Sussex to hold car auction

For those in the market for a used car or light truck, Sussex County might have your newest ride. The county is auctioning off 12 vehicles this weekend.

Sussex County is getting into the used car business — at least for one day.

The county government will hold an in-house auction of surplus vehicles and other equipment this Saturday.

Up for grabs are 12 automobiles, a mixture of Ford and Chevrolet cars and trucks. The vehicles range from 1994 to 2003 models. The county has declared the vehicles as “surplus” cars and trucks that no longer fit within the operational needs of the county’s fleet.

Officials say two of the vehicles are not roadworthy. But Deputy County Administrator Harold Godwin says most “have quite a bit of use left in them.”

The vehicles, all with more than 100,000 miles, will be sold to the highest bidders “as is” with no guarantee or warranty.

Godwin says he’s inspected every vehicle very closely over the last few days. And even though they’re old and well-traveled, he says they’ve been well maintained.

“All of our vehicles are operated through a very careful maintenance program and always have been,” Godwin said. “We’ve tried to make sure the cars we’re selling are in as good a condition as we can provide without spending a lot of money on them.”

The auction will be held in the parking lot of the Sussex County Emergency Operations Center, 21911 Rudder Lane, at the Sussex County Airport east of Georgetown. Prospective buyers can begin inspecting vehicles at 10 a.m. Saturday. The auction will follow at noon.

Also for auction are several diesel generators.