Buying at auction.

an owner operator looking for one truck cant just roll the dice on a truck without having enough money to fix a major breadown few days after putting it to work hence the word BUDGETTING.
You take the cost of an inframe into consideration against the value of the truck at the dealers lot not on the auction floor.

 

I have a lot of experience with heavy equipment auctions, from the inside perspective. Taylor & Martin, Yoder & Frey, Henderson, Petrowski, etc.

Taylor & Martin always sold nice quality equipment. They also commanded a premium price over what you might expect at another auctioneer. I would equate them to the Richie Brothers of truck auctioneers when it comes to being legit.

Any other auctioneer - some are legit players and some are straight up criminals - can be a total hit or miss.

I've seen containers full of Chinese-made Caterpillar mini dozers and excavators come in for these auctions. I've seen people bash out hour meters, flip track pins so you cant feel the wear, equipment being sprayed the day before getting new decals and windows, position pieces in the row so you cant see the giant crack in the undercarriage, i've seen equipment go for pennies on the dollar to the auctioneers' buddy, shill bidders everywhere if you know what to look for, etc.

If you know what you are doing then you can find outrageous deals. Otherwise, weigh the risks against the perceived reward.

 

I used to be a crew boss herding CDL Temps into the trucks and take care of the trailers with one other staffer who is also full CDLA, all other temps have the box trucks and tractors. Older equiptment partiuclarly pre computer is mine to take to barn or if a driver is older than me he gets to enjoy it.

The trucks in auction are as is, THEY WILL be...

Short on fuel, may run out prior to sale.
Have airleaks. Some of which can be nursed along with trolley to make look good in sale.
Have mechanical problems. Those are sold where they sit. there is no point in trying to move them with the computer total slam shut on engine every 30 seconds. (Essentially engine fatal...)
And other issues that will become apparent to why they are sold in the first place.

I think there was three trucks in total that I remember that were very good and it was a joy. I would have bought one of the two myself. They were that good.

But to find such jewels you have thousands of swine pushed through the barn.

 

If its in an auction, there is a reason for it.

 

Don't necessarily agree right now, A Model.
I've been by probably 5 auction sites in the last month and they are positively blown up with tractors. I'll bet I've seen over 1,000.
The reason they're at auction is because the used truck market has been trashed.
If it were me, I'd go by the miles and the engine first, then anything extra I wanted second.
In my opinion, what's most likely to go wrong with these units will be the emissions system. Plan on between $3k and $12k for that.
Also, many times you can tell which fleet they came from. If you find one you like ask around here how they do their maintenance.

Good luck. For the right price I'd consider it.
Look at it this way, you won't get much more from a dealer unless its a catastrophic failure.

 

My boss regularly sends trucks and trailers to the taylor martin auction at south souix city ...our trucks are pretty distinctive so buyers know who owned them .
He commented to me awhile back that he wont send anything up there that isnt road ready because he doesent want a rep for sending junk there ....if he sends junk anywhere its disclosed.

 

My first thought is: if they couldn't afford to stay in business, what are the chances they could afford to maintain the truck properly?

 

They're fleet trucks that SelecTrucks won't buy

 

My cousin got 2000 Pete from an auction for 8k. First trip he barely made it home and needed engine overhaul. He spent over 50k and counting. It still needs more work and he's in debt now.
He got ####ed, dont be like my cousin