Police Vehicle Auctions vs Car Dealerships - Which is Best?
Instead of going to a car dealership and buying vehicles the usual way, have you ever considered visiting a government or police auction? If you’re not aware, the police seize thousands of cars and other vehicles every month and often auction them off to the general public at extremely reduced prices.
Obviously, police auctions are a secret that car dealerships don’t want you to know about. This is because not only is there one less potential customer looking to purchase a vehicle but there is also another bidder competing against him for the cars that are being auctioned.
Yet almost all North Americans still continue to use car dealerships to purchase their vehicles every day. Why? Most people unfortunately aren’t educated on police auctions. The government doesn’t spend any money advertising so auction attendance is solely based on word of month. Following is a list of pros and cons when buying at these auctions:
Advantages:
- Business Methodology allows much lower prices.
- No matter where you live, there are typically many auctions held around your area
- Information regarding government and police auctions with vehicle listing detail is now available on the web
- There is a large selection of vehicles that can be found at police auctions including: cars, jeeps, trucks, minivans, ATV’s and more!
- no distribution channel (car dealership) to go through or to pay
- No pushy salesperson looking for a commission
- Seller is motivated and doesn’t want to handle inventory, everything has to be sold!
- Better income tax advantage (can be set up as a business for resale to spouse, kids etc.)
- Car taxes are typically less
- Start your own business (i.e. Sell cars on the Internet)
Cons:
- Most of the sales are cash only (any credit would have be done externally)
- No extended warranty beyond what the manufacturer offers. Most used dealerships give only 30 days
If it’s not a problem paying cash, or you can get credit elsewhere, then the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Just remember to bring a mechanic or car expert who understands vehicles with you to the auction. They will inspect the vehicles that you’re interested in to make sure you get a great deal.
Tags: Sales