Yup, the dealer auctions are a mixed bag for sure...frequently there are issues. My buddy is a dealer, and steers clear of the high end cars at the auctions. He has a saying about auction cars: not every car at the auction is bad, but every bad car goes to the auction.

 

Pretty much it. i personally know a 01 Turbo sold at auction for 35k. car have issues such as accident & running like crap. oh well, just be prepared, if one wants to take chances.

 

Before I went private/high end used dealer, the local dealer here in the origianl Mannheim watched the auctions for me for 7 months...once a month there is a high end "exotic" sale...

NOTHING came close to making him happy. He is PCA, HPDE instructor, etc. Happens to be track smart....said the hidden costs would kill most people (add 20k perhaps)....bent frames, blown gaskets/motors, etc. Flood state cars.

Be very careful. I tried this route. And after 7 months of waiting, drove to Boston to buy a single owner car from a person who babied it and only sold to get a 993 turbo S into his garage.... Guys have seen my car at HPDE events and it had some rare options...like factory blue carpet with natural brown leather....per Seschgang "the only 996 he had seen that looked the way it should"....he has a new 996 GT3 now, so I don't think that is still true.





JB

 

Don't forget what sells at auction ends up at other dealer lots for sale.. There are many
auction dealer levels for buying cars. Your little guy is not going to be at the big boys auction even though it is at the same place. In my pass life I use to inspect cars for auction and from my report would place the car in different dealer auctions. They do this so the big dealers get the best car so the manufacture of the auto get less problems. Example would be most manufactures would not wanted there cars to be sold in the A list if they have been curbed just a little ding in the frame rail would make the car goto the little auction. So if your not standing with a rep from a big dealer your not buying the A list car. Not saying you will get junk you may be getting A list that no one wants.

 

that is why you would request to get a purchase inspection which is guaranteed by the auction house. If there has been any repairs, it would be noted in the report. If they say no body repairs, then there are have been no body damage/repairs. If there is after you get the car home, you can return it within 3 days.

In terms of running like crap, that is why you would go to the auction before hand to inspect the car. You can start it, rev it and look under the hood. You can run the VIN to see where it was purchased, where it was serviced to insure it is a CA or FL car. All of this takes a little work and time. So for some, it isn't worth it. For others it is.

 

Don't forget that auction prices are above trade-in prices. Dealer gives 40K for the car as a trade-in then takes it to Manheim and dumps it for 42-43K.

 

that is why trade in prices are ALWAYS lower than what you could sell the car for privately. Manheim prices aren't automatic profits for dealers, they always fall within a range. there are many times where the car does not hit the reserve or the car gets sold for a loss. If you make that blanket statement, then autonation,carmax, etc. wouldn't be selling cars on their lots, they would reduce ALL of their overhead (rent, employees, etc) and just send them directly to Manheim.

 

As far as the dealer knows, it is the same auction...the BIG one. Once a month (here at the real Mannheim, PA). Buyers from Eastern Europe show up with him and get 10's of cars. Not sure where your data is from....perhaps they run differently in various parts of the country based on markets....or it has changed in the last year. That could be true for sure...my data is about 12 months ago data.

I have several "dealer" friends in the region of "large" dealers that go and the deal I described above is the real deal. One will buy whatever I want for a 1k fee....The cars that are put through have problems. Not all of them, but enough for you to want to be circumspect. Given the cost of a clutch, top end, 2nd gear tranny issue, etc. It is NOT trivial to get a good car.

I like the saying above: not all cars at the auction have problems, but all cars with problems end up at auction.

JB

 

There are a bunch of different auction houses as well as a different auctions within the same auction house. Some of them are private porsche dealer only auctions, highline auction held once a month for broker/dealers, weekly broker/dealer auctions and even weekly public auctions.

I totally agree, buyer beware at the auctions. Unless you really know what you are doing, an average Joe should stay away or risk paying extra in the backend.

 

I'm not in the car business but this is what I've learned about auction cars. Porsche dealers will take trade-ins and they will keep the good ones to put on their own used lot but send the bad ones or older ones off to auction. A porsche dealer must protect his reputation by selling good cars. Occasionally, you can find a nice porsche at auction but you really have to be ready to buy. This is because the porsche dealers and high-end car dealers have their people out there ready to buy. They have access to a list of cars that will be there and they know what is good and are ready to buy at the spur of the moment.
A good porsche can come into a BMW dealer as a trade-in and because they specialize in BMWs, they may send it off to auction. This nice car at auction will be at a fair price but will go fast to those who are ready and know their business.
Good luck, I bought from a private party who had all the service records which I verified at that porsche dealership.

 

And what if these issues surface after 4 days? What if it takes 3 days to truck the car to you??? What if after two weeks you start getting these funky electrical errors, bad modules, wiring issues- replacing modules but problems remain... and you come to find out that the original owner flooded it, didn't report it, tried to dry it and spend big money chasing issues and finally traded it in to an unsuspecting BMW dealer who didn't see the Porsche history of issues?

Like everyone said, there is a reason these cars are at auction.

I liken this to many scams- people know they are probably scams, but some little voice is telling them "Maybe it will work for me, it has to work for someone".

Keep in mind that there are some owners here who have very low standards for the cars they drive- you need to really feel comfortable where you are in that spectrum, and chose your venue accordingly.

A

 

Since I live in LA and I purchase cars at the Riverside Manheim, my typical MO is to take a master tech with me on inspection day before I bid. On the few occasions where that wasn't possible, I simply make an appointment with the dealer, pick up the car at 8am and have it in the dealer bay by 10am.

that is what the factory 4/50k or 3Y/36K warranties are for.

As long as you take the VIN to the dealer and find that the car was purchaed in CA and all service work done in CA, I would bet you 100K that the car hasn't been flooded.

I would actually welcome this scenario! This car would be a lemon under california lemon laws if it was still under warranty and the dealer couldnt fix the car after 3 attempts. This has only happened to me once by the way. While it takes time, you end up getting a brand new car if this happens!

Do you even know about Manheim? There are thousands of cars that go through every week. I have seen Porsche GTs, Bentleys, Lambos, Ferraris, and a Mercedes SLR on occasion go through highline. Ask your autobroker to look it up sometime. Yes, there are bad cars that go through it- but think of it like ebay. There is good and bad. Just need to have enough knowledge and education to have a better chance at seperating the two. Thats why I am on this forum, to educate myself on Ps.

 

dealers will send pre owned vehicles to the action after the cars have been sitting on the lot for over 60-120 days depending on the dealers (regardless how nice the vehicles are). with today's used car market you'll see a lot more nicely maintained vehicles get sent to large auctions. i have no idea who you are refering to as "everyone", but clearly those people have no idea on dealer operations.

 

trojan-

Clearly you have it all figured out. It is nice to hear that factory warranty will cover non-disclosed flood damage. And that CA lemon laws will protect you from these same non-disclosed issues.

Good luck- Post pictures when you find one. As I posted earlier, given the collapse in the market there may be a higher likelihood of finding a diamond in the rough that nobody else wants.

A

 

Flood from a car from a california car? I don't think we even have enough rain the last 5 years since they are constantly talking about global warming and the severe drought we have every year and the growing need for water conservation. Orange county is talking about using sewer water to go back into the tap. The only time I remember any significant rains was during the El Nino, and that was a long time ago. Either way, where does it flood in southern CA?

I guess if the car is from malibu you would have to worry about the car being hit by a mudslide???? or if it was in yorba linda, it could have been wrecked by the fires or the interior could smell like smoke??? or if the car was close to the ocean, then it could be all rusted out???