The Common Misconception: Auto auctions are only open to
car dealers.
The Surprising Truth: Anyone with the right resources can
participate in the same auctions as the dealers!
Think about it. How much could you save if you bypassed
the dealers and purchased directly from their sources?
30%, 50%, maybe even 75%.
As unbelievable as this sounds, it is possible with a
little patience and research.
As you probably already know from past experience, car
dealers will do ANYTHING to get you into the car of your
dreams. Whether you can afford it or not!
I can recall a former coworker who got into a new luxury
vehicle with a little “creative financing.” The manager
divided his mortgage payment in two. His justification:
As a married man his wife was responsible for the other
half of the mortgage….even though she was a stay at home
mom! Luckily for them, they found a way to pay their huge
car payment and avoid repossession.
Unfortunately, others aren’t quite as lucky. Thousands of
people default on their loans everyday simply because they
couldn’t really afford it in the first place.
This can work to your advantage. The banks and financial
institutions that serviced the loans want to recoup their
loss as quicly as possible. Add to that the exhorbitant
cost of storing these vehicles, and you can easily see why
the banks want to dispose of them in a timely manner.
After all, the longer financial institutions have to store
these vehicles, the less money they’re going to get back.
Auto auctions are the quickest way for banks to rid
themselves of repossessed vehicles.
Car dealers know this, and they go to great lenghts to
protect this knowledge from the general public. After all,
auto auctions are a huge source of revenue. Dealers can
purchase vehicles at a fraction of their value, and then
resell them at a huge mark-up.
But what if you could avoid the dealer’s mark-up and
instead pay what they pay? What impact would that have on
your wallet?
Amazingly enough, auto auctions are not solely restricted
to car dealers. Up until a few years ago, I too shared
this common misconception.
It was only by sheer luck that I stumbled upon a website
that allowed me to search local auctions by zip code and
vehicle make that I learned the surprising truth. I was
paying dealers thosands of dollars in unnecessary
mark-ups.
I tried the website’s search feature out, and to my
surprise the cars listed were exactly what I wanted. Only
a few years old with very low miles. Many of them were
still under the manufacturer’s original warranty! This
made sense of course, since most of them were
repossessions.
The auction house was even willing to throw in a vehicle
history report at no extra cost and a 3 month warranty.
Sure I wouldn’t get the complimentary car washes and oil
changes the dealer throws in, but that surely wasn’t worth
thousands of dollars in premiums.
After a little hesitation I joined the auto auction
membership site. They helped me locate auto auctions in my
area, and gain admission to them through their exclusive
access rights. I learned what questions to ask, and how to
handle the bidding process.
It was a lot simpler then I ever imagined it could be.
The day of the auction, I showed up a few hours early to
inspect the vehicle I was interested in and get a feel for
the place.
It must have been a slow day, because when my car came up
for auction only a few dealers were bidding against me.
Since I wasn’t buying the vehicle for resale, I succeeded
in outbidding the dealers!
It was a truly empowering experience. I got the vehicle
of my dreams, and I only paid a little over half its book
value!
What did this experience teach me? Auto Auctions can save
you thousands in unnecessary dealer mark-ups.
