Auto auctions in the USA: features and varieties

2024-06-03

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Today, every Ukrainian can process the purchase of a vehicle for a car in America and receive it after several months of waiting. However, before looking for cars, you should learn about all the pitfalls, as well as how they are organized USA auto auctions. This way you can prepare to avoid additional problems.

How car auctions are held in America

The scheme of buying a car at an American auction is quite simple. For example, the Copart company provides two main options:

  • preliminary auctions;
  • online bidding.

In the first case, the seller (most often it is an insurance company) sets the price for the car. Such a bet automatically becomes a winner if none of the buyers offers more money at the online auction. Buying a car at preliminary auctions is quite rare, but there have been such situations.

Online bidding is different. There, bids take place every 15 seconds, so the process requires close attention from the buyer. After all, it may turn out that at the last moment someone offered a slightly higher amount for the car that interested you. If no one offered an amount that exceeded the value from the seller, the car is returned to the previous auction.

What are the car auctions in the USA

Here you have learned how car auctions are held in the USA. However, you should also familiarize yourself with the services themselves beforehand, as there are several of them. The most popular include:

  • Copart;
  • Manheim;
  • Insurance.

Copart

It is one of the leading players in the market, which sells more than 35% of used cars in the USA. If we talk about absolute numbers, this is more than 1 million vehicles per year.

The company cooperates with the vast majority of insurance companies in America. This provides an extremely large selection of cars. In addition, the firm signed an exclusive partnership agreement with some companies. This means that certain vehicles are only available on the Copart site.

The company offers cars from parking lots all over the country. In this way, the client can independently choose from which city he needs a car. This is important for Ukrainians, as this way you can significantly simplify the logistics of the order.

The disadvantage of Copart is that not only insurance companies, but also private individuals can post their offers here. This opens up space for manipulation and lies, as ordinary people can hide possible car damage.

Manheim

One of the oldest sites for buying cars from an auction. The range of cars available at Manheim is smaller, but the company only works with dealers. This means that the chance of falling for a fraudster is much lower. In addition, only cars with a detailed history are available in the catalog.

Manheim does not offer cars after an accident. The sellers here are dealers, not insurance companies. On the one hand, because of this, car prices are higher, on the other hand, you will not have to spend on additional repairs.

Insurance

As in Manheim, the Insurance company offers cars only from legal entities. Most often, these are budget vehicles that have been in an accident. In this case, policyholders are intermediaries. They sell cars owned by their customers, and use the proceeds to pay compensation to the former owners.

As you can see, there are many different sites where you can buy a used vehicle. And each has its advantages and disadvantages. If you are interested in how to participate in the US auto auction, then you will have to go through the registration process, which also involves providing documents to verify your identity.