Does anyone have experience with buying a vehicle at auction, either with a broker or on your own?

I have never been to an auction before but I have a dealer willing to let me go with him to an auction at Manheim to look at a 996tt. I'm not sure how much time I will have to inspect the car but can you let me know of some areas to look at that might give me an idea of how well the car has been cared for?

 

I've been to Manheim, and you can look the car over all that you want. There is a GIGANTIC parking lot with the cars arranged in columns, and you can walk and touch whatever you want. Some cars have the keys in them so you can start the car, whereas others are locked completely. If you don't know and trust this dealer, and know that he's capable, I'd say it's not worth your while. There are a lot of nuances in buying an auction car, and you won't be able to spot most of them. If you are able to spot replacement paint on a car, that's a good start. Just because CarFax doesn't report an accident, doesn't mean it didn't happen. I think Manheim rules requuire you to state if there was frame damage on a car, but that's about it, and some shady sellers may not even do that. If you can't start the car, taking a look at the condition of the steering wheel, shifter, and driver's seat bolster should give you a hint into how the car has been treated. Clean paint on the outside shows much less about the longterm care of a car than interior wear. See if you can get your local Porsche dealer to run the VIN for service records over the phone. Again, if your friend isn't good at this, I wouldn't try. You don't want to be the amateur that showed up at the auction to play with guys that do this, with 911 Turbos, daily.

 

Get a durametric and bring your laptop.

I guess if I needed to post on a forum to have strangers tell me how to inspect a car, I'd probably conclude that I am not capable of doing my own inspection... I'm just being totally honest.

It'd be worth paying a QUALIFIED mechanic to come out with you....

GL

A

PS PRIOR to the auction, you can do a lot of advance work on the VIN...try to find the prior owner or prior dealer, bribe them for records, etc...

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I didn't think about bringing a scanner and laptop to check for codes and overrevs. I'll have to see if they allow that.

I'm not a mechanic but i'm probably more capable inspecting a car than 90% of people out there but i'm looking for anything that I should look for on the 996 that is specific to this car. (i.e. common problems that i can find without driving the car). for instance, Is there a way to test if the hydraulic lift on the spoiler is working properly?

 

I'm not sure I'd try buying a random car at the auctions either. Would seem to me that any surprises you get at a later date from buying it, would offset the savings.

 

Well if i go this route I plan on getting an EasyCare warranty to take care of those surprises

I figure with the correct pre-purchase research and a good inspection I can come out with a good low-mileage car...but who knows how long this will take.

 

There can be a good number of 'surprises' that a warranty will not cover- do not assume a warranty will make all right. Indeed, if the car was modded and abused, with overrevs and ultimately an engine failure, a warranty company can deny the claim. Even if the failure was (in our opinion) unrelated.

And of course undisclosed crash damage is not warrantable