What to Know If You’re Buying a Car From an Auction

Buying a car used can be risky business. There is a reason, after all, why used car salesmen are often stereotyped as predatory snake oil merchants — the bottom line is that you never know exactly what problems might be waiting for you under the hood, and while a lot of used car purchases are safe, it’s also possible to be bamboozled and end up with a lemon.

But for many, buying a new car simply isn’t an option. New cars are prohibitively expensive and start depreciating the moment you own them. If you’re in this position, it’s time to consider a new venue for acquiring a vehicle — police and government auctions.

What Are Government and Police Auctions?

At Bid Fast and Last, we frequently host all manner of auctions. Government and police auctions are fairly common, and they often include fresh cars for sale, whether they’re police cruisers that are being phased out in favor of newer vehicles, or everyday vehicles which were seized by the government for the purposes of debt repayment. 

That’s right — the government is getting rid of vehicles all the time, and they have to go somewhere. Government auctions consist of items that have been acquired from people who had to surrender their assets, and police auctions quite often occur when law enforcement is getting rid of old equipment. This provides valuable opportunities for the citizenry to acquire high-ticket items at bargain prices. For those who aren’t interested in vehicles, firearms are also quite common in these auctions.

In any case, vehicle auctions are one of the best ways to acquire a reliable vehicle at a great price. But don’t just walk into one expecting to win the day — there are a lot of things you need to keep in mind if you’re planning on attending a vehicle auction: 

What You Need to Know at a Vehicle Auction

Know Your Stuff About Cars, or Bring Someone Who Does

The first item on your checklist is to ensure that you know your stuff about the cars being auctioned. If you’re an auto expert with copious experience fixing vehicles, performing maintenance, and chatting online about them all day on message boards, your knowledge alone should be sufficient.

However, if you don’t know the ins-and-outs of cars, bring somebody who does. While government and police auctions give you an opportunity to review the history of a vehicle, it’s all but a foreign language to somebody who doesn’t know about cars. Bringing a car expert is like a form of insurance which will prevent you from making any ignorant mistakes.

Know the Value of the Cars

There’s good news and bad news about government auctions.   

The good news is that the cars you find in these auctions are usually in far better condition than vehicles you’d find in a wholesale auction or used car dealership. If they came from the police force, you’ll be able to review an entire history of their usage, and you can expect that they will have been well-maintained.

Meanwhile, cars which were seized by the government are often reliable for a different reason — the owner wasn’t planning on getting rid of them. Many of these cars were taken out of necessity, not because the owner wanted to dump their old jalopy. As such, you’ll often find cars that are in good working order.

So, what’s the bad news? The bad news is that people are starting to become privy to this, and government auctions are becoming more and more competitive, especially in the High Desert region of our auction house, where people sometimes drive all the way from Los Angeles, Riverside, or even San Diego.

You might face a swarm of opposition, so much, in fact, that the bidding might end up exceeding the market value of the car. While we pride ourselves in providing auctions that sell goods at bargain prices, sometimes it’s just the nature of the beast for competitive items to shoot above their value. 

In other words, you’ll want to know if you’re overpaying for a car. Don’t make the mistake of believing you walked out with a bargain, only to discover later you could have paid thousands of dollars less for a similar model.

Have a Repair Budget in Reserve

Here’s something we have to make abundantly clear about vehicle auctions — vehicles are sold “as is,” and that really means “as is.” There are no tricks or deception here — you’re getting the car in whatever shape it’s in, for better or for worse.

While government auctions are usually fairly reliable in selling quality vehicles, occasionally an old junker comes through. 

What we’re trying to say is that you should hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Have a repair budget in mind that you’re ready to spend in case your newly acquired car has a need for it. If you don’t end up having to spend this money, then you’ll end up a little richer than you anticipated. If repairs end up being necessary, it feels much better and it’s easier on the finances when it’s something you were already prepared to deal with. 

Know General Auction Strategies and Where Your Limits Are

With pretty much any blog post that’s aimed at potential bidders, we could write a whole section on general auction tips, tricks, etiquette, and strategy. But, for the sake of avoiding redundancy, we’ll link you to a blog post dedicated to that exact topic.

But, in addition to that, you need to know where your limits are. Auctions can be a dangerous path for people with poor impulse control, so set a spending limit and know when to walk away. When handled well, auctions are a great opportunity to obtain valuable items at incredible prices — but they can wreck someone who doesn’t know when to stop.

Government Vehicle Auctions in the California High Desert Area

Are you looking for a great new vehicle? Have we piqued your interest in government auctions? Then it’s time to come to our auction house! Click here to see a list of our current auctions, and you can also browse auctions we’ve held in the past to get an idea of what kind of inventory is sold at our events. 

We invite you to attend a local auction soon, whether you’re in Riverside, Chula Vista, Los Angeles, San Diego, or any of the other surrounding areas near High Desert. Got any questions? Contact us today! We’ll be happy to provide any answers you need. See you at our next auction!