I've been shopping for a truck for the wife for a little bit. We've had three 1st gen Durangos: 1998 Red SLT, 1998 White SLT plus (still have it), and Blue 2001 RT. Very patriotic. After selling the RT, we went through a couple of GM products and one or both of us ended up not liking them.
After the FWD GMC crossover, I really didn't want another FWD, nor did we need an AWD/4WD truck. The SWB Trailblazer sized SUV we have was deemed too small, and the Tahoe too large. While I love the 1st gen Durangos, most of them were too old or the sellers wanted unrealistic money for them. We didn't care for the size/styling of the 2nd gen. That left a 3rd gen Durango or Grand Cherokee. I shopped til I dropped for several days, and learned about the year to year differences. I liked the Citadel model due to the cooled seats- something we had in our GMC crossover- but the prices generally were beyond our range, plus most of them had sunroofs, something neither of us wanted. I also found that most people that list stuff on Craigslist apparently don't want to sell it, as they rarely return texts or emails.
I also refuse to buy from a dealer- too many bad experiences over the years. Our used GM SUV was a prime example of that. The dealer wanted my SSN for a cash sale, and the truck had 30K more miles than advertised. I saw a dealer in Miami offering a Durango at thousands under retail- and then I read the fine print where they tacked on more than that in fees.
I then learned about salvage auctions and read up on the process. The two main ones are Copart and IAA. I looked at both, but ended up using a Copart broker. I found several candidates with minor damage- I wanted RWD and was not picky about the V6 vs V8. I wanted the tow package and navigation- but neither of those were a deal killer. Cooled seats are a big plus for the wife. I had to use a broker, and after comparing several used Salvagereseller.com (SR). So far, no big issues with them. I used them primarily since they had a monthly membership option- I was only looking for one vehicle so I didn't need a year. This broker also has an outstanding BBB rating as compared to others. You have to pay at least a $400 as a security deposit that is 100% refundable (some others charge yet another fee to refund your money) once your transaction is complete. You can use an inspection service, but each time I tried this it was too close to the auction time or the truck was "off site".
While I would have been good with any 2011+, I read the 2014+ were better trucks due to an improved transmission and I also liked the dash redesign with larger display.
I bid on a 164K mile 2011 Citadel in an adjacent state, but was the only bidder and didn't hit the $4,100 reserve. Then there was a 140K mile 2012 RT also relatively nearby where the seller had lowered the reserve to $3,700 from $4,100. It needed some bodywork up front, but nothing major. It got bid up to $3,600, but I didn't bid. I saw this 2015 red RT. The miles were listed as unknown, the VIN history report said it had 104K in September 2021, so I figured it has like 150-160K now. I really liked it. I liked it even more when I ran the build sheet and saw it had the cooled seats, tow package, navigation, and no sunroof. It was literally the truck the color and optioned the way I would have ordered it new. Unlike so many others, the inside was not torn or excessively worn. When I bought my 2009 Challenger RT (since rusted and sold) new, I had to go about 100 miles away to find one equipped almost how I wanted it and orange in color.
So far, I have won the auction @ $4,550 and paid almost $2K in fees. Yup, don't let those low prices fool you, these auctions/brokers hit you for a lot of stuff, and you have to have it picked up within 3 days. I avoided the buy it now stuff since they place an impossible same day pickup requirement on those. See below for how long a wire transfer takes to clear- it's at least the next day.
Unlike the 2011 I bid on, there were several bidders on this one. SR has a fee estimator so I could see my total cost prior to bidding. This helped me to set a limit. I sent the payment via wire transfer, and am waiting confirmation of receipt. I then lined up transport from Arkansas to Florida. I used Safeway Car Transport and so far am impressed with their responses. They were $100-500 cheaper than other quotes I got on uship, and no added fees. $800 total. They even got a truck lined up for the next day. Meanwhile, I'm waiting to get the vehicle release info from SR so it can be picked up. The only hiccup there so far has been when I sent the wire transfer, I took a high res 13MB picture of it with my phone while at the bank and emailed it to them. When I got home about 30 minutes later, I called to confirm receipt and the girl said they didn't get it. I think the attachment was too large. I scanned it to my PC and sent the smaller 200K PDF, along with a delivery receipt. It was read less than 2 minutes later. The lady at the bank said the company would see the funds in their account within an hour after it was sent. As of now, 8AM the following day, the site still shows payment due. The girl I spoke to there said it would take a business day for the funds to "settle" in their account. What's the point of a non-reversible wire transfer then? I did call just before I posted this & confirmed they have the payment.
The next step is to get the release doc info to the shipper, and with luck it will be picked up today. The shipper said they could have it here as soon as tomorrow, but I think realistically Thursday or Friday is more likely.
Timeline so far:
Monday 6/17: Won auction, sent payment, set up transport.
Below are a couple of pics from the auction listing. This truck has some damage to the left front, and will need at least a wheel and tire. I'll know more once it gets here and I can put it in my shop to see what else it needs. I'll likely be asking some questions here about it, as this is new ground for me. I have ordered adapters and bought AlfaOBD and appcar software to use with my laptop and Android phone. I read about how to code in keys (usually an auction vehicle issue) without using a dealer by using a PIN retrieval app for the Android.
