carfax says "sold at auction"?

[stefan]

hi,

let's take a look at this carfax report for example:

09/27/2010 55,371 Auto Auction Sold at auction in Eastern Region Listed as a fleet vehicle

the carfox says: "Millions of used vehicles are bought and sold at auction every year." I've googled around a bit and I read that it's a normal way for dealer to buy/sell cars. But I've also read on some forum that you should stay away from auctioned cars.
however I even found cpo'd cars that were sold at auction. so is it really just another way for dealers to buy/sell cars or is there anything you should watch out for when buying a car that has been sold at auction?

maybe pika can chip in or somebody else who knows about this?

thanks in advance.

[phillyb]

a lot of auctioned cars, especially domestic, are from rental companies.
two schools of thought when buying a rental...
1) it's a rental, people abuse it, stay away.
2) since it's a rental it basically gets inspected every time it comes back from a driver, so it's probably ok.

grain of salt - phillyb's ms3 was sold at auction...
but to answer your question, yes a lot of used car managers go to auctions and pick up cars. if it's from a well-known dealership that also sells new cars, then you're probably ok.
if it's a used car lot that has a bunch of shitty cars on the lot, i would stay away.
i'm actually kind of curious what pika would say, he's actually still in the car business.

[Ranyard]

I sold cars for 15 years at a Ford dealership. Cars at auction can be rentals, true. but they cal also be lease turn-ins or repo's. just like buying any used car, have it inspected by someone you completly trust. look at carfax for extensive repair report rather than purely at where it was last sold.

[corbs]

Cars from auctions are perfectly fine. It's just a lot easier for dealers to move cars. Cars that mostly go to auction are..

A. Been sitting on a dealership lot for too long. They don't want it to keep depreciating so they send it to auction usually cutting even.

B. Car was a trade it and they know they won't sell it. Ie you trade in a mazda at a bmw dealership they won't even try to sell it'll go straight to auction.

I worked at bmw we took in a hot pink escalade. Like 2yrs old average mileage but it was hot pink. We would never be able to sell it.

Just got 2 smart cars from auction. They are perfectly fine, both needed a 20k service no damage no clean history but the previous dealer prob had a hard time moving em.

Ps we send our old aston martins to auction so any car can go

[Raider]

Did not know an S2K was ever a rental car. Probably a repo or like the guys above, dealer decided to send it there.

I used to check out the local DEA/Repo auction back home, and a lot of the cars had piss and shit stains on the driver's seat and the car torn to fuck from being searched. For sure, look at the car in person too, if you have not already.

[phillyb]

you can pretty much rent anything
check this out - Luxury car rental, Exotic and Luxury Car Rental, Exotic car rental - Los Angeles, & S. CA - Las Vegas - Newport Beach

[Raider]

Neat! Although I would not file a Smart car under "premium".

[corbs]

I never said smart was a premium car lol. But people who own em have more money than you think.

That s2k was prob from dealer

[manelscout4life]

thinking about getting an s2000?

[Raider]

Corbs, that website link had a smart car image for premium cars. Was not quoting you.

[corbs]

Oh lol I didn't click the link. My bad. But shoot an oil change for a smart costs $101.18

[Raider]

200 hamsters are fucking expensive.

[stefan]

Originally Posted by manelscout4life thinking about getting an s2000?

psssssssst....

thanks guys! i guess i'll just have to check out the car in person and have it PPI'd in case i'm interested.

[ScarMS3]

dealer said they couldnt sell my wifes car on the lot because it was taken in for damage repairs and they couldnt list a clean carfax so they auctioned it....it was a gli waiting to explode

[boosthead]

A carfax or carcheck will say whether the car is private owner, lease, or rental. As another member said, lots of dealerships send cars to auction that they feel are not as desirable in the area, the profit margin would be minimal compared to the effort to sell, mileage, etc. I know a small independent dealer that does primarily wholesale through auction. He keeps cars on his lot for 30 days and if they don't sell, off to Manheim or one of the other large auctions.

[PiKA West]

yea everyone has said everything already. There is nothing wrong with auction cars, definitely get the car checked out. Lift it and look underneath for unreported accidents and that kind of stuff.