Auto Auctions: Auction For Cars

A car auction is a like any other where a commodity is sold to the highest bidder. Most potential customers attend an auction believing that the price of a used car would be substantially lower than the market value. However, this is often not the case. In addition, auto auctions are infamous for marketing flooded and stolen vehicles, which are bought by unsuspecting customers.

In general, there are six types of car auctions. They are as follows: - Wholesale auto auctions: These are held by car dealers for other car dealers. - Public car auctions: These are open to all. - Company car auctions: These are open to employees of the company. - Police & Government car auctions: These are usually open to all customers. - Bank, Insurance, and Salvage car auctions: These are open only to car dealers. - Online auctions: The most recent addition to car auctions, they are open to all.

Although all auction types involve a risk component, online auction is possibly the most risky. This is because, you bid only by seeing the car's features and photo on a website. If you become the highest bidder, you are bound by contract to pay even if you have not seen the car in person. Sellers often give incorrect or false information about their car. Therefore, run a used car title check on the VIN# to verify the seller's claims. The seller may not list the VIN# and may provide wrong information about the model, year, tax payments, and insurance cover of the car. A Vehicle History Report will enable you to verify these factors. Another problem associated with online auctions is that the seller may ask friends to make false bids just to hike the price of the vehicle. In addition, you may have to travel long distances to pick up the purchased vehicle.

In the other types of auctions, you can inspect cars before bidding. Therefore, arrive at the auction site well in advance. Check whether all the VIN# stickers in a car match. Otherwise, it was either stolen or repaired with the parts of another car. Ensure that the car comes with the title. If you are in a hurry to buy and no title is available, at least ensure that the contract states exactly when the title will be provided to you. Otherwise you will have to run around for it. Before you bid, remember that you will have to pay a buyer's premium in addition to the price of the car. This could be 5 to 10% or lesser; find that out earlier. Furthermore, check out the traffic light behind the auctioneer to find out whether the status of the car title is red, yellow, or green. Everything about the title is fine if the light is green. Ensure that title status is mentioned in the contract. A Vehicle History Report is important in these types of auctions too.

The main intention to purchase from an auction is to obtain a used car at a rate much lower than the market value. Therefore, decide on the model of the car, check your bank balance, and decide on the price you can go up to before bidding. Don't get carried away by all the bidding activity around you.

Cadillac STS STS 2002 CADILLAC SEVILLE STS SHARP CAR 300HP XTRA NICE
US $6,500.00

Hyundai Elantra 1999 HYUNDIA ELANTRA NEEDS TRANSMISSIONOR PARTS CAR
US $550.00

Ford Mustang coupe 1965 Mustang parts or project car manual trans car
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US $50.00

Toyota Corolla DX 1990 Toyota Corolla DX Used Car MD
US $56.00

Mercedes Benz E Class Sdn 35L RWD 07 E350 NAV NAVI SAT RADIO 1 OWNER CALI CAR WARRANTY
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US $26,988.00

Audi A6 Quattro 1996 Audi A6 Quattro 4 dr Parts carmany good parts
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US $1,500.00

Buying Brand New? Try the Used Auto Auctions

There are many attractive reasons why people choose to buy from used auto auctions and the reason that tops the list is price. Used cars are auctioned off in different ways: online, public, wholesale, insurance & salvage and police & government auctions.

Among these, wholesale and insurance & salvage are more often open only to dealers.

Types of Used Auto Auctions

Online auto auctions like those on Yahoo and Ebay are very convenient and you can shop for the car you like without leaving the house. Remember, though that you are buying a car you have never laid eyes on and have never physically checked.

This should not deter you, however. There are a lot of sellers online who are legitimate and if you are patient enough, you could just get a great buy.

Government auctions are also a good place to shop for a used car. These are usually government-seized or decommissioned vehicles. There are registered auction lots throughout the United States.

In order to participate, you will need to register and get a bidder number from an auction house before the sale. The registration is free.

A caveat: some of these cars have not been driven or maintained in a while, so they might not be in tiptop condition.

Some tips when participating in an auction

You've probably heard the horror stories: getting duped into buying what seemed like a great car on the outside, only to end up with an utterly useless piece of junk two days later.

There are these and worse, but there are also happy endings to some auction stories. The trick is to be prudent and to be prepared.

Check the car's history through Carfax, an Internet service that lets you search a car's background. A Carfax report will show reports from insurance companies, police, DMVs and other sources. A similar service is provided by AutoCheck..

While some auctions do conduct some history checks on cars on their lists, some auctions do nothing at all, so it is wise to do some sleuthing yourself. It's always good to check if the car has a clean title to spare yourself from potential problems.

Come early. There's less distraction because the auction isn't crowded yet. Plus, you can check the cars more thoroughly.

Inspect the trunk and hood and open all doors. If you have a VIN number with you, you can match the car with it. If the car doesn't match, then it could be a stolen vehicle or was fixed using another car's parts.

Protect yourself by knowing what needs to be checked tires, carburetors, mileage, steering wheel. Check for damages and signs of disalignment, rust, leak, paint chips, evidence of paint jobs or flooding, crooked windows, malfunctioning A/C, excessive mileage, dents and scratches.

If you don't have the knowhow, bring a trusted friend who can spell out the details for you and do the inspecting and asking.

"As is". Truly understanding these two simple words can save you from a lot of disappointment. So do the words "buyer beware". When you buy a car at an auction, or anything for that matter, you won't have the chance to bring the car to a mechanic to have it checked.

So what you buy is exactly what you see. And what you see is what you are going to get.

A car's title should be available for you right there, but if it's not, check the contract to see how long it would take for you to get it. If the contract says that you're supposed to get it in one week and they don't deliver, you can get your money back.

Your winning bid is not exactly the money you need to shell out. In used car auto auctions, there is a buyer's premium that you'll need to pay and can cost you anywhere from a few hundred bucks to about 10% of your winning bid.

So if you won a bid for $18,000 and there's a 5% buyer's premium, you'll pay $18,900.

Take your time so you don't get carried away. In the heat of the auction battle, you could let your passion take over and just keep bidding, forgetting about the buyer's premium and not realizing that you might be buying that used car at a higher price than fair market value, which actually defeats the purpose of your joining an auction in the first place.

When it comes to used auto auctions, there is nothing wrong about being picky. After all, it's your money that's on the line. But getting a great deal is really not just about the price.

It's about buying quality as well so it's best to have the right kind of information before going in not only to get the right car at a good price, but also to avoid bad deals and unnecessary headaches.