THEY'RE BACK. Government surplus sales

[Gene Masse]

The Casitas are back on Government Surplus Auctions at Government Liquidation.
There are also some at Barstow, Ca. They are in terrible shape. Serious project units. the Ones in Maryland are there also. Sales start next month.

Search Results - Government Liquidation

[Steve Hammel]

Wow, Definitely throwing in some bids on those in Barstow. They are a bit trashed and no fridges. Have any idea what these usually go for?

[Gene Masse]

In that condition you might just get a real bargain. Of course now with so many that are willing to do restoration that are on this site it might cause some serious bidding. The good part is that there is more than one.

[Gene Masse]

You will also notice that they are 16' units not 17. I emailed them and told them. They look like they have had some serious water problems. It's disgusting to see that someone treated them so badly. What really makes me mad is that our tax dollars paid for them.

[Dennis Clinton]

These were used as loaners from the PX to service members. They are normally stripped models. I got my Scamp that way. Water tank was removed/sheet of masonite where the ice box would have been/propane disconnected/brakes stripped out. But mine was still pretty solid. It didn't take much to get mine ready to use. I replaced the curtains(pretty stained)and cleaned the cushions(will replace in the future). What was bad was that the bearings hadn't been repacked probably since new-had to scrape the old grease out.

[Steve Hammel]

Dennis, If you don't mind my asking, what did you have to pay for the one you got? I'm trying to get a ball park idea for what they go for. I'd like to get a 2nd camper as a loaner for when we have kids or in-laws come visit.

Also I noticed they all had the refrigerators removed, what is up with that? I wonder if they sell them in a separate auction?

[Bob Miller]

The Casitas at Barstow are all about 15 years old and all look like they have been openly exposed to the high desert elements for at least a few of those years. As such, they certainly are not for the faint of heart to restore. There is one that looks like a patch over major coach damage on the right front corner.

There used to be a surplus depot near me at March AFB. When I once asked about "missing" parts, I was told that "Bandits" (whoever they are) would strip off easily sold parts while items waited to be declared surplus. The "Bandits" would scout out items, remove every possible screw, wire and connection over a period of days or weeks and, suddenly, stuff disappears.

In short, RV refrigerators are easy to sell on Craigs list and they cannot easily be traced.

[David Tilston]

Looks like they are missing the AC as well.

[Dennis Clinton]

Steve: I had to buy mine through a reseller. He had 3 Skamps. Mine is a '98. It came from the factory without AC or refrigerator(there was a metal coleman cooler with each trailer. I got the best of the 3 and am very happy with it. Cost was $2900, which I thought was a bargain. Some elbow grease and a few $$ and it's up and running.

Mine was used at the Camp Pendleton Marine Base.

[Chita]

Originally Posted by Steve Hammel

Wow, Definitely throwing in some bids on those in Barstow. They are a bit trashed and no fridges. Have any idea what these usually go for?

Can anyone bid, or need a special license?

[Gene Masse]

Anyone can bid. You need to sign up with Govliquidation and get an account. Keep in mind there is a 10% sellers fee to them on all sales on top of the winning bid.

[Chita]

Originally Posted by Gene Masse

Anyone can bid. You need to sign up with Govliquidation and get an account. Keep in mind there is a 10% sellers fee to them on all sales on top of the winning bid.

I was searching online and these campers would be salvage title . I think they would be good if someone could get them for less than $500 or so. Any thoughts?

[Gene Masse]

I have gotten 2 units now from base sales. I have also gotten vehicles and none of them ever had any mention of "salvage". My experience is that they issue a government title. No mention of salvage ever that I have seen. The buyer can then get it licensed and titled with the state. Wouldn't surprise me if they went that cheap. There are plenty of examples of units that have been stripped and rebuilt on this site. Can't imagine why these can't be too by the right person.

[Chita]

Originally Posted by Gene Masse

I have gotten 2 units now from base sales. I have also gotten vehicles and none of them ever had any mention of "salvage". My experience is that they issue a government title. No mention of salvage ever that I have seen. The buyer can then get it licensed and titled with the state. Wouldn't surprise me if they went that cheap. There are plenty of examples of units that have been stripped and rebuilt on this site. Can't imagine why these can't be too by the right person.

Hopefully these could get rebuild too. Question, if you don't mind ask. How much did you pay for those 2 units? Thanks,

[Gene Masse]

The first one was a 13'. I paid $640. It needed a lot of work but not nearly as much as the ones in Barstow. Lots of cleaning and small items. It had all the parts. The biggest thing I did was replace all the cupboard & closet doors. Also replaced the bed cushions. I had about as much in it as I paid for it when I sold it. If I had kept it I would have replaced the cushion covers. Still was able to sell it for twice what I had into it. I had gotten that one at a sale like this one.
The second one is my current one. I got that at a base sale from the recreation area. They have them for rent. Paid $1236. They had it listed as "unserviceable" saying it had a bad frame. I couldn't find a problem other then a loose bolt on a bracket holding the gray water tank in place. Tightened it! So much for that.
To include new tires I have about $425 in it at this time. Again it was in much better shape than these but needed some TLC. It is the one I have posted a photo of in my registry. I have a couple things to do yet that will cost about $100 or so.
There are a fair number of Casitas around the bases at the recreation areas that they rent out. sooner or later they get sold and they get new units. Those units are sold locally. One would need to contact the people the run the "outdoor recreation" program at the base to find out if they are going to get rid of some and get new ones.
As far as the units at Barstow go it's a matter of whether or not one has the ability and time to do a complete renovation. There are camper salvage businesses where one can get used appliances. There is a big one in Arizona that might be reasonably close to get some. Also if you are a good scrounger you might be able to locate some old campers that you can get parts cheap. There's plenty of them sitting around the countryside. A lot of the appliances in Casitas are used in many other brands.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Chita

I was searching online and these campers would be salvage title . I think they would be good if someone could get them for less than $500 or so. Any thoughts?

If the US government is like most companies they write down the value of their equipment each year. To save money they often only carry damage or loss insurance on their very expensive pieces of equipment if they have it at all. Due to the age of the trailers in question it would be a good bet that they hold very little value on the governments books so its unlikely there would have been an insurance company payout so I would not expect there would be a salvage title involved. Could be wrong though

[Cricket]

It never ceases to amaze me how poorly people take care of things that do not belong to them....

[Steve Hammel]

I'm gonna bid on all 4. Was planning on bidding quite a bit more than what I've seen discussed on here though. Barstow being so close to Vegas and LA I'll bet they go for at least $1500 to $2500 each.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Steve Hammel

I'm gonna bid on all 4. Was planning on bidding quite a bit more than what I've seen discussed on here though. Barstow being so close to Vegas and LA I'll bet they go for at least $1500 to $2500 each.

Steve one or two of them appear to have some serious water damage which had me wondering if these really were trailers that had been used by service folks on vacation or if perhaps one or two of them had been used by the National guard or such during one of the southern hurricanes or if they where at a southern base that got flooded out.

[Steve Hammel]

Hmmm, I might set up an appt to go over and see them first. I figure if I could pick them up cheap enough I'd keep one as a spare give one to my daughter and clean up and turn a couple of the others for a "small profit". This way I could determine the best one or two and use the best parts off the others. We all know you can't touch a late 90's Casita for under $4500.