THE PORTAL HUB - Pinzgauers, Haflingers, Volvo 303s and more!

Just out of curiosity, is the importing of Pinzgauers over? I have noticed that dealers dont advertise fresh from the swiss pinzgauers at all anymore. Have they been picked clean, or is it the current exchange rate? I really wish I could find a "fresh" import, but from what i see, that isnt happening any more.

Most imports came from the Swiss auctions which happened (as far as 710/712 series Pinzgauers go) from ~1999-2009. So there isn't the flood of trucks available as there were during those years.

ok so that would account for the value going up on these trucks..... seems like they are selling for more this year than the last few years.

Most of the trucks the dealers are handling now days are second hand units. As mentioned the Swiss are done and the Austrian auction trucks are pricing out at about 40-50% higher than the secondary market in the states.

Not to mention a good portion of the existing trucks were hunting trucks for billy bob who thought the cost of parts and maintenance was just "out of line". Once a truck gets to a certain point it is not viable to repair and it ends up getting scrapped/parted out etc.

Rarely did we use to cut trucks, now days it is a much more common occurrence.

You also have the tour effect especially when it comes to 712M trucks, where the adventure sports/vineyards/wineries have realized that the 712m makes an ideal people mover for commercial operations.

Cheers,

Scott

would you think holding on to a good solid pinzgauer, might possibly be a good investment years from now?

In 50 years they will be like the Ford Model T's. Get several now.

Morris,
I wonder if there are more Pinzgauer's or
model T's in the US today?

DGRDurham wrote:would you think holding on to a good solid pinzgauer, might possibly be a good investment years from now?

I'm sure a lot of the guys on this forum were fortunate to get theirs early on before other Western "Billy Bob's" (as so aptly put by Scott) got their hands on them.

I was lucky enough to get an unmolested one from Pinzgauer Canada with the original Maloyas and all a couple years ago and I am doing my best to keep it as stock as possible (with the exception of the Maloyas).

Whether it will increase in value in my lifetime.....maybe. But it will be the younger generation of my family that will have to figure that one out, cause it's going nowhere while I'm around!

Yea im in the market for my first 710m right now, and I just returned from Durango Colorado this weekend after looking at one. It was advertised as in good conditition on craigslist, and by the individual on the phone. But when I got there, there were rust holes in the exhaust, cracks and holes in the axle boots, and some kid was welding up a hole in the fuel tank, after drilling it to drain out the diesel they accidentally put in it. He told me he caught it on fire 2 times before I got there to look at it. Needless to say, I passed on that Pinz......By the way, that ad is still up on craigslist. its the 710M for 7000$ on the westslope craigslist. Beware!

Not sure what there is more of but, I would suggest that unless you know the vehicle and the person selling it very well and trust them, that you
try to get your pinz from one of the sponsors or someone that they recommend. That is unless you are very handy and love wrenching and
looking for parts in your spare time.
This is just an opinion...mine. ...and based on the last post and the results of that person search, there may be more issues than one may want.

I love the fact that they drilled a hole in the gas tank to drain it when there is already a drain-plug on the bottom.

CentAr712 wrote:I love the fact that they drilled a hole in the gas tank to drain it when there is already a drain-plug on the bottom.

yea they said they broke the drain plug, and just drilled a hole beside it......

ExpeditionImports wrote:...and the Austrian auction trucks are pricing out at about 40-50% higher than the secondary market in the states.

1. Not sure what this means but I am guessing that what you're saying is that a truck that changes hands here for say $20K hits would be closer to $30K out of the auction?

2. Are either Swiss or Austrians likely to begin auctioning TD Pinz's when we're going to be able to take advantage of them when past the DOT exemption (which I am guessing is up to the 1987 or 86 model year now)?

Thanks.

djw wrote:

ExpeditionImports wrote:...and the Austrian auction trucks are pricing out at about 40-50% higher than the secondary market in the states.

1. Not sure what this means but I am guessing that what you're saying is that a truck that changes hands here for say $20K hits would be closer to $30K out of the auction?

I may be wrong but I thought that most recently auctionned Austrian Pinzes are in this price range because they have been fully refurbished by the factory during the 90's (check the pictures at the top left corner of this page, Vince's pics from his visit at the factory show exactly this).

djw wrote: 2. Are either Swiss or Austrians likely to begin auctioning TD Pinz's when we're going to be able to take advantage of them when past the DOT exemption (which I am guessing is up to the 1987 or 86 model year now)?

Unfortunately the Swiss never acquired any of the TD ones... They replaced all M38 Jeeps, Pinzgauers and Unimogs with G-Wagens and Duros.

I think prices have firmed up considerably for these trucks in excellent condition. If someone bought one and ignored it and let service intervals lapse and didn't go OEM with parts or otherwise didn't tend to it as was intended, those trucks have fallen off in value.

If you have an extremely clean example, more or less unmolested, those trucks are increased in prices in recent years. For what it's worth, I'm all about modifying and customizing these things as long as it was done well by some one who knew what they were doing.

People pay for quality whether original or well mantained or thoughtfully updated / customized.