# Car Auctions



## Coyotex (Feb 10, 2019)

Who on this thread has purchased a vehicle at an auction and used for rideshare? I'm not sure, but don't car dealers bring trade ins that don't meet a certain criteria for their dealership bring cars to these auctions?

I have have purchased one.....

What kind of car? How many miles? Was it worth it, would you do it again?


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## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)

Coyotex said:


> Who on this thread has purchased a vehicle at an auction and used for rideshare? I'm not sure, but don't car dealers bring trade ins that don't meet a certain criteria for their dealership bring cars to these auctions?
> 
> I have have purchased one.....
> 
> What kind of car? How many miles? Was it worth it, would you do it again?


I haven't but a good friend of mine has a dealers license and goes to them to buy cars for re sale.

You can get some good deals but there are a lot of bad deals that have nothing to do with the make, model, and mileage. The toughest thing to know is the cars history as far as accidents, damage, title, etc.etc.. Right now the market is flooded (no pun intended) with cars that have flood damage from Texas (Houston area). Even though that was a couple years ago the cars are still there. Cars titled with ownership in Texas during that time are highly suspect. That is just one small example.

Unless you know the accidents, damage, title history you are taking a big chance. You must know that before hand. That is way more important than the make, model, and mileage.


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## TomTheAnt (Jan 1, 2019)

I buy cars from auctions all the time. Not to use for rideshare, though, but flipping them. And not from dealer auctions since I don't have a license. There are some smaller dealers advertising on Craigslist and such that they'll buy one for you for something like $500 plus TT&L, but I'm not sure if they let you be present.

If I was to pay somebody that, I'd definitely need to be present and be able to at least visually inspect the vehicle before committing to buying.


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## mbd (Aug 27, 2018)

Personally I would not carry a pax on a auctioned car... 
for personal use, 100% yes
Lots of African drivers have auctioned cars... they also send Toyota’s and Hondas to Nigeria ,for good profit , after the duty they pay. Lexus IS a big money maker for them.


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## charmer37 (Nov 18, 2016)

I bought my 08 Acura TSX at a auction and used it for ride share. I haven’t driven for Uber/lyft in 3 years so I now use it for deliveries...My current mileage is 200,000, Other than basic maintenance I haven’t had major problems.


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## doyousensehumor (Apr 13, 2015)

I have a friend too who's a wholesale dealer. Buy broken, sell fixed. There is an art to it. "Box A" title is mostly what matters here. Nonrunning lot has some of my favorite projects!

It takes a business mind to do this well. A skilled eye can weed out the ones with previous damage. A wise dealer never buys anything he can't get out of. You always expect there to be hidden problems, but you always prepared for them.

A few $1000 Prius's go through there. Drop in a $300 used motor and clean the interior and it will sell in one day craigslist for $3500. Wash rinse repeat.


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## dirtylee (Sep 2, 2015)

DO NOT BUY SALVAGE TITLE. Uber/Lyft restrict those.


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## 2starDriver (Mar 22, 2019)

Good condition Toyota/honda always more expensive at auctions. Some bodyshops fix cars so fast and sell to auctions before accidents appear on carfax. 80% of cars in auctions are crap because unwanted cars dealers wouldn’t send to auctions if it was good ones. Go for private party and have it inspected.


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## peteyvavs (Nov 18, 2015)

Coyotex said:


> Who on this thread has purchased a vehicle at an auction and used for rideshare? I'm not sure, but don't car dealers bring trade ins that don't meet a certain criteria for their dealership bring cars to these auctions?
> 
> I have have purchased one.....
> 
> What kind of car? How many miles? Was it worth it, would you do it again?


I regretfully bought one years ago. You're buying someone's else's headache. Most of those auction vehicles have mechanical issues that makes them unreliable and will cost a fortune to fix. Many have been in previous accidents and you'll buy one as is. 
Never again will I buy an auction car.


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