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Auto auction experience? (1 Viewer)

Charlie Steiner

Charlie Steiner

Footballguy
In a bit of a bind here.  Cliff's Notes version: I need to replace one of our vehicles, have no budget for a car payment and very little pocket money (~$1500) to spend. I'm intrigued by some of the 'local' auctions and even though my hopes aren't high for finding a 'good' car, my luck buying from private sellers hasn't been that great either, so I feel like it's a crapshoot either way. 

So my question to the FFA is: Do any of you have any experience with car auctions, and if so, do you have any insights/thoughts/experience to share?

TIA

 
playin4beer said:
Local auto auctions are where used car dealers dump their turds on unsuspecting buyers...
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Not disagreeing, but my experience has shown me that private sellers do the same thing; hence my dilemma.  Maybe if I had more money to spend but at the moment I have to go with the little I do have, so I'm turning over rocks at this point.

 
No experience here, but perhaps a police auction will yield better results than a local auction. 

 
Cjw_55106 said:
No experience here, but perhaps a police auction will yield better results than a local auction. 
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It's got a cop motor, a four hundred and forty cubic inch plant. It's got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks. It's a model made before catalytic converters, so it'll run good on regular gas.

 
Tow company auctions aren't terrible..  They auction off the cars that people "abandon" due to them not being worth the tow & storage.

Some are pretty decent cars...

 
The next good car I see from an auction will be the first good car that I see from an auction.

I have seen literally hundreds of cars come from an auction.  99.9% are there for a reason, they have something very wrong that is most likely very expensive to fix.  If you're not in the industry then you have virtually no chance of finding a decent car there, hell I deal with lots of repair shops that get themselves into a bind with auction cars.

Save yourself a lot of pain, heartache, and money and buy a bus pass or a bike.

One option would be the tow company auction-but usually you will now be on the hook for having keys made which gets expensive with security keys and having to have them matched up to the vehicle-can run from $200-$1000 on top of what you just paid for the car.

The reality is that $1500 does not buy you a reliable car that does not need a lot of work unless you get extremely lucky.  Used to be you could find a semi decent used car for 3-6K.  Those cars are all now 7-10K.

Anything that you can buy for $1500 is going to likely cost you double that in needed repairs either immediately or very soon thereafter.

Good Luck.

 
Charlie Steiner said:
In a bit of a bind here.  Cliff's Notes version: I need to replace one of our vehicles, have no budget for a car payment and very little pocket money (~$1500) to spend. I'm intrigued by some of the 'local' auctions and even though my hopes aren't high for finding a 'good' car, my luck buying from private sellers hasn't been that great either, so I feel like it's a crapshoot either way. 

So my question to the FFA is: Do any of you have any experience with car auctions, and if so, do you have any insights/thoughts/experience to share?

TIA
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I always thought car auctions were full of repos and trade ins that the dealer couldn't sell. I know a guy who knows a guy that buys nice heavy duty pickups at auctions on a regular basis to sell to locals, they all look like they are in good shape.

I have no personal experience with auctions but a quick google search led me to this article: http://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/confessions-of-an-auto-auctioneer.html

Chances are that if a vehicle has been traded in, leased, repossessed or totaled, it will find itself among the nearly 9 million vehicles that are purchased each year in an auto auction — either one that caters to dealers or one that's open to the public. Few people outside of the auto industry ever realize the size and scale of this business. It's second only to Wall Street in terms of sheer volume of items being sold at bid. Auto auctions are capitalism in its purest form, and that's what lures buyers in search of a good used car at a low price.

And while there are bargains to be had, there's plenty of potential for disaster, too. I've seen both, and often on the same day.
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Unless you are a car guy and handy with a wrench it is probably wise to avoid auctions.

You can find a car to get you from point A to point B fairly easily in the $2500-$3000 range off of craigslist. It may not be something you want your wife or daughter to be driving but it will get the job done. If your budget is $5000-$8000 there are plenty of options if you put in the research. Hondas and Toyotas are your best bets. Or older pickups.

Lots of options on craigslist for $3k rides out in the oil patch https://odessa.craigslist.org/search/cto?sort=pricedsc&max_price=3000

 
Or you could always take the sleaze ball approach.

Scan the obituaries, look up the decedent's address (whitepages.com or county assessor's website), do a drive by and see what they have sitting in the driveway. If you like what you see, go knock on the door and ask them if the car is for sale by chance. Say you've been searching for months for a car for your daughter and she has her heart set on that particular model, and you just happened to notice theirs as you were passing by. (What a coincidence!)

