auto auction ????

[yellowsnake]

http://www.stateauctions.org/cars.html

 

 

 

has anyone ever had any dealings with this? i was thinking about doin it b/c if you could get a good as deal as they show on that site then it would be a hell of a deal.

[Stallion Motorsports1647545491]

prices dont look right for a dealer auction. it may be a insurance, or repo auction, but those prices almost look too low for that as well? that site has to make some kind of money off of each deal? there has to be a catch.

 

tom

[RX-7 Addict]

Sounds like a scam to me, they just want your $35.

 

Make: BMW

 

Model: 528i Automatic

 

Year: 1999

Type: sedan

 

Mileage: 53,000 miles

SOLD FOR: $900

 

I'll take it

[desperado]

These are impound auctions, you get no keys, salvage title and no assurances that the vehicle runs.

I have been to insurance auctions that prices were lower than that. I saw a Chevy pickup sell once that was 6 month's old for $100. Mind you it had burnt to the ground and was nothing but rusted metal, NOTHING was salvageable but maybe the engine block, and even it was questionable.

Advertising is everything to bring people in.

 

My auction experience personally

 

State Vehicle auctions = lots of Mexicans buying vans and lots of Indians buying retired police cars for taxi's. There are some deals, but not many. Keep in mind that the vehicles were all purchased new by the state and maintained by union state employees. They are all in good condition and have had scheduled maintenance.

I personally bought a 73 dodge 1 ton van from a state auction that needed an alternator and a battery, I put an additional 200000 miles on it and sold it running (but very rusty) and the buyer still is driving it.

 

Impound auctions

These are held at the county impound lot on Saturday mornings every 90 days. They are a good source for project cars that you know are going to need work. You will get a salvage title with them and no keys. They must be trailered out, and there are police there verifying that you are not trying to drive them out. If you attempt to drive them out they will be impounded and you will get arrested (ticketed) for operating a motor vehicle with either no tags of fictitious tags. I seen it happen more than once.

 

Airport Impound auction

These auctions are not held as often as the county auctions but will get you better cars. Typically these are criminals and dope dealers cars (BMW's and Benz'es) that are 'abandon' by people that fly out somewhere and don't/can't come back to fetch their cars, mostly due to getting busted as the guy at the auction told me. Prices weren't as high on the nicer cars as they were at the county auctions and typically, these cars have keys as they were valet parked. These cars don't show up at the county lot because the airport has it's own police force and operates separately from both the county and city forces.

 

Donation auctions.

These you hear about on the radio, at least them asking for the cars they are selling.

Salvation Army, Am-vets, Good Will and a number of others all take donated cars to sell at auction. I understand recently that they are making these auctions with a minimum bid of $100 for any car, but that might not be correct, you should verify this if it concerns you prior to the auction. From the ones I have attended, there are cars that run the range of non running Dodge Omni's to clean BMW's that are high mileage.

There have been some changes in the way the law allows the tax credit to be issued for these cars so the real shit piles have gone away, but it's not uncommon to have a car with a knock in the engine or the transmission to only have one forward gear.

 

Quick explanation into why I know,

I was a locksmith for a long time, and these auctions were easy work that brought in lots of cash quick, at least the county auctions were. I found the other auctions had no lock business, so I just attended the auctions, and enjoyed it so I went back.

 

My best advice is figure out what you are looking for, daily or a project. Then figure out what sort of work you are willing and able to do to a car. If you are willing and funded to swap a motor, then cars can be bought for a song at the donation auctions and those cars can be started and tested on their lots. Impound auctions are a pig in a poke, no keys and no attempts can be made to 'hot wire' the cars to get them running, they will get REAL bitchy about that until you buy the car. There are also fee's at some of these auctions so be aware of them, contact the people holding the auction before going, many of them will only accept cash and certified check so be aware of that too.

Be aware that lemon laws and the like do NOT apply to auction cars. You bid you buy. Speaking of that, do NOT bid unless you can buy, your bid is a contract, like ebay so if you have the winning bid, it's yours and you will have to pay for the car.

Also, if you haven't attended an auction before, go to one before you go to buy. Car auctions are conducted by experienced auctioneers and typically have experienced buyers, they move quickly. I have seen 60 cars sell in less than an hour at state auctions. Don't stand near the middle of the ring unless you are ready to buy. I literally watched a guy buy a cop car without knowing by scratching his nose over and over. They let him off, because he was unaware that he was even being watched by the auctioneer, but I have seen guys that smoked a pipe and would tip their pipe as a bid, they were experienced and the auctioneer knew them but the point I am trying to make is that picking your nose or scratching your bum will buy you a $30000 bulldozer without you even being aware of it if you are in the middle of the ring.

[93toNV]

How can you get the cars started that they give you no keys for? Swap out ignitions with a junkyard car or what?

[desperado]

How can you get the cars started that they give you no keys for? Swap out ignitions with a junkyard car or what?

 

That's what I was doing there, making keys. A locksmith can take care of it right there, and I would advise you to get one that's on site to do it. I was getting $65 plus a service call to make keys if some on called me as a standard call out but I was only getting $30 to do a key at the auction. The competition was pretty steep at the auction for locksmiths.