How much is a complete 12k service worth?

[timntrucks]

i think you should talk and do more math on what all it would cost

 

[m16ty]

There is a market for completely serviced trucks. IMO a truck that has been completely gone through is worth another $1,000.

I tend to sell trucks with minimum service because there is a market there too. If I get a truck from GL to sell I will make sure it runs and stops good and any major leaks repaired. I don't service the axles unless there is a noticable problem. There are alot of people that want to get a truck for the least amount of money and spend a little along fixing it up. There is nothing wrong with selling a truck that hasn't been completly serviced as long as you let the buyer know beforehand. There are sellers that will drive a truck straight from GL and try and sell it as a completely serviced truck.

 

[southdave]

Dude, that should be in your sell cost, actually it should factor into your general over head. I would expect that if i were to buy a M35 off anyone who buys and sell these for a profit. I get enough crap like this from my bank, car dealers and any person out there trying to make quick buck ect. Poeple nned to stand behind what they sell. As for the dollar and quote poeple are thowing out there is alot of overhead crap thown into that number you need to look at your own sitution and judge. there alot mech. shop that fold cause that number alot make it too. IMO it is chicken sh*T to even pose that as an opt.

 

[TexAndy]

Dude, that should be in your sell cost, actually it should factor into your general over head. I would expect that if i were to buy a M35 off anyone who buys and sell these for a profit. I get enough crap like this from my bank, car dealers and any person out there trying to make quick buck ect. Poeple nned to stand behind what they sell. As for the dollar and quote poeple are thowing out there is alot of overhead crap thown into that number you need to look at your own sitution and judge. there alot mech. shop that fold cause that number alot make it too. IMO it is chicken sh*T to even pose that as an opt.

What do you mean it should "be in the sell cost?"

If I put 1,000 dollars worth of parts and labor into something, I'm going to pass that cost onto you, the customer. That's just all there is to it. I don't work for free.

The purpose of this thread was for me to find out how many people would buy a deuce and a half and pay extra for that service and how many would prefer to do such work themselves and forgoe that cost. As opposed to me just willy nilly doing all that labor only to find out that most people were just looking for the absolute cheapest deuce they could find.

If I misunderstood your post, I apologize.

 

[m16ty]

As I said above, I sell trucks that have not been "completely serviced" but I don't try and pass them off as such. I'll tell the buyers what has or hasn't been done to the truck. I'm sorry if some people think that is a "chicken sh*t" way to do business but I'm not trying to screw anybody. I'm completely honest with my dealings and I've never had a dissatisfied customer that I know of. I tend to sell my trucks toward the lower end of market value also.

Doing this I can keep my overhead low and pass the savings off to the customer.

 

[dm22630]

As I said above, I sell trucks that have not been "completely serviced" but I don't try and pass them off as such. I'll tell the buyers what has or hasn't been done to the truck. I'm sorry if some people think that is a "chicken sh*t" way to do business but I'm not trying to screw anybody. I'm completely honest with my dealings and I've never had a dissatisfied customer that I know of. I tend to sell my trucks toward the lower end of market value also.

Me too!

I would say a LOT of sellers call their trucks "fully serviced" since they aired up the tires & topped off the oil.

 

[southdave]

Dude any Idoit can buy one from GL and service it. so what if they have wait 60 day for a title. Do you preview your truck before you buy. Is your bussiness just flippin military truck, doing the min. for least cost? ie the rattle can overhaul. I would expect more out a truck a buy off a dealer. Here is my example: the aver. cost of a truck off gl (m35a2) the last three years is abou 1600-1900 bucks.
you are providing a service why would I pay an extra 2500 buck. what are you offering. besides a menu of extra charges. for equipment that under the lemmon law you are responsible for 90 days after the sale and in some States 120 assuming you have the proper Lisc.

 

[TexAndy]

Dude any Idoit can buy one from GL and service it. so what if they have wait 60 day for a title. Do you preview your truck before you buy. Is your bussiness just flippin military truck, doing the min. for least cost? ie the rattle can overhaul. I would expect more out a truck a buy off a dealer. Here is my example: the aver. cost of a truck off gl (m35a2) the last three years is abou 1600-1900 bucks.
you are providing a service why would I pay an extra 2500 buck. what are you offering. besides a menu of extra charges. for equipment that under the lemmon law you are responsible for 90 days after the sale and in some States 120 assuming you have the proper Lisc.

Feel free not to buy from the secondary market then, cup cake.

