What Happens If You Get A Lemon At A Car Auction
A car auction is not for the inexperienced buyer. If you do not know what you are looking for or do not what to expect you could end up with a lemon on your hands. Not only a lemon, but one that you will have a very hard time getting rid of. The cars are up for inspection, but most cars are not shown with the ability for you to turn on the engine or take a test drive.
You have to have the expertise to look at the car and make a judgment call on whether you can purchase it and it will run properly. The chance of you getting a lemon is high if you do not make the call properly or you do not have the experience to survey the vehicle in the first place.
If you are unlucky enough to get a lemon at a car auction, there is really not much you can do about it. Once you make a bid and it is accepted, the car is yours in the as in shape that you bought it. You can only protest when the claims made either by the seller or the car auction auctioneer do not meet the specifications of the vehicle. This would be extreme cases in which a model or make is described, only to find out that the claims were not true. Most cars are driven into the arena for the buyers to see that it runs, but once bought and the car does not start, you are stuck with it.
To avoid this situation watch the car while it is up for auction. Sometimes the driver will rev the engine. If you see a large amount of smoke or discolored exhaust coming from the exhaust pipe, this vehicle may need more work than you are willing to put into it. Also looks at the way the car handles as it pulls up. Watch the driver.
If he is moving the wheel back and forth more than he should, you probably will have trouble with the steering mechanism. The condition of the shocks can also be observed. If you see undo movement up and down from the car, the shocks are probably shot and that will be an extra expense.
If you do get a lemon, you may want to put a little money in it and resell. The car will probably bring in the same price if you took it to another car auction, but if you put on a few extras to improve the appearance, it might bring in a higher price. If the car's engine is shot, you may want to improve the outside but pull the engine and list the car as exterior only. You might not get what you paid, but you can recoup at least a large majority of what you paid.
If the car auction is not a possibility, get the car running and clean it up. You can still put it on an online auction or the newspaper to sell the car.
