Has anyone bought a car from an auction?

[usedtobefast]

I assume you are going for "cheap car at an auction" approach?

It seems this only works well for someone that is good at fixing cars themselves fairly cheaply.

For a car to end up at auction, it has to be very undesirable ... either the brand, high mileage, or issues.

A nice used car traded in will be sold at the dealer that took it on trade. Like a 3 yr old car with < 36,000 miles.

And you can see the trickle down, like a crappy used car lot with 10+ year old cars with 150+K miles. If the car is at an auction, that means the crappy used car lot didn't even want it!

I've gone with some friends before to look over pre-auction cars and they really were all junk.

The nicer "auction" places seem to just be a different type of used car selling approach ... there is some place in Pleasanton that acts like they are an auction place ... you can go there when they are open and see cars and even test drive them and buy them on the spot. A typical example might be: a $15K car on CL that is a reasonable used car ... at this "auction" place it would be $12K and have either some body damage or mechanical damage. So by the time you buy it and pay to have it fixed you are pretty close to that $15K number.

 

[Maddevill]

My friend has bought at least 8 bikes and 2 cars through Salvagebid.com . Including a very nice Jag convertible. He only bids on vehicles he can get locally. From the yard in Fremont or Emeryville. He's had really good luck with them. But it's always best to go look at them before bidding. No dealer license needed, just a deposit on a credit card to be used against any bids you make.

Mad

 

[aminalmutha]

I imagine the only way to do it is with a dealer license. Been to a couple public auctions a long time ago and I swear there were shill bidders cuz everything went for high KBB, if not more. Mind blowing.

Even the obvious beaters weren't cheap enough to be worthwhile.

 

[two wheel tramp]

I imagine the only way to do it is with a dealer license. Been to a couple public auctions a long time ago and I swear there were shill bidders cuz everything went for high KBB, if not more. Mind blowing.

Even the obvious beaters weren't cheap enough to be worthwhile.

Thanks. I'm going to keep cruising the car listings on Craigslist until I find what I want at a good price.

 

[littlebeast]

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

that is literally never going to happen. too humiliating. all i’ll say is that it was a new vehicle on the lot of a dealership within wandering distance from where we were living at the time, and we walked over there (most likely attracted by the bright lights lol). the car itself probably caught our attention because it was so ridiculous. one of those things where you get to laughing so hard, and then you think of something even funnier - like buying it. that was some serious dumbassness on our part. my SO tried to argue afterwards that at least it had a good engine in it (we found out later what it was), but i called bullshit on that (just because you can’t kill it doesn’t make it ‘good’).

 

[ThumperX]

What are you looking for? I have purchased lots of stuff at auction but you have to be prepared for the worst.
The last vehicle I purchased was Tundar the 1st gen Tundra.
I paid $4100 included the buyers premium (you have to eatch auction add ons) I then paid $700 in back fees (always run the vin and plate before bidding.) The truck had 114k when I bought it and I knew I'd have to do a timing belt and tires (auction cars always seem to get tires swapped out and tool kist swiped.)
All in all I'm into the truck for a little under $6k So not a screaming deal but I can get more than I paid so I'm ahead.
What kind of vehicle are you looking for?