Hi, I'm interested in buyiung a 2000+ P71, and was thinking about going to get one at a police auction. I was wondering if anyone has attended, and/or bought one from a Police auction, and could give me a little input on it. Basicly what I am asking is should I go to one expecting to get a good running car for a cheap price, or if I should pass it up because the only ones they auction off are on their death beds. Any input would be great, Thanks

Hi, I would take a trusted mechanic to check the car out as most Police auctions give you an opportunity to check the cars out prior to auction. The ones that I have attended have the cars running, and if they don't run they will usually describe the problem. Here in NJ cars go to auction at around 100k miles. they usually sell for around 1600-1700 dollars, but you usually have to bid against all the cab companies that send out people to buy up the cars. I did notice that they will stop right around 16-17 hundred. MY department sold its 2001's for that price, and i went to Trenton for the state auction(NJSP) cars which also went for that price. Most cars sold are pretty good with minimal work needed to get them up to par. Hope that helps

Around the area here in NH the prices on 2001's are bit higher. But you will have to bid against Taxi people. Just learn what to look for on the cars or take a trusted mechanic with you. Check the fluids and such.

http://www.ogs.state.ny.us/supportServices/stateSurplus/defaultPublic.html

http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/dss/

http://www.auctionsinternational.com/index.jsp

http://gsaauctions.gov/gsaauctions/gsaauctions/

http://autoauctions.gsa.gov/

Thanks for all your input I don't really have the money to spend on a mechanic to every auction I go to. Could you tell me what to look for? Also, how well do they let you check over the cars? I doubt they will allow a test drive, but will they let you start it up to see if there are any odd sounds? Do they document if it has been in an accident, or any defects?

Also, is there anything I should keep in mind when I go to one? I.E. registration fees. Never been to one, so any input would be great. Thanks again

Where you from?

Suffolk county, on Long Island NY. Ahem, I mean Strong Island

The New York State Police auctions(ogs link above) allow inspection of the vehicles prior to the auction which consists of being able to open the doors get inside the car and look under the hood - not with the car running. The extent to which you see the cars running is very limited. They pretty much jump start the car (since many need a jump), move it forward a foot or two, move it back a foot or two, and shut the car down. You can't really judge much about the mechanicals of the car from this limited movement unless there is something horribly wrong with it - so I would say New York is risky in that aspect. I have attended the Millbrook NY auction a few times and the amount of road ready cars is very small, maybe 5 cars out of 40 you would consider taking on the road and driving home - the rest have major body damage or missing body parts, substantial amounts of interior components missing, or they don't sound healthy enough to drive and/or have major predisclosed problems.

The paint is usually hurt quite a bit on the NYSP cars from decal removal and there is no choice of colors for the most part since they're all "smurf" blue (the few 1998s that still get auctioned) or the NYSP blue.

For buying parts cars the New York auction is unbeatable and there are good deals (like totalled 2003s for a few hundred dollars) but I've been more pleased with CT auctions despite the pricing is considerably higher. The cars are in much better cosmetic condition for the most part, a wide range of colors is available, and a huge selection at any given auction. The downside being there are at least 5 dealer "regulars" who show up to every single auction from out of state and really drive the pricing up at times. It is unthinkable how much these guys will pay for the non-drivable cars at the end of the auction, so CT is NOT the place to buy fixer uppers. These guys have stockpiles of spare cars/parts and basically don't care what it costs to buy these cars.

The auctioneer for the state of ct is clearinghouse auctions (http://www.clearinghouseauctions.com), there's an auction coming up in March.

State of CT cars are driven past the auction block so you get a good glimpse of the car in motion across the DMV garage they're auctioned out of.

At any auctions I go to I try to look for dash lights that shouldn't be on (check engine light or airbag), listen for the sound of misfiring through the exhaust since you can't drive the cars before you own them, listen for noisy power steering whine if it's an auction where the auctioneer steers car outside - but I think one of the most important thing is to thoroughly inspect the interior since the condition varys so much car to car and you will have to drive every day in it - some cars will smell horrible inside.

Good luck at the auction!

This my be a stupid question, but are there any ex-taxi auctions? Does anyone have phone numbers for some NYC cab company? I don't think that there are many local Police auctions coming up soon.

I wouldn't recommend buying a former new york city taxi, as an owner of one.

You are almost guaranteed to be buying a car previously in a serious accident unless you get lucky and buy from somebody who's personally owned the car. I bought mine in 2003 with 171k miles on it - today it only has 174k miles due to all the downtime the car has had with repairs (and me being too lazy).

There will likely be electrical gremlins left behind from removal of equipment. Typically the new york taxis are retired between 200-300k miles, and because the new york TLC commission doesn't allow used cars to go into service - cars are kept on the road way past their reasonably usable service life, in order for the company to not have to replace them with brand new cars.

I'll sell you mine for $2500 if you really want one, though

If you take a drive around Long Island City you will likely find many of the bigger taxi companies with a yard full of cars, and some of them sell the cars. The rest of the cars end up with cheap paintjobs and become taxis again in areas that have less stringent standards.

Why is it that they can't use used cars? Seems odd to me. I don't know if I will buy your car or not. What is the difference between the P72, and P71?

That was one of Gulliani's (SP) "quality of life" laws.

P71 are cars sold to law enforcement....
P72 are cars sold to fleets... taxis businesses....
P73/74 are civilians....
P70 is extended wheel base mostly taxis and almost all of the cabs in NYC use them....

I've been to some NY State Police auctions upstate and on long island and generally all cars are beat to hell and go for somewhat high amounts.

You're usually bidding against the same set of people that seem to go to each one of these auctions, some of them are taxi folk.

I wouldn't recommend buying a NY car. Thats just my opinion.

--Russ

Well, I'm planing on going to the NJ one. If I can't get one for cheap there, then I'll buy one off ebay or something. I would like to find a diamond in the rough, and get a bargain, and a half.

BTW, anyone going to the auction? If so, PM me or whatever. It would be kinda nifty to meet some of you guys.

Where are there NJ auctions that regular people can attend? I have not been able to find one. I will go with someone if they know where to go and how to get in.