How to Buy Cars at Auctions: Things You Need to Know

For people wanting to have a car at an affordable price, a car auction might seem like a good idea. Car auctions give people a chance to buy a car at a price much lower than its published value. However, there are a lot of pitfalls that buyers need to be wary of. Here are some tips to help prospective buyers from being lured into scams, bad deals, or junk cars. 
Allot plenty of time for yourself to inspect the cars you are planning to bid on. Go to the auction venue early so you can take a look at the cars. Ensure that all of the car's vehicle identification numbers (VIN) match. The VIN may be seen on the dashboard, and in some cars, on stickers on the driver's door and other doors, and on the trunk.  Mismatched VINs may mean that the car had significant damage and had had to be repaired using other car parts. It may also mean that the car was stolen. 
You have to have a method for checking the vehicle's history report. If you have access to the Internet on a mobile device, you can access Websites that run automobile history checks. Alternatively, you can have somebody at home on stand-by to do the automobile checks on your home computer. You can then communicate with that person through your cell phone to give you the details of the online report. 
Many auctions provide prospective bidders with a car title check. However, it is always best to do your own check, as you don't know if the auction's reports are reliable or fraudulent. What you do know is that the auction stands to profit when they sell the car. 
Beware of bidding for flooded cars. Sometimes there are telltale signs such as watermarks and mineral deposits. Most cars, however, would be meticulously cleaned out before the auction to cover up any flood damage. This information should show up on the vehicle's history report. As a rule of thumb, avoid cars coming from areas that had experienced flooding. From your vehicle history report, check the zip code where the car was last registered and find out if the area had been listed as a flooded area. 
Keep in mind that on top of the winning bid, the buyer still needs to shell out an extra 5 to 10 percent for buyers' premium. Incorporate the buyer's premium in your calculations for your highest bid. Do not get caught up in the frenzy of bidding, which can sometimes drive the price of the cars above their market value. You need to have data from Kelley Blue Book on hand, so you know the going rate for the car your planning to bid for. There's no sense in going to an auction if you're just going to pay the same rate as the actual selling price of the car. 
Not all auctions are open to the public. Some are exclusive to licensed car dealers. You might be able to get into them if you have a friend who is a licensed dealer who is willing to make the bidding for you. The ones that are open to the public are police and government auctions. There are also popular online auto auction sites such as Ebay Motors and Yahoo Auctions. Even with these online sites, you still have to do your research regarding the car's history and market value.