Has anyone bought a car from an auction?

two wheel tramp

two wheel tramp

exploring!
I've been thinking of buying a car for a while. Curious if anyone has bought a car from an auction and what their experience was? What did you buy and how much do you think you saved off KBB? How does the inspection process work?

Thanks in advance.
 
wilit

wilit

Well-known member
Most of those wholesale auction places require you to have a reseller's license. So you'll need to find someone with one to get you in the door. My buddy has one and he flips cars on the side for extra cash. There are some gems, but a lot of them need a bit of maintenance.
 
kingmoochr

kingmoochr

WHARRGARBL
wilit said:
Most of those wholesale auction places require you to have a reseller's license. So you'll need to find someone with one to get you in the door. My buddy has one and he flips cars on the side for extra cash. There are some gems, but a lot of them need a bit of maintenance.
Click to expand...

Your buddy have any interest in brokering a purchase from copart la? I want a trailblazer ss and they have one.
 
cheez

cheez

Master Of The Darkside
I'm actually looking for someone local to do the same for wrecked bikes out of Copart.
 
oobus

oobus

Dirt Monger
I had a Copart and Iaai "license" for a number of years. Bought a bunch of farm vehicles from both companies. You'll need an auto resellers permit(or something similar) to gain access/get into the auction.
Can be a crapshoot depending on who is bidding at the time/what vehicle you are looking at. My best buy was a newer Nissan 4x4 with low miles, BUT, absolutely every body panel had been spray-painted or hit with a bat. My guys called it "LA PINATA".

I enjoyed the fun of the auction and would do it again if I wanted to buy a high end sports car. Don't bid on anything unless you go and look at it. The vehicle is ALWAYS in worse shape than it looks online.
 
two wheel tramp

two wheel tramp

exploring!
oobus said:
I had a Copart and Iaai "license" for a number of years. Bought a bunch of farm vehicles from both companies. You'll need an auto resellers permit(or something similar) to gain access/get into the auction.
Can be a crapshoot depending on who is bidding at the time/what vehicle you are looking at. My best buy was a newer Nissan 4x4 with low miles, BUT, absolutely every body panel had been spray-painted or hit with a bat. My guys called it "LA PINATA".

I enjoyed the fun of the auction and would do it again if I wanted to buy a high end sports car. Don't bid on anything unless you go and look at it. The vehicle is ALWAYS in worse shape than it looks online.
Click to expand...

I GOT CATFISHED BY A CAR. :cry


:laughing
 
littlebeast

littlebeast

get it while it's easy
friend of mine bought a lexus at an auction. when she told me, at first i was thinking it was of those charity auctions where you drink too much and wake up the next morning, confused, and like - what the fuck did i buy last night?

my mind went there because many years ago, my SO and i got really fucked up on an illegal substance, and somehow managed to buy a vehicle while under the influence (who the fuck knows what we were thinking - oh hey - we need some entertainment, let’s go BUY A FUCKING CAR!!!). i woke up the next morning with a vague recollection of this and ran to the window to see said POS parked out front and immediately began screaming. i will never know how we managed to get it home.

but apparently hers was a proper auto auction and she actually wanted one. she was very happy with her purchase.
 
Free_Bird

Free_Bird

Highways
A Mechanic I know works a private shop in Washington during the Summer. In the cooler Months works at a Dealership in Southern California.
Picks up Cars that need work at Washington Car Auctions. Cars that are not bid on by most of the buyers. Fixes them up and drives them to California and sells them for a profit. Looks for modest mileage cars with mechanical damage and not body damage. Finds a used replacement part and swaps it out.
Stuff the insurance company calls a total loss cause of mechanical repair costs.
 
stangmx13

stangmx13

not Stan
my mom bought a Mustang from an estate auction. it was a POS and wasn't worth what she paid. she drove it a little, didnt take care of it, and let it sit in field until rats destroyed the wiring. then she donated it to a wrecker. :laughing
 
oobus

oobus

Dirt Monger
Free_Bird said:
A Mechanic I know works a private shop in Washington during the Summer. In the cooler Months works at a Dealership in Southern California.
Picks up Cars that need work at Washington Car Auctions. Cars that are not bid on by most of the buyers. Fixes them up and drives them to California and sells them for a profit. Looks for modest mileage cars with mechanical damage and not body damage. Finds a used replacement part and swaps it out.
Stuff the insurance company calls a total loss cause of mechanical repair costs.
Click to expand...

By bringing them in from Washington, this may "wash" the salvage title from the car. Buyer beware!

Not sure if it is still the same, but there were lots of Russian's at the auctions in South Sacramento. These salvage auctions are worth it just for the entertainment value of the interesting characters who show up.

And, would love to put this back together:

https://www.iaai.com/vehicledetails/36155938/9
 
bpw

bpw

Well-known member
littlebeast said:
friend of mine bought a lexus at an auction. when she told me, at first i was thinking it was of those charity auctions where you drink too much and wake up the next morning, confused, and like - what the fuck did i buy last night?

my mind went there because many years ago, my SO and i got really fucked up on an illegal substance, and somehow managed to buy a vehicle while under the influence (who the fuck knows what we were thinking - oh hey - we need some entertainment, let’s go BUY A FUCKING CAR!!!). i woke up the next morning with a vague recollection of this and ran to the window to see said POS parked out front and immediately began screaming. i will never know how we managed to get it home.

but apparently hers was a proper auto auction and she actually wanted one. she was very happy with her purchase.
Click to expand...

This story is worthless without description (and pictures) of what you bought.
 
Abacinator

Abacinator

Unholy Blasphemies
We just had an R320 bluetec totalled out because the rear window washer leaked into the cargo area, corroding the fuse and relay module and interior harness. The harness is $4200 from Mercedes and takes 8 weeks to get because they make it for the vehicle. I'm sure someone will pick it up from copart , cut the harness a foot or two back and splice in a section from a junkyard car, replace the fuse block and ship it out of state.
 
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