[giantfan270]

I didn't have good experience with the auctions. Most of the cars are there for a reason, mainly because they have serious issues that dealers aren't willing to deal with or they will cost more than they can fix and make a profit on.

That's not true at all. Myth. Most of the late model cars have already gone through a dealers shop, been reconditioned, and just didn't sell. Those cars will be announced as "retail ready". All the cars at the auction have mandatory disclosure. If a car has over 100,000 miles it is automatically announced as a "red light" car, and the auction block displays a red light behind the auctioneer. That light tells bidders that they are buying the car "as is". Cars with a "green light", is the sellers way of telling the bidders, there is nothing wrong with the car. If you announce a car "green light" the buyer has 72 hours to return the car if he finds something wrong with it. The seller can also pay for the auction to check the car before it leaves the auction and before the seller gets his check. Your thinking about the auction 30 years ago.....

[rburkett]

I bought one last year, now it is junk! It had antifreeze leaking into the oil (bad headgasket) but you couldn't tell because they changed the oil. Defect in the suspension that made it bounce sidewades which you couldn't tell unless you got it up to speed and hit a bump. Bad ABS module, which I knew about because if the ABS light. Otherwise the car looked perfect when buying it. If they give you a 6 month unconditional return I would say go for it. But if it is less than that or as is forget it.

[shezdoni]

That's not true at all. Myth. Most of the late model cars have already gone through a dealers shop, been reconditioned, and just didn't sell. Those cars will be announced as "retail ready". All the cars at the auction have mandatory disclosure. If a car has over 100,000 miles it is automatically announced as a "red light" car, and the auction block displays a red light behind the auctioneer. That light tells bidders that they are buying the car "as is". Cars with a "green light", is the sellers way of telling the bidders, there is nothing wrong with the car. If you announce a car "green light" the buyer has 72 hours to return the car if he finds something wrong with it. The seller can also pay for the auction to check the car before it leaves the auction and before the seller gets his check. Your thinking about the auction 30 years ago.....

You forgot the most important light, the " Blue Light Special", meaning the car is title attached, and the dealer doesn't have the title and is selling the car without the title,

And then there is the very, very special cars, the one's with the "R" titles, meaning that the car was wrecked and totaled, flooded, severely damaged in some way and the car was basically rebuilt ( These are the cars you need to beware of, so like the commercial says " When you go to buy a car, get the fax, ask for a carfax report, if the dealer refuses to request one for you, or try's to charge you for getting it, then don't buy their cars )

[rburkett]

I did a carfax on the car I bought and nothing showed up and it was still a lemon.

[giantfan270]

I bought one last year, now it is junk! It had antifreeze leaking into the oil (bad headgasket) but you couldn't tell because they changed the oil. Defect in the suspension that made it bounce sidewades which you couldn't tell unless you got it up to speed and hit a bump. Bad ABS module, which I knew about because if the ABS light. Otherwise the car looked perfect when buying it. If they give you a 6 month unconditional return I would say go for it. But if it is less than that or as is forget it.

Unless you bought it from a public auction, then you purchased through a dealer. If that's the case, you can apply the lemon law. If it qualifies. If you bought it from a public auction, that's where the problem lies.

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You forgot the most important light, the " Blue Light Special", meaning the car is title attached, and the dealer doesn't have the title and is selling the car without the title,

And then there is the very, very special cars, the one's with the "R" titles, meaning that the car was wrecked and totaled, flooded, severely damaged in some way and the car was basically rebuilt ( These are the cars you need to beware of, so like the commercial says " When you go to buy a car, get the fax, ask for a carfax report, if the dealer refuses to request one for you, or try's to charge you for getting it, then don't buy their cars )

They call those T/A cars. Title attached. The seller has 2 weeks to get the title to the auction or the deal can be reversed. This gives dealers time to payoff loans on trades. Even though the car sells the seller doesn't get a check until he turns the title in. And any car that was totalled and rebuilt must be announced as a "Salvage Title" and the title gets branded "Salvage". Carfax is as accurate as you can possibly get when it comes to a vehicles history but it doesn't tell you if a car was maintained or not. That you have to be sure of before pulling the trigger. After 20+ years I can spot body work a mile away....