Disappointed with GL description

[country]

Beetle

This has happened to me SEVERAL times. We have found holes in the block, knocking engines, missing fuel pumps, missing axle shafts, stuck engines.

It is part of the game.

The savings you get from buying direct carry some great risk and the potential for some great rewards.

You are welcome to come to our yard in Philadelphia, and inspect, run, test drive any of our trucks. It will cost more than GL, but you will know what you got and we will stand behind the truck!

Dave Newman
www.easternsurplus.net

 

[BKubu]

A word on pictures to those that don't already know this...they ALWAYS lie. Assume the truck looks no where near as good as the pictures and you will be a happier person. I can say that I have NEVER seen a truck that looked as good in person as I was expecting based upon what I saw in the pictures. Back in the day, the old DRMO did not even give you pictures...just a catalog (in the mail early on and then online later). You either bid blindly on, "M35A2, year and mileage unknown - condition H7," or you inspected. The pictures and the fancy descriptions that the GL site offer encourage people to bid without inspecting. If someone bids based upon what they see on the site and won a truck...you either got lucky, or you have no one to blame but yourself.

 

[papercu]

description

Hi Dave This is NOT a flame but just one example of how a easy a description can go wrong. I just looked at your link and checked the M35 section, almost all are saying the seats are "Air-Ride" and while they may be, I suspect they are really spring seats. BTY The new 24P calls them a "floating Operator's seat"
I understand that a lot of MV'er will call them that but a OTR driver would find that misleading. Wayne

 

[Manstein]

Hey Beetle,

Look, I bought my first Deuce back in November from GL. My truck had 50,000 miles on it. For a diesel that is nothing. Everyone has their own opinion of the multifuel but the truth is, it's just like any other engine. If somebody changes the oil in it regularly, it will go several hundred thousand miles with a problem. I've had parts trucks where I work that had 500,000 miles on them and had a different knucklehead driving them every other week. Most of these trucks are kept on a regular maintenance schedule and you should expect to get great service out of them.

Like I said, my junk has 50,000 miles on it and I couldn't love it more. I wouldn't sell it today for triple my money. I have a good friend who just bought a M36 up in Ohio with only 6,000 miles on it. This friend of mine just had to have it and he paid prime money for it. The truck was as nice as the description and he drove it home. (We live in Atlanta and the truck was in Ohio) Since then, he has had more stuff break and fail than I have on mine with 50,000 miles. And, I'm not talking about just the wiper blades. The flame heater injector started pouring, he blew out an axle seal and some how, he managed to completely shear off the center of the second gear hub and destroyed it and the mainshaft in the trans.

You have to look at these trucks for what they are... honorable veterans who have served well and need a little restoration. NONE OF THESE ARE SHOW ROOM VEHICLES.

Having said that, the nice folks at GL come from all different levels of mechanical ability which, affects their descriptions. The truck I bought was accurately described and I had no surprises. I have seen other auctions from other DRMO's that had little or no description. It all depends on the attitude of the people at the site. Kind of like the nice folks at your local Department of Motor Vehicles. Some are helpful and some are just soaking up the air conditioning.

One thing I haven't seen in this thread is, how much did you pay for it?

Be honorable and go get the thing and have a good time.

 

[jkelly66]

Sorry to hear of your disappointment Beetle. But I agree with a lot of the other posters on this thread When you bid on a GL item you are always taking a risk that the description is wrong you must inspect the vehicle personally to know exactly what condition it is really in if you cannot do that than you never bid more than you can feel right losing if it is a total piece of crap. I myself don't feel right losing any amount for junk that is why I took the time to personally inspect the trucks I was planning to bid on before auction time. Even if you do inspect it yourself as I did there is always the unknown until you can crank it up and drive it. I will only bid what I know I could break even on if I were to bring the truck home and find out that it is not worth restoring than I can get my money back in parts or scrap. I was lucky I got a good one but I took a calculated risk not an uniformed one which is exactly what anyone dose when they bid on anything sight unseen.
I wish you well no matter what your decision IMHO I would go get the truck and try to make the best of it. The M35 is one of the most durable trucks I have ever had the privilege to drive and I have driven a wide variety both military and civilian. The truck you have won may not be as far gone as you think.
Good Luck John

 

[Boatcarpenter]

The adventure begins when you bid sight unseen. Grab it and continue the adventure, it's a heck of a lot of fun. Besides, you've got Steel Soldiers to get you through anything that comes up

 

[emmado22]

Are you sure your reading the speedo correct? They have tenths of a mile on them on the far right hand of the digits...... Post a pic of yours.
This is from my truck, it has 4,064.4 miles.. Not 40,644.....

