By Cheri Sicard
In the video below, join Bob Wells from Cheap RV Living [830K subscribers, 212M views] as he interviews Jay about the incredible government auction RV bargain he discovered. Jay and his brother found a 2004 Tsunami RV made by Forest River with less than 12k miles.
It turns out Jay’s massive RV, built on a Freightliner chassis and powered by a 6-cylinder Cummins turbo diesel engine, was a former police mobile command center. Check out his RV “tiny” home!
City, county, and state auctions can all be good potential sources of used RVs, and can also be thrifty sources for quality vehicles such as buses or ambulances that make great RV conversions.
And not all the RVs at auctions are monsters like Jay’s. I have a friend who regularly buys RVs at bargain-basement prices at auctions, and has for years. Sometimes he uses them, as his business often has to set up mobile offices and security on set locations. Sometimes he flips them.
Insurance considerations
Bob brought up insurance considerations in his interview. Jay had no problems with this rig as it was originally registered as an RV. But if you are buying a commercial vehicle with the intent of converting it into an RV, it’s important to work out the insurance details first as they are quite different from insuring an RV. Some companies will not insure these types of conversions at all, so you might have to shop around a bit.
Jay says the rig he bought came with accessories he could not have afforded to buy after-market, including an 8k and a 12k generator. Of course, what is included will vary from auction to auction.
Another nice plus is the fact that Jay’s massive rig has a 100-gallon fresh water tank with a 3-filter system. And the roof is covered in diamond plate and completely walkable. Talk about sturdy!
Cost of the rig
So what did the rig cost? When the auction dust had settled, he ended up paying $60k, which is far less than the $1.3 million it cost to build the rig.
I have to say it would not have been my choice of an RV, but to each their own. Because this motorhome was not used as an RV, Jay had to do a fair amount of build-out. But to be sure, this RV has great bones.
Surprisingly, it doesn’t even have an indoor shower, but perhaps Jay will add one. However, it is HUGE. In fact, it’s more than what he needs, even though he lives in it full time.
Jay removed the full body wrap and the paint job still looks new. He added some homey touches inside to turn what was a sterile police office space into a home.
Outdoor kitchen
As he likes to be outdoors, he put most of his kitchen energy into building an outdoor kitchen in one of the pull-out, pass-through storage bays, which is pretty ingenious.
Jay is living in the RV as he works on it. When the video was shot he was over halfway there, but there was still a fair amount of work to be done. Believe it or not, Jay upgraded to this rig from an 18-foot camper, so it’s quite a dramatic change for him.
Give the video a watch and let us know what you think. How would you transform this massive RV space?
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