2015 Tahoe PPV upfitted by Kerr Industries

[EVT]

Just took delivery of some 2015 PPVs upfitted by Kerr Industries. Overall the upfit appeared to be well very done, which is should considering these came in just under $74k per vehicle. However, we were disappointed in the time it took for delivery. These were ordered in October of 2014 and we took delivery today. Part of this was due to the dealership and part was Kerr. In March we were being told the vehicles were be here "10 days", this kept happening until we finally just gave up and stopped asking. Installation wise we love them, but we just simply cannot work around the 8 months it took to get them. Some problems we encountered was a piece of equipment that was missing/not installed that we had shipped them and that they drilled and placed an antenna right behind the factory antenna above the driver, just looks crappy (partly our fault for telling them where to mount, but come on.....)

We have chosen to go with Defender Supply for future vehicles, as they promised us we would have them at our doorstep within 3 months. Furthermore, Defender Supply gave us the same package, PLUS a lot of warning lights and interiors trinkets for about $55-$53k per vehicle (lightbar vs slicktop). 

Has the Whelen CanTrol with a Kerr branded speaker. Led hide-aways are SoundOff along with the Intersectors. Everything else is Whelen. Not going to list the equipment, you can see it yourself. Only thing not visible is a 4-head LINZ6 Dominator in the side windows.

 

[7d9_z28]

Only thing not visible is a 4-head LINZ6 Dominator in the side windows.

And the SHERIFF decal on the hood behind the guard... LOL

Pretty nice though, Id drive it.

 

[HILO]

Kerr is seriously back logged.  Not only do they do the PPV Tahoes, they handle the Escalade, Yuckon, and retail Tahoes.  They do not do things in 'production run' style like the plant, although they do take the PPV's directy from the plant when they come off the line from the plant 12production run.  Kerr is also high priced, they are rumored to have a mark up of 500%, both parts and labor, yet pay their installers $10.00/h.  Holiday Chevrolet is one of the best dealerships to buy from, they sell so many PPV's that alost everything is sold at State bid prices, their sub copany, Defendy Supply, are Whelen Master Distributors, as well as other equipment vendors. 

I always wonder why agencies dont put out RFB's when getting new vehicles.  A bid and contract protect the agency from delays, and high costs.  Of course with this particular Sheriff Department being super secret, maybe they have crazy money to spend. 

 

[CHIEFOPS]

What accessories do they install in the Escalades and Yukons?

 

[EVT]

I was assigned to take over the fleet after our order was already placed with Kerr. In reviewing the documents provided to me, I don't doubt the 500% markup on some items. While it was somewhat difficult to determine prices, as it was an "all in one" price, I was told from the person who ordered them originally that they had quoted us $400 for the headlight flasher. Which as we all know is like $60 and is a simple plug-n-play. Needless to say between our dealings with the dealership (forgot to pay Kerr, resulting in a 2 week delay, poor communication etc...) and the cost, we will not entertain this option in the future.

Our agency is fortunate enough to have very good funding, however I tried to be as fiscally responsible as possible with the new builds. I pay taxes too and I wouldn't want my tax dollars going towards a bunch of unneeded toys.

I do completely agree with you about bidding out jobs and contracts. Unfortunately, we are in a unique situation where we needed the vehicles fast due to Chevy cancelling our order, and not having any installers in the area that do quality work with a decent turnaround time.

 

[CHIEFOPS]

My experience with Kerr (2004 Tahoe SSV, 2007 Impala 9C1) is they duplicate most of factory Chevrolet options so it's cheaper to order the vehicle with the factory option and leave Kerr or your own upfitter to install what's not. Back In both my cases Kerr did not add any appreciable delay to delivery time.

Does anybody know if the 2015 model year Tahoe LE vehicles went into production on schedule or was it delayed at all? That's been a repetitive issue with GM LE truck production. Also this model year's Tahoe PPVs had a midyear upgrade so they may have suspended production to accommodate that and your trucks may have been delayed by that.

UPDATE- By the pics of your truck you have the 2015i (upgrade) so that may explain the delay.