As for GL, if you dont inspect and bid anyway, your asking for God only knows what you'll really get.

My GL deuce had all the paperwork with it since the day it was born (a 2 inch thick folder's worth from the USAF), and the folder, along with every single TM for it from the -10 to the 34P's were all in the back of the bed. I inspected the truck twice, each time for 4-5 hours. I took LOTS of pics, and asked a bunch of questions in private to some trusted deuce experts. I knew EXACTLY what I was getting and bid accordingly. No regrets at all about it...

 

[herc69]

Trust the Air Farce (oops..Force ) to keep copies of all maintenance reports on these vehicles. Anyway, I know the gents at Ft.Jackson, and if they say something is so, then it is so. They also seem to take pride in taking enough pics to make a decent rating on your own. Any questions, they will answer if you call, or I can go by and get eyes-on for you. Last trip to Camp LeJeune was an unpleasant surprise, but never any problems with Jackson. Reckon GL hires individuals who either will take pride in their work, or not, just like every other business.

 

[beetle]

Well guys & gals I heard back from GL today on my claim. Gl agreed with me,the mileage was listed wrong & they are returning my money with no restrictions on my bidding. I want to thank those of you who said I was wrong & I should get the worst for not going to look first.A piece of advice. If you let GL or anyone else get away with selling you white elephants long enough, they think its ok to do it all the time. You deserve what you get. But, if enough people stand up & say no then they are forced to do better. I spent enough time in customer service to know this is true. I guess if you have all the time & money in the world you can go look or eat whatever you buy. I don't have either & I expect a description to be reasonably close. My vent... GL looks better to me now. I sure if other people go to them with reasonable expectations They might feel the same way . Thanks Beetle

 

[BKubu]

They should go back to the descriptions they often used in the old days..."M35A2, year unknown, running condition unknown, some parts missing...Good luck." This discouraged blind bidding, which kept prices lower. I am glad you got your money back. Maybe next time you'll go to inspect the truck. If not, you might as well cross your fingers, put your head in the sand and hope you get a good one. It worked this time, but GL was not at fault...you have no one to blame but yourself. What happens if the truck did not run? Would you have blamed GL for not stating this fact? What happens if the transmission was shot? Again, GL's fault? Due diligence...caveat emptor...and all that sort of stuff.

 

[JRBAMATEX]

Go get your truck man!!!

$6,500 ain't so bad even if it does have 60K on it. However I doubt it does. Some knob probably took a speedo out of a parts truck which had been used in more than one truck already just to get the speedo working only to find out that the cable was stripped or the little connector doohickey that goes on the T-Case was jacked up.

If it'll run you're bucks up. Heck you could always sell it on E-bay later if nothing else. Or take it apart and sell us the parts. OR! better yet tinker with it shine it up and drive it. That’s why you bought it in the first place. What's the worst that could happen? Motor grenades? So what that's going to happen eventually anyway. But not likely while you have it because you are going to drive it like a human instead of like the animals we all were when we were 18-24 years old and had Sams money to fix stuff with. Besides that thing is made out of good old American steel whose ore was smelted in places like Bethlehem, PA and Birmingham, AL and it don’t git no better n nat hoss!

I feel your pain and I probably would have thrown a D__n FIT myself and just left it there too. But now that I have one even as little as I drive it I don't ever want to be without it.

Go get your truck man!!!

It’s not just a truck…. It’s and adventure!

 

[JRBAMATEX]

Well, I just skipped right to the end without reading the whole thread only to find out after my post that you worked things out with GL. Congratulations! I hope you find what you are looking for and when you do.......

Go get your truck man!!

It's not just a truck... It's an adventure!

 

[citizensoldier]

I have been down the road of re-embursment.. Take my advice. Get the truck, take it home and part it out or try to brake even.. Learn the lesson well and dont ever buy unless you inspect or are willing to take the gamble and loose. You are in for a long road of run around to get your money. Contract they have is very binding. If you miss the deadline for pickup they have the right to keep your money and you get nothing. Depends on the site manager. Take it home lick your wounds and live to fight another day...

