Its a sure guarantee that when buying used cars, buying repossessed vehicles from government auctions is gonna get you a much better deal. The reason is because vehicles at these auctions are put up for sale at 40 to 70% off their original asking price!
The trucks, SUVs, etc that are now under the control of the government are there because their previous owners were either involved in criminal events or their money was illegally owned. When the cars are first repossessed a public garage houses them until the cases have been settled. Should the case go against the favor of the previous owner the vehicle in question goes to auction.
Mostly it is the private auction houses that the government asks to sell the cars for them. Members of the public then have the right to purchase these cars at very discounted prices.
Unfortunately trying to find these auctions on the web can prove hard. The police will not simply give you a list of all the places of the seized cars. When trying to locate these seized cars yourself and not use an online searching guide, whats required is visits to the auction houses and research.
As these auction houses dont tend to advertise seized vehicles you could try calling any numbers you find in your local yellow pages directory. To find out which ones handle seized vehicles check with them when you are speaking with them on the phone.
Visit their office after you find out the ones that do.
At their office look through the listings of government auctions of the repossessed cars. That way you can shorten the list to the vehicles that you are wanting to take a look at. Try to get as much information as you can on your initial visit.
This will include asking what documents you will need to present. Also, how much cash you will need if you do win a bid plus any specifics like the dates and times of auctions. Before attending an auction to actually bid on a car its a good idea to go as an observer first if you can.
Being a spectator before trying the bidding process gives you a good start to how everything works.
Last of all, practice restraint. Auctions especially can have a highly competitive mood, creating a lot of adrenaline within participants. Therefore, if the bidding price gets higher than you would like to pay, back off as there will always be more!
If you take a look at our site you can see a link to a guide with all US auctions available of seized cars including all auction times and dates.
The guide will tell you about offline and online auctions.
Posted under Cars
This post was written by Steve Brodie on October 7, 2009
