On the windshield of each vehicle that AAFES at Camp Foster, Okinawa, plans to sell is information on the year, make and model as well as the minimum bid requirement. (Carlos Bongioanni / S&S)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Car shoppers on Okinawa just got another option: 26 vehicles have been declared surplus and put up for bid by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service on Okinawa.
“The vehicles were part of our official vehicle fleet that are excess … that we no longer need,” said AAFES spokesman Master Sgt. Howard Smith.
Rather than turn them over to the local Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office, AAFES decided to sell them, said Smith, adding that money generated will go into the organization’s general fund.
Interested buyers must obtain bidding paperwork from the Foster Service Station and submit an offer in a sealed envelope to AAFES Pacific Region Contracting Office by June 23.
AAFES will review all the bids and notify the highest bidders by July 9.
All the vehicles are at the Camp Foster Popeye’s parking lot. Each windshield contains information on the year, make, model description — including mileage and engine size — and the minimum bid that will be accepted.
Bids on the smaller 1994 Mitsubishi Minicas with 660 cc engines must start at $300. All the 1995 Toyota Starlets and Mazda Familias with 1,300 cc engines start at $400, except one Familia with a dented door that starts at $300. One 1994 Nissan Caravan has a $500 minimum price tag. Three 1994 Mitsubishi Lancers start at $600 and bidding on a dark blue 1994 Nissan Cedric, the only non-white vehicle of the bunch, starts at $1,500.
Potential buyers cannot test drive the vehicles because none currently are insured, Smith said.
But he assured bidders that “these vehicles, as part of our official fleet, have been very well maintained with regular checkups.”
Used for staff or delivery purposes, each vehicle was bought new, Smith said; none ever have been registered as anything but an official government vehicle.
High bidders will have to pay the Japan Compulsory Insurance to register them but because they’ve never been “JCIed” before, Smith said, the initial registration will be good for three years instead of the usual two.
Each bid proposal must be hand-delivered to AAFES headquarters, building 490 on Camp Foster, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.