 

[HILO]

ChiefOps,

With Chevrolet, any PPV equipment ordered from the factory actualy goes to one of the Kerr facilities to be put in.  So if you PPO a vehicle with HLF, it would be installed by Kerr.  If you order a turn key vehicle, the same HLF that would have added $60 fro the PPO, would be $300 as a turn key upfit through Kerr.  With Tahoes, if you order a spot light, the hole is drilled on the line, then the unit is sent to Kerr to have the spot light installed.  That is why most Tahoe's always have a spotlight these days.  On the high end retail vehicles, Kerr does the enhanced audio and entertainment systems, parking sensors, and other add ons that are not part of the regular production run.  For example, every Escalade rolls off the factory line with a wire harness that is ready for a rear DVD system, but does not have the DVD system, screens, or even headliner cut out.  If the unit is marked for those upgrades, it is sent to Kerr, who drops and cuts the headliner, installs the components, plugs the into the esisting harness, adds appropiate fuses, switches, and puts it all back togeather.  Then it gets trucked back to the factory/shipping yard.  Every GM vehicle is pre wired for every option, when it is being built.  If you were to remove the door panel of a 2009 Cobalt that has crank windows, you would find the wire harness for the power windows.  It is siply cheaper to have one wire harness instead of different harnesses for different options.  With things like factory DVD and PPV items, it remains cheaper for the manfacture to not have the workers change routine, nor stock those items.   On the big SUV's,  a Tahoe and an Escalade skeleton are identical.  As is the glass, headliner, carpet, ect.  The parts that make them different are simply bolt in/on, and completly interchangable.  So one could buy a front end wrecked 2013 Tahoe, and a 2014 rear end wrecked Escalade, and unbolt the front clip of the Escalade, gut the interior, and pit it all on and in the Tahoe, and still have a 2014 Tahoe that looks like a 2014 Escalade. 

 

[CHIEFOPS]

ChiefOps,

With Chevrolet, any PPV equipment ordered from the factory actualy goes to one of the Kerr facilities to be put in.  So if you PPO a vehicle with HLF, it would be installed by Kerr.  If you order a turn key vehicle, the same HLF that would have added $60 fro the PPO, would be $300 as a turn key upfit through Kerr. 

That's why I recommended ordering the specific police option from the Chevrolet order form, not as a Kerr upfit, it's much cheaper.

Thanks for explaining the Escalade/Yukon angle.

 

[pdk9]

I can't believe that the price tag was $74K on those. I know many upfitters charge full MSRP for equipment and a pretty penny for installation, but that just sounds like highway robbery. Personally, I prefer to deal with smaller shops b/c they don't BS you and put you as a low priority behind 200 other customers

 

[CHIEFOPS]

Anyone know yet if the 2015 Tahoe headlight housing has room for an intersection-facing strobe haw tube?

 

[pdk9]

Anyone know yet if the 2015 Tahoe headlight housing has room for an intersection-facing strobe haw tube?

It doesn't look like it to me + I don't think there'd be enough room for heat dissipation if you were able to get one wedged somewhere on the side of the headlight housing.
I think the best bet would be a LAW on the fender right by where it extends to the headlight lens

 

[Station 3]

74k for a tahoe??? That thing better be armored for that sort of cash! We got our department 2013 tahoe "back when it was brand new in 2013" for only 26k! Brand new 2013 defender tahoe! Of course it did not have any lighting but I think we spent like 4k in all the lights and cages and stuff. No were near that crazy number!

 

[TACKLEBERRY]

...split lightheads with a CanTrol???? What's the point; obviously they aren't set to steady burn and controlled/sync'd with the CanTrol.

 

[WSEM]

in the pic with the tyco relay, what is the item that is behind the relay that has smaller gauge power and grounds that connect with the relay?

 

[cybercop]

IMO that grill guard is huge and pretty ugly.

I am recently looking into fleet in which my dept. does not have that kind of budget. 

A basic 2015 PPV cost us $30,600.  I noticed they re-did their spotlight by moving it higher up in the pillar.  All our 2013 spotlight lenses are broken/cracked because they were too low and the wipers would always hit them.

Stripping, camera, radar, cages, consoles, computer mounts, flashers, siren/light controller, lightbar, gun racks, and labor came out to just shy of $14k.

Total investment ~$45k.  Can't imagine paying more than $50k.

 

[lafd55]

Kerr has the New York State Police Contract for their Tahoes.

 

[CHIEFOPS]

Kerr has the New York State Police Contract for their Tahoes.

I'm confused- Kerr is the OEM/factory upfitter, not the dealer that wins the vehicle bid from/for a municipality/agency