A Step-by-Step Guide to Purchase a Car at Auction
Admin • June 28, 2019
Vehicle auctions are full of used cars that you can often purchase for much less than what a dealership would charge. To get the best possible deal, however, you need a strategy on how to approach the auction process. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you with this.
Step 1: Determine Your Must-Have Features
You'll see all sorts of cars at a vehicle auction, just as you would on a dealer's lot. When at an auction, however, you don't have unlimited time to figure out which car has the features you want.
Whereas a dealership's salesperson will talk with you for a long time and on multiple occasions, auctions only provide so much time before the bidding action begins. Once bidding starts, you need to know which of the available vehicles matches your criteria for features.
You don't want to spend your day at the auction deciding whether a feature is essential, beneficial, or inconsequential. You need to go to the auction knowing what features your next vehicle must have and which aren’t important. Before you begin looking at any vehicle auctions, sit down and figure that out.
Step 2: Check for a List of Vehicles
Before the day of the auction, check to see whether a list of the vehicles that will be auctioned off is available. Some auctions publish lists while others don't.
If a list is available, go through it to identify which vehicles meet your criteria and are worth further investigation. Once you have a list of potential vehicles, research each as thoroughly as possible. As is true in many activities, information is power when you're buying a car at auction.
Exactly what you'll be able to learn depends on what information is made available. You might only have the year, make, and model of a vehicle, or you might be able to get its full vehicle identification number (VIN). As much as possible, look up the following:
- The fair market value of each potential vehicle
- Any common repairs for each vehicle
- The history of each vehicle
You'll only be able to check vehicles' histories if you have access to their VINs.
Step 3: Bring a Friend to the Auction
On the day of the vehicle auction, ask a friend to come along with you. Someone who's familiar with cars is helpful, and the more level-headed they are the better. Your friend's role is to serve as another set of eyes when looking at cars and to help keep you calm when in the midst of competitive bidding action.
Step 4: Arrive Early to Research Cars
You'll want to get to the auction as early as possible so that you have the maximum amount of time to research cars. To maximize your time, limit research to your list of pre-identified potential vehicles if a list was available beforehand. If you didn't get to look through any list, split up temporarily with your friends so you can quickly case the vehicles for potential choices.
After you know which vehicles you’re bidding on, look over each one with your friend. Determine which of you is more familiar with cars, and have that person physically look over every part of each potential vehicle.
The other person can use their smartphone to get a finalized price estimate that takes into account the mileage and a vehicle history report. You can learn this by finding each potential car’s VIN number. Each car will have its VIN posted somewhere on the vehicle, usually near the dash on the driver's side or on the driver's side door post or latches.
Step 5: Determine Your Maximum Bid and Begin Bidding
If you've done your research, you'll be ready once the bidding starts. Determine your maximum bid for each potential vehicle and begin bidding. Your friend can act as a voice of reason to make sure you don’t spend more than this predetermined amount. Hopefully, you'll have the highest bid for one of the vehicles you want!
To buy a car at auction, come to AA Wrecker Service's monthly auction.
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