2002 U500 on Ebay

[charlieaarons]

There's a 2002 U500, long wheelbase with ~10K miles for $60K. No bids yet, it only has 45 hrs left on auction. It does not have CTIS or electroautomatic shifting but it has most other necessary options for an expedition camper. It's converted to run on veg oil/biodiesel with a 25 gal diesel tank for starting and stopping and the 60 gal tank is for veg/biodiesel.
$60K wouldn't yield much change if it were used to buy a loaded new F550. And the U500 has nearly twice the GVW. Without the platform a U500 weighs ~13000 lb and has almost 14000 lb in unused rear axle load capacity.

Charlie

[haven]

Nice find! Here's the link to the listing on eBay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Unimog-Mercedes-U500-2002_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ63742QQihZ017QQite mZ270273102451QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

There's a second auction for U500 with 16K miles, link below.
Starting price is $75,000, and this vehicle does not have
the conversion to biodiesel.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/U500-UNIMOG-MERCEDES-BENZ-MOG_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ63742QQihZ008QQitem Z180285096917QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

A third 2002 U500 is listed on eBay, "buy it now" price $119K!
There are no bids on this one yet.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2002-UNIMOG-U500-154-INCH-WB-11-FT-THREE-WAY-TIPPER-BED_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ63742QQihZ015QQitem Z250285615888QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

[N8URE2]

for what its worth...
I have an RV that was converted to veggie by Golden Fuel Systems.

I'm pretty sure this video is of the Unimog that is for sale
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3ThtQJ3fP0

[outsidr]

Yes, it was done by GFS in Springfield headquarters... A beautiful installation...:smileeek:

[charlieaarons]

If anyone is seriously interested in any of the U500s feel free to PM me re the differences between them, particularly for an expedition camper.

Charlie

[N8URE2]

"Yes, it was done by GFS in Springfield headquarters... A beautiful installation..."

I agree, they did a good job on the RV I have as well. And it has worked well and save a ton of $$$ on fuel too.

[mhiscox]

Am I correct in thinking that this UNIMOG would, as currently configured, require the driver to have or obtain a Commercial Driver's License before driving it?

I know the CDL is a doable thing, and I also know that the question doesn't apply once the conversion is done if it was re-registered as, say, a motorhome, but as it sits now, the buyer would need a CDL to drive it, right?

Also, MBz made, I believe, a U500 that was 26K GVWR and do not believe that one would have needed the CDL. Is there a way, maybe during the application for new title, to derate the truck's GVWR to under the CDL requirement?

Thanks in advance for any expertise you can provide.

[Offtrack]

Very nice truck!!

To be as per the law you will need a CDL as it sits now. Most states go by the Trucks Rated GVW for the Driver. I had a truck that was rated for 31K but the truck was only about 25K when loaded (4800 Int 4x4 fire truck). My trucks license plate was only good for 26K but that still did not matter as the trucks GVW was 31K. The Vin number tells them what the truck is so you can not just tell them its under 26K.

Should you buy a truck like this I would recommend you have a CDL or a CDL driver for the transfer and just use temp tickets for the trucks license until it has been converted to a RV, Get your RV plates/registration then your free of all the DOT and state things for commercial trucks.

[mhiscox]

Very nice truck!!

To be as per the law you will need a CDL as it sits now. Most states go by the Trucks Rated GVW for the Driver. I had a truck that was rated for 31K but the truck was only about 25K when loaded (4800 Int 4x4 fire truck). My trucks license plate was only good for 26K but that still did not matter as the trucks GVW was 31K. The Vin number tells them what the truck is so you can not just tell them its under 26K.

Should you buy a truck like this I would recommend you have a CDL or a CDL driver for the transfer and just use temp tickets for the trucks license until it has been converted to a RV, Get your RV plates/registration then your free of all the DOT and state things for commercial trucks.
Thanks, Scott. Your information matched what I believed, but I appreciate having confirmation from someone knowledgable.

[RHINO]

i will happily offer my CDL services to drive this rig to whomever buys it.

[Offtrack]

Mike

Happy to help, You might also check with your states department of transportation. You might be able to get a tag for it as a incomplete vehicle for transport to your builder.

Also you could get the CDL permit and as long as a fully licensed CDL driver is with you, you can drive the truck.

[charlieaarons]

It sold for $65380; a pretty good deal in my book. I hope they put it to a good use (like a camper!).

Charlie

[btggraphix]

It sold for $65380; a pretty good deal in my book. I hope they put it to a good use (like a camper!).

Charlie

That sure DOES seem like a great price when you consider just how much a loaded F350 (etc.) costs. Someday....someday. I'm hoping to buld a custom box at some point to fit on the chassis I have (Chevy 4500) that is removable like my current truck camper and then eventually sell off the Lance. Then I'd be ready to buy a more capable chassis like the U500 and only need to build a deck for it to sit on and swap it right over. It may seem silly to not have the camper fully integrated into the Chassis as the systems would have to be independant of one another but it does make it more feasible to not have to buy/build the whole thing at once and gives you more flexibility for dropping the box somewhere when the need arises.

That Unimog chassis sure is nice.

I wonder how much money you could recover if you removed the dump bed and sold it off (on the one that sold on E-bay?)

[Jeep]

That was purchased by a good friend of mine in Calgary. He called last night and entered his max bid with 14 seconds left, he was quite excited and I'm looking forward to helping with the camper build.

[charlieaarons]

The 2004 did not sell for $75K. It had everything one needs for a camper except maybe CTIS (not easy to add) and radiator protection (easy to add). It did have automatic shifting. Still in a good price range.

Charlie

[wolf359]

That was purchased by a good friend of mine in Calgary. He called last night and entered his max bid with 14 seconds left, he was quite excited and I'm looking forward to helping with the camper build.

Yup, I bought it. :)

[wolf359]

Yup, I bought it. :)


Just got home... along with the U500. Paperwork was a fun bit of research... and getting it through two sets of Border Agents (US Customs) and (Canada Customs) was just loads of fun... :)

Even with all the paperwork completely in order, it still took over an hour... since the conversation started with them saying... "It's a Uni-WHAT?"

After much furrowing of brows, and checking computer screens, and flipping through pages... they found it, much to my relief.

My impressions so far are excellent, it drives very straight, quiet and fine at about 60-62 mph on the highway. Empty, the spings are STIFF and it's very rough on any kind of bumps, but throwing a 7000k expedition box on it will help that out...

Somewhere in Montana...

http://gallery.me.com/wolf359/100572/IMG_0022/web.jpg

We stopped at a charity car wash on the way home... the kids seemed to love it. :)

http://gallery.me.com/wolf359/100572/IMG_0016/web.jpg

Tim.

[Chas Stricker]

Congrats Tim,
Looks like a fine Mog. Do you already have plans for the camper?
Chas

[wolf359]

Congrats Tim,
Looks like a fine Mog. Do you already have plans for the camper?
Chas


I've been researching and putting parts lists together for a couple years now, and with the help of this board, I think Mark and I can turn out something pretty cool.

It will be a couple year project, I have a ton of stuff to do right now with work, so I won't start a build thread until it's real.

Until then, it's just going to be a Mog. :)

Tim

[lowenbrau]

I think Mark and I can turn out something pretty cool.


Tim


I'm loving the sound of that.