More and more people every day are realizing that car auctions are the best way to find and purchase a new vehicle. Unfortunately, there aren’t public service announcements that are sent out nationwide to alert people that a car auction is around the corner. It isn’t difficult to locate these auctions if you do a little bit of research. The best ways to find out where you can attend a car auction are:

Classified Ads in the local newspaper

Listings on bulletins or posts

Local government offices

Local car dealers

Internet

The classified ads in the local newspaper is the best place to start looking because most

Car auction houses will list it in the announcements section throughout the entire year. Unfortunately, there is one disadvantage to finding auctions in the local paper. Everybody in the town finds out about it which makes for a little more competition. The internet never fails when it comes to researching things, so check out a few websites that can give you information on a time and place for the auction. Occasionally, local car dealers will auction off some of their own inventory. If not, the local government offices are definitely a great place to find auction information, and you don’t have to worry about whether or not the auction agency is a legit and trusting company.

Tips to finding the best car

During the inspection session of an auction, if allowed, write down the VIN number of the car to run a vehicle report to check the following:

1.Title: This is a crucial step to find out if the car is salvaged (wrecked or damaged), lemon (any recalls and even minor damage caused by an accident), flooded (total loss cars that insurance companies picked up and fixed to resale), or rebuilt (the car has been wrecked and will remain on the title forever.)

2.Odometer: This will help you identify fraud, rolled over, rolled back, ‘clocking miles’  (illegally rolling back miles to make it appear that the vehicle has much less miles), or just broken.

3.Problem check: There are occasions that stolen or “hot” cars are sold to innocent buyers. Problem checks will tell you if the car was in a major accident, stolen, involved in a fire, or salvaged.

4.Registration check: This lets the buyer know if the car was previously a rental car, leased car, or a fleet car (used as a taxi or by the police.)

It’s a great idea to take a mechanic to the car auction to briefly look over the engine. It’s a possibility the car might be missing some important parts, and once the vehicle is purchased it cannot be returned. Better safe than sorry. Always make sure the VIN number on the car matches the number on the title.

Be prepared to put in a lot of time at the auction, and remember that it’s best to attend several auctions. Don’t bid and purchase on the first car you see.