I strongly recommend that you inspect any items in person before bidding. Dealing with GL is always a bit of a gamble, but when you bid based only on the auction listing pictures, then it's a BIG gamble. Don't bid any more than you're willing to simply throw away if things don't work out well. Now, I just got my first M923 home tonight after winning it in a recent GL auction, and I am very happy with what I got... but I've also been bitten before, so don't take my most recent experience as any sort of guarantee.
Given our locations, we may be looking at trucks at the same site. Now, we have a rule here against talking about specific current and future GL auctions, because we don't want to present even the smallest hint of collusion. So, I won't say much, and my post may get nuked if what I say next crosses the line (mods, please nuke it and let me know if it's out of line): The listings I see at this moment appear to me to be well-used trucks turned in to GL in as-used or even as-cannibalized condition, while mine appeared to be fresh out of rebuild. Thus, I won't bother stating here what I paid for my own truck, because I would not have bid nearly as much on the trucks I see listed now.
Good luck with your quest for a new 5-ton, and I hope that we'll be able to help adequately within the constraints of our site rules against discussing ongoing auctions.
One more thing: As a CA resident, be aware that you will need a class A or class B commercial driver's license, with air brake endorsement, to legally drive an M923 here. CA's rules are more strict than the rules in many/most states, and CA's licensing rules don't care how you'll actually be using the truck. It's just plain considered a class B commercial truck for licensing purposes. It'll also be registered as a commercial truck here; even pickups are considered commercial, but the weight fees on a 5-ton will exceed $1000 per year if I'm not mistaken. Now, if you can get it registered as a Historical Vehicle, then those weight fees won't apply, and registration will be cheap. However, the commercial license will still be necessary here.
I plan to try registering my new truck as a Historical Vehicle. If it's too new, or I can't do so for any other reason, then those annual registration bills are going to hurt.
for what it's worth.
