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Have you ever wondered what goes on at a used car auction?

Sounds like fun, right?

But if you are trying to get the best bang for your customer’s buck, the pressure is on.

There is a lot more involved in buying a used car than the looks.

• Was it smoked in?
• How many miles does it have?
• Is the price fair for what I am getting?
• Does a clean Carfax report mean that the vehicle itself is clean?

Let me see if I can answer those questions and more.

Which Auction To Go To?

For a used car dealership, an auction should be the primary source of inventory. This means knowing what inventory sells, what equipment it has, what is the book value and what it is really worth.

There are a lot (and I really mean a lot) of used car auctions out there.

So which ones have the best cars?

The public auto auctions, generally speaking, are always “as is” auctions. That means after buying the vehicle there are no returns, so if the transmission goes that day, you are out of luck.

We attend authorized dealer auctions only. As an authorized dealer, the auctions we attend, mainly offer cars that come from leasing companies selling back vehicles after a lease. Those cars have low mileage and are rather new.

So, it isn’t just about what you buy but also where you buy.

This video I took at the last car auction will give you a great impression of what a used car auction looks and sound like.

Knowing What To Look For

Knowing what car to buy is an important step.

Another important step in buying a used car, you have to ask yourself, was this car repainted even if the Carfax report is clean. The photo shows you a Chrysler 300. If you look close enough, you are able to see that one door is a darker shade of gray.

If anything is repainted, that doesn’t make it a bad car. It is one of many factors we use to determine if we are going to bid on a car and how much we are willing to bid.

There are a lot of things going on at the fast paced auction, so we rely on inspecting the cars, our years of experience, and tools like the Carfax report to determine which used cars are good.

My job is to make sure that you, as a customer don’t have to worry about these issues.

Being in business since 1995 gives us the background and the education to get that clean car, minivan, truck or SUV for you. Also being a member of the Better Business Bureau for over a decade and maintaining an A+ rating with them should also give you, the consumer confidence is buying from Salit Auto Sales.