How do I get into contact with a car dealer that will take me to an auction?
Thursday, January 26th, 2012 at
7:02 pm
Hi, I am in Illinois. I want to know how can I get into contact with a car dealer that will take me into a car dealer auction?
My friend has told me that there were advertisements in the newspaper saying that a car dealer can take me into an auction for 0.
Is this true? & how can I get into contact with any dealers?
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Unlikely that any will bother for $100.
I did for a few friends but I charged $200 15 years ago.
And then i stopped as more & more dealers got suspended for taking obvious retail customers with them.
One guy I know charged 10% on cars under $5000 and $500 flat rate on $5000+ over.
Id stop by a few small car lots. Like one man operations. Those are your best bets.
But please understand that getting in & having someone bid doesn’t guarantee you thousands in savings.
Prices at dealer auctions tend to be high.
I once bought a truck out of the newspaper for $1350 and sold it on the street for $2650.
A year and a half and 30,000 miles later, the exact truck sold for $3100+ buyers fee at a dealer only auction,
I tried to start the bidding at $1000 and the auctioneer wouldn’t take my bid because someone else started it at $2000 and it quickly went up.
I insisted on CASH upfront. a $500 deposit, $300 of which was refundable if they didn’t find anything. (They all did) And the rest, plus tax & title right outside the auction before I handed them the keys.
Anyone offering to do it for $100 has some kind of scheme going on.
By bidders, large doc fees, under the table cash or something.
When I went even for $200, I made it clear I wasn’t going to spend hours holding their hands. I went with them to test a few cars & did the bidding, that’s it.
What good is $200 if I miss a car I could make $800-1200 on ?
When i was a dealer, I regularly complained to the manager & assistant manager about flagrant violations. When you have a single dealer with an entire family & their store bought Edmund’s magazine in hand, you know they aren’t licensed dealers or drivers and shouldn’t be there.
And after I got to where I was a regular, I didn’t want to get suspended for bringing the public in.
Not all cars at auctions are deals but some are. I used to go to several every week and many times when i didn’t need anything. I wanted to stay on top of the market and I sometimes would catch a real bargain.
My best buys came when I didn’t have to buy, but couldn’t resist the price. But you cant always count on them selling them either.
Dealer only auctions are just that, Dealer Only. To get into a dealer only auction you will have to have a dealer auction card which is used to get through the door. The dealer has to authorize you to bid and binds him to the sale. This means whatever you do in that sale, he is responsible for. Highly unlikely that you can find a dealer that would be willing to do this for you. But, let’s say you find one that would do this for you. From the time the car rolls onto the auction block to the final bid and sale is anywhere from 20-60 seconds…not much time to think about the deal. You have to be on top of your game and understand exactly what you are doing. The bidders and auctioneers have been doing it for years and know all the tricks to get you to pay too much. You could be bidding against a phantom bidder and not know it if you are not experienced! My advise, stay away…yes, there are a few good deals at the auction, but there are far more traps. Good luck
Your friend doesn’t know what they are talking about.
You need the correct credentials to get into a closed dealer auction and if they are caught bringing uncredentialed people into the auction they will lose theirs.
No dealer would risk that for $100.
There are dealers who will (for a fee) act as a buying agent for you but you will not be able to attend the auction yourself. Tell them what you want, tell them what you’ll pay and they will search for the car and bid on your behalf.