Agenda - Council - 01/08/1980 - Laserfiche WebLink

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-2- The general consensus of those I talked to was that Fords run second to Chrysler products regarding expense to operate. That is Chrysler is the highest. Over the years I have also observed this to be true. GM appears to have the edge, currently, on the others. The Anoka County Sheriff's Patrol Captain said they had relatively good results with their Fords except that they were extremely slow in accelleration. The Anoka Police have had about average maintenance with Fords except for heavy transmission problems. They also say the Fords are very slow on accelleration and handle poorly. One of the major factors to consider in purchasing a car from a local dealer is that we have had excellent results in warranty work and in scheduling the Olds and the Matador for repair at Greenberg's. If I have to go out of town for every service or repair it is going to mean I will have to call a man in for transport or pick-up and a 6 to 20 mile drive. The type of driving we do in this city is widely varied because of our suburban/rural setting. We have generally no more than two cars and in the day shift, only one car,' covering 52 square miles; This involves, quite frequently, high speed runs from one end of the city to another on pavement, dirt, dry, wet; icy or deep snow. Virtually any car, which is equipped and powered reasonable 0f-8) and is of size to be an all- around vehicle for police use, will get the same mileage as anot eh-~ wh-e~ operated in the fashion necessary to accomplish the Police purposes. Of course energy saving is on everybody's mind now and this is only. right. But we have to also realize that there are going to be certain areas which will still require a large 'expenditure of energy if people are to survive or be even reasonably secure and content. So far no one has been able, I don't believe, to plow a road with a Toyota nor effiently load snow with a Sears Snowblower' on a level' done by a city road crew. You can turn the thermostat down in an office building but you can't go lower than the level at which work can be efficiently performed. The police can vary patrol patterns or have 1S minute "shut-ofi~' periods to conserve fuel but shouldn't be expec, ted to use a vehicle too small to do the job efficiently or safely.