Car Auction Event Day - Preparation Guide
By: Samual Warmuzen
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1. The day before make your plans to go to the car auction about 2 hours before it starts. This will provide the time you need to figure out what cars your interested in and to allow time to inspect them. Prepare yourself with pen, paper pad, highlighter, small flashlight and Blue Book or Edmunds pricing guide
2. It is best, if feasible, to have a friend or family go with you on the car auction event day. You know the saying right? "Better to have two set of eyes than just one". Having someone with you will help save in transportation cost and they can drive the car you came in back, especially if you buy a new one. |
3. If you can not seem to find someone to go with you, check your local listings (yellow pages) for auto mechanics, target the small business type. Give a few of them a call and let them know about the auction in their area. They sometimes will jump at the opportunity to attend a car auction if they know about it. Plus they might help you with the inspection process for free.
4. When you arrive you will want to find the registration area and sign up. They usually will give you a badge, copy of the rules (auctioneer will go over the rules so no worries about that) and a list of all the vehicles there. If you don't receive the list, ask for it. The inventory list is important to have with you through-out the day.
5. Now it's time to start shopping your cars, ready? ok cool! grab that inventory list and start to highlight all the cars you have a interest in. Then look each one up in the Blue Book or edmunds guide we talked about earlier, write on the list the high and low values of the cars you like. The cars are parked on the lot in the same order as the inventory list so start from the beginning and work your way on back. should be pretty easy that way to find the car you highlighted on the list. Keep track of your time because you will want to be back and ready for the actual bidding about 10 to 15 minutes early. get a front seat it will be easier to hear and understand the auctioneer plus you can watch the cars as the drive them through the auction area.
6. Make sure you start every vehicle you are inspecting, listen for and check out any strange noises, smells, exhaust leaks, coolant leaks, oil leaks and all fluid levels. Also check all the electronics and control panel functions. Cross of your list any car that has serious problems or you suspect might have problems. Best to find another car in the car auction lot to look at if you have doubts.
7. Now that you have the best of the best vehicles you are the most comfortable with buying. It is time to go bid on them remember to get back to the auction area early, get a good front row seat and wait for your car to come through for bid. Auctions move quickly be watchful you don't spend more than the values you have written down. the best deals are at least 30% below the lowest value. 50% to 80% of course is best. use those figures as a guide to know when to stop bidding.
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