“Public Surplus Vehicles – Sealed Bid Auction” do those words fill you with delight? Do they fill your spouse or significant other with dread?
As many of you know I work for a large school district in New Mexico. Because of the geographical size (5000 sq. mi.) there are many fleet vehicles in the district. Now I’ve been told several times that they do unload the “surplus” ones periodically, but even having been employed here since August of 2002 I have not heard of these extra vehicles being sold off. Well my friends that changed this week! When a colleague and friend of mine who works in my department was overheard by me talking to a relative (on the phone) about some of the “surplus vehicles” that were being auctioned off, you know my ears perked up like a dog hearing the can opener.
After she got off the phone I asked a few questions. She is Native American and calls dibs on the old Chevy van you see in the pictures, wanting it so her cousin can transport his Indian Dance group between shows. (Sorry all you van lovers.)
So some details on the vehicles; the oldest is a 1978 model and the newest is a 1996 model. The highest mileage I observed on the ones that actually had 6-digit odometers was 175,000 miles while the lowest mileage observed was at 108,000. The Pontiacs and Dodges were witnessed by me on the road as late as May of last year, the other vehicles I have not seen in actual use, god knows how long they’ve been sitting.
Inspections of the vehicles will start on September 23rd and end on September 26th. Bids must be received by 2 pm on September 27th, at which time the bids will be read. Inspections do not include driving the vehicle, only visual and start it up, listen to it run sort of thing. Any of you “seasoned veterans” have any tips for me? Unfortunately the bid packets are only being accepted in person. I WILL NOT be responsible to your spouse or significant other for the car-casses you drag home and I’m not accepting bids for you.
Now you might be asking yourself; “Dan, why the heck are you bidding on any of this stuff?” Have I told you that the “World’s Greatest Fiancé™” is also the world’s most supportive? I came home on Monday having heard of the auction, found out where the vehicles were parked and after letting her vent about her day, being supportive, I told her about my predicament.
“Angel, I discovered a dangerous thing today. I was made aware of surplus vehicles that the district is selling and of course I had to go look. Now I’ve got an itch to bid on one.” Then I proceeded to give her the details about the bidding process, I also told her that I was torn between trying to find a “good driver” (ie: to save gas over my F150 – visible in the background of at least one of the pictures) and finding a total fantasy project car, basically bidding on a clean, solid, rust free hulk to turn it into what I wanted. That hypnotizing Latina/Navajo/Japanese/Hopi face looked over at me and said; “Dan, first I know you won’t bid what you can’t afford. Second, this idea is totally you.”
On Tuesday, because of some district business I was taking care of, my lady had to pick me up after work. She was tired and told me; “You drive.” I piloted her Vibe from the central office parking lot to where the cars were parked (the Diplomat and Caprice had JUST been parked there and I NEEDED to see them.) I cruised through and pointed out a few of the more interesting ones to her. She giggled a little and smiled at me; “You are such an old man when it comes to cars.”
Some more interesting factoids before I depart; the LeSabre’s are 1990 models with crank windows AND 3800V6 power, the Bonneville is a 1992 SE option-less model, the Diplomat is a 1988 model with the 318V8, Torque-flite and Salon trim, and the 1987 Caprice comes up as “invalid vin” when I type the supplied (in the bid packet) vin # into any of the many internet databases that can be used to research such things.
You should know (whatever I bid on) my bid will be very low and of course there’s always the possibility of being outbid by the next envelope they open. I’m torn between the Buicks (low options, little to break, combined with bulletproof engine), the Pontiacs (most likely to actually be daily drivable but also most likely to be outbid on), the Caprice (B-body love yo! But also popular.) or the Diplomat (well… heck Paul knows why I’d bid on the Diplomat.)
What do the CC Commentariat think? Which one gets your blood pumping? Which one would cause someone to make you sleep on the couch for a week? Which one do you have such bad experiences with that you’d like to bid on it just so you could kill it with fire? How many of you think I’m effin’ crazy?
I want that blue Heavy Chevy (err, GMC Sierra) parked on my driveway, backed in for the neighbors to enjoy the hood. I’ll tell them it has ram air, you ram it to get more air in.
My neighbor bought one of those when I was a teen and restored it. I’ve never seen a man so happy in a fairly basic truck. (Well at least until I saw pics of Paul with his F100.)
