American car auctions are places where cars of large American and European manufacturers are sold. These are huge markets for used cars that are bought by both individuals and legal entities. The latter buy cars in large quantities and sell them in the markets of countries where manufacturers do not officially export their cars.
There are 7 major US auto auctions:
- Manheim
- Copart.
- IAAI.
- eBay.
- AutoTrader
- Cars.com.
- YaHoo AUTOS.
One of the most popular and unusual is EBAY Motors. This is an American car auction held on the Internet. There, participants are traded for used cars from well-known manufacturers. It is often possible to buy an expensive collectible car. Note that the auctions are full of participants who "hunt" for such rare cars.
Benefit for buyers at car auctions in the USA and Canada
Buying a car at auction is often compared to acquiring a car with it. But in fact there are cardinal differences. First, the buyer, when choosing a vehicle, receives from the seller all the exhaustive information regarding the technical condition of the car, its past. Secondly, cars are tested by experts before selling, so the likelihood of buying a car whose technical condition will not match the declared one is minimized. The buyer will know for sure whether the car was in an accident, was it used in a taxi and so on. It is this point that distinguishes the purchase of a car at a car auction in the United States from acquisitions.
Also, when searching for a car, it is worth considering the variety of lots offered. At the auction there are cars of different brands, models and trim levels, which is not found in dealerships or car markets.
Note that among US citizens and not only there is a misconception that the American car auction is a kind of second hand store where faulty cars are sold, but in reality this is not so. Most cars at auctions are supplied by leasing companies that previously provided rental cars. These companies are often forced to change fleets of models, and they don’t need old cars, so they put them up for auction in good and sometimes in perfect condition.
What are US car auctions in the USA?
These are enclosed areas to which only registered car dealers have access. In order to become a car dealer and gain access to bidding, you need to have a good reputation, a lot of capital and make an auction contribution every year, which gives you the right to participate in the auction. In this case, car dealers are buyers, and sellers putting up lots for sale are insurance companies, manufacturers' dealers, and leasing companies.
The auction building is nothing more than a demonstration podium on which sold cars pass. At large auctions, their flow is quite intense, so buyers conduct tenders within minutes.
The cost of cars at auction
As with any other auction, a car from the United States has a price at a US car auction that the seller offers. Various factors influence the cost of a car.
First of all, the initial cost of the car determines its mileage. A car’s average mileage is 15,000 miles per year (1 mile equals 1.6 km). The higher the mileage, the lower the price of the car. Accordingly, low mileage cars are more expensive.
Manheim Auction Price Statistics
The average cost of luxury cars is 32,000-35,000 US dollars. Their mileage averages 45,000 kilometers. Such cars are in excellent condition, so their position is marked in green.
Cars with mileage of about 70-75 thousand kilometers are in the middle price category. Their lots are marked in white, and the average cost of such machines is 23-30 thousand dollars.
The lower price category is indicated in yellow, this includes cars worth 25-26 thousand dollars. Their mileage exceeds 100 thousand kilometers.
It is mileage that affects pricing to a greater extent.
The second important parameter is the equipment of the machine. Trim, external tuning, the presence of electronic functionality and other features can significantly increase the cost of the car. At the same time, various defects reduce the cost. The auction sheet always reflects the significant damage that the car has. Therefore, the buyer will be able to decide whether the price of the car corresponds to its technical condition, being guided by the information presented in the auction sheet.
How is the sale carried out?
A person who wishes to buy a used car at an auction must first find a car dealer. The buyer himself does not have access to bidding at the auction, but the car dealer has. The buyer leaves his wishes about the car that he wants to buy, and the car dealer staff select a car for which they will bargain at the auction. At the same time, it is important for the buyer to know whether the car dealer has direct access to the auction. Many dealers turn to third-party companies for bidding, which greatly increases the retail value of the car for the buyer. Finding a dealer who has direct access to the auction is sometimes quite difficult.
Who is allowed to auction?
If the car dealer has access to the auction without intermediaries, then this most often indicates the reliability of the company, because whoever got to bid at the auction is not allowed. In order to gain access to bidding, the dealer must have a license to carry out commercial activities. Also, a preliminary analysis of the dealer’s financial capabilities and verification of his bank accounts are performed. If a Russian dealer wants to buy cars from the USA at an auction, he will additionally be tested at the US Embassy in Russia. And only after successfully passing the check, the dealer gets access to bidding at American auctions.
Additional services
In addition to bidding for a specific lot, serious and dear dealers not only repurchase the car at the auction, but also provide services related to vehicle maintenance, repair, etc. All of this is not and cannot be in ordinary automotive markets or when buying a car from the owner’s hands. In the latter case, there is a great risk of buying a poor-quality and unreliable car, which is not worth even half the requested amount by the owner. At auction, a similar situation is excluded, and all information about the condition and history of the machine is indicated in the auction sheet.
Conclusion
Summing up, it is worth noting that through American auctions it is often possible to buy a really successful reliable car at a low price. The choice is huge, and if the buyer dreams of a certain model, which is not in his country, there is an opportunity to find it in America.
Judging by the reviews, many customers manage to find cars from the USA that are not officially represented in the market of his country at US car auctions. Note that in Russia there are far from all cars of famous European and Asian brands, so rare or exclusive models have to be searched through American auctions. And often, such searches are successful.