Brand new suv's for the UN

[Collingwood]

There are many, many ways to avoid dysentary that do not include expensive hotels.

Pray tell: how does the military in MUCH more crowded conditions avoid it...as well as performing to peak efficiency with high morale?

And since when does "used" mean "high maintenance?" There are PLENTY of 2-4 y.o. vehicles available...even in the DR...that could give YEARS or maintenance-free service. AND plenty of mechanics available to fix them, even in Haiti. At a FRACTION of the cost.

A stripped-down 2.5l diesel D-Max's for a TON less than fancy SUV's...even less expensive than a HiLux. AND tougher.

Cobraboy - totally wrong on the 2nd hand vehicles in Haiti. Have you ever been to Haiti or operated in Haiti?

It is difficult to keep new vehicles on the road in Haiti let alone years of maintenance free service for 2nd hand vehicles in Haiti. You are not talking from experience on this. Just complete nonsense.

 

[engineerfg]

The SAME way you get a couple of expensive luxury Prados...

continue rolling your eyes while you explain...how do you find 100 of the same used car tomorrow? i think we can find 10 in miami, 10 in houston, 10 in orlando. and ship them all in seperately? at different dates? oh but one of the used car guys wants payment in cash, the other wants an invoice, the other will only take credit card etc.

vs. just buy all of them from one source with one payment, and one shipment.

The devil is in the details

 

[cobraboy]

continue rolling your eyes while you explain...how do you find 100 of the same used car tomorrow? i think we can find 10 in miami, 10 in houston, 10 in orlando. and ship them all in seperately? at different dates? oh but one of the used car guys wants payment in cash, the other wants an invoice, the other will only take credit card etc.

vs. just buy all of them from one source with one payment, and one shipment.

The devil is in the details

Look, Mr. UN, I SAID get stripped down D-Max's instead of luxury sleds...

But I suspect that you guys are more concerned about personal stylin' than getting the job done in Haiti in the most efficient manner possible.

You benefit directly from the UN in Haiti. Of course I would expect you to defend your benefactors.

And, no, I don't think 200 matching Prados ins "mission critical" to Haiti. Yes, i do think used late model SUV's would work just as well. Parts availability is fairly universal.

I'm a numbers guy. I'll bet I could make a financial case that a used fleet (2-4 y.o. vehicles) total cost would save $$$ over a 3-5 year period, especially since maintenance labor is ridiculously cheap. They just wouldn't be as pretty or presitgious.

 

[pedrochemical]

We were debating a point and contrasting our opinions until this point.

Now we have wandered into the realms of facts and fantasy.

I can suure you that what ever effective cash-flow you come up with for purchasing, importing and maintaining a fleet of 100 various 2-4 years old vehicles in Haiti, does not bear any relation to the situation as it is on the ground.

Parts are not easily accessible, they are very expensive and unreliable and the local mechanics and there equipment are not half as effective as their 1st world equivalent.
And this was the situation before the quake - I dread to think what things are like now.

It would not work.

 

[engineerfg]

I don't work for the UN and I'm not a benefactor. Buying 1 type of carburetor 10 times from the same source, is cheaper than finding 10 carburetors from 10 different sources to fit 10 different used cars. As you say, labor is CHEAP so the real incramental cost is shipping and parts. So good luck with that financial model. Maybe you can help Greece when you're done.

 

[IslandDreaming]

I think CB is having fun "yanking your chains," he is aware of the bidding process, logistics etc

WHY do Police departments buy Ford Crown Vics, Impalas and Chrysler 300's versus Kia's?

Bid process, need of reliability, cost of maintenance and oh yeah, reliability

The cost of one food contract likely outweighs anything that could have been saved on the SUV's, they were seen on the docks, highly visible so something to yak about

Try figuring in lost time of procurement, repair, breakdowns etc and you see why they buy "new"

I guess if UN Peacekeeping forces in Bosnia bought "used" APC's from Russia, Bulgaria, Israel etc they might save a few bucks over a group of like new vehicles from Germany or US (I have no idea what they have deployed, just an example) but would the reliability and mission capability be the same? If one Israeli APC went down, wold the tracks from The Bulgarian APC fit or would stocks of parts for 3-4 different vehicles be needed?
I'm not familiar, but are these truly luxury" SUV's or simply decent full size vehicles?