Plymouth City Departments move forward with fleet vehicle upgrades

Monday, February 2, 2026 at 2:00 AM

By Kathy Bottorff

Multiple city departments are moving forward with plans to upgrade their vehicle fleets following recent bid openings, with purchases in the coming months.

The Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety last week approved City Engineer Dan Sellers to seek bids for a replacement vehicle. Sellers plans to replace a 2011 Dodge half-ton pickup truck using funds allocated in the 2026 city budget.

Plymouth Building Inspector Dennis Manuwal, alongside the city attorney, opened bids for a new departmental vehicle. Submissions came from Auto Park, Toyota of Warsaw, Oliver Ford Lincoln, and McCormick Motors in Nappanee. Manuwal requested additional time to review the proposals and will present his recommendation at the Board's meeting on Monday, February 9th.

In what appears to be a busy season for vehicle acquisitions, Plymouth Fire Chief Steve Holm recommended accepting a bid from Oliver Ford Lincoln for a new department vehicle. The recommendation, presented last week, was from the bid opening in early January. The 2026 Ford Expedition SSV (special service vehicle) was priced at $49,224. Oliver Ford Lincoln came in as the low bidder, beating the next closest proposal by $460.

Fire Chief John Weir received only one bid for new squad cars, also from Oliver Ford. The bid was for 2026 Ford all-wheel drive utility vehicles at $43,422, with additional costs of $2,979 for bulletproof front doors and $2,680 for a 3.0 EcoBoost engine upgrade, bringing the total for each squad car up to $49,081.

The police department took the bid under advisement, with Chief Weir planning to contact Oliver Ford regarding his request for a bid on a hybrid vehicle option that was not included in the initial submission.

All final decisions on the vehicle purchases are expected to be made at the upcoming Board of Public Works and Safety meeting.