Has anyone bought a car through an auction?

[pixelprincess]

An ex-colleague bought a BMW through an auction using an agent. We finally found a car at a dealership with manual transmission (which are hard to come by) and now I am thinking of looking into the auction cars. Why did I talk to her yesterday???

We were planning to buy the car this weekend, though the thought of saving $$ for a low mileage car is appealing. Dh won't be using it as a commute car, so the car would depreciate without getting a lot of use our of it.

Though, the whole auction biz is completely uncharted territory for us. Does anyone have experience with it? Is it just not worth the hassle?

thanks!

[jd11365]

I've done it with a reputable agent and got a great deal on an Explorer years ago. I just had to tell the guy what I wanted, how much I wanted to spend, and he got it for me. They usually just tack on $500 bucks or whatever to the price paid at the auction. This guy had a business doing this and I could take the car to my mechanic before I signed on the dotted line IYKWIM. I wouldn't sign for anything unless it was checked out by a mechanic first. Remember, dealers send "unsellable" cars to the auction too, so make sure you're not getting a lemon.

Good luck!

Jamie
Mommy to Kayla
May '03

[Kieransmom]

This is great advice. You might want to ask if they could do a vin search on the car to find out it's history. I would be very weary of a car at an aution. It's such a split decision it doesn't give you time to research the history. I've heard some horror stories.

My parents, my brothers and my friend have all used brokers to get brand new cars and got incredible deals. It's worth looking into.

Best of Luck!

Michelle
Mommy to Kieran, born 5/9/03

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030509/1/5/0/+10/.png[/img][/url]

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

one of my concerns would be damaged cars from the Hurricaines, I have never been afraid to buy a used car (infact always thought that the best thing to do with your money then new) but then I heard a schpiel on TV about damaged cars from events like Florida has had.
I would get it checked...grab that vin number...and get a carfax report.

Keep us posted...I know nothing about them so I am not detering you just being honest what came to my mind at the immediate thought. I would be very interested to hear how it goes after...

Good luck,

Neve and Tristan born Feb 25, 2003
* EDD 3/19/05 Baby girl BRONWYN
* Adopting siblings in Ukraine 12-10-04
http://home.nc.rr.com/ourbabytristan

[pixelprincess]

Thanks all for your feedback.

I am a bit leary of this too. I spoke to an agent today that sounded nice...he tacks on 7% on the sale price. I am not sure if that is the norm or not and I found him online.

I have a friend that bought a car on Ebay!! The first car he purchased had a problem and he was able to get his money back. He bid on a car again and found a good car. Some folks make the whole thing seem so easy.

Michelle, how are things with Kieran?

[crayonblue]

We went to an auction with an agent (who was a retired mechanic) and bought a 3 year old Toyota Camry. It went throught the auction for $7,200. It was in a line of trucks and when the Camry rolled up, all the bidders except for ours and one other walked away! It was great! We loved that car and would still have it except that it was a 2 door Camry and we have Lauren. We sold it and bought a new Camry.

If you find an agent you trust, I would do it. Because we got to go to the auction, it was a lot of fun too!