You can buy a decent, reliable vehicle at these auctions. A guy I know bought a former police Crown Victoria for $2K. He drove it for 3 years, and all it needed was gas and the occasional oil change. He sold it for $2500. It wasn't a fancy ride, but it got him back and forth to work without any issues.
That's the way to buy!! ,I'm an old timer and I can't remember how many cars and trucks I bought in the day when we had sales papers for cheap!! Including muscle cars in the day like Z28 and BB Chevelle's!!
The government buys very reliable v8 domestic vehicles and they maintain them properly. It is commonplace to purchase reliable vehicles from government auctions.
Nothing is cheap, even if you get one through the dealer, they hike up the fees plus very expensive shop repairs. Only like finding a legit 100bill on the ground to find cheap
The auction price is the wholesale price. Look up the trade in price, if you can get a car below book trade-in it is a good deal. Bought a Honda Accord at an estate sale. Paid $2300, used it a year, traded it in and got $5500.
I've picked up 3 cars at state auctions, all have been good runners. It used to be they would sell off cars before 100k miles, now you're lucky to find one under 150k miles.
Back in the 80s, Law Enforcement vehicles were put up for auction at 80K miles. My dad told me that back in the 50s, law enforcement would auction off their vehicles with 40K - 50K miles.
The risk with the police cars is the amount of hours they sit running idling not moving, this wears out engines, especially the hemis,... A hemi that's been driven in normal situations will last
@@alexanderkennedy2969 There is nothing wrong with the 2.7L and 2018+ 3.5 Ecoboosts. The earlier 3.5's had a single timing chain with the phaser issues. Ford fixed that with dual timing chains in 2018 and newer.
@@PatientXero607 false. id take any GM engine over any ecoboost. never had any problems with any GM product, and some of them were heavily abused, not maintained etc but kept going well past 300K miles
The only issue with GovDeals is not every auction is setup the same. Some will extend the timers to allow the bids to continue while others will go off the best offer submitted in the final second.
@@doyouevengrowbro Yes but the gov must sell them at auction. Governments cannot trade them in because that would allow collusion. Government assets are public property.
In my personal experience as a Govt. worker, many guys ABUSE the heck out of the vehicles! As in think Rentals! If it's a Cop car they never shut them off except at the station. All that idling is what wipes out the cams in the Dodges. They messed up the newer design by moving the cam too high in the block and it doesn't get splash oiling when at idle, etc...
@@DoubleMM70 I meant the idiots using them! I saw guys doing burnouts and neutral drops, running over curbs, spilling bags of road salt into truck beds, generally just trashing the city vehicles....
Years ago I worked with a nurse and he needed a little pickup for a commuter. He bought an older Ford Ranger 4WD with a 2.3L 4cyl and a 5spd manual transmission. It was an older Forester service pickup. It had about 140K miles on it when he bought it. He paid $500 for it. He drove it for several years before it finally died at almost 400K miles. The first thing he did to it was he changed the front and rear differential, transfer case and transmission grease. He did that every 50K miles until it finally died. Around 300K miles he had to replace the 4WD system. It had the manual locking front hubs. He absolutely loved that old Ranger. When it finally died he bought another Forest Ranger pickup and had driven it for a few years. I retired so I don’t know how long it lasted. Another friend of mine was a Forest Ranger and he was given a new Jeep Cherokee with the inline 6cyl and a 4spd manual transmission. It too was a 4WD. He babied the Jeep and when it hit around 150K miles his boss came to him no and said that it too was going to auction, but if he wanted to buy it, the Forest service would sell it to him for $600. He too bought it because he had babied it for its entire life and knew that it was in great condition for the mileage. When it hit about 200K miles they gave it to their son for his college car. That old Jeep got him through his Masters degree. We’re thinking about selling our current low mileage pickup and buying a 3/4 to 1 ton 4WD pickup for work around our property and putting the money from the sale of our current pickup and buying more gold.
