Lista Cabinets: Is this a good deal?

[tjpavlov]

I have seen that a lot of you guys/girls have some amazing Lista cabinets in your garage. I just bought a new house and need my first tool cabinet. I am not a mechanic, but I am steadily accumulating a variety of tools. I am at the point where I really need to get something to store and organize everything.

I have been looking at the Harbor Freight cabinets that everybody seems to know and love around here. But I saw this listing on Craigslist:

http://providence.craigslist.org/tls/3507120924.html

This is very close by and seems like an interesting opportunity. I would be interested probably in units 9-12. From the address, it looks like it is an old car dealership that is being refurbished by a new owner. They must be looking to unload these cabinets, but they aren't exactly giving them away.

$349 for the Harbor Frieght seems like a deal, but some of these are in the $500 range and are probably much heavier-duty. The only disadvantages seem to be the added cost and the loss of mobility (no wheels). I didn't really want to spend this much and the wife may need some convincing...

What do you think? Always looking for your thoughts and opinions!

 

[930dreamer]

No price expert but those are quality built cabinets.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

I came across that AD this weekend as well, still not cheap, but definitely a lot less than the cost of those new. If it's close by to you, swing over there, look them over, and throw a number out there on a package deal for the cabinets you want, you may be surprised what they will take, money always talks. The fact that it's a dealer looking to liquidate may play to your favor as well, since they may be on a schedule for when they need them out of there by.

 

[pcmeiners]

Was checking that CL listing listing also, Lista units are real heavy duty/quality. I would be tempted, especially for the units with multiple 3" draws, but it is a bit far for me to drive to check them out. If I were in the area, I likely would have purchased them already even though they are a lot more than I would like to spend. Price wise, they are a good bit under the going rate, unless the pictures lie, not cheap by any means but Lista units are top grade, absolutely no comparison to HF. For Lista cabinets in banged up/drilled out/rusted/filthy condition you could pay more.


This is a unit of temptation but I wanted 3" draws primarily, and would have required shipping which was reasonable but still added cost; this is below the going rate.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LISTA-JY146..._Automotive_Tools&hash=item53f44d7cdd&vxp=mtr

 

[tjpavlov]

Hey Pcmeiners.... that cabinet on ebay is being sold by a guy who is often on these forums. He sells some nice scratch and dent stuff. If you track him down a private message, he will keep an eye out for what you are looking for.

I have talked to him before and he is really nice.

I am sure that these are good quality and way better than the typical HF stuff that I would be considering as an alternative, but I've only got so much to spend. While I love some of the garages on this site, mine also needs to fit strollers, kids stuff and a collassal hoard of diapers for the wee ones. When I finally get my act together, I am going to have to start a thread. How to create a more general purpose garage is what I struggle with.

 

[justanengineer]

Those seem kinda steep for that part of the country, but maybe not. I think the "going" rate I see is ~$300 for the ~3' tall cabinets and ~$500 for the 5' tall ones. That being said, a few of those appear to be wider than the standard 36"(?) cabinets which might make it an ok deal for those.

 

[pcmeiners]

TJ...
The Ebay link was to give you an idea of a decent price. It is hard to get a great price on Lista cabinets, especially near urban areas. Around NYC, they sell really beat up units at high prices. These are wide cabinets, big difference in pricing from the 30" wide units.

"I have talked to him before and he is really nice"
And he ships at an honest shipping rate.

"but I've only got so much to spend"
That my issue also, but check out the cabinets !!!!

 

[Whitworth]

I'd be all over them if they were in my vicinity.

 

[bullnerd]

We have lista stuff in the machine shop at work.I'm not impressed with them.They are always being repaired.I guess for a home shop they would be OK, but I guess I dont understand all the hype.

 

[Bull]

We have lista stuff in the machine shop at work.I'm not impressed with them.They are always being repaired.I guess for a home shop they would be OK, but I guess I dont understand all the hype.

This confuses me. If Lista can't survive in your shop, what can?

 

[Mr. Roboto]

All we have at work are Lista and Vidmar, both are in constand daily use in a high volume production environment, and have been for years - they still all look and operate brand new. I am shocked to hear they are not lasting in your shop.

 

[TAftw]

We have lista stuff in the machine shop at work.I'm not impressed with them.They are always being repaired.I guess for a home shop they would be OK, but I guess I dont understand all the hype.

