car auctions. anyone with experience here?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
May 4, 2003
Messages
6,619
Location
southeast US
A friend told me about Copart.com
I checked and some cars don't look too bad and have no bids one day prior to auction. The minimum bid is $90. Is there a catch?
 
Seems to be pretty straighforward. I was reading on another site where someone bought a vehicle off of there.

The hardest thing for them was arranging transportation for a non running vehicle as they were halfway across the country.
 
Do you have to be a licensed dealer to bid?

From what I learned last week visiting two salvage yards operated by a local insurance company, they use copart if a vehicle was totalled (i.e. salvage title) too far from their yards to make it economical to tow them in, inspect, and sell at their own auction, so mostly stuff totalled while out of state, or if it is a specialty vehicle that will get a higher price due to the bigger buyer pool. Other bidders know what they are doing, so thinking you will swoop in and snag a deal nobody else noticed is highly unlikely, approaching impossible.

Also, make sure the vehicle is registerable. Some vehicles are deemed non-repairable due to the extent of the damage and cannot be registered, only scrapped or parted out.
 
Last edited:
I have seen a few nice ones on driveaccord where someone has bought something at auction and brought it back. Always seems to be coupes.
 
Originally Posted By: satinsilver
Here's an interesting thread about someone that bought a car from a similar auction site. Just look at the OP's posts to scroll through the thread much faster:

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/showthread.php?t=70469&highlight=copart

Have nice day!

edit: page 13 has the after pictures.


It said he paid 15,000 > just scratched and broken glass. here is what is needed: all 4 tires -front and rear windshields-both door mirrors-both quarter glasses -and some of the chrome moldings around the windows-front wiper arms-rear bumper i paid $15,000 for the car as it stands.


Seems like a lot of work at 15,000 when a perfect one can be had for 20 Regular $20,500 14,662 Above Average

11/27/13 SAN ANTO Regular $19,700 14,827 Avg RED 6G A Yes
11/27/13 NJ Regular $16,200 41,011 Below BLACK 6G A Yes
12/03/13 SO CAL Lease $18,500 36,555 Avg BLACK 6G A Yes
12/04/13 NEWORLNS Regular $18,600 20,694 Avg RED 6G S Yes
12/04/13 ATLANTA Regular $19,400 14,886 Avg BLACK 6G A Yes
12/06/13 NEVADA Regular $21,600 12,527 Above RED 6G A Yes
12/10/13 ST LOUIS Regular $20,500 14,662 Above CRSTBLK 6G A Yes
12/12/13 SO CAL Lease $17,250 22,788 Avg WHITE 6G A Yes
12/17/13 SO CAL Lease $17,700 44,111 Avg SILVER 6G A Yes
12/19/13 CHICAGO Lease $20,500 12,929 Above GRAY 6G A Yes
12/23/13 ATLANTA Lease $17,000 32,449 Avg RED 6G A Yes
 
1. In most states you MUST have a dealer's license to buy/sell cars at a commercial auction. None of the big auction companies (like Manheim and Adesa) will even let you in the gate without a dealer's license, regardless of the state.
2. Buying a GOOD car at an auction is a very slippery slope! Most dealers take the junky trade-ins that they don't want to retail to the auctions to get rid of them. There are a few good cars mixed in (cars that haven't sold and have gotten old in their inventory), but most of the cars will have issues. The good cars will bring top dollar, especially now, because of the used car shortage.
 
Last edited:
Most the cars that I see on there have either a reserve or require 'approval' of the final selling price.

As far as I know, anybody can bid in repo or salvage auctions.
 
Originally Posted By: wag123
1. In most states you MUST have a dealer's license to buy/sell cars at a commercial auction. None of the big auction companies (like Manheim and Adesa) will even let you in the gate without a dealer's license, regardless of the state.


Manheim is very hard. You have to mail up your dealer's license and a voided check with the same dealership name. Then they have you come up to get a badge. It's the badge that gets you in.
 
Originally Posted By: Gabe
As far as I know, anybody can bid in repo or salvage auctions.

Not around here. The salvage auctions here require either a dealer's license, salvage license, or insurance company license. Most of the lenders (and all of the large lenders like GMAC or Ford Motor Credit or Americredit or Capitol One) send their repos to the commercial auctions, but some of the smaller lenders (like credit unions) will sell their repos directly to private individuals.
 
Last edited:
Never dealt with them, but I have gotten a few gems at auction including a Hartge H35 (early E30 3-series w the 3.5L M30 swapped in), an Alpina B6 Bi-Turbo, and an 850CSi twin-turbo. Those are the most unique, but I have gotten a few E30 325is, E34 540i, and such, and always at prices well below market value.
Oh, and a fun little Porsche 914, and others.
My buddy just got a Mercedes Benz 500E (the one that was built by Porsche) w a busted engine, a few months back from an auction. He bought a wrecked SL63 AMG with working drivetrain and is about 2/3rds done with the swap.

