How to Buy Military Surplus Vehicles

Thousands of former military items are sold to the public every year, either singly or in lots. Here's how to keep an eye out for the vehicle you want.

Instructions

1

Log on to the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service's Web site, which lists all surplus goods for sale worldwide, along with instructions for buying or bidding. The information is there, although the setup doesn't seem user-friendly at first.

2

Follow the link for Sales Customers, select Buy DRMS Property and then choose Do a Property Search. From there, you can search for a vehicle using a number of paths. For example, you can search by Commodity Category, then select Ground Transportation Equipment and hit Submit Search.

3

Browse through the list that appears next. It usually runs more to heavy equipment than to passenger vehicles, but it's also likely to have everything from auto parts, to cars, to cargo trucks, to railway cars.

4

Order catalogs if you want to skip the Web site. But catalogs are not just less timely, they're also less precise because you have to sift through lists of all the sales in your region and maybe elsewhere.

5

Find out where you have to go in person, and when, to inspect any vehicle that interests you.

6

Read carefully about the procedure for that particular auction or sale, and follow those instructions.