How Anyone Can Bid at Copart Auctions

A while ago, we came across a hidden gem called Copart—a company where thousands of cars, trucks, SUVs and more are sold at vehicle auctions. Essentially, you purchase a car online and can then have it shipped straight to your door through a shipp…

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So I just spent a few min looking at their stock, and found some really temping challenge cars.  An X1/9, a couple of Alfa Spiders, and even a NB Miata that is here in Michigan.

Kind of surprising what kind of cars are there.  

For the sake of my sanity, I'm not going to watch those auctions, but this seems to be a great source of Challenge fodder.

I bought a Harvey flood car from Copart last January, and it was an experience.  First, you have to pay their very high fees.  I paid $600 for my $3000 car!  That was with ~$200 of delivery fees though IIRC. 

Then they (or maybe the seller) marked the flood line (line where the water had come up to) completely incorrectly.  It was marked about 1' up the side of the vehicle, but when I got the car it was easy to see the water had gone almost over the dash.  These are the kinds of things that make me question places.

In the end it was still worth it, but beware.  It was a lot more work than I had planned.

In Florida I have to purchase vehicles from Georgia because without a dealers license I cannot purchase in Florida. The fee schedule is listed on the website and it is steep, especially if you are on schedule D the private citizen without a dealers license. I bought a $400 car and had to pay $182.50 in dealer fees and about $70 dollar loading fee. They do not let you into the yard to load the vehicle. The vehicle comes out on long forks on a front end loader. It took four hours to have my car loaded. Overall I am happy with most of my Copart purchases but be prepared to pay almost a 50% premium over the winning bid for fees and don’t plan on being in and out when you try to load up your trailer. 

In reply to bklecka :

Is than an SVT Focus? Just a random musing, not trying to thread jack

It's like anything else, there's pros and cons and the fact is, it's one more place to look for that specific rare unicorn vehicle you're looking for. Like a crappy Ford Probe GT. 

Is there a place to look at finished auction results? I am looking for a car for my nephew who just got his learner's permit and being colorado, there are a ton of hail cars out there that just got enough damage on all of the panels to total it but the title is clean. Over a thousand listed currently. 

I wanted to look to see if it was worth taking the time to head out to an auction one day. 

bmw88rider said:

Is there a place to look at finished auction results? I am looking for a car for my nephew who just got his learner's permit and being colorado, there are a ton of hail cars out there that just got enough damage on all of the panels to total it but the title is clean. Over a thousand listed currently. 

 

I wanted to look to see if it was worth taking the time to head out to an auction one day. 

The final prices are not posted. You can get an idea what cars are going for by watching the live auctions in your area for the car you are interested in. Not the easiest way to get the info, but acceptable if you are actively searching.

You can use a website such as Autoauctions.io to view the finished prices of cars on Copart and IAAI. 

Just like everything sometimes its worth it, sometimes not. There is certainly a sweet spot all things considered. Like when I got a 2007 BMW 3 series wagon for $1100 after fees, or when I needed a cheap truck and picked up a 2000 Ranger that needed basically a bumper and a headlight for about $900. However I wouldn't want to fight the vultures for a 3-5 year old Honda/Toyota/Hyundai sedan. Too many people, too little discount for the joe schmo without a dealer's license and frame machine. 

In NC it's easy to register Salvage vehicles, and you don't need a delaer's license to bid on copart stuff here. So keep that in mind. YMMV

If you were selling 40 cars a year in Florida, you would need a dealer license to be “legal.”  The dealer license is more than a piece of paper, it requires you to have an acceptable business location which come with a slew of requirements.

Argghhh!!!   I see nothing!!!   (look how cheap that Audi TT is...)   STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!!!

*whew*, I am back now...

Thanks guys. There is a location near my house and 2 more just up the road. Plenty of mid to late 2000 cars which make perfect sense for a new driver. If it's already a little dented, then something a new driver does will not be anything major. 

i used copart for acquisition of the LS1-KART's carcass, they were great!  i think, of the whole process, the surprise to me was the challenge of getting insurance on a rebuilt title vehicle (nevermind the kart factor).  Essentially, none of the 'big' companies even offer coverage. i ended up using a company called mercury, who i had previously never heard of. 

Not a fan of their fees.....I got two cars from there, and they ended up being just "ok deals"....

We've been buying inventory thru Copart for about 3 years. Lots of great deals until last year. As their stock price rose, so did the reserves. I probably buy a quarter of the cars I used to. This year we're seeing more vehicles sold w/parts only bill of sale which have no value to us as we're not in the salvage business.  I've been stuck with 2 so far, 10K to 20K vehicles with $500 dents in them that to me are now worthless.  I would guess the insurers are trying to create a recycled parts inventory they can keep track of since the use of aftermarket parts got them in trouble.  Need parts, total a car... .  Forbes considers Copart, IAA, and Manheim the worlds 3 largest used vehicle retailers.  Maybe after they put all the used car dealers out of business, our legislators will do away with their regulatory exemptions.  Over the years I've found that most of the best auto auctions eventually evolve into big used car lots with a disclaimer (we're an auction).  Years ago there was a dealer in Phoenix that would drive you out to the car on a golf cart, let you check out the vehicle, then hold a "auction" on the spot to sell you the car. Copart's not there yet, but the reserve on Golf Carts is rising...

I have seen MANY videos of people that purchase a car with the water line at the sill and then it was really over the dash (photos of the car in the water proving the water line is wrong) 

I think Copart should stop putting the water line on cars (or take the line that is on the car form the insurance carrier off) and make people look at them in person or pay to have a independent rep look at them. 

The water line thing has been giving them a bad rep for a while now.

I've bought about 20 cars from Copart; some flipped, some parted and scrapped, and some kept. I do it for recreation and not with a goal of making money. None have been terrible deals and some I have done very well with. I have bought from IAA too, but found that for me, Copart had a lot more cars that I was interested in that were available to 'public buyers'.

Here's my perspective: As a business, Copart's main customer is the insurance industry. Their product is a large field of buyers. They don't own the cars that are auctioned, they are the conduit. Marketing and making it easier to be a buyer gets better prices for their customers (sellers) which in turn gets them a larger volume of sales. The high buyer fees of Copart and IAA can be annoying to a public buyer, but I have heard several business buyers also complain that having too many public buyers jacks up the prices. Businesses hold an advantage, but public buyers can still get the cars they want directly from Copart rather than a dealer or junkyard.

For my buys, I know what my fees are and keep it in mind up front when I bid. I have also found that service varies a lot between the different yards. The lot in Fayetteville Arkansas is nice to deal with, moves cars quickly, and doesn't do more damage to them in transit. The Tulsa lot has lost keys, taken weeks to get a title, and is slow to load. My Dallas experience has been much better than Houston. To keep my fees down, I have used my own shipping broker or a bid on U-Ship rather than the contract carrier through Copart. For payment I use a wire transfer or Cashier's check if paying in person.