Government Seized Auto Auction - 10 Crucial Tips To Buying At An Auction

By Travis Sago

You can buy a real dream vehicle at a government seized auto auction, but you can also purchase one huge nightmare of a lemon monster. These tips will steer you in the right direction.

1. Biggest tip: Get to the government auto auction early. You have got to pick out the cars you are interested in and inspect the cars thoroughly. If you don't want to have a sour lemony taste in your mouth later, run a vehicle history report! Have someone standing by that you can call on your cell and run a Carfax report.

2. Bring your Kelly Blue Book and do not pay over the blue book price, there will be folks that have no clue, they will run up the bid price because they have no idea what the auto is worth.

3. Find out what the buyers premium is for that particular government auto auction and remember to factor that into the equation, it is typically 5% to 10% of the winning bid. Most first time car auction buyers do not even know about the buyers premium.

4. Bring a vehicle inspection check off list with you. It is very easy to forget some crucial inspections. This is key, as you will be buying the seized auto AS IS!

5. Mismatched VIN tags, doors, trunk, hood, and dashboard should all match. Mismatched VIN tags usually means the vehicle has been wrecked or stolen.

6. If your vehicle history report shows that the auto has a rebuilt title, deduct 30%.

7. Check the odometer against your vehicle history report. An alternate method is to look at the brake pedals and see if the wear is congruent with the odometer. If the brake pedals look excessively worn compared to what the odometer reads, the odometer may have been tampered with.

8. Deduct for excessive mileage. The US Department of Transportation reports that the average car is driven 13,500 miles per year. Deduct roughly 15 cents per mile over that average.

9. Learn the government auto auction process, go to the auctions a few times and just observe and ask questions. This will prevent you from making costly mistakes on your first live auction.

10. Follow your gut! If a car, truck, or boat does not feel right, don't buy it. You will be right more times than not.

If you follow these 10 guidelines as well as performing a thorough vehicle inspection, you can get some real bargains at a government seized auto auction. Whether you are buying for yourself or to retail on the market remember to never fall in love with any one auto. There will always be another.