Do you - or would you - buy gov't surplus vehicles? (rentals, vehicle)
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I am looking for feedback regarding government surplus vehicles. What is your perception of surplus police cars, administrative cars, trucks, or other vehicles and equipment. Would you ever buy from a government agency and what type of buying format would you prefer? Online auction, live auction, static sales at a specific location, or other options?
I would avoid everything but federal government auctions. State and local agencies, especially in today's budgetary environment, tend to keep vehicles to very high mileages. By the time that they are being sold, those vehicles are about worn out. That's becoming even true for federal agencies, as well, but they will often tend to auction off their vehicles earlier. Another problem with the Feds is that they will often pass the best of their used/surplus vehicles to state and local agencies, leaving only the junk to go to public auction.
Most agencies prefer to auction their vehicles. Buying at auction is hit or miss. If there are very many bidders, they will often bid up the prices on vehicles to beyond what one can buy a used vehicle for on the regular market. If there is a paucity of bidders, then someone may get a deal.
For a person looking for a regular vehicle, overall, I think buying government vehicles is usually a poor deal. Now, I do know some guys who've bought some great equipment and heavy trucks at government auctions--especially from the Department of Defense. Those guys, though, are very experienced mechanics who know exactly what they looking for, and what they are looking at.
Depends on the vehicle, condition, and purpose. A pick-up truck for hard dirty rough use would be fine. A daily driver car I'd be cautious unless in good condition and a great price. I'd prefer to buy a nearly new used car.
I am looking for feedback regarding government surplus vehicles. What is your perception of surplus police cars, administrative cars, trucks, or other vehicles and equipment. Would you ever buy from a government agency and what type of buying format would you prefer? Online auction, live auction, static sales at a specific location, or other options?
I think I'd want to get my eyes and hands on anything from an auction, but government vehicles are typically well maintained because they need to be reliable, vs private consumer vehicles. The flip side is that they can do heavy duty, and this duty can be measured in hours vs miles.
The most experience I have is with auctioned police vehicles; there will be some abused or damaged vehicles for sure, but some vehicles spend most of their lives idling, which is a pretty easy life. The benefits can be upgraded motors and other components, and the drawbacks can be missing interior pieces. Most police cars will not have a center console, for example, because that is where the police computer and comms equipment was.
This is anecdotal, but I don't know anyone who has had an issue with an auctioned government service vehicle.
Police get rid of them at a point for a reason.Really need to know what your looking at. Locally one of biggest buyers of police vehicle is Hollywood prop suppliers to movies. Saw interview and they go to local auctions where the overheads heads etc are not striped.
A friend on my local Mustang website has always worked in law enforcement and used to buy a lot of retired police vehicles to flip. He tried to buy unmarked or minimally marked detective cars, those used by other government department officials, or from small town departments. I think he had an internal source about the auctions or something. The cars he got were usually very clean and still had plenty of miles left on them. I seriously considered a couple of them, but I knew my wife would not like a "cop car" in the driveway!
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