However, I have seen a lot more bad than good, so you have to REALLY know the cars you are looking at.
 
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
A friend told me about Copart.com
I checked and some cars don't look too bad and have no bids one day prior to auction. The minimum bid is $90. Is there a catch?


I used to be a regular at the BIG one in Tampa. My friend was a Dealer and he only charged me a hundred bucks to buy anything I wanted.

The line about auction cars being junk above shows a lack of understanding. There are WONDERFUL bargains to be had, you just have to have your money ready and know exactly what you want.

I have bought well over 2 dozen cars at auctions and not a lemon in the bunch...yet. You also have to understand the risks...
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
A friend told me about Copart.com
I checked and some cars don't look too bad and have no bids one day prior to auction. The minimum bid is $90. Is there a catch?


I used to be a regular at the BIG one in Tampa. My friend was a Dealer and he only charged me a hundred bucks to buy anything I wanted.

The line about auction cars being junk above shows a lack of understanding. There are WONDERFUL bargains to be had, you just have to have your money ready and know exactly what you want.

I have bought well over 2 dozen cars at auctions and not a lemon in the bunch...yet. You also have to understand the risks...


The dealers aren't allowed to conceal damage, or they won't be at the auction long!

Usually it's cars that sat for 60 days or so on the lot, so they send it to the auction and buy a car that sat on another dealer's lot for 60 days!

Of course there are all the ex rentals, off lease and fleet vehicles there too.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8


The line about auction cars being junk above shows a lack of understanding. There are WONDERFUL bargains to be had, you just have to have your money ready and know exactly what you want.

I have bought well over 2 dozen cars at auctions and not a lemon in the bunch...yet. You also have to understand the risks...


Dealers do use the auctions to get rid of cars they don't want to mess with. There's a lot of truth to that. It may not be a "ruined" car, but it may be so bad they don't want to put the time/money into putting it on their lot. Plenty of good cars roll through auctions, but there are more trash cars. The key to doing well is being able to sort out the good ones quickly, and it helps to know common problem areas on vehicles you plan to buy.

I worked in the detail shop at a very large auction as a summer job a few years back. The majority of the cars we processed were less than 5 years old, and the majority were in fairly disgusting condition. I'm talking two year old cars where seats and carpet had to be pulled. I'm talking three 55 gallon trash cans FULL of trash from one car. Food ground in every corner, piles of cigarette/cigar/pot ash, vomit/bodily fluids, meth pipes, etc. "I'd rather sit in a car at Pull-A-Part" nasty...and these were not old cars at all. By the time they left the detail shop, it would be hard to tell.

The issue is a lot of these cars are just old/used enough to where the lack of maintenance or other bad habits have not caused apparent problems yet. If someone is willing to [censored] all over the inside of a newer car they have to use everyday, they are not going to be very maintenance minded.

Copart is kind of a different animal since it's mostly salvage cars. You may be more likely to find a gem at Copart than at say ADESA.

Also, "open to the public" auctions are a gimmick. Any real auction where there are real deals will be for dealers only. "Open to the public" auctions are just dealers trying to get people worked into some kind of frenzy so they will pay too much for a piece of junk on emotion, thinking they got a good deal. "Wut you mean my Impala need a tran-mitten, I juz bot dis cah from Mitfield Auto Auction."
 
Last edited:
The dealer that I bought my Sierra from, gets most of his vehicles from the auction. The Sierra was a 4 year old bank repo with just 38,000 miles. The dealer bought it for himself as his personal driver, but I got in the way of that plan.

He's offered to take me to the auction anytime that I want, to buy my next vehicle. The fee for taking me would be $200-$300 over the final bid (depending on the value of the vehicle that I'd be buying).

I will probably go with him and do this the next time... so that I stop buying the vehicles that he buys for himself. He does have good taste.
 
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl

Also, "open to the public" auctions are a gimmick. Any real auction where there are real deals will be for dealers only. "Open to the public" auctions are just dealers trying to get people worked into some kind of frenzy so they will pay too much for a piece of junk on emotion, thinking they got a good deal. "Wut you mean my Impala need a tran-mitten, I juz bot dis cah from Mitfield Auto Auction."


This is why I went to ONE of these and never went back. When they are open to the general public it simply drives up prices...
 
Went to a Federal auction years ago. The prices on the popular cars were quite inflated. "Popular" back then was a full size Bronco. Uncool cars were more fairly priced, but still not a giveaway, or anything. Those were the Minivans back then.

Relative bought a repo at an auction. Purchaser had never made a payment on it and it was only three months old. Not much risk there. We lived in one of the few states where bank auctions were open to the public. It was a good price, but it was still a Chevy Cavalier. I think you have to be willing to hang loose on style issues to get a good deal.

As one of the earlier posters said, the cars are new enough that it may be difficult to detect abuse.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top