If you're an undercover cop, when you choose a used vehicle, your main purpose is to look like anything but a cop. That means, of course, that an unmarked Crown Victoria is probably not the wisest choice.
We’ve evaluated a number of used vehicles, and the following are the ones that we have identified as the most “un-cop-like.” We have selected the Smart Car, Dodge Durango, Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford F-150, and Ford Mustang as the best used vehicles for undercover cops.
Smart Car: Oddly enough, the tiny Smart car is in use by a lot of European police departments, and why not? They’re tiny, easy to drive, easy to park, and very easy on the city’s budget when it comes to fuel economy. In the US, though, you can safely drive a Smart car without anyone ever thinking you might be a cop.
Dodge Durango: You typically think of this mid-size SUV as being driven by people who are ferrying around kids and pets. It’s the typical rig for a suburban mom. For that reason, you can drive one without having to worry about being taken for a cop.
Chevrolet Tahoe: The reason Tahoes are unlikely to be suspected of harboring a police officer is simply that there are so many of them. That’s because the Tahoe is a highly reliable, good-looking SUV. If you want to blend in though, one of the best ways to do it is to become one of many.
Ford F-150: If you drive an F-150, usually you’re not working in law enforcement. You’re more likely to be hauling around tools, ladders, maybe landscaping materials – not a gun and handcuffs. The F-150 is the vehicle of the hard-working man or woman. Not that we’re saying cops don’t work hard, just that we don’t usually think of them as working out of a pick-up.
Ford Mustang: A cop in a ’Stang? Well, not an on-duty cop, usually. If you’re working under cover, a muscle car isn’t usually the sort of rig a person would expect to see a cop driving. Of course, there could be exceptions to that, depending on the nature of the assignment.