 

[m16ty]

Dude any Idoit can buy one from GL and service it. so what if they have wait 60 day for a title. Do you preview your truck before you buy. Is your bussiness just flippin military truck, doing the min. for least cost? ie the rattle can overhaul. I would expect more out a truck a buy off a dealer. Here is my example: the aver. cost of a truck off gl (m35a2) the last three years is abou 1600-1900 bucks.
you are providing a service why would I pay an extra 2500 buck. what are you offering. besides a menu of extra charges. for equipment that under the lemmon law you are responsible for 90 days after the sale and in some States 120 assuming you have the proper Lisc.

Was this post aimed at me? If it was, you have no idea what I sell my trucks for. I will tell you that I don't add $2,500 over the purchase price. I say again " I don't try and pass my trucks off as completely serviced". There is no "rattle can overhaul" with me.

I'll leave it at that because this is taking away from the original topic .

 

[paulfarber]

A a person looking for a good truck, and knowing what they sell for off GL I would say this:

The going over should be free. With the right tools its not a big deal (I own a CCKW and am familiar with big nuts and bolts). Time wise I don't think any guy selling a GL truck is worth $20-$85 per hour. You are selling the truck AS IS, NO GUARANTEE so how are you justifying ANY premium for time or parts? If it breaks 20 ft from your driveway its my expense.

I expect the 'inspection part' to have been done when you picked up and tested the truck at home. Parts are extra, but I want a sheet and to see the bad parts (heck I'd even take them with me as spares in an emergency).

Eastern charges $700 for fluids and looking over a truck... yeah, I won't be buying one of their trucks. Parts, maybe, but they are in BUSINESS to make money.. I am out to SAVE as much as I can. You be I will look at zerks to see if they have been recently used (cleaned off and new grease showing) at a MINIMUM. Fluids topped off, belts tight a no leaks in any lines etc.

For an inspection sheet and a warranty (30 day, 1000 miles general street use) I could see MAYBE $250 - $500. Parts would be I send you a broken one and you send me a good one, we both pay for shipping. Towing/emergency service is on the buyer, but broken parts should not be.... you did 'go over it', right?

Southdave has a VERY good point. If you are flipping trucks for profit you can be considered a DEALER in your state. Selling one truck is no biggy... sell a couple a year for profit and you are a dealer and open to all that regulation/licensing/liability.

 

[southdave]

No not at all m16 or tex just I thought, I perosonably would expect a fully serviced truck if i were to pay 4500 bucks for a truck that number seam common or what the market is bearing at the monent . he asked would it be alright to charge X amount for this service.

 

[m16ty]

No not at all m16 or tex just I thought, I perosonably would expect a fully serviced truck if i were to pay 4500 bucks for a truck that number seam common or what the market is bearing at the monent . he asked would it be alright to charge X amount for this service.

OK . I'd have to agree, I would also expect the truck to be fully serviced if it had a $4,500 price tag.

I'm not what you would call a "dealer". I will buy a truck to resell every now and then though. When I buy a truck from GL I take all the risk. That risk is worth something. The truck could be in A1 shape or it could be a pile of crap.

The last M35A2 I bought for resell I had a little over $1,200 in it after fees and taxes. Cost me another $500 to get it home. It had no brakes, two leaking axle seals, and a bad passenger door. To fix all the problems cost me another $300 in parts plus and weekend of work. Cost me another $60 for a SF97 and another $100 at the local DMV to get a title. I sold the truck for $2,500 because IMO that was fair market value for the truck. As you can see there is not alot of profit in these trucks even just doing the minimum repairs just to get it going.

 

[sandcobra164]

Not that I'm a big fan of flippers, they have their place in this hobby most certainly. I dislike them for the fact that they tend to run the auction up at the last minute and make people who would like the trucks for personal use pay more. That rant aside, they do provide a valuable service for the less informed / equipped. My example, I bought a truck off of GL, waited my EUC time, went to Ft. Rucker with 2 batteries, some tools and a can of ether. Turns out, the truck was a runner and didn't even need the ether. I made the 120 miles of driving and all went well but I now have a leaking axle seal. I've learned that I'm going to need some bigger tools and the cost of those factor into repairs. For those who flip, you probably already have the jacks, jackstands, tools, and expertise needed to work on these trucks and if you're turning out a quality product, then your time, tools and expertise are worth money. I still need to buy a larger than 1 1/16" socket just to drain the oil!!!! I'm also about to pay around $200 (I'm providing the seals and only 1 is getting replaced) to fix my leaky axle seal at a truck shop due to lack of tools. Next time, I'll probably buy from a dealer who sells me a ready to roll, serviced truck and if all it needs it fluids changed, axle seals, and other required maintenance, I'd probably place a $2,000 dollar premium on the piece of mind. I bought mine to drive and I can handle the minor maintenance. I got into the hobby on the cheap but that shouldn't fool anyone. Unless you're ready to commit your checkbook, don't get into this hobby for cheap fun. It takes money to run a 40 year old truck that averages 7 MPG's and loves to be serviced.