@@johndriskill3376 We have only 1 pickup that we’re thinking about selling. It’s a diamond in the rough. It’s a 11 Ford Ranger XLT super cab 4WD with the 4.0L V6, 5spd automatic transmission, 3.55 gears in the rear. Limited slip differential, tow pkg. It was originally Silver, so I decided to break it up, so I had it 2 toned. It’s now Silver over Red metallic. I had it reupholstered in Red with black trim and stitching, custom pinstripes, LineX spray in bed liner, tonneau cover, adjustable rear air shocks, custom wheels, new Cooper Discoverer A/T tires. Before adding the K&N intake and a 3” FlowMaster exhaust system, I was getting 19mpg on the highway with the cruise set on 75mph. I now consistently get 23mpg. I also added window vents and a dashboard cover. Though it’s mainly used for work around our property, it’s always been babied. I change the oil every 6 months, (which is about every 1K miles to 1,500 miles). When it hit 30K miles I had the front and rear differential, transfer case and transmission fluid / grease changed, as well as the radiator was back flushed and new antifreeze was installed. Next week it’s going in for new front brakes and an alignment. The truck is detailed every year and 3 coats of Ceramic wax is applied. It still looks showroom new and has only 36K original miles. We are the second owner. The original owner was 62 years old when he bought it. It had only 20K miles on it in 19 when we bought it. He had just bought a new F150 and didn’t need the Ranger anymore. This is our 4th Ranger. We’ve been buying them since the 80s. They’ve proven themselves to be durable and reliable little pickups. A stock XLT with no customizations like ours books out for $22K, according to KBB. If we decide to sell it, we’ll ask $28K. We live in the mountains of north central Washington state.
Thanks for sharing that sounds like a beautiful truck. I live in Arkansas myself that would be over 1000 miles one way trip. The Ford Ranger wouldn't be able to tow my two large pontoon boats. I also carry 100 gallon fuel cell in the bed of my truck. I know someone will really be happy to purchase this one of a kind truck. Thanks for all the information. Have a great weekend!
@@johndriskill3376 Yeah, you’ll need a 3/4 or a 1 ton at least. Yes it is a 1 of a kind pickup. We’re only thinking about selling it as in a few years we’ll need to put a plow on the front to plow our private road on our land in Montana where we’re having a Log House built for our retirement years. I’m 7 years older than my wife and my health isn’t great, so I need to get her closer to her family so when I die, she’ll have family close by.
As a mechanic those IDLE hours is nothing. Those are serviced on a schedule no missed appointments. They are maintained with the finest dealer parts. Forget the running hours its idling at a low rpm worse thing you need is exhaust mounts . As a mechanic I'll tell you those cars are worked on by special mechanics that only work on police cars .
If you think the Dodges have issues, the Tahoes are almost as bad. The active fuel management system usually fails around 150-175k. The cam get chewed up and pumps metal throughout the engine. The 6 speed autos usually lose the torque converter at about the same mileage. Insanely expensive to fix either problem
My 425000 mile 2011 Chevy Silverado would disagree. Same drive train as a Tahoe. You can get around the afm by plugging in HP tuners and simply flipping a toggle. Flushing the transmission fluid once every 100000 miles helps extend the life of the 6l80e.
@@streetratgarage It's a lot more than software my friend. You need a proper AFM/DOD delete kit including non-AFM camshaft to get rid the AFM completely. There is a still a chance of ending up with a lifter failure/trashed camshaft with a software delete alone.
@@PatientXero607 if you do not as yet have a problem with the active fuel management, lifters, collapsing, if you turn off the software, you will not have a problem. I have deactivated more than 50 units so far, including my own, without removing any of the active feel management mechanicals. Over seven years without any issues on any of the units again this is including my own 425,000 mile 5.3 L. With all the original active fuel management mechanicals still installed, and only software turned off.
He’s absolutely correct. Even if the engine runs, it’s likely the reason why the vehicle is being sold is because the engine and/or transmission is toast.
My man. Thank you so much! This has opened so many doors for us. Social media influencers and general knowledge had misguided me for over a decade lol.
Way back in the 80's when no one knew about these or the customs auctions you could pick up really, and I mean really cheap, deals. I picked up a Customs shipping container of Sony TV's in Miami for $300 and sold them off to a local retailer for a nice tidy profit. An associate bought a DEA Lamborghini for $5K. Replaced the windshield, a rim and tires and drove it for a year before driving it to a dealer and selling it because the insurance premiums were eating him alive. But then people started finding out about these, and then the auctions started putting reserves in or someone would be sitting next to the auctioneer whispering to him, it got to the point there wasn't any point in going any longer. Last one I went to was in the early 2000's in Orange County FL. There were no "deals" to be had there. Hell, they even charged admission if you were going to be bidding.
Well, the people who list the vehicles for sale do not get any of the money that the vehicle is sold for. It all goes back to the state of Indiana. So they have no reason not to be 100% honest.
