Some of the most eye-opening, memorable auction sale price results I can recall over my 35-year career have come from one particular equipment category likely to surprise a lot of Machinery Pete followers: semis.
Many of you will recall Terry and Mary Smith’s farm retirement auction last December in Chillicothe, Mo. A 2017 Peterbilt 389 Glider day cab semi with only 34,493 miles sold for $350,000. I don’t think our TV cameras accurately captured the collective sound of jaws hitting the ground.
Another memorable super sharp used truck we filmed was a 2004 Freightliner FL80 grain truck with a Kahn 20' aluminum bed and 205,604 miles that sold on a Nov. 30, 2021 farm retirement auction in Noblesville, Ind., for $85,000 — a record price on FL80s that stands today. At least five people came up to me to ask if they heard that price right.
More recently, a pair of Freightliner FLD120 day cab semis turned heads on the Doris Meeker farm estate auction held Nov. 8, 2024, in Warsaw, ll. Both were very low-mile, one-owner rigs. The 1996 model with only 25,753 miles sold for $82,000 (a record price), while the older 1989 model with just 25,359 miles went for $51,000.
Demand Holds Strong
Demand obviously remains very high on earlier tier emission models in excellent condition. This trend first smacked me upside the head nearly 13 years ago when a Kenyon, Minn., sale featured a pair of 2007 model Peterbilt 379s with just 117,000 and 120,000 miles — one red and one black. The sister rigs were one serial number apart. The sale day buzz around this pair of Petes was through the roof.
The red one sold for $105,000 and went home with Bob from Wisconsin, who told me “Pete, I’ve got three 379s at home.” He was the runner up bidder on the black one, too, which went for $100,000. $105,000 was tied for the record high auction price on Peterbilt 379 until February 2015.
But what about now? A January 2023 farm retirement auction in Walnut, Ill., saw a sharp 2007 Peterbilt 379 with 355,150 miles sell for $198,000. But that wasn’t a record. That came from the 2006 model 379 with 364,801 miles in Villa Grove, Ill., that sold for $262,000 in July 2022. Queue those collective jaws hitting the ground again.
Of course, this trend of farmer-buyer demand shifting toward earlier emission-tier engines is not isolated to semis. Check out the hot prices on other earlier emission era items sold at that November Warsaw, lll. auction: a 2010 John Deere 9670 STS for $140,000 and a 2003 John Deere 8520 with 2,293 hours for $165,000.
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