US roads, it is not the oldest.

Last year, police in Montana finally grounded an old 1995 Ford Crown Victoria patrol car after 23 years of service in various roles.

It was an operational police vehicle from 1995 to 2008. But when its time was up it was used as a decoy car – parked on the side of the road in hot spots, with a mannequin behind the wheel, to slow down speeding drivers – from 2008 until 2022.

The car was nicknamed 'Lucky' by locals because it was seemingly impossible to kill mechanically.

It is unclear how many miles the 1995 Ford Crown Victoria had accumulated during its time with police in Montana.

However given it spent most of its life parked on the side of the road, there is a chance its odometer reading was comfortably surpassed by the CHP Ford Explorer with 384,857 miles on the clock.

Meantime, if you want to check out some classic California Highway Patrol cars (past and present) and some cool memorabilia, check out the Facebook page here.