Are you running them over with a D9?

We have old Lista cabinets on our ship that are filled with heavy machinery tools, and they get rocked and rolled around constantly, and they are fine. Off the top of my head I can't think of anything that's built stronger than a Lista.

 

[AndyA]

New price on a 6 drawer of that size is around $1500. So not that great of a deal at $1000. The 13 drawer one is around $2600 new, so a bit of a better deal at $1000.

 

[454ragtop]

I too saw that ad. They seem to be wider than std, but not as deep. For that kind of money I'd want the deeper ones.
Jim

 

[CNGsaves]

I'd try Gov Liquidation site also as military is heavy buyer of Lista etc.

See couple nice Vidmars at Mechanicsburg, PA at:
http://www.govliquidation.com/auction/view?auctionId=6003647&convertTo=USD

Anyone on GJ from around Hill AFB, UT . . . there are ton of Vidmars there!!

 

[akdiesel]

The deal would be to take the whole lot at a $5000 bill. Take them off his hand.
The deeper cabinets would be lot better and let him know it but there is a lot of space to had with them as is.
And yes the price per each seems to be good, if they are as good as they look in the pictures. Test each drawer for function, and look at the bottom racks (the parts the contact the cement floor) for rust or damage.

 

[hidollartoys]

Are you running them over with a D9?

We have old Lista cabinets on our ship that are filled with heavy machinery tools, and they get rocked and rolled around constantly, and they are fine. Off the top of my head I can't think of anything that's built stronger than a Lista.

Stronghold

 

[2jz4me]

Stronghold

Amen. I have only been working in the industry for about 12 years but I have never seen a cabinet as solid as stronghold. It feels like you are opening the door to a bank safe. I will say also that lista along with stronghold is used exclusively throughout our shop and when it comes to desks, workstations, tool chests (stationary or rolling) they are the best. If snap-on took lessons from lista they would at least begin to justify their box prices!

 

[alberto]

If they were near me I'd be all over the bench with the two cabinets underneath.

 

[Linda@Lista]

Are you running them over with a D9?

We have old Lista cabinets on our ship that are filled with heavy machinery tools, and they get rocked and rolled around constantly, and they are fine. Off the top of my head I can't think of anything that's built stronger than a Lista.

Thank you for the kudos!
Linda@Lista

 

[shoturtle]

I have seen that a lot of you guys/girls have some amazing Lista cabinets in your garage. I just bought a new house and need my first tool cabinet. I am not a mechanic, but I am steadily accumulating a variety of tools. I am at the point where I really need to get something to store and organize everything.

I have been looking at the Harbor Freight cabinets that everybody seems to know and love around here. But I saw this listing on Craigslist:

http://providence.craigslist.org/tls/3507120924.html

This is very close by and seems like an interesting opportunity. I would be interested probably in units 9-12. From the address, it looks like it is an old car dealership that is being refurbished by a new owner. They must be looking to unload these cabinets, but they aren't exactly giving them away.

$349 for the Harbor Frieght seems like a deal, but some of these are in the $500 range and are probably much heavier-duty. The only disadvantages seem to be the added cost and the loss of mobility (no wheels). I didn't really want to spend this much and the wife may need some convincing...

What do you think? Always looking for your thoughts and opinions!

If you really want a great set of cabinets, these would be it. Great cabinets will hold their value. And the guy selling them knows what he has and what their value are.

They are a world apart from HF box. The HF that every one here raves about is no where near the quality of the Lista.

If you have a budget, and it sound like these are out of your budget. The HF might the budget way to go. Also look at some of the costco offerings as well. There are allot of good consumer grade boxes out there. Viper is also a pretty nice option, and when sears has them on sale, they are a super deal.

 

[Motorhead Extraordinaire]

Do you know if they are the new or old design drawers? If they are the old design, check for excessive bearing wear. Some cabinets are opened thousands of time with zero maintenance. Yes, the old cabinets have roller bearings and yes they do require maintenance. The new design uses a high tech bearing that does not require maintenance.

Regarding price ... The HS1350 with 8-5" drawers lists for $1661.33 and we would normally sell this for $1412.13 to a call in customer and for $1341.52 to a GJ member. When we have these in our Junkyard Specials they sell for about $700-$800 and that's for a brand new cabinet that is either perfect or with light blemishes.

IMHO $1000 for a used cabinet of this type seems a bit high.