Buying from DOT Auction

[Eric91Z]

Well, after this winter and just due to the miles I drive, I want to get a new winter beater/commuter car. I am thinking about picking up an ex-P71 Crown Vic from one of the local DOT Auctions that they have twice a year around here. I know I could pick up a nice one from one of the bigger sellers of used CVPI's, but I want local and not looking to spend much.

I was just wondering if anyone has ever done this before? What to look for and check out? The site says you can go down the Friday before the auction for viewing and checking out vehicles. I know to stay away from suburban use vehicles as they normally get beat on the most. I would like to find like a Sheriff's take home car, State Trooper car, or something like that. Not too worried about outside or inside appearance as long as it runs well and it not a basket case. Just want a winter beater and bad weather commute car to keep the miles off the Marauder. At the rate I am going, I will have 100,000 miles on her before I can get the Trilogy setup...

Any input on buying from DOT auctions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

[Rider90]

What to look for? Pop the hood and look for the aluminum coolant crossover on the intake manifold.

Good luck!

[SergntMac]

Auctions can be fun, like a treasure hunt. Most likely though, you'll be pitched against some pros who buy in lots for the taxi market, and that gets to be a dice game and a hand of poker rolled into one. Check the rules too, some auctions require you to be a licensed re-seller. Good luck!

[Ken1]

Go to a few auction and learn. Stand away from crowd if possible watch who bids and looks for 1 0r 2 people in crowd that help to run price up on cars.

[Eric91Z]

I Iowa you just need to apply for a bidder's number, which I did today. They send that to you in the mail. The next one is not until early June and I planned on going just to see what it is about and what kind of cars they get through there. I know the Iowa Highway Patrol seems to be getting a number of newer cars lately. And the information on the website showed that they were selling "Full Size" cars in the '99-'02 year range.

I don't want to assume that people won't travel, but Iowa does not have a huge "taxi" need that I have ever seen in any town I have been to around here. But I agree there could be those that drive the price up.

The nice thing is that the DOT holds these auctions in the same town each time and it happens to be the one I live in. Not Des Moines, or Cedar Rapids, but here in good ole Ames, Iowa. At least I won't have to drive far to check them out.

[fastblackmerc]

Good Luck!!

[magindat]

Well, after this winter and just due to the miles I drive, I want to get a new winter beater/commuter car. I am thinking about picking up an ex-P71 Crown Vic from one of the local DOT Auctions that they have twice a year around here. I know I could pick up a nice one from one of the bigger sellers of used CVPI's, but I want local and not looking to spend much.

I was just wondering if anyone has ever done this before? What to look for and check out? The site says you can go down the Friday before the auction for viewing and checking out vehicles. I know to stay away from suburban use vehicles as they normally get beat on the most. I would like to find like a Sheriff's take home car, State Trooper car, or something like that. Not too worried about outside or inside appearance as long as it runs well and it not a basket case. Just want a winter beater and bad weather commute car to keep the miles off the Marauder. At the rate I am going, I will have 100,000 miles on her before I can get the Trilogy setup...

Any input on buying from DOT auctions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Try asking wes at innovative.

[ckadiddle]

Might also want to check:
http://www.govdeals.com/

You can get a rough idea what things are online auctioning for in your part of the country.

[SID210SA]

I bought a '96 CVPI from a school district auction....paid 2K and it had 70K miles on it....only problems I had were the power windows...the harness for the rear window were cut...it had a cage, but they took that out and plugged the holes with silicon. I traded it in for my Taurus and got 3K for it and I bent a rod in the motor and they knew it...any way, back to what to look for....hopefully you'll beable to start it and run it for a while before bidding starts and not just look at it...check the guages and fuses...mine was missing a couple of fuses....

[Eric91Z]

I know a lot of the actual CVPI's have the rear window inactive. That isn't a huge concern unless I use it to move the dogs, too, then they might want it.

There are also a lot of the ugly, light blue DOT cars they sell, too. Don't think I want that color though...

They show some real crap on that Gov. website. Is that the kind of stuff a lot of these auctions usually carry?

