US Army Makes $744K In First-Ever Public Humvee Auction
Forget Panthers: Humvees are the new hotness, as so demonstrated when the United States Army held its first-ever public auction for a surplus of the iconic military vehicle.
Military.com reports a total of 25 vehicles were auctioned on behalf of the Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency, with $744,000 brought in for the trouble.
Bidding for each vehicle began at $10,000, but it didn’t last long at that level; the average winning bid came in at $30,000. The lowest bid was $21,500 for a 1989 model, while the highest was $41,000 for one made in 1994.
That said, the vehicles won’t be hitting the highway any time soon, as the vehicles were sold with the caveat that they would be limited to off-road purposes. Another auction is expected in January, with more likely to follow; the DLA has 4,000 Humvees gathering dust at present.
Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.
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For around $10k you can get a 5ton military 6x6; spend another $3-5k to chop off one drive axle and shorten the cargo bed and you have a "bobbed deuce" that looks like a supersized militarized pickup truck will climb all over a Humvee. They are not hard to find on eBay and there is a company in Indiana the custom builds them to order. Looks like more fun for less money. If you hate your neighbors put one in your driveway.
As one who has logged literally thousands of hours in a military hummer, I will say the only thing good about them is that you can sleep good and dry on a stretcher in the back of the high back configuration. The reliability sucks. On the comment about only one oil change, the Army uses oil analysis so oil is changed when the lab says change it. I've seen some truck get the oil changed almost monthly LOL
These things are slow, unreliable, extremely uncomfortable, and clearly not worth what people are paying for them. I've dealt with these shitboxes for the past 7 years and you couldn't pay me to take one. They're capable, but unless you're driving off-road every single day of the week in the harshest of terrain, you'd be better off buying something a little more...civilianized.
No need to auction them off. Just leave them behind for recently 'befriended' regimes to be put to good use... And new adversaries can pick them up for free. Seen the pictures of Isis combatants proudly driving around in their Humvies? Even Dwight Eisenhower could not foresee this cynic recycling of military material.