Municipal vehicle auction/value input

I'm on our town board, and it's going to be time to replace the maintenance truck sometime soon. We fortunately have the ability/budget to replace our vehicles about every 5-years...although I've been trying to push that timeframe.

Anyway, we received a quote for a new truck. It's state-bid pricing, so that number is fixed. But the quote we received for the trade-in was pretty low - $10,700 on an '08 Ford F250 4x4 XLT with 100,000mi. KBB shows a low trade-in value of $11.4k, while NADA has a low trade-in value of $14k. It's been well maintained and is in "Good" condition.

I'm thinking we may be better off advertising it for closed bids and see what we get. We can always turn down any/all bids, or even advertise they need to be above $10k.

My question would be is there any reason we shouldn't expect to at least be able to sell it for the low trade-in value?

Like any city vehicle, people will assume it has been abused.

Nature of the business.

Every time a friend attempts to sell a vehicle at KBB (or any other) value, I laugh. It isn't happening in this economy.

I would agree that a municipal/fleet vehicle has a lower perceived value as compared to one owned by a private individual, even though it might be better maintained.

better maintained and if anything like the ones around here, never even driven at the speed limit

Awesome! Thanks for that info.

Duh - I should have included those details...it's a V10 extended cab, with the factory running boards & plow package.

I know people around here steer clear of plow trucks......the perceived issue is the abuse they take.

FWIW, you might try selling it to smaller municipalities than your own. Many cannot normally cannot afford new things.

yamaha wrote: FWIW, you might try selling it to smaller municipalities than your own. Many cannot normally cannot afford new things.

We're a population of ~1200. Around here, anything much smaller is just a handful of double-wides parked along the edge of a corn field.

I think the biggest thing is people are going to assume the engine has more hours on it than the mileage reflects. Most city vehicles are left running especially during winter to keep the cab warm. With a diesel it wouldn't matter but with the v10 that may make you take a hit.

You can always try a sealed bid thing, but I think the trade in offer wasn't that out of line.

So IL doesn't have towns like the one near me? There's seriously 5-600 people there. Oddly enough, they have all new fire equipment.

In reply to yamaha:

There is also that mostly useless added layer of government known as a township which handles the fire coverage for the area.

It's so close, and it has a V10. I'd just let it go. Buy a higher optioned truck next time V8, and sell it outright.

Anything in the town's bylaws preventing you from selling outright for a good price? Low retail beats high wholesale every time.

moparman76_69 wrote: In reply to yamaha: There is also that mostly useless added layer of government known as a township which handles the fire coverage for the area.

We're even worse than that.......we are the hub of a "Fire Territory" that spans 4 townships.....The PD and DPW in the town never have money, because only the town(not the township) gives money

Are you in a place that people drive "rigs" or "trucks" or "cars"? If it is the first two that thing should sell quick, the third it might take a little longer to get the best value.

Nothing at all preventing us from selling it outright. I was just curious if we would likely be able to sell it for at least as much as the trade offer.

Since we will be buying the new truck under the state bid, I presume there's nothing funny the dealer can do with the price if we keep our trade?

In reply to petegossett:

Shouldn't be.....they're the ones losing out on making extra money(like they do with trade ins) by lowballing a bit.