Super cheap public car auctions

aislephive · #1 09-06-2007, 04:27 AM

A friend of mine a few months ago got a nice Jeep (not a fan but w/e) for $2700 at a car auction. I'd heard about these things before but didn't know much about them. He told me that you have to go with somebody who has a dealers license or something, but I dunno if the one he went to was a private auction or a public one.

Anyways, basically the gist of these auctions are that the government often siezes these cars from criminals or whatever and they sell them for a fraction of the retail value. I did a half-assed google search and got a bunch of different web sites that want you to pay a membership fee in exchange for locations of auctions and stuff. There are tons of different ones and seemingly a lot of scams out there of sites that give you outdated information, have poor customer service, etc.

Anybody have any experience with these? I'm trying to find out what sites are good/legit, and if these auctions are all they're cracked up to be.

SpaceAce · #2 09-06-2007, 07:43 AM

You can contact your local sheriff's office, county recorder, tax assessor, or whoever is in charge of the auctions near you and get dates for free. The government auctions are also listed in the newspaper, so check the classified ads every day.

The thing is, you're almost always going to be bidding against dealers and representatives of car lots who can afford to pay more than you can. By the time you've outbid those guys, you're not getting much of a deal, anymore.

SpaceAce

jtr · #3 09-06-2007, 08:00 AM

[ QUOTE ]

The thing is, you're almost always going to be bidding against dealers and representatives of car lots who can afford to pay more than you can. By the time you've outbid those guys, you're not getting much of a deal, anymore.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmm. Presumably you'd still get a better deal than if you went and bought the same car from the dealer the next day?

BigPoppa · #4 09-06-2007, 08:23 AM

If anything, the dealers should be able to pay less.
They have to bid low enough to flip the car for a profit.
You just want the car.

fuzzwonder · #5 09-06-2007, 09:52 AM

i went to a few many eons ago and say its very high risk. i never did end up getting the car at auction.

1.the cars advertised are rarely the ones you see i.e. mostly govt surplus vehicles, and rental types like ford, gm, toyota. those gems people are looking for are few and far between.
2.the auctions allow you to turn the key and start up the car, and if they are real generous move the car a few feet back and forth. basically, you really don't know the condition of the drivetrain.
3.the margin is within a thousand or maybe a little more from what you can get with a private sale, not these super deals the ads claim.
4.there are rarely vehicle histories so you don't know how the vehicle has been maintained. i guess you run your own check once you know the vin number.

my advice, go private, you can drive the car, bring it to a garage, run a compression check, get all the parts checked, and usually have a car owner history.

Brad1970 · #6 09-06-2007, 10:38 AM

Most 'wholesale' car auctions usually have late model autos that are in good shape but you have to have a dealers license to participate/enter. This is where most of them get their inventory of used cars. Generally, eventhough it uses a bidding system, you can get a pretty good deal on a late model car.

The gov't/police surplus/drug seizure auctions are mostly junk that is apprended from a bunch crackheads & low level pill pushers or some stripped down, ragged out Crown Vic patrol car.

guids · #7 09-06-2007, 12:00 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Most 'wholesale' car auctions usually have late model autos that are in good shape but you have to have a dealers license to participate/enter. This is where most of them get their inventory of used cars. Generally, eventhough it uses a bidding system, you can get a pretty good deal on a late model car.

The gov't/police surplus/drug seizure auctions are mostly junk that is apprended from a bunch crackheads & low level pill pushers or some stripped down, ragged out Crown Vic patrol car.

[/ QUOTE ]

ya, you need to figure out if he is going to a police auction which is usually open to the public, or a wholesale dealers auction which is open only to liscenced dealers. The dealers auctions around here have a website, and list almost every car that will be going through the auction the day before, so you can have some idea of what car you want to look at. Buying from a wholesale auction is basically buying the car for what its worth before the dealer gets it and marks it up, if you can get to one of these you can DEF find some great deals, but you will also have no idea if there are any mechanical difficulties as you can only start the car up, and maybe..maybe they will let you drive it 50 feet.

aislephive · #8 09-06-2007, 03:33 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Most 'wholesale' car auctions usually have late model autos that are in good shape but you have to have a dealers license to participate/enter. This is where most of them get their inventory of used cars. Generally, eventhough it uses a bidding system, you can get a pretty good deal on a late model car.

The gov't/police surplus/drug seizure auctions are mostly junk that is apprended from a bunch crackheads & low level pill pushers or some stripped down, ragged out Crown Vic patrol car.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is a dealers license something easy to get? Or is it pretty much exclusively for actual dealers?I don't think I know anybody with a dealers license, am I SOL when it comes to the wholesale car auctions then?

Spellmen · #9 09-06-2007, 03:46 PM

It depends on state and all I think. I'm not sure, but I have a friend who has one at the Manheim auto auction, one of teh largest (maybe the largest) on the east coast. He is just a regular guy and buys cars there and then flips them for profit. This isn't a police auction, but a major one for dealers and such, but as far as I know you don't have to be a dealer to get one

train. · #10 09-06-2007, 03:58 PM

At the three auctions I go to in Arkansas there is plenty of room to drive the vehicles around and get a good idea of the vehicles condition. (I just bought a van a month ago tho that has pretty much been a lemon since day one.) You do have to have a dealers liscense tho or attend as a guest of a dealer and the dealer has to do the bidding for you.

I've never been to a "govt auction" but I would imagine that if there are vehicles there that are worth having the dealers will be there too and the best your gonna do is wholesale value (which aint bad.) If your not in the business and familiar with the trends in your area it will be hard to figure what a good price is.