All About Car Auctions
For a long time now auctioning has been done for different goods tangible and intangible such as vehicles whereby they are offered to the general public for bidding and then finally selling the goods or services to the highest bidder and also buying the same goods and services from the lowest bidder.
Car auctions that is selling and buying of various types of cars via bidding is used in different countries in the world regardless of whether already developed or a developing country. Some of these countries include Japan, United Kingdom, and United States of America among others.
Car auctions are of two forms. There are the closed car auctions and the open to public car auctions.
The closed car auctions are the auctions only allowed to the registered and licensed dealers. They are also referred to as the private auctions. Majority of the car dealers are frequent customers of the car auctions as they get their stock from the car auctions at quite cheaper prices.
The open to the public car auctions are categorized into two. One of them being the government car auctions and the other being the public car auctions.
The government car auctions are the auctions planned and organized by the government and police body. The government body uses the car auctions as a platform to sell their old vehicles when they replace and also to dispose the avalanche of the seized vehicles due to violation of traffic rules and regulations as well as crimes such as robbery with murder. They include trucks, cars, buses, nissans and cruisers. They are also referred as the police auctions.
Public car auctions includes but not limited to vehicles that are repossessed by financial institutions such as banks because maybe of somebody defaulting their bank loans and other different reasons. The insurance companies too sell their salvage that is vehicles involved in accidents and declared as write offs. For people willing to drive but tied with low budgets, car auctions are the best recommendations as they can access nice but cheap used vehicles to start with. They can luckily get cars in good conditions meaning they will only need minimal charges for repair.
Advantages of Car Auctions
1. Cars bought at the auction centers are abit cheaper compared to car dealers as the cars lack intermediary charges. The buyers can use their budgets to bid for the cars.
2. There are good chances of the buyers getting cars in good condition as some of the auctioned cars are directly from the manufacturers and others have very minimal repairing charges caused by the wear and tear challenge from their daily usage.
3. Car auctions give potential buyers room for thorough inspection of the cars they are interested in.
4. Car auctions helps people gain knowledge on various types of cars.
Disadvantages of Car Auctions
1. The auctioneers do not guarantee the kind of information provided for the cars whether true or false. They are termed as not responsible for anything therefore further enquires after buying is not guaranteed.
2. There is no room for bargaining. Auctioning only works with what you have bided and what other buyers have also bided.
3. Most of the cars auctioned are second hand cars.
Things to Keep In Mind When Purchasing Cars
The things to keep in mind while purchasing cars at car auctions include;
1. At public auctions banks and other financial institutions have good cars as majority of their cars are repossessed in good conditions. Their prices are also quite fair.
2. Take enough time to conclude on the type of car you want to end up with, the features and budget range.
3. Arrive early so as to have enough time to inspect and evaluate the cars you are interested in from every angle.
4. If you are a buyer keep in mind that sellers may decide their cars just to hide some faulty things to convince customers. It’s better if you are in a company of a friend or family member who has all the knowledge regarding the functional parts of a car.
5. Start the car by yourself, listen to any kind of noise from the car and also check its exhaust system.
6. Do thorough check-up on the car you are interested in and if at all you are not pleased or get any disclaimer it is better if you don’t bid, go and come back another day get to inspect others until you settle with your preference.
7. Finally check the history of the car before buying. Read all the information and ask for clarification if need be.
The Light System In A Car Auction
The sellers are allowed to use the light system to clarify the condition of the cars they are disposing. They are supposed to use the correct light system so that the buyers can understand clearly the condition of the car.
They include;
Green- this lighting system indicates the car to be sold is covered by the arbitration rules.
Yellow- this shows that announcements made have qualified the condition but the car limits arbitration rules.
Red- this shows the car to be auctioned is not arbitrated for all other reasons apart from odometer and title discrepancy.
Blue-indicates that at the time of sale the title is not present.
Steps of Bidding in A Car Auction
1. First you need to know the kind of car you are interested at. The features including make, model, mileage among others.
2. Identify and visit any of the car auctioning platforms that has a reputable customer service system.
3. Go through all the available vehicles to clarify whether the car you are interested in is available.
4. Contact the available auction platform representative for further enquiries and clarification.
5. Once you have clarified everything you can go ahead and place the bid.
Car auctions are a good initiative especially as a market platform for the second hand cars. Cars bought at a car auction are cheaper compared to car dealers. Always keep in mind your price range.