 

[J2H]

Plus those "zeros" in the front could mean it has over 100k miles on it... I'd say take it... My brother's jeep had more miles on it and it was a '98, lol

 

[derby]

I bought a truck from GL last Jan. looked like the pic.was listed as running cond. unknown.found a bum engine.I did not go and inspect .it was a toss up ,day off cost me X$ or take a chance.I took the chance and lost, but that is my fault for not inspecting.I will still bid on trucks ,but be more conservative if I don't inspect.Funny thing ,they had a picture of my truck in the last auction,I bet the buyer was supprised as it was a no inspection sale! Also don't you still lose your %10 ? $3000- %10=$300 .go get the truck and buy a new spedo and tach with the money you saved.

 

[beetle]

No I didn't loose anything. Everyone seems to think I was upset by the description & that is wrong. I'm not new to government auctions. I worked my way through college at an army surplus store in the 70's. Later I worked for Leonard Grove off & on for 10 years.This was in the DPDS days before Govt. Liqui. We bid all over the U.S. & don't think these guys didn't reject & send back lots. One tractor I hauled for Leonard didn't
even get off my truck.The govt took it back & reimbursed Leonard for half of the shipping. The thing that bugged me was the mileage. I was expecting 6,000 miles & I got 65,000 miles. By the looks of the truck the 65,000 was right. Yes I know stuff gets switched around a lot on these trucks. I'm also not new to old trucks. I have 12 that I work on a lot. Whoever wins this truck in a bid will get a tired old truck. But, I hope they know in advance it has 65,000 miles on it . The miles was not an opinion on condition but a fact. I at least expect them to get the facts right. Yes, they make mistakes but I don't want to pay for it. I don't expect others to pay for mine. I went high on this truck because of the miles. If the miles had been on I would have taken the truck no matter what, blown engine or what.I didn't want a truck with everything worn out. It's easier to grease & clean up one, than to replace all the worn out stuff. Been there before. I got more time than money. I said it before. If you let anyone shove crap off on you & you take it, you are training them to keep feeding you crap. You deserve what you get. If enough people stand up for themselves then you get better everything, including correct facts. I learned a lot from Leonard about buying & he was one the most successful guys that I knew. My opinion. Thanks. Beetle

 

[papercu]

Trucks

The problem is (at least for me) that anyone would bid top dollar FOR A USED SURPLUS TRUCK based on a description and a few pictures. I'll bet Leonard didn't teach you that. What happen next time? Some new guy will think Well all I have to do is out bid everyone else and if I don't like it Heck I'll just give it back. No Harm No foul.
At the very least G/L may now put no description at all on the items. Which I don't think is bad. Maybe it will make some think a little, but probably not. Wayne

 

[BKubu]

RE: Trucks

I know this is a little off topic, but it follows on Wayne's post. If these sales were sealed bid sales like they used to be, the prices would still be low. GL used to have both sealed bid and open bid sales. Don't for a moment think that the people who run GL are fools. They did their homework and found that the open sales generate more income. Why? Your average newbie does not know what these trucks are worth and they are afraid to outbid the competition by hundreds, possibly thousands, of dollars...especially when they are bidding based only on a 30 word description and five pictures. For that reason, they don't get involved in the sealed bid sales. I've been told anecdotally by several new bidders (not just one or two...more like 10-12) that they only bid on GL because they could establish "value" by watching what others were bidding on the truck that interested them ("Hey, if the other guy thinks this truck is worth $3,000, it must be a nice truck.").

 

[Blake]

I think SB-602 was the last sealed bid sale in 2002.

Bruce, that was the sale you got the tan truck and I got the two camo ones out of richmond. I agree, they were a whole lot cheaper back then. The non turbo was 1330 + markup and drove home 100 miles towing the other one.

 

[BKubu]

Blake: You have a good memory. I got that deuce, as well as two others on that same sale. I paid $707 for a truck that I drove from SC to MD. There were five other deuces at the same site and I could have had each for the same price. Similar trucks on previous open sales were bringing $3K or more. Guys that don't know much don't want to bid unless they can see what others are bidding. No way to know what "high" is so they didn't bid. Guys like Tactical Truck, John Winslow, Joe Young, Richard Green, etc. bid because they (a) inspected and (b) know what these trucks are worth. Usually, a $1,500 deuce turned into a $3,000 truck, which allowed the dealer some margin for profit. Now, the same trucks are bringing $3,000-4,000 (or more). Once they put the work and money (batteries, cab tops, seat cushions, servicing) into them...no margin for profit. That's why Joe Young is out of business. It is a true loss to this hobby. He is a great friend and is DIRECTLY responsible for my being as active as I am in this hobby.