Dude I am so glad you made this one because you and me have talked about the police auction ones before and most of the auctions are Brasher auto auctions or Copart because all the tow companies keep the police impound this one this one actually has stuff that I can use sweet
I think the trick is to NOT buy thru third parties and find the actual auction sites so you aren't paying the 10% or whatnot fees... I'm surprised this guy didn't mention you can find police sites with auctions instead of paying all the markups... I would have subbed if he took the time to mention such.
@@MrSITH-qj6zp You can find auction sites thru local government websites, such as county/city or even the department websites... I'm not saying that is always the case, but I have seen it multiple times by doing some quick research for my local government.
I worked Military Police for 8 years. 1 thing to keep in mind with these vehicles that people don't often think about is idle time. Miles may read 100,000, however that doesn't account for the 100's to 1000's of hours we sit around idling. Also, I have NEVER seen a work vehicle receive oil changes or maintenance anywhere near on time. Factor in that idle time and that motor is going to have excessive wear and tear. Just something to keep in mind. Check for leaks, bad gaskets, knocks and ticks, etc.
They are overpaying for all the cars on govdeals now. 4 years ago I paid $1500 for a 2010 crown Victoria that same car would sell for $3k now on govdeals.
That hellcat mentioned around the 5 minute mark is still listed over a month later. The buy now price is now 51k rather than the 59k shown in the video. It's hilarious when people can't price gouge like that.
Govt maintenance schedules are usually looooong intervals because they know they will be replaced with relatively low mileage,usually within 3 years before the warranty expires or just as it expires. It's a crap shoot as to condition. The Govt agency I worked for rarely had their vehicles serviced unless a problem was reported, otherwise they just drove them, no oil changes no nothing..sold them off after 3 years and bought new . Same 3 year cycle because they knew the vehicle would be fairly reliable for that long, considering the neglected service intervals. May not be like that everywhere but I would be VERY cautious about a purchase unless you know what your getting and it's very very cheap.
I just found your channel and subscribed. These comments arguing over which engine is garbage is kind of funny. Every manufacturer has had some bad years, bad design, or bad updates to every motor and transmission. Some recalled, some allowed to fester and wreak havoc on the publics pocketbook. I've owned virtually every single configuration brand, engine, and configuration in my life. My old F-Series with a 351 and 3 speed manual had 500k miles in it when I sold it. My 2017 3.5 EcoBoost was a beautiful piece of garbage. Bad cam phasers 3 times in 96k miles. My brother's Chevy High Country was actually bought back by GM because it had so many issues. Personally, a 2500 truck that needs a steering rack or new main seal is still a good deal. Good luck, everyone!
I was in the military for 20 yrs. I know from experience that a lot of government vehicle are driven very hard and rough. There is a reason why they tend to be cheap.
😂for real bud, the cops in my town hit 120mph for a dog on the road 😂I'm like wtf you would think it was something serious turns out it was nothing, not there car not there problem now if it was there own car they would never drive that way
The reason for the cams going bad is that the cam sits higher in a Hemi. So, it doesn’t as much oil on the cam. Thus, a ton of idling causes them to run pretty dry.
I don't have a car, so no car payment, insurance, upkeep, gas or registration. Imagine how much money I'm saving, especially considering I'm retired and am able to use public transportation. SUCKERS!
Back in the 90s my dad bought 2 cars from police auctions. A Chevy Corsica and a ford Taurus. Corsica got us though high school them blew a head gasket after 40,000 miles or so Taurus was a dud, it said runs and drive, but it wouldn’t shift out of first gear. Once the tranny was replaced, it wasn’t really a good deal. Idling kills every gasket in these cars
that 550 is gonna need about 3.7k in repairs for the axle and the fuckary inside so but it could be sold for maybe 7k as a 4x4 so if one has an extra truck around you can make about 2.8k-3 thousand realistically but the transport also has to be factored in probably about $800-1000k so you probably will net two grand .
I’ve bought two crown vics at police auctions both of them the crankshaft bearings broke but that’s cause the gauges on the car weren’t working properly they both were shorted I’m assuming cause they took the lights off & something wasn’t put back on properly i dont know but I got both the cars for less then $800
It's only a good value until it need fixing. Then repair costs today incredibly expensive. Now not such a good deal. The unknown is why i like to buy from private party. Eyeball a guy see where they live will tell you alot about if they could afford a well maintained vehicle.
