If you plan to attend a car auction, please memorize these phrases: “Buyer Beware” and “As Is.” That’s because most cars are sold at car auctions in whatever shape they happen to be in at that moment. You’ll get no warranty and you’ll have no chance to take the car to your mechanic to have it checked out. It doesn’t matter if it’s a new car or a used car, once you pay your money, you take your chances. So please, attend any and all car auctions with your eyes wide open; and remember that even the cool cars and the muscle cars can fool you.
There are a lot of cars for sale out there, so when you attend an auction, be sure you take enough money, (some auctions require cash), take a Kelly Blue Book with you so you can look up the value of any cars you might be interested in, and get to the auction early.
To anyone attending car auctions in Texas, beware that many of the cars and trucks that were flooded by past hurricanes were written off as totaled, but could very possibly end up at car auctions. How to find a car auction in your area? Here are a few ideas:
Check out your local paper
One way to find local auctions is in your local paper; the only drawback is that these auctions will only be listed every few months or so. If you’re in no hurry to buy a car, this may be fine for you.
Go online
Another way that has become popular is to find a car auction online. Unfortunately, most of these sites don’t have a very good reputation. If you’re looking for cars online, you should know that lots of the online are “fly by night” sites because they’re here one day and gone the next. Their listings are often outdated and or incomplete, and there is no customer support. Buying a car online is a very risky proposition.
Become a member of a car auction listing site
I think your best bet to find legitimate car auctions in your area is to become a member of a car auction listing site. Joining one of these listing sites is the easiest way to steer yourself into more cars than you’ll ever have time to see. It beats surfing the web and leafing through your local paper hoping your timing is right to find an auction.
There are a lot of car auction sites out there, but the best way to find a good one is to visit http://www.mycarauction.com and get a review of the top 3 sites. When you visit any of these 3, just plug in your zip code and you’ll see a listing of all types of cars like suvs, trucks, vans, etc, and where they can be found. You’ll find hundreds of legitimate auctions with listings in every city and state on these sites and you’ll be that much closer to finding the car of your dreams for an unbeatable price.
Helpful Resources
Check out this site to learn about auction tips and tactics, things you should and shouldn’t do, and other options you should know about.
http://www.carbuyingtips.com/auto-auctions.htm
Sources
- http://www.carbuyingtips.com/auto-auctions.htm
- http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Find-Auto-Auctions-Open-to-the-Public&id=1483285
- http://www.carsfrom500.com/ - This is a government auto auction site and database. You can look for cars in your area here; included are police auctions, IRS auctions and any big ticket item the government has seized.
