SEAWOLF
GOLD Star
- Location
- United States
I found a vehicle on COPART and I'm wondering if anyone has experience there...basically looking for a broker or advice on using a 3rd party bidding site.
MUDShip COPART INTEL NEEDED (1 Viewer)
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Riverrunner
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The only experience I have is with past clients that have purchased through them. A few things to pay attention to:
Make sure to double and triple check the location where the vehicle IS...Not the location of the sale. These can be drastically different and once you pay you have 3 or 5 days to get the vehicle out of there before getting storage fees.
This may be common knowledge, but make sure to find out why the vehicle you want is at a salvage auction. Flood damage? Repo? Total loss from the insurance?
There are some good deals to be had at Copart so I don't want to seem like I am discouraging you, but I have had more than one customer not happy with the vehicle that showed up at their door after bidding.
Make sure to double and triple check the location where the vehicle IS...Not the location of the sale. These can be drastically different and once you pay you have 3 or 5 days to get the vehicle out of there before getting storage fees.
This may be common knowledge, but make sure to find out why the vehicle you want is at a salvage auction. Flood damage? Repo? Total loss from the insurance?
There are some good deals to be had at Copart so I don't want to seem like I am discouraging you, but I have had more than one customer not happy with the vehicle that showed up at their door after bidding.
Riverrunner
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Oh, run and drive certified is garbage btw...They will load your car with a forklift and then leave you and the driver that brings you your car to figure out how to get it off.
is the copart close by? as long as it is scheduled with an auction date, you can go and look at it in person.
You don't need to use a broker to buy there, the fees can add up, say the final price at auction is $1600. It will be closer to $2000 to leave the yard.
There is local copart in town here, I've bought close to 10 rigs in the last few years.
As stated above, you have 3 business days to pick it up, and it could be located offsite. An auction at Billings and the rig was located in Rapid City SD. It will state in the description that it is located offsite and where it is located.
You don't need to use a broker to buy there, the fees can add up, say the final price at auction is $1600. It will be closer to $2000 to leave the yard.
There is local copart in town here, I've bought close to 10 rigs in the last few years.
As stated above, you have 3 business days to pick it up, and it could be located offsite. An auction at Billings and the rig was located in Rapid City SD. It will state in the description that it is located offsite and where it is located.
I've had great interactions with copart. Never anything further than what i can pick up locally (NYC area) I don't have a dealers license so I only but the cars that don't require one. I'm new to this site, if you look at my post that was a copart auction purchase. It is also the only car I've brought that I can't pick up as Ohio is about a day away and I'm not losing 2 day's just to pick up. So I found a guy that did it for 700 (copart will ship as well but they have slightly higher rates, for example they wanted almost 900). Just my opinion, Good luck
James Madigan
SILVER Star
Here in Scranton PA you may not look or go in yard until morning of sale, if youre not a car dealer.There is a sliding scale of fees on top of the auction price.Be careful to look for blown airbags they can cost a fortune to replace and you need to do that for a salvage inspection which you will need to put car on the road.Now some cars are sold with clear title and then you wouldnt need inspection.Bid on cars that are ok for anyone to bid on ,if not youll need a broker to do it for you.
SoCal FZJ80
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Bid only as high plus shipping as you feel it its worth to use as a parts rig, and then you will not be regretting what you receive.
Later when you get it, and it is actually running or usable- you can then be comfortable. If it ends up being truly not up to par...
Then you can resell it back on the open market as a parts rig and cash out. Remember: there are closing fees, gate fees, and taxes.
Factor all costs in before arriving at your maximum bid. FYI, run and drive is not to be trusted. The criteria is that it can be jump started and move 10 feet under its own power. If you are going to bid higher because of "Run and Drive" - I highly suggest going and inspecting it before bidding. If you cannot inspect it yourself- revert to my rule at the beginning. I have more than once inspected a vehicle that said "Run & Drive" , found out the trans was slipping, or it had engine knock/etc. Only to watch people bid the vehicle up higher than what they sell for at street or dealer retail. Unwise at best. One time I watched a LX450 get bid way out of control, I bet the high bidder wished he saw what I saw. The previous owner had been dreaming of having lockers and put a factory locker control knob in the dash. But I read on the vin tag it said "K292"... (K294 is lockers) hmmm curious. So I climbed under the rig and looked at the axles... and sure enough- no locker actuators. It was a faker. So in my mind the value was far less, on auction day not only did I get outbid... the vehicle sold for MORE than a K294 locked LX450 sells for on Craigslist. WOW. Be very careful, auctions are not always
the best place to buy. As others have stated, sometimes there are deals- but you have to have a realistic mind. Don't let Pride fool you into overbidding and end up like a gambler in Vegas that loses everything. Set your educated number, if the bid walks away... just feel glad you're not the guy paying for it.
Later when you get it, and it is actually running or usable- you can then be comfortable. If it ends up being truly not up to par...
Then you can resell it back on the open market as a parts rig and cash out. Remember: there are closing fees, gate fees, and taxes.
Factor all costs in before arriving at your maximum bid. FYI, run and drive is not to be trusted. The criteria is that it can be jump started and move 10 feet under its own power. If you are going to bid higher because of "Run and Drive" - I highly suggest going and inspecting it before bidding. If you cannot inspect it yourself- revert to my rule at the beginning. I have more than once inspected a vehicle that said "Run & Drive" , found out the trans was slipping, or it had engine knock/etc. Only to watch people bid the vehicle up higher than what they sell for at street or dealer retail. Unwise at best. One time I watched a LX450 get bid way out of control, I bet the high bidder wished he saw what I saw. The previous owner had been dreaming of having lockers and put a factory locker control knob in the dash. But I read on the vin tag it said "K292"... (K294 is lockers) hmmm curious. So I climbed under the rig and looked at the axles... and sure enough- no locker actuators. It was a faker. So in my mind the value was far less, on auction day not only did I get outbid... the vehicle sold for MORE than a K294 locked LX450 sells for on Craigslist. WOW. Be very careful, auctions are not always
the best place to buy. As others have stated, sometimes there are deals- but you have to have a realistic mind. Don't let Pride fool you into overbidding and end up like a gambler in Vegas that loses everything. Set your educated number, if the bid walks away... just feel glad you're not the guy paying for it.