 

[sandcobra164]

And just to be sure, I haven't revealed my background as to why I love these trucks. I drove them with the National Guard for years until the FMTV's started coming in. We quit driving the Deuce's and I missed that. I ran the stew out of them and they rarely ever broke. If one did, the Guard payed for and made the repair so it was never a big deal to me. Now that I own one, I've learned that they must be serviced and in the event it needs a repair, either have your own tools or get ready to pay. I know some here may read the above post and think $200 dollars is excessive for only 1 axle seal. I agree but unless you have the equipment to make that repair, you have to pay at that window. My math, seals ($40 after shipping on ebay), 6 ton bottle jack ($30-40 most parts stores), 6 ton jack stand ($20 most stores), Axle nut socket ($35 most places), Misc. brake cleaner, grease, gear oil, etc. to complete the job ($30 most stores). At that rate, I'm only giving about $75 to get the job done over the cost of me doing the work myself and buying the tools. As I've seen very few axle seals go out on trucks in regular service, I feel I'm getting the work done pretty cheap. I understand the shop will profit but they have to if they are to remain in business.

 

[hndrsonj]

But think of it this way, those tools can also be used for other fixes. If you lose a wheel cylinder you could almost have fixed it if you had fixed the seal yourself. I always tend to try and do any fix myself if not for any other reason to get a new tool. You will always use it again.

 

[G-Force]

Do it this way, go around to a few places that are willing and able to do the service on the truck. Get prices. Then put the truck up for sale at the price you want to sell it at. When you get a buyer explain to him it is sold as is for X amount of dollars but you can have it serviced by this place for X amount of dollars. This way, the buyer has a place to go back to if something that was done in the service goes bad, instead of coming back to you. Not to knock your ability to do the work or anything like that but I would be skeptical of offering a service that you have only seen/participated in once. Yes you will get better at the job once done several times but all it takes is one time for something to go south that was done in the service....and beleive me, it happens. Most businesses that service equipment carry completed product liability insurance......or should if they are smart......because alot of times when something that was just serviced fails it tends to take out alot more than what would have been replaced during a regular service......and that could turn out to be very expensive......

 

[TexAndy]

Actually, I participated in it 24 times.

 

[Keith_J]

The idea of selling a freshly serviced deuce is a sound one, considering most have been without TLC for the past 2-10 years, sitting up at DRMO/GL. The problem is convincing future owners that it has genuine worth, this is the selling point. And having the ability to drive it home instead of paying for transport is a definite positive.

The other consideration is parts. Is the new owner willing to order/locate the parts/tools and spend the time?

 

[paulfarber]

None of the 'services' I have seen are more than look overs, fluid top offs and filters. Some don't even go that far.

There is no real way to inspect a seal. Its either leaking or not. A common seal failure is wearing the shaft of what its supposed to seal. I have fixed a few yokes that have a nice seal wear groove and an almost perfect seal. Ditto for bearings etc. You need to hear it going bad (can you hear anything on a running M35?) or feel for heat... both things easily done for far less than $700

Now if they are saying they DID check the seals/bearing (by visual inspection) it should be easy to tell... there should be some clean spots on the truck. Ditto for lube/fluid/filters... unless I see a clean zerk and fresh grease I don't care what you said you did etc.

Here is what $700 gets you at 'retail':

PM service on M35A2 Deuce & a Half- Change antifreeze, lower and upper radiator hoses, change engine oil and filters, change fuel filters and wash out primary filter, change air filter, check and top all gear cases, replace all belts with new ( alternator/aircompressor), top off master cylinder, grease entire chassis- cost $700

I see maybe $300 worth of parts. Nothing that requires more than some paper towls and common hand tools.

Inspecting a belt or hose is easy... but even NEW belts/hoses can burst. Plus on the mark up of the trucks they sell ($6,000 AVERAGE for a plane jane M35) I don't see a lot of 'deal' here.

Now scale that down to the average flipper.... with even less accountability and possibly experience. No thanks.

 

[TexAndy]

Removing each hub, cleaning the hub out, repacking the bearings, replacing seals (if need be) and putting it all together takes about 2 hours per wheel for one person. Call it 15 minutes for refurbing a wheel cylinder. Even longer if you have to replace a brake drum or shoe.

I guess it all depends on what you think your time is worth.