[RF Overlord]

Try asking wes at innovative.I agree. Wes (wchain) knows what to look out for concerning the CVPI better than anyone else on this board. :bows:

[Marauder2005]

Good luck, you might consider a police pkg. Impala as well. Front wheel

drive in the winter is easier. :)

[MarauderMark]

Try asking wes at innovative.
Yepp this man is well versed in buying cv':up:

[hitchhiker]

Well, after this winter and just due to the miles I drive, I want to get a new winter beater/commuter car. I am thinking about picking up an ex-P71 Crown Vic from one of the local DOT Auctions that they have twice a year around here. I know I could pick up a nice one from one of the bigger sellers of used CVPI's, but I want local and not looking to spend much.

I was just wondering if anyone has ever done this before? What to look for and check out? The site says you can go down the Friday before the auction for viewing and checking out vehicles. I know to stay away from suburban use vehicles as they normally get beat on the most. I would like to find like a Sheriff's take home car, State Trooper car, or something like that. Not too worried about outside or inside appearance as long as it runs well and it not a basket case. Just want a winter beater and bad weather commute car to keep the miles off the Marauder. At the rate I am going, I will have 100,000 miles on her before I can get the Trilogy setup...

Any input on buying from DOT auctions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

You can try looking at these...

http://search.ebaymotors.com/search/search.dll?GetResult&st=2&SortProperty=MetaNewSort&query=Police&from=R2&ebaytag1=ebayreg&siteid=100&s_partnerid=2&categorymap=6001&category2=6010&combine=y&catref=C3&from=R9&ssPageName=STRK:MEFSRCH:SRCH

Regards

Dave

[jimlam56]

Eric, try googling "CVPI for sale", it turns up several dealers that specialize in these cars. I too looked at the gov sight, what a bunch of crap cars!

[Eric91Z]

Eric, try googling "CVPI for sale", it turns up several dealers that specialize in these cars. I too looked at the gov sight, what a bunch of crap cars!

I have followed the various dealerships that specialize in selling CVPI's and would love to have one of those cleaner ones and pay a little more. Shoot, I would love to finance the Marauder enough to cover one of those (like late '90's for around $7000 or so) and then finance the Trilogy in there, too!!! I guess it depends on what I can get the wife to agree upon.

She just doesn't look at cars the same way I do. She doesn't really appreciate the fact that I do 26,000+ miles per year with my daily commute miles and other driving and want to keep this car as long as possible. Plus, I would rather have something else take the wear and tear of winter, rocks and other crap that seem to be getting worse on the roads, potential deer, and bad drivers. And save the Marauder!!!

[rayjay]

Good luck, you might consider a police pkg. Impala as well. Front wheel

drive in the winter is easier. :)

Better in snow, but by the time they go up for auction it will be junk. I will be surprised if ours make it to 75k without MAJOR repairs.

[Eric91Z]

Yeah, I will stick with a RWD CVPI. I have had no problems getting around this winter with the Marauder and can't believe a regular CVPI would be any different. I will, again, go with dedicated winter tires, but this car seems to be able to go where you want, when you want, with the right tires.

[Ryans PI]

Getting a state or county car is your best bet. They are usually only driven by one officer (at least state does, and so do some small county offices) and are ordered with more options like cruise control and power driver seat. My PI is a former sheriff car out of Wisconsin and has both of these options (with power lumbar seat, too) as well as carpet, AM/FM/Cassette and all cloth interior. And the rear windows and door handles both work from the back as well.

Good luck.

BTW, were in Iowa are ya? I have some relatives in Des Moines.

[Eric91Z]

Getting a state or county car is your best bet. They are usually only driven by one officer (at least state does, and so do some small county offices) and are ordered with more options like cruise control and power driver seat. My PI is a former sheriff car out of Wisconsin and has both of these options (with power lumbar seat, too) as well as carpet, AM/FM/Cassette and all cloth interior. And the rear windows and door handles both work from the back as well.

Good luck.

BTW, were in Iowa are ya? I have some relatives in Des Moines.

I live just north of Ames and work in Des Moines (thus my 90 mile per day round trip commute). I was born and raised in Urbandale (suburb of Des Moines).

[Eric91Z]

What to look for? Pop the hood and look for the aluminum coolant crossover on the intake manifold.

Good luck!

OK, I didn't look too hard, but couldn't find what I was looking for on CV.us. Where exactly am I looking for the crossover on the intake manifold? Is this on the front under the plastic cover? I know this is an issue and I know most CVPI's are covered under the Ford recall. Also, which years was this a problem on?