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.
“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.”
Bet you see one at the Mall before Christmas
I have seen one of these around where I live with camo. I wonder how the person was able to get one of these without going thru an auction. The person that owns it is probably in their late 60’s to 70’s and it has an American flag decal (possibly they are retired military). I would not want to even drive one of these on a regular street, they would be awkward.
The story just said it was the “first public auction” didn’t say you couldn’t buy one before. There are plenty for sale on the various auto publications
I’ve seen one here in the great white north. Makes no sense for 30K. One can get a new pickup in the USA for the same amount.
A very few of the ex-military Humvees made it to the civilian market back in the ’90s.
Where’s Arnold when you need him?
“Maria, I need another one!”
I thought he used to have a hydrogen-powered one.
They need more tall. And quilted leather.
And a camo-pattern vinyl top with matte black brackets. And smoked opera lights. And a velour interior…not in whore-house red, but oxblood.
You mean the Quilted Afghan Hide is extra?
Afghan… I get it! +1
Can I get it with a vinyl roof?
I don’t quite see the appeal if you can’t make it road legal. There are several Hummer H1s on eBay right now for not that much more money that have vastly better interiors, too.
Perhaps they’re more likely to end up like that Texas plumber’s truck in Syria?
There’s an adventure type recreation area near where I live called The Wisconsin Dells where they take people on rides in WWII DUCKs. I can see these ending up in that type of capacity
Congrats! You’ve just bought a $40,000 mail jeep with a 6.5 GM diesel.
Yes, I know how capable they are. They are also slow, and very uncomfortable. Anyone who has been in the military has seen fields of these things just sitting. The 4,000 available now is just the tip of the iceberg. Once supply eclipses demand, you will see them selling for $4,000 for a mint one with 200 hours on it.
How many miles is 200 hrs?
Put it this way, it would have 1 oil change on it. I could tell you 3000 miles, but those hours are mostly just sitting, idling somewhere.
On the opposite end of the spectrum would be the ones that were (VERY hastily) up-armored, kludged together examples that were driven until the suspension disintegrated under the weight of several thousand pounds over design limits.
These were probably left behind in the field or cut up for scrap though.
The on base vehicles just idle. Find one that was on the main post at Ft Benning and it could have under 3000 miles. I’ve driven one that was seven years old that only had 1800 miles.
Like Crabspirits says, I’ve also seen almost brand new Humvees at TACOM that have come back from the sandbox looking like hell.
And for $4,000, I’d take one.
When are they auctioning off some of the older Abrams tanks? Now we are talking.
As someone who has spent time in Humvees, I would never recommend anyone purchase one. As a civilian vehicle, they are terrible. As a military vehicle in the 21st century, they aren’t much better.
Your standard Humvee has impressive abilities. It can climb a short vertical wall, drive through water almost totally submerged, take a bullet in the tire, and has incredible ground clearance from the raised driveline.
Now put 4+ soldiers in it in full battle dress. Don’t forget all of their stuff. Maybe put a crew served weapon turret on top. Oops, we forgot the armor. Put in glass 3″ thick, and doors so heavy that the hinges blurt out cries for mama.
Basically a 4wd, loaded moving van with cot seats, and it smells funny.
Right. It’s not that it doesn’t have impressive abilities, it’s how they function in current conflicts. In Iraq or Afghanistan, gimme an MRAP. In South America, we used Humvees as well as militarized Suburbans, Tahoes, Silverados, and what ever fit in locally.
I just want one of those old CUCV Blazers, m’self…those are a lot cheaper than a Humvee.
Hammers are great. Driven all over on three continents. No reason they should keep them off streets other than they are too slow.
Now, if you need an MRAP, don’t take a Hummer.
I’ll spare you all the rant on how we do war all wrong these days.
Nice auto correct followed by useless, non functioning edit code. Too bad we fire everyone over 30 who knows how to actually program something and replace them with a government supplied immigrant.
Having Hummers doing the job of an MRAP was a problem.
The Oshkosh M-ATV is superior to the Hummer. Too bad those didn’t enter theater until 2009. They would have saved a lot of lives between 2002-2009.
They’ve been selling Humvees for a long time now , only you have to cut them up before taking the running gear off base .
nevertheless , I’ve been seeing the odd full military spec. ones with California tags from time to time so there’s *some* way of making them at least quasi legal .
The big question is : why ? .
As mentioned they terrible for anything but straight off roading slowly .
The GM military Blazers are available , street legal and dirt cheap , *if* you can afford to fuel them .
-Nate
For around $10k you can get a 5ton military 6×6; 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.
You can tell I live at least a little ways into “the country” because there’s a guy about 10 minutes away from where I live who has not one, but TWO 5 ton 6×6 army trucks.
And another guy 5 minutes away with a 2 1/2 tonner.
Guy that lives down the road from me has one. He got it running, drove it around a bit, then got it stuck in the back yard. Hasn’t moved in a year.
@bumpy ii, In my neck of the woods that happens with old W-bodys.
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.