@@streetratgarage We currently have a 11 Ranger XLT super cab 4WD pickup. It’s mainly used for work around our property. I figured that at our age, it would be the last pickup that we’d ever own. It’s our 4th Ranger. We’ve been buying them since the 80s. They’ve proven themselves to be durable little pickups. We bought it in 19 with only 20K miles. We don’t like Silver, Charcoal Gray or Black and ours happened to be Silver so I had it 2 toned (Silver over Red Metallic). I also had it reupholstered in Red with black trim and stitching. I then added a K&N intake and a 3” FlowMaster exhaust system, rear adjustable air shocks, running boards, custom wheels, LineX spray in bed liner, tonneau cover, custom pinstripes, window vents, etc. It has the 4.0L V6, 5spd automatic transmission, limited slip differential, tow pkg. I just put Cooper Discoverer A/T tires and next week it’s going in for front brakes and wheel alignment. It still looks showroom new with only 36K original miles. We’re thinking about selling it and buying a F150 4WD with a tow pkg. I’d like to have the 5.0L V8 (302 CID), as they’re an excellent engine. I already have a buyer for our Ranger. He’s willing to pay $28K for it. I can sell it and buy a F150 for work around our property and buy more gold only because our US dollar is going digital and that’s not a good thing. Our daily drivers are both 5 year old Subaru’s. My wife’s Outback has only 32K miles and my Forester Touring has only 15K miles. I’m retired so my wife and I will be going to MT this fall to look at some property to build a Log House for our retirement years after my wife retires. A full sized pickup will come in handy for hauling firewood. I went ahead and subscribed to your channel to get more of your content. Enjoy your day, Doc
I do wonder if that brown 4x4 F150 has the 5.0 if it does that truck is worthseeing how much it goes for because even if its like 2 or 3k thats a steal.
This guy is in Lala land. As a former government employee, I know for a fact government vehicles are driven like they were stolen. Also, the agency would bid-out maintenance contracts. Whoever submits the lowest bid, gets the contract. As such maintenance was shoddy, done with no attention to detail, etc. The fellow mistakenly thinks government agencies give their vehicles TLC. Don't forget government agencies are NOT profit-making entities. As such, they don't give a flip about cost and/or care. Also, government agencies have budgets and cut corners wherever they can.
It’s not for everyone. But I would rather put work into a cheap vehicle then buy a brand new one that will depreciate $10,000 in the first year. Even if you buy a $25,000 used vehicle that’s in real good shape you will be paying about $500 a month for a car payment plus maybe another hundred dollars per month or more for your full coverage insurance that you will be required to have on a vehicle you’re making payments on. But this is America and the choice is yours to make.
I've owned one and daily drove it and it was a pain in the ass. If you are not paying attention everyone slams on their brakes when they see you behind them and you almost crash into them several times a day.
Just remanber this when buying a Gov police car truck. if it has 150k mile's check the engine idling hour's alot of fords an dodges have it . then x it by 60 cause 1 engine hour equals 60 miles so if a car/truck has 150k miles but also has 4500 idling hours 4500 idling hour's come out to 270k mile's then add the 150k miles the car/truck has like 420k miles on it . give or take a few miles .
A car that idles for one hour equates to 60 miles of driving, that would mean it would be exactly the same as driving a car down the interstate at 60 miles an hour at about 2000 RPMs for one hour?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but, ,in one of these government auto auctions, ,you can outbid everybody else and win the bid for what you consider to be a good, low price for that vehicle but you may end up STILL NOT getting the car. If your "winning" bid is under the seller's _reserve price_ and you're not willing to go higher than your "winning" bid, the seller has the right to refuse to sell it to you and just relist it for another auction at some later date. When you visit the website and you see the label "Reserve Not Met" describing a car up for auction, that's what that is referring to. So if I'm right, perhaps you can share this very important information with your viewers.
You are absolutely right. That’s exactly what it means. They put a reserve on it because they want it selling for a certain minimum amount. I will try to make a note that that. Thanks.
Maintained that can be some real BS depending on the vehicle. A dump truck driver dropped a 6 cubic yard of ground cover bark in a nice brand new Peterbilt. Asked him what do you think about that Peterbilt. And it was the usual complaint from old timers packed full of electronics and made to break not run like the old Peterbilts. How long you been driving truck? All my life. Ok so you been working for this company? No I used to work for the city driving dump trucks and now retired. You would think the city would keep their trucks new and maintained. But no! This company I now work for they always got nice new trucks and keep them maintained. They also have better material for the job site than Home Depot and it's cheaper but need to buy half load or more to save any money.
