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I wouldn't expect any $2000 car being sold at auction to be able to pass NC state inspection without you spending at least a little money on it. Gonna need tires/brakes/SOMETHING-that's why it's at the auction. If it didn't need anything, the dealer would hold on to it. The check engine light might be on-and that could be anything from a $50 oxygen sensor to a whole new exhaust system. The car will NOT pass inspection with the check engine light on. It may have a cracked windshield-again, it won't pass inspection. You cannot title or register the car without inspecting it first. That's why it is at an auction.
Auctions are for cars that a dealer can't find a way to recondition and sell without losing money on the deal. They might be high end cars with a weak market, or they might be cars that are literally at the end of their useful lives. Auction sales are "AS-IS, WHERE-IS". If the car blows up 100 feet from the auction, it's yours.
There is a general shortage of used cars of all types right now, so dealers are holding onto cars that a few years ago might not have been keepers. A dealer who sends a car to auction hoping for it to bring $2000 probably has darn near $2,000 invested in it if not a little more than that. They have also determined that the car needs more work than they can justify putting into it.
Not trying to be a Debbie Downer here, but you just don't show up at an auction and find a bunch of $2,000 cars lined up that don't need anything and go "I'll take that blue one".
So let me get this straight. You have to be a dealer to go to the auction.... But the cars at the auction are cars the dealer didn't want????
Big dealers will dump slow movers at auction or cars with problems. Some bargains can be had by intermediate or small size dealers with know-how and experience with certain cars. Most cars going through these auctions will need some type of attention, whether it be a simple detail job or major repair.
So let me get this straight. You have to be a dealer to go to the auction.... But the cars at the auction are cars the dealer didn't want????
Many of the dealers that buy these type of cars at auction are independent "buy-here, pay here" dealers-the kind that line Capital Blvd below Mini City. They sign up people with little or no credit or bad credit and take a down payment on the car and the remaining payments are made in person at that lot on a weekly or bi-weekly basis at an exorbitant interest rate. Miss a payment? They have an extra key to the car and they come and get it. Then they sell the same car over again. They hold the title even after the car gets registered because they hold the lien on the car.
A big dealer group like Hendrick or Leith might trade cars between dealerships to avoid the auction. Leith Mercedes trades for a 2008 Land Rover and sells it to Leith Land Rover where they will have more traffic on that brand, for example.
Capital Auto Auction in Louisburg is actually owned by Leith. It is the wholesale outlet for cars that any Leith dealership takes in trade that they choose not to resell for any reason.
From someone who buys and sell cars and has been to the Kenly auction many times, state surplus auction, drug and IRS repo auction, as well as others in the area: $2,000 is not going to do any damage at a dealer auction. Your best bet is craigslist where you can meet the person who owns it and also see the car and drive it before you buy it. You do not have that at the auction.
Many of the dealers that buy these type of cars at auction are independent "buy-here, pay here" dealers-the kind that line Capital Blvd below Mini City. They sign up people with little or no credit or bad credit and take a down payment on the car and the remaining payments are made in person at that lot on a weekly or bi-weekly basis at an exorbitant interest rate. Miss a payment? They have an extra key to the car and they come and get it. Then they sell the same car over again. They hold the title even after the car gets registered because they hold the lien on the car.
A big dealer group like Hendrick or Leith might trade cars between dealerships to avoid the auction. Leith Mercedes trades for a 2008 Land Rover and sells it to Leith Land Rover where they will have more traffic on that brand, for example.
Capital Auto Auction in Louisburg is actually owned by Leith. It is the wholesale outlet for cars that any Leith dealership takes in trade that they choose not to resell for any reason.
Thank you fro dropping such knowledge on me. I'll keep that in mind.
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