2004 Fuso Fg 4X4 on Ebay

[FG Surfari]

Hi !

Just giving a heads up to anyone looking for a clean, low mileage, expedition camper platform in the form of a Fuso FG. :smiley_drive:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mits...iewItem&pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item41508b1750

 

[WhereTheHellIsJames?]

Looks great! Clean Fuso's are tough to find.

 

[Esmi]

I am having a love/hate relationship with the fiberglass body.

Sometimes it seems like it could be the ultimo offroad travel box. Other times it seems like you oughta load it up with Scooby-snacks and travel around the country solving mysteries.

I have bid on it, nonetheless.

 

[pattersonimages]

and..

I bid too.. not alot, but outbid right away. anyone find out the reserve? I have to do the math @ conversions to Canada import ect.. but no response from ebay , pm, or email...

 

[Adventurerider]

I think it could be made into one really cool/functional/cost effective Expo rig.
Someone is going to get a really clean & individual rig!

 

[Christian P.]

Very tempting indeed...

As it setup, can you drive it with a normal driver license?

 

[Esmi]

I bid too.. not alot, but outbid right away. anyone find out the reserve? I have to do the math @ conversions to Canada import ect.. but no response from ebay , pm, or email...

I, too, have been waiting a couple of days for a response to questions submitted thru eBay.

Maybe when you have a rig that cool, you don't have to talk to people like Esmi. (That is me being snarky.)

My real guess is that the seller observes that the bidding isn't in the realm he expected, and figures it's a waste of time to talk to lowballers like me (though I have been high-bidder for a couple of days).

 

[mhiscox]

As it setup, can you drive it with a normal driver license?

To the best of my knowledge, you can. The gross vehicle weight rating is either 12K or 14K, IIRC, well below the 26K required for a comercial driver's license in the US.

Probably more of an issue with the insurance and licensing and registration. This truck is going to take some work before it can be considered a recreational vehicle, and in the meantime, it would have to be registered as a commercial truck. In some places, that wouldn't be too much of a cost and hassle increment, but in some others, it could be a significant negative.

 

[FG Surfari]

Exactly !

I have to agree with Esmi about the lowballers. What's is the point ?
I have, though, answered every question that I have received about the truck, including his, as I remember how excited I was when I was looking.
To note, the truck only weighs roughly 7000 lb in current guise, so a regular drivers license is all you need. I also have the truck registered as a truck, not as a commercial vehicle, and that's here in Virginia, where they are quite strict.
I do have commercial insurance on the Fuso, but that's only because I have it listed as my company truck, for write off purposes.
Insurance is about the same as my wife's Land Rover, though.


FG Surfari :smiley_drive:

 

[mhiscox]

I, too, have been waiting a couple of days for a response to questions submitted thru eBay.

I've no idea about the seller's personality and merit, but I do know that many sellers will ignore questions asking for the reserve, figuring (as is the intention in "real" auctions) that the amount is supposed to remain secret and, further, that it is unfair for those who inquire to learn the minimum price while the masses remain ignorant.

On the other hand, I did have success in getting some additional details about the body, which I'm sure the seller won't mind me sharing:

I had the truck box mounted by a local up fitter, and the box's aluminum frame is attached to a steel channel that runs the length of the Fuso frame to either side.

The box is quite thick, possibly a 1/4 inch or so. The body originally had two doors on the passenger side, but I used the door skin and resin to close the hole, as I wanted a cleaner look. The body is thinnest at that point, but quite sound. That process could be easily reversed if you wanted the additional access.​

The 1/4 inch box thickness was an interesting statistic to a guy who once owned a 1.25 inch-plus thick shell. I'm not sure how this box is going to work out for serious use, plus adding windows and doors is going to be a problem. I'm thinking that it's smart to bid the value of the truck and treat the box as something that might or might not be a keeper. Which is pretty much OK, as the truck is a beauty and rare as hen's teeth in this condition.

 

[haven]

Six hours to go, and reserve not met at $11,000.

