Buying a car at auction

Purchasing a car at auction can be a real money savings. However, nowhere is the adage “buyer beware” more appropriate. You may think you are getting a dream of a deal only to find out later that you are buying a nightmare. I am not trying to bad mouth the auction companies or the used car dealerships. My point is you need to know what you are looking at when you bid on an auction car. Also, realize that if you are going to a public auction, three other groups of dealers that make their living buying and selling cars passed on the opportunity to buy that vehicle before it got to the public auction.

I have had two recent customers that have had major issues with cars that they purchased at auctions. One was a transmission problem that is going to be very expensive to fix.

The used car market is currently in uncharted waters. Dealers are taking in cars and sending them to auction without even looking at them. I’m not saying the dealers are doing anything wrong, it’s just the way things work these days. I recently went on line and got several offers for a used truck I was selling. After answering a few questions on line, I got good offers for the truck. When I took it in, I parked the truck in the lot and was given a check. They didn’t even know what color the vehicle was by the time we got done with the transaction. That car was loaded on a hauler and sent to auction. I doubt one of the technicians even started the truck before it was hauled away.

Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous people out there that will be less than honest in completing the on line questionnaire. With the speed at which the cars are taken to auction, it is hard for the dealers to even find out if there is an issue with the car. I have found that most auction firms and dealers want to be truthful about the condition of the cars they sell. But if they get bad information from the start, it makes that quite challenging.

So my advice is to find someone that knows about cars to look at the vehicle before you bid on it. It’s impossible to be 100% certain you will not have an issue with the vehicle, but there are signs that something may not be right. Remember, there is a reason that the original owner sold the car. Having someone with you can give you a better chance at getting a decent car at the auction.