What’s the opening bid on that tan 1990-94 Lumina? 3.1 with a 3spd I’d assume.
A note on the Lumina’s EVERY single one had a dash that was curled up like bacon in a frying pan. There were cracked dashes in the other vehicles but only the Luminas had truly ugly dashboards. They are 0 option models so they are equiped as plainly as you could imagine.
A $50 money order or cashiers check is required to submit a bid, what you bid is your choice, NO minimum.
In high school my best friend (named Jeff) borrowed his grandmother’s Lumina for our prom in 1995. I got to ride in it and was not impressed, I prefered the interior of my 1982 Celebrity. Laurence, you must have had a positive experience with one that I have not.
(Lest anyone think I’m posting during the day I’m on lunch right now.)
Hmm, they might be “Iron Duke” Luminas then. I guess I always liked the monumental glass area of the first generation cars.
My family had one as a slightly permanent rental when my mothers Porsche was seriously damaged in a side swipe when I was 8. I think we had it for 3 months and I just remembered being happy not to be cramped in a 944, Camaro or my Dads Cutlass Salon (the lovely lack of space efficiency of the colonnade coupes). The back seat was enormous and there was plenty of glass area so when we did do roadtrips in it I could actually see things without trying to sneak into the hatch (the 944) or the parcel shelf (the Cutlass).
It was probably the 2nd least competitive midsize sedan in the 1990s, but to a child used to the confines of coupes it was a welcome relief.
I like the Caprice, though “gets my blood pumping” probably overstates the case a little. Any of these would result in my sleeping on the couch. Or in the car.
Some of these look like extras from “Breaking Bad”.
My dad took me to one of these auctions when I was a little kid, wanting to find a surplus State of Tennessee pickup. However, most of the trucks had been Game & Fish work vehicles and had been abused for years…he wound up not bidding on anything, probably not wanting to be banished to the sofa.
Oh, just go for the Diplomat. You know you are going to anyway! I don’t know if NM has the same emissions regs as we do here in Cali, but the swap I saw on youtube involved the fuel-injected 5.2 Magnum out of a Dodge Dakota pickup. I’d do it, but CA has some silly law that all engine swaps must come from a vehicle in the same “weight class” or something like that. Basically Cars to Cars, trucks to trucks.
Now I’m not going to tell anyone what I bid on until I find out the results of the bidding but… I went down on Friday when the inspections opened to look at the cars. The Dippy is complete, nothing is missing but the battery is deader than Spanish Dictator Fransico Franco. So I attempted to open the hood. The latch cable is busted… and they do discourage trying to cut a hole in the grille of a car you don’t own yet just to check out the condition of the engine.
Sounds like a good candidate for a scrap value bid. If you win hook it up to a battery and it fires with a little fresh gas down the carb then you got yourself a good deal. If not then recover your money from the scrap man.
Well, I currently own an ’86 Diplomat (daily driver these days) and a ’92 SSEi. I’ve also owned two first-gen H-bodies and a ’94 Grand Prix.
Of the stuff I’m seeing, I’d be most interested in that bumper-less 3rd(?) gen GMC truck parked next to the Intrepids.
But, you already own a truck. Of the cars, I’d have to go with the ’90 Lesabre. If I’m totally honest with myself, I’d get rid of my Diplomat for a first-gen H-body of equal quality.
No sense in bidding – Dan is gonna get the Diplomat anyway.
Ill give ya a couple hundy for the blue ute but the mailing costs would be toooo much.
Those Grands Prix are really ringing my bell (get it?).
I’d love me some southwestern Pontiac, but it’s too far for me to make the trip, even if I did win.
I suppose I could contract with my wife’s employer to get it here, but in order to ship across country on common carrier, all of the fuel has to be out of it. This usually means punching a hole in the tank…
The Luminas might be OK too. But, getting them back…
I love that particular sedan body style of the Grand Prix. Full light bar and decently distinctive tail lights. I sat in the interior of the one’s in question and it took me 5 min to find the hood release (I didn’t think to look on the floor.) The radio nob was missing and the climate control had one busted nob but could be made to adjust. I thought the coolest feature of the Grand Prix was that it had a “2nd Gear Start” button and the lightbar still worked! Although those models in question have the 3.1V6 which according to “forum sources” can be a head gasket eater. (Not like the 3.4 DOHC V6 would have been better.)
