My Experiences with Goverment Auctions
I think goverment auctions have to be the best place to get a good used car. It's not just me, I'm proud to say that my son, David, has also become a believer.
A Little History ...
In the late 80s or early 90s, we lived in Yuma, Arizona, for a while, where I purchased a used car from a local dealership. I got it for a song, but it turned out to be more of a project car, requiring work every weekend to keep it on the road -- much more trouble than it was worth. Then a friend suggested I visit an upcoming Sheriff's auction.
You had to be there at the crack of dawn to inspect the vehicles, but they were selling off surplus county cars and trucks as well as a variety of seized vehicles, including a boat and a small plane. The county vehicles were only a few years old and in pretty good shape. A couple of the seized cars were practically brand new. At the end of the auction I found myself the proud owner of a three year old Dodge truck with with a lockable toolbox in the bed.
That truck had been well maintained by the county (I got a copy of the maintenance log) and drove very well. In fact, I continued to drive that truck until giving it to David on his sixteenth birthday. I replaced it with a two year old Escalade I bought from a GSA auction.
Over the years, my wife, Beth, has also had a couple of cars from goverment auctions. Her current car is a Pontiac Grand AM we bought from an online goverment auction site a couple years ago.
David sees the Light
Having saved a bit of money, David decided earlier this year to trade in the old truck I had given him for something newer. He spent a couple of weeks checking the new and used car lots, but quickly learned that just about everything was out of his price range -- those vehicles that he could afford weren't much better than the old Dodge he was already driving. He also found out why the phrase "used car salesman" is used as a curse term.
I explained to David where I had bought his Dodge, my Escalade, and his monther's Grand AM. I pointed him to a couple of online goverment auto auction sites -- it's all done online now days, which makes it a lot easier to find a vehicle without having to go to several auctions by different agencies. It only took him about a week to find and purchase a four year old police-edition Chrysler Sebring, again it came with full maintenance logs.
David's been very happy with his Sebring. Yesterday, he told me that he was helping his girlfriend look for a car from goverment auctions -- he logged on and showed me the two year old Ford Taurus they were currently bidding on. Unless someone out-bids them, it should be hers in a just couple of days.
Conclusion
Over the years, I figure we've saved about $20k, perhaps even more, by buying our cars from goverment auctions. All of them have proven to be good looking, reliable transportation. I would never buy a car from dealership, new or used -- it's cheaper and much less of a hassle to buy from one of the online goverment auction sites.
If you are interested in purchasing a car or truck from goverment auctions, I highly recommend both Gov-Auctions.org, and GovernmentAuctions.org. You really can't go wrong.