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What do you guys know about repo or state auctions? If you don't know what I mean, google state auctions...I mean, they say some of these cars go for under $4k? There has to be some catch right? Anyone have any experience with this?

thanks in advance.

 
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Yeah, I've done this before. The catch is you have no idea what you are buying. Some let you start the car and rive it maybe 100 ft, others you may not even be able to start the car. I bought one car and drove it for 50k with out any major problems, my friend bought one and ended up replacing the motor and tranny in less thana week. But a car from those is like playing the lottery, you never know what you are going to get.

 
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From what I've heard is that those cars r the ones that dealers take in trade and then dont wanna sell. U ever see those adds at car places that say 2k min for trad ins? Well that's what they get for all the cars that they send to auction. Most of the cars at auction r just ones from trade ins or local car selling places that r not franchised (like Honda, Chevy, BMW) This placed could b called something like West Side Auto or something like that. If the cars dont sell there then they go to auction also.

I would love to go to one of these things and pcik up some repo car that was almost payed off cuz the bank usually is just looking to break even on the deal so u could get a really sweet car for like 9k and or decent cars 4 under 5k depending on howmuch of the loan was paid off...

I think ur friend got fuked on that deal inwhich his car basically needed to b replaced 1 week after he bought it. I would guess that these cars would b just as good as ur basic used car. No better, no worse. Cuz that's what they r, just plain ol used cars...

 
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it is really a hit or miss kinda thing. i bought my first car at one when i was 14, 88 RX7 for 1200 bucks. It ran just fine and was in good shape. You just have to be ready to take a loss on them. Learn to be able to assess the mechanical condition of the car from appearance though, most dont let you drive them. They are real good at masking physical problems though, they are usually big fans of layering armorall on the engine so it looks good.

 
Rep Power: 321

My mom got her car at the auction, it was a 99 Monte Carlo, never had a problem, although she said she would never get one there again cause you don't know what your getting. But the cars usually do go alot cheaper.
She traded her car in a made a profit, so instead of getting the Grand Prix Gt she upped to the GTP since she saved money.

 
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Well, you have to remeber, if the dealer takes a trade in on a car that say has been run with a blown headgasket or has a bad tranny, they don't want to dump all this money into the car to fix it. Say they get an Accord in, they gave 5k, for it and can sell it for 6k, but the tranny cost 750 to put in. The dealler is not going to bother with tring to make $250, they'll just take it to the auction.

So alot of broken cars go there because the dealler just doesn't want to bother fixing it.

 
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I got my 2001 Honda Civic for $2,700 with 22,500.. The rear was pretty bad but everything looks good now..all i'm waiting on is a paint job.

 
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They do have auctions for leased vehicles only and they are certified.

 
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well, I was looking into getting a donor rsx-s for a swap. But, if the interior and such aren't so bad, I might be able to get away with selling the vic ... In any case, how bad could a stock rsx be? They came out in 2002, right? That's just a few years ago...in any case, if you do the math, buying a k20a2 will run around $5-6k, but maybe I could get a full rsx with engine for $5k. And after the swap, I could use/sell the rsx for parts. Or, if the rsx is in decent shape, I could trade in the vic and get a bunch for it, and use the cash from that to upgrade and clean up the rsx...

 
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Yeah... those generally are not as big of a deal as a normal action, but none the less you can get a better deal than going to the dealer.

 
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Hey...what's the best way to find a police or state auction nearby? Can you just waltz right up to the police department and ask?

 
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Yea actually you can, they're not gonna say anything, you may check you local newspaper in the classifieds to see if any auctions are going.

 
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Most police/government auctions are passed onto a third party like Nationwide Auctions to handle the selling to the general public. 20 years ago, they were the source of big bargains. Nowadays, with as many people who think they're saving a lot of money, you may end up only saving a bit, or end up shelling out as much or even more than you would from a private party. 100% as-is means a risk; requiring the full amount to be paid in 2 days means you have to have extra money lying around.

Dealer auctions are different; with only licensed individuals able to bid, there's less competition and more bargains to be had. Included in this catagory are insurance wrecks, which if you know what you're doing and do it good, money can be made.

-- Kane

 
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i would do it. lets say an s2k is worth 20 k cause its a 2000 model. but the auction sells it for 10 maybe cause the tranny is busted or one thing is broken. so you fix it and have a nice car for hella cheap. my dad used to buy cars from auctions and sell them privatley, and he always made some profit. and i think you have to pay to get a membership to get into these auctions also.

 
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Orrrrrrr, you buy it dirt cheap and fix and sell it and you just made 8 grand!

 
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That's why I go to dealer autions