@EdDan: Oh, the 3.1 can be made to behave. With these engines, it’s more the combination of extremely cheap parts and Dex-Cool from the factory.
I had a 3.4 in my one Aztek that had head gasket AND intake gasket issues. Our Pontiac dealer bought aftermarket gaskets to repair them. Never had another issue with it after that.
I’ve known several other people who have been in similar situation with their 3.1 or 3.4 powered cars/vans. Used the aftermarket gaskets, they rarely had trouble again. Only bad thing was, they never really trusted the car again, either.
I’m 99.99% positive you’ll at least bid on the Diplomat….can you actually kill a 318?
The Caprice would be as fun as the Diplomat, at least if its the 305.
The best daily drivers are probably a toss up between the Grand Prix’s and the Bonneville. Similar gas mileage, comfortable, tons of parts availability….
That LeSabre is interesting, something about a Buick with crank windows…ehh.
I’d jump on the Diplomat personally, and or the Caprice. Lots of potential for both to be fun daily drivers (not much better if any than your current truck though) and lots of opportunity to upgrade suspensions to police spec. and large blackwall tires….nice authoratative exhaust system…maybe flowmaster or something along that line….oh now I wish I wasn’t on the opposite end of the country!
I’m liking that LeSabre, talk about an honest car!
Remember, I have a ’95 LeSabre, so I’m biased 🙂
And jeeze they have that cool reverse opening hood and when’s the last time you saw a Buick with crank windows?
The caprice is calling to me but I just can’t do it. The diplomat is just as appealing. Either one can be made to run a zillion miles and as fast as you can afford to go. Probably not much time to get over the 25 year hump. The look late 70’s. Have fun.
I didn’t actually sit in the Caprice and I’ll tell you why, I didn’t want to fall in love. They are very popular around here as low riders and I didn’t want to inadvertently outbid a cholo. Although if anything happend my lady would just look at him, scowl, and say; “Don’t make me take my earings out!”
Dan, when will you know the results? It sounds like an exciting auction…
So envelopes were supposed to be opened at 2pm yesterday when the bidding ended, winners would be contacted – loosers would be told to pick up their money orders/cashiers checks. No word yesterday, no word today. Around 3:30 pm today I was sitting in my cubicle taking care of some work related to district mandates when the procurement clerk who has been assigned responsibility for the auction came through. There’s a slight personnel shortage in the district and she been so busy she hasn’t opened the envelopes yet! We’ll see what Thursday and Friday bring.
Yeah, the Diplomat or the Caprice for me too.
I haven’t actually been to a state auction in my state (WA) for quite a few years. I remember walking down a long line of ’63 Galaxie ex-state-patrol cars, and noticing during the auction that the one that had rust stains all over the engine compartment from the radiator having boiled over didn’t sell for any less than the others. A couple of them still had the shotgun pockets across the front of the front seat. One had been converted to bucket seats.
There was another auction a few years later in which one vehicle was unforgettable; a one-ton 4×4 1967 Dodge long narrow box, full four-door-cab pickup in bright red. It had been a forestry rig, and at that time – mid-1970’s – was the biggest pickup I’d ever seen.
I’ve never bought at a state auction but as I posted a couple of days ago, a friend got a nice 70 Fury III sedan for pretty cheap that gave him 100k trouble-free miles.
Well, at one public auction I was at about 15 years ago, I could have had a well-under-100K mile 1975 Chevy Police Package Sedan (454, cop tires, cop wheels, rear sway bar, etc) for just over a grand (but didn’t have that much cash with me). Oh, and the car was a city pool car so had never seen police use (and thus, wasn’t punched full of holes either). Oh well . . .
Those 1970s and 80s police cars have simply disappeared off the face of the earth, or so it would seem.
Even if one was given that Diplomat, why . . . . ?
Even if one was given that Diplomat, why . . . . ?
Well it is rust free and complete… and acording to what I’ve heard a fuel injected 5.2 magnum will fit under the hood along with the four speed auto out of a Dodge truck, and the rear end can be replaced by one from an early Grand Cherokee (with deeper gears and trac-loc diff.)
