ex mines cruiser utes

Generally ex-mines vehicles are a no-no as a going concern.

They typically are exposed to a lot of corrosive elements that will generally rot the chassis and body away in no time. This is the reason they are turned over fairly frequently by the mining companies.

As a source of mechanical spare parts they may be worthwhile...

Hi Mr polar
after working underground I can tell you don't' go near them trashed and smashed
so save your self a heart arch

I've owned 2 ex mine utes and now an ex mine 100 series (first one was stolen after 3 years and second ute I replaced with wagon cause the family got too big). Very hard to actually tender for them as that is usually for site based personnel first. You'll usually see them at the auctions first. Certainly heaps in WA.

Certainly stay away from the underground ones as they will always have heavy corrosion and be badly dinged anyway. If they have been maintained well and you find one with minimum corrosion then you can end up with a very cheap cruiser. My 2001 100 series cost me 18K and I'm yet to find any rust...hasn't missed a beat either. With over 200K it still had all toyota belts and filters and hoses on it. A little rough on the inside but it saves me worrying about getting it dirty or muddy.

Last bit of advice - you need to know a fair bit about cruisers if you go the ex mine option. If you don't - take someone who does or you could get caught with a big dud.

go to www.idiotsgetrippedoff.com
Sorry to be blunt but these things cost around 20 to 40 grand per year to keep going in the mine so even picking one up for nothing is still going to cost you a motza

After working undergorund most of my life and living in Kalgoorlie until 2 years ago, I have found that buying an ex underground ute is so cheap and as long as you don't want to keep it forever, why not. You can get them from ross's auctions or similar in WA for next to nothing. Eg the last one I bought was $6200 cost me another $8k for fixing a few things and I had a 6 month old 79 series with 35 thousand on the clock. Never had a bad experience with them. But if thats not your cup of tea make sure you check the chassis before you buy a second hand ute, the underground ones are usually freshly painted and you can tell by the pitting in the metal.

Good luck.

My son flew up to Karratha last week and bought a dual cab 100 series at a Ross's auction. He thought the vehicles there were good value. Someone said don't touch the ones at Kalgoorlie as they spray the roads with salt water, and the ones at Karratha are generally in good condition. He said there were some cheap buys in the Utes. He ran through the catalogue with us on Saturday when he got home, but i wouldn't get the prices, year and models right now so i won't try and quote them. He has been getting email notifications of Ross's mining vehicle auctions for a while now.

There's an auction at Mt Thorley 1st Nov -near Singleton about 20 of em
But you'd have to be a brave man, all less than 5 yr old but trashed!!!!

I would be very wary, but some bargains are to be had in amoungst the many headaches. I wouldn't buy an Argyle vehicle, we keep them too long and trash them, not sure on other mines. Have heard a stroy of a 12 month old holden ute being purchased at auction for a miserly few grand - bloke who got it was in the know, it was a Dampier salt vehicle, so no -one wanted it. It was one of their Perth based office vehicle that had never seen a gravel road!

Cheers Andrew