public surplus, City Of Los Alamos County Fleet Division i purchaced a truck through the public surplus auction site from the city of Los Almos, NM. It was advertised as in good running condition. In reality it did'nt even start when i got there.  los alamos new mexio

Auction sales are sold AS IS.  That means you accept the vehicle in whatever condition it happens to be.  The truck probably was running before it was sold (cities don't usually keep around broken equipment), but it was most likely sold because it needed a new engine.  "Running condition" and "needs a new engine" are not mutually exclusive categories.  I am sure you can get the truck running if you replace the battery or whatever else is causing it not to start, but it does sound like it's on its last legs. 

Bottom line: if you can't evaluate the condition of a vehicle on your own without a mechanic, you shouldn't be buying vehicles at auction.  Not to mention, just use some common sense: if the truck was running well and didn't have any open maintenance issues, why would the city sell it?

You can hide behind all the small print you want. a lie is a lie sir. we all operate off of a certain amount of trust . Simply, some one needs to be held responsible for the printed advertisement of the vehicle. period.

It should have been advertised as a non runner giving me at the very least a fighting chance. it was advertised as a good running truck. Again a lie is a lie.

That's the problem with a public auction.  If you are the winning bidder, then you've accepted the sale of the vehicle regardless of condition, or "as is".  It doesn't matter what the advertising says.  The fact you bought this on a website....well, I can tell not too many people would buy such a vehicle like that "as is". 

No way to check out the vehicle prior to the bidding - which most experienced bidders will tell you is a requirement.  The ONLY way you should ever buy a vehicle online like that is if you went to the Los Alamos fleet department and looked over the vehicle prior to the making the bid.  Lesson learned....