A couple of pointers. First and foremost you need to determine the practices of your district. Around here if the vehicle was pulled from service for other than age and/or mileage do they note that in the listing? Also what are their service practices? Is it the typical govt where the do the bare minimum with the lowest bid materials and supplies? Are they using $1 oil filters and rot gut bulk oil where every vehicle gets the same wt, at what intervals? Do they reach a point where the know they machine isn’t going to be around long so they stop doing anything that isn’t absolutely required to keep it on the road and safe? In recent years especially many fleet managers are cutting the budget any way they can.
You also need to keep in mind that these are fleet cars so they do not have the same equipment as retail model so they are worth less, factor in that they are going to look like crap where the stickers have been removed and they took the paint with it or it reveals paint that isn’t faded underneath it. So they are worth considerably less than the prices you’ll see for a retail model that has better sound insulation and equipment.
Next it really depends on what you want to use it for and do to/with it. If you’ve always wanted Box to turn into a Candy/Cereal/household products, dubbed bling machine then it would be worth paying $1000 for that Crap-piece if it passes the limited inspection you can do.
For the most part I don’t see any car that I’d pay more than $500 for and that would be the LeSabres again if they are right, with all the important things working properly.
Thank you for your concern. I’m with you in that I don’t think that any of those vehicles are worth much more than $500 either and my bid reflects that. The online values for these cars (that I was able to find) were right around the $1000 mark but naturally that would reflect a “perfect” example which these are certainly not. I wish the district had gone a traditional auction route and I could have just showed up on a Saturday morning (after a few days of allowing for inspections) with $500 in my pocket and then seen if that would have actually gotten me something.
The district doesn’t think in that style of, “well it’s almost time to get rid of it so let’s stop the maint.” A few of the vehicles in the auction had nearly new tires on them (Goodyears BTW) and one of the SUVs was involved in a front end colision last year and the district actually used the insurance money to fix and paint it! Having observed district employees in action the sedans are driven in a fairly sedate maner and because of our large geographic size most of the drives are sufficently long enough to get the cars well warmed up.
The way they seem to opperate is: We have a vehicle budget, it must be spent. They get close to the end of a fiscal year and realize they haven’t spent it, they start buying vehicles. Suddenly they own “too many” vehicles and start liquidating inventory.
I was likely the only person there at inspection time who was not only checking fluids and HVAC systems but looking at the conditions of tires and bouncing the corners of cars to get a rough idea of how ugly the shocks were.
I am trying to go into this eyes wide open. I figure whatever I pick up will become a driver and a hobby in one. My plan is to get the shop manuals and increase my skill.
Yes a traditional auction is a much better deal, if no one else wants it you could get it for $1. Plus if there are multiple vehicles that are of interest you can bid on the next one. With the sealed bid style auction you really only want to bid on the one you want the most so you don’t end up with 2 or more vehicles.
For a “hobby” style vehicle the front bumper missing GMC or one of the Broncos are the most natural choice but the Broncos will go for more than $500 particularly with $600 worth of new tires. The GMC may go for the $500-ish range. However since you already have a truck $200 for the Dippy or $500 for the best of the 3.8 powered rigs would be my choice.
Rust-free Dippy all day long. And Dan, lest you think I’m just being a homer, you should run don’t walk away from those first-gen Intrepids. Dad had a decent ’93 but I had a ’96 that would cure even the worst Moparitis.
My Moparitis is very mild. I’m only interested in the Penstar if it has a V8 and is RWD – that’s all.
Are those “OJ” Broncos, or F-150s with caps?
They look to be rust free and if they have the 300-6 in them, they’ll go forever. Any examples of those trucks around here have rusted pretty badly. Come to think of it, I can’t remember the last time I actually saw a full size Bronco on the road.
I’d take one for $1k for sure, maybe $1500 depending on the engine & body quality.
Those are OJ edition Broncos with brand new Goodyear Wrangler GA tires on one and nearly new Goodyear Workforce Extra-Grip tires on the other 4X4 models but I’m not sure about the power plant. If the I-6 was available in the year it was built it might be there. I can assure you that nothing bigger than a 302 V8 would likely be present.
The Diplomat, Caprice or ’90 LeSabre for me. But I’d put the Diplomat first! Unusual to see a fleet version with the luxury wheel covers. They look like they should be on a Fifth Avenue, but they were an option on the Gran Furys and Diplomats.
The funny thing is I would actually think it was cooler with some factory/cop style dog dishes.
amen to the dog dish caps brotha
Any news as of Friday night?