Regarding a fiberglass body, Don and Kim Greene had their camper body manufactured by Unicell in Canada. I don't think they have had any issues with the body.
http://www.questconnect.org/ExpeditionVehicle.html

After almost 6 years on the road, Don and Kim are selling their camper. It's advertised here

http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42205

 

[mhiscox]

Regarding a fiberglass body, Don and Kim Greene had their camper body manufactured by Unicell in Canada. I don't think they have had any issues with the body.

Hey, Chip,

Does that mean either that you know the eBay FG's body is from Unicell or that the Greene's body is that thin? Or both? I'd be pleased to hear if either was the case.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Esmi]

I have to agree with Esmi about the lowballers. What's is the point ?
I have, though, answered every question that I have received about the truck, including his, as I remember how excited I was when I was looking.
FG Surfari :smiley_drive:

To go OT for a moment:

Having bought two trucks sight-unseen from Germany, and one from Colorado, in the past several years, I can vouch for how hard it is.

There either needs to be a bunch of communication, to verify the thing is what it says it is; or the sales price needs to reflect the unknown condition/quality/whatever.

My questions via eBay were "warm up" questions, to get a dialog going and see whether we could find any commonality. As of this moment, I have received no response to my initial queries, ergo I have had no opportunity for a more significant line of questioning.

To me, this means that I need to keep my offer price low enough to cover any contingencies.

Nothing wrong with that at all, just an observation on the difficulties of faraway sales, and perhaps a reason why your cool cool truck isn't generating the bids one might expect.

Good luck with the sale. :smiley_drive:

 

[pattersonimages]

just my 2 cents

I have also had the "pleasure" of purchasing quite a few vehicles from overseas in Japan and the US without ever even seeing more than a few images. I as well have asked over this forum, over ebay, and over email with no response. I can always side on the sellers behalf with not wanting to disclose the price of reserve, but having a basis to know my max bid - especially with the "unknowns" (the importing fees and taxes, and the canadian dollar exchange, travel costs, ect..)

As previously mentioned here - the first initial questions are usually a warm up to feel out the vehicle and seller and usually work up to more as you become confident in what you are getting- and who you are dealing with. This truck looks mint.. and probably is! I have known and seen many sell - obviously with higher mileage and different setup.. but would still be a better boost of confidence to actually have a responce from a motivated seller - even if it were to give a "rough" estimate, or the smallest and simple "sorry, I dont want to say"...

 

[WhereTheHellIsJames?]

I've no idea about the seller's personality and merit, but I do know that many sellers will ignore questions asking for the reserve, figuring (as is the intention in "real" auctions) that the amount is supposed to remain secret and, further, that it is unfair for those who inquire to learn the minimum price while the masses remain ignorant.

This is true. However, anyone can ask, and in my auctions, I always like to share the reserve price so that (a) people don't waste their time doing research about the item, just to find out later that it was out of budget to begin with, and/or (b) spend a bunch of my own time and effort writing email replies about what the reserve price is. Posting a reserve usually weeds out a lot of looky-lou inquiries, and saves me the hassle of having to write too many replies.

IMO, it would make sense for this seller to make the reserve public, as it's near impossible to work out a budget for a vehicle build when perhaps the greatest cost is unknown.
I inquired with the seller about the reserve (and other questions), and received this answer:

"I am letting the auction run it's course. If the reserve is not met, I would be reluctant to re list the truck, and go straight to plan B, ie: sell something else."

Seemed like it was kind of a skirt the question response to me, but then again, I wasn't being too direct either. I asked again though, directly about the reserve this time, and received this reply:

"Bid what you are willing to bid, and can afford to bid.
Where is the harm in that ?
If the bid is not enough to win, just take that amount, and bid on something else."

Which I've interpret as either "I have unreasonably high expectations about the value of this vehicle" or "I'm interested to in finding out what someone would give me for the vehicle if I decided to sell it." But hey, that's just my interpretation, and I could be way wrong here.

Either way though, I really don't see where the harm is with regards to making the reserve public, or at least sharing the reserve with potential bidders who take the time to inquire. I mean heck, we'll all know what it is when (or, if) it gets there anyways, right?

Best of luck to the listing party though.

:victory: