Humvees under 15,000

[jshummer]

Searching CL across the country a good amount of M998's come up under that price range. Many titled. I am coming out of a 2005 BMW Range Rover and a B6 Audi S4, I have a LS2 Vette and SBC Camaro as well. The maintenance of the truck seems straight forward and fairly simple and can't be worse than the Range and S4 with the electronics and timing chain issues. I can do the work myself and I've already downloaded the TM.

My question is would any of you have any reserves about going forward buying these trucks in that price range? If so why?

 

[juanprado]

I suspect most of those are trucks just bought off auction by flippers to make a quick $ and not much maintenance or work has been done on them if any.

Put a wanted ad on the classifieds. Buying from a member here is much better proposition.

I would recommend looking at GP auctions and go that route. Will probably be much cheaper and you are in total control. Flip side is you have to build the time delay of getting the EUC approved and done but the process must be a lot smoother now as not many members have posted on troubles with that like 2 years ago.

Just a quick note that they are all lego sets and all the parts to configure them bolt on/off so even if you see a truck you like is not in the configuration you want it is still doable like a 2 door to 4 door.

 

[jshummer]

Thanks for the quick reply, I did my research on them and love the lego set aspect of them even when it comes to the GM drive line. TH400/700R4/4L80E 454/6.2/6.5/LSX/Duramax. 2 man 4 man. Hardtop soft top slant.

I'm looking for any the runs and drives and has the glow plugs and controller sorted preferably. I appreciate the insight. Ill make a wanted ad and see what I find. I registered on Gov Planet years ago but I don't want to go through the whole SF 97 EUC delay and shipping process. I'm willing to fly anywhere in the lower 48 and drive or ship one back to South Florida.

 

[Bobert]

You can't sell one for over $10k here now. And that is road ready.

 

[AOR]

You can't sell one for over $10k here now. And that is road ready.

I would pay 10k for a nice one if anyone has a 4 door in decent shape pm me located in MD

 

[LouWon]

Well here's my 2 cents worth.
Do your research first, if everything has been done, then of course the price is higher, but like Juanprado noted, they are flipping to make money
But, if you have the time and mechanical knowledge, you are better off buying a cheaper and fixing it yourself, at least then you will know what your driving
The only reason I paid the extra bucks was that I did not want to wait to get one, mine already had a clear title.
But I had to do a ton of work to it, their version of excellent running condition was not the same as mine

As for the glow plugs, not a big deal, replace them all and buy an new box and sensor and you good to go, maybe $650.00
For maintenance, it doesn't really stop, this week I replaced all of the hub seals and did all fluids for this season.
My last car was a B7 and just traded in for a new M package 7 Xdrive, believe me the Humvee required more attention and maintenance than the B7 did

But it's fun to drive

 

[BKubu]

Understand that many of them came out with off-road only titles. Then, many of those titles were washed in title friendly states. That may or may not be a problem in your state now or in the future. Personally, I can't understand why the HMMWVs were targeted for off-road use only designation (aside from the historical things that AM General insisted upon), but "facts is facts" and many (most?) have been marked as such. Note that those that came out with clear on-road titles will generally cost you more than the $15K you quoted. If someone gets into an accident, that could come out in any legal proceedings. These issues are blossoming (not necessarily the legal variety, but DMVs are becoming savvy to the washed titles) up all over the country. Good luck, and enjoy the hobby!

 

[98G]

In theory private sale should command something of a premium over an auction truck simply due to the diminished risk, and the absence of an EUC wait.

You see people "upgrade" and "improve" them, then turn around and expect to recoup everything they've put into it. The thing is, one man's improvement is another man's inexpert tampering.

I occasionally buy trucks with the goal of resale. I guess that makes me one of the loathsome flippers mentioned. When I buy trucks with the goal of resale, I do as little "custom" work as possible. My experience has heen that buyers would rather start with a clean slate. Example - keyed ignition switches. You can replace the switch with a keyed switch, or you can put a keyed battery cutoff on the positive side, or you can put a keyed battery cutoff on the negative side. One guy who has bought several trucks from me likes CAT keys. I leave the switches alone unless something isn't working, because changing it out is likely to be considered a detriment by the buyer....

HMMWV market is volatile. Auction prices are all over the place, even more so than MVs in general. The last few trucks I've dealt with I bought at private sale. Patient stalking in today's market will frequently yield a better deal on a better truck than auctions.

Just my observations. Oh, and I sent you a PM....

 

[juanprado]

"My" definition of a flipper and reseller is different.

Flipper does nothing but buy & resell. If anything is fixed is just the bare min required to make it salable. Once the flip is over, good luck in getting in contact again....

A reseller will likely go through it , make it sound, perform at least a min level of preventive maint/inspection and is knowledgeable and a resource to the new owner and will not disappear off the face of the earth...

 

[86humv]

.....:d

 

[tage]

Buy a unimog

 

[porkysplace]

Searching CL across the country a good amount of M998's come up under that price range. Many titled. I am coming out of a 2005 BMW Range Rover and a B6 Audi S4, I have a LS2 Vette and SBC Camaro as well. The maintenance of the truck seems straight forward and fairly simple and can't be worse than the Range and S4 with the electronics and timing chain issues. I can do the work myself and I've already downloaded the TM.

My question is would any of you have any reserves about going forward buying these trucks in that price range? If so why?

Since your in Florida you may want to read this on registering and using them.
https://www.flhsmv.gov/dmv/bulletins/2016/ta_rstl16-022.pdf

 

[EladB]

Jshummer,

I'm going through the same debate. I haven't really decided to buy yet, let alone what to buy. I have a specific configuration in mind, but I'm not opposed to buying something totally different IF the price is right and I can have it the way I want it without spending a fortune.

The govplanet.com route is going to take a lot of time and hassle, but let's say I'd save $10K. Except that I'll need to replace a lot of parts, pay for hauling it here (at least $1500 in my case), and spend the better part of a year (EUC, shipping, repairs, parts scrounging, state paperwork) before I have a driveable, operational vehicle. Realistically, I figure I'll spend several thousand getting it to the point where the ones I see advertised for sale are already.

Then there's the risk factor. Buying one at auction means I have NO idea what kind of problems there are until it rolls off the truck. I have a place and the time to do routine maintenance, but not major work. If there's a problem with the drivetrain, I'm kind of hosed - it means a lot more time and expense for me. The others I can go look at and drive before buying. I've looked at and driven enough glossed-over POS used vehicles that I think I can spot them pretty well. Yes, I know there could be hidden issues, but it's a smaller risk.

If I had a barn or shop to work in, AND if I had plenty of time and the desire to build my own, I'd buy cheap and put my own time and effort into it. I have neither. I already have a hobby and a couple of major projects I'm working on, so it's worth a couple-few extra grand to me to buy something that I have some reasonable idea is going to be pretty well sorted out, and can have road legal tags on in days, not months.

@Juanprado, I would define a "flipper" the same way I do for houses. A flipper (in that context) buys something undervalued due to its condition, fixes it up and resells for a profit. The guy who buys it from the flipper is going to pay more than the flipper has in it, yes. You're paying for the flipper's time, expertise and assumption of risk. I'm OK with that. My flying partner does the same with motorcycles. I've done it myself a couple of times with electronics. There are good flips and bad ones... some people do great work and some just do the minimum cosmetic work to hide the big problems and get the next sucker on the hook. The challenge is to find a decent vehicle in the target price range.

There are two HMMWVs for sale fairly close to me. One is probably going to be out of my price range, and it's a slantback which I'm not wild about anyway. I'm trying to get in touch with the owner of the other one so I can take a look this weekend. If that one doesn't work out, I may take a road trip to Tulsa at some point. Good luck with your hunt.

Dale

 

[JoeJrTheBarber]

Bullet Motorsports is in Flordia and always have Humvee's up for sale that they say they have gone thru and gotten "road worthy"...

 

[jshummer]

I have read about the rules in FL, also Montana and Vermont. I will check out bullet motorsports. I understand that these needs lots of maintenance and that's okay with me as it will be mechanical in nature, vs electrical chasing P-codes and can bus problems with the Range, on top of all the mechanical things.

 

[Skrilex]

Coming from anything English you’ll likely feel that the humvee is maintenance light lol. In fact, as simple as they are I’d consider them low maintenance.

 

[2wheels70]

Jump in and join us in the circus of former military Humvee ownership

 

[Sintorion]

I hope you are not planning this as a daily driver. They are not exactly comfortable. 55mph top speed, not fuel efficient, no AC, no radio, no protection from the elements, no storage, no security, I could go on. That doesn't even address the registration issue. Florida has some special requirements to register one of these to make them even less likely for a daily driver. Make sure you know what you are buying. As for selling price, I recently sold one of mine that I did a fair amount of work. New paint, new seats, new top, new mats, it had a very new 6.5, titled and registered. I sold it for $18K and it took me about 3 months before finding a new home.

 

[2wheels70]

I drive mine everyday I guess it depends on how soft you are LOL

 

[Sintorion]

I drive mine everyday I guess it depends on how soft you are LOL

Come down to FLa and drive one in the middle of July and tell me how hard you are.