It is probably best to wait a few weeks after the services to approach anybody. If you are in a time crunch, start looking at obits from Dec/Jan, they will have had more time to heal and will be in decision making mode.

I have a friend who picked up a 10 year old BMW with only 40k miles on it and in pristine condition (it had been purchased new and driven by a guy in his 70s until his passing) using a method similar to this. He was able to get a bargain on the car, and the widow was more than happy to have it taken off of her hands.

Good luck!

 
fixing cars said:
The next good car I see from an auction will be the first good car that I see from an auction.

I have seen literally hundreds of cars come from an auction.  99.9% are there for a reason, they have something very wrong that is most likely very expensive to fix.  If you're not in the industry then you have virtually no chance of finding a decent car there, hell I deal with lots of repair shops that get themselves into a bind with auction cars.

Save yourself a lot of pain, heartache, and money and buy a bus pass or a bike.

One option would be the tow company auction-but usually you will now be on the hook for having keys made which gets expensive with security keys and having to have them matched up to the vehicle-can run from $200-$1000 on top of what you just paid for the car.

The reality is that $1500 does not buy you a reliable car that does not need a lot of work unless you get extremely lucky.  Used to be you could find a semi decent used car for 3-6K.  Those cars are all now 7-10K.

Anything that you can buy for $1500 is going to likely cost you double that in needed repairs either immediately or very soon thereafter.

Good Luck.
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I've seen a lot of excellent cars at auctions -- like Mecum Auctions, Barrett-Jackson, Gooding & Company ...

 
wilked said:
What town do you live in?
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I'm near Ft. Meade, MD, which puts the both beltways in play for me. There are a handful of places that auction off cars 2x/week, and there's one that caught my eye about halfway to Aberdeen from Baltimore.

I appreciate the comments so far and they have pretty much confirmed my fear.  It does seem like 2500-3000 is now about the minimum for a 'reliable' car, but we're just not there. 

 
If the car is any decent the dealers will bid it up to $1k under book so no one

"steals" it. If the dealers aren't bidding on it chances are it's junk. If you don't

have the skills to work on a $1500 car i wouldn't buy one. Once you get to that price

point you could buy a $500 car that could be just as good. Youtube has endless videos

about fixing cars and history of each cars problems.

If you going the auction route I would attend 2 or 3 of them just to get a feel of what goes on.

 
wilked said:
Slim pickings out by you...

I got two that might be worth a look.  The Mercedes you would want a good mechanic to look at, basically ensure there are no gotchas, otherwise could be a steal

The olds has a brand new engine and tranny, so long as they were installed well that is a steal also

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/5436113111.html

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/cto/5463536155.html
 
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I'm stuck in the 20th century; there are so many craigslist horror stories out there that I've never considered buying/selling anything that way. 

Also, regarding how I'm going to use it, it will be mostly just local travel.  Our other car is pretty new and I've been almost a Nazi in keeping it maintained, so we use it for travel.  I have a short commute and would maybe travel 30 miles or so to visit my parents, or run an errand when the other vehicle is being used.  I'm replacing a minivan and am also considering getting an old pickup or SUV as I like having space to haul stuff if need be.

 
I've had two great experiences buying used cars at auction.  Two key differences:

1. I had 'a guy' (unfortunately no longer in the business) who went to the auction and bought cars.  $500 to him for the service

2. I was paying a hell of a lot more than $1500.  Cars I got were still under warranty, coming off leases, in great shape

If you're only paying $1500 I wouldn't expect to get anything good regardless of venue.  Auction, used car dealer, private seller ... what's the difference. Still likely to be a piece of crap.  You get what you pay for and you're not paying much.

 
Charlie - what horror stories?  

For me, I have heard horror stories from auctions, where you buy cars without driving them.  I have bought / sold many cars on private sale and have no horror stories myself

 
wilked said:
Charlie - what horror stories?  

For me, I have heard horror stories from auctions, where you buy cars without driving them.  I have bought / sold many cars on private sale and have no horror stories myself
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I was referring to general craigslist horror stories, i.e., scammers, rapists, etc., nothing specific about cars. 

McG--tell me more about this 2001 Ranger...

 
I can say with confidence you will not be raped.  Scam...  it is no different than any private sale.  Have a good local mechanic give it a once over before you buy, do actual purchase in a public place if you are really worried, don't leave without the title.  

 
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