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After the FWD GMC crossover, I really didn't want another FWD, nor did we need an AWD/4WD truck. The SWB Trailblazer sized SUV we have was deemed too small, and the Tahoe too large. While I love the 1st gen Durangos, most of them were too old or the sellers wanted unrealistic money for them. We didn't care for the size/styling of the 2nd gen. That left a 3rd gen Durango or Grand Cherokee. I shopped til I dropped for several days, and learned about the year to year differences. I liked the Citadel model due to the cooled seats- something we had in our GMC crossover- but the prices generally were beyond our range, plus most of them had sunroofs, something neither of us wanted. I also found that most people that list stuff on Craigslist apparently don't want to sell it, as they rarely return texts or emails.
I also refuse to buy from a dealer- too many bad experiences over the years. Our used GM SUV was a prime example of that. The dealer wanted my SSN for a cash sale, and the truck had 30K more miles than advertised. I saw a dealer in Miami offering a Durango at thousands under retail- and then I read the fine print where they tacked on more than that in fees.I then learned about salvage auctions and read up on the process. The two main ones are Copart and IAA. I looked at both, but ended up using a Copart broker. I found several candidates with minor damage- I wanted RWD and was not picky about the V6 vs V8. I wanted the tow package and navigation- but neither of those were a deal killer. Cooled seats are a big plus for the wife. I had to use a broker, and after comparing several used Salvagereseller.com (SR). So far, no big issues with them. I used them primarily since they had a monthly membership option- I was only looking for one vehicle so I didn't need a year. This broker also has an outstanding BBB rating as compared to others. You have to pay at least a $400 as a security deposit that is 100% refundable (some others charge yet another fee to refund your money) once your transaction is complete. You can use an inspection service, but each time I tried this it was too close to the auction time or the truck was "off site".
While I would have been good with any 2011+, I read the 2014+ were better trucks due to an improved transmission and I also liked the dash redesign with larger display.
I bid on a 164K mile 2011 Citadel in an adjacent state, but was the only bidder and didn't hit the $4,100 reserve. Then there was a 140K mile 2012 RT also relatively nearby where the seller had lowered the reserve to $3,700 from $4,100. It needed some bodywork up front, but nothing major. It got bid up to $3,600, but I didn't bid. I saw this 2015 red RT. The miles were listed as unknown, the VIN history report said it had 104K in September 2021, so I figured it has like 150-160K now. I really liked it. I liked it even more when I ran the build sheet and saw it had the cooled seats, tow package, navigation, and no sunroof. It was literally the truck the color and optioned the way I would have ordered it new. Unlike so many others, the inside was not torn or excessively worn. When I bought my 2009 Challenger RT (since rusted and sold) new, I had to go about 100 miles away to find one equipped almost how I wanted it and orange in color.
So far, I have won the auction @ $4,550 and paid almost $2K in fees. Yup, don't let those low prices fool you, these auctions/brokers hit you for a lot of stuff, and you have to have it picked up within 3 days. I avoided the buy it now stuff since they place an impossible same day pickup requirement on those. See below for how long a wire transfer takes to clear- it's at least the next day.
Unlike the 2011 I bid on, there were several bidders on this one. SR has a fee estimator so I could see my total cost prior to bidding. This helped me to set a limit. I sent the payment via wire transfer, and am waiting confirmation of receipt. I then lined up transport from Arkansas to Florida. I used Safeway Car Transport and so far am impressed with their responses. They were $100-500 cheaper than other quotes I got on uship, and no added fees. $800 total. They even got a truck lined up for the next day. Meanwhile, I'm waiting to get the vehicle release info from SR so it can be picked up. The only hiccup there so far has been when I sent the wire transfer, I took a high res 13MB picture of it with my phone while at the bank and emailed it to them. When I got home about 30 minutes later, I called to confirm receipt and the girl said they didn't get it. I think the attachment was too large. I scanned it to my PC and sent the smaller 200K PDF, along with a delivery receipt. It was read less than 2 minutes later. The lady at the bank said the company would see the funds in their account within an hour after it was sent. As of now, 8AM the following day, the site still shows payment due. The girl I spoke to there said it would take a business day for the funds to "settle" in their account. What's the point of a non-reversible wire transfer then?
I did call just before I posted this & confirmed they have the payment.The next step is to get the release doc info to the shipper, and with luck it will be picked up today. The shipper said they could have it here as soon as tomorrow, but I think realistically Thursday or Friday is more likely.
Timeline so far:
Monday 6/17: Won auction, sent payment, set up transport.
Below are a couple of pics from the auction listing. This truck has some damage to the left front, and will need at least a wheel and tire. I'll know more once it gets here and I can put it in my shop to see what else it needs. I'll likely be asking some questions here about it, as this is new ground for me. I have ordered adapters and bought AlfaOBD and appcar software to use with my laptop and Android phone. I read about how to code in keys (usually an auction vehicle issue) without using a dealer by using a PIN retrieval app for the Android.
