Wenatchee,WA - arid climate
I paid about $1,500 one year ago for a 54/55 running GMC 350 (2ton) COE with a long flatbed. Almost no surface rust and only a small dent in one fender and a dented-in roof (from apple crates falling down about 4-feet onto the roof).
If the COE you are looking-at has most of its parts, and it runs, and it lived its whole life in in the "high desert climate" of Wenatchee, it would have been worth about $3,000 delivered to me on the east coast (that is about my cost). Since then I have spent about $1,200 on the brake system, u-joints, and new bearings on all wheels/axles (a prudent precaution).
If you have the money and you want the COE, go for it. It brings a smile to anyone who sits up there, on top of the world.
Tim
