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Originally Posted by mtu2
no bullshit
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sure, you can pay this guy to get lists of cars for sale and where the auction venues are...but why do that when you can find the information yourself for free?
you want to bid on an auction car, go to eBay, or Yahoo auctions, or check your local newspaper, or contact your local governments, or your local impound yards, or your local towing companies...even the local auctioneers that run such auctions for the governments and towing companies will have listings available, check your Yellow Pages and also your local newspaper classifieds...
in the past I have been able to purchase cars for $100 or less...those were at impounded/abandoned car auctions, which are crapshoots...you never know what you're going to get and you have to inspect the vehicles yourself...many times you don't get keys and many times the cars are not road ready...I have been lucky half the time to get a car I could just jump in and drive:
#1 - 1986 Mercury Lynx hatchback, 4-speed, purchased in November 1994 in Carmel Indiana, $60, needed a muffler, one tire, and a good cleanup, drove it for 3 months and sold for $350 to a mechanic at the Suzuki motorcycle dealer in Carmel
#2 - 1980 Honda Civic 1300DX hatchback, 5-speed, purchased at same auction in Carmel, $40, timing belt was broke, non-runner, sold for scrap for $50, but lost money because I paid $50 to tow it to my mechanic and $6 for a bill of sale
#3 - 1986 Plymouth Turismo hatchback, automatic, purchased in summer 1995 in Arlington Texas, $90, transmission linkage was jammed, bypassed P/N safety switch to start, was stuck in reverse, sold for scrap for $75
#4 - 1982 Datsun 210 wagon, 5-speed, purchased in summer 1997 in Carmel Indiana, $65, excellent driver, was impounded for expired tags from Michigan, owners couldn't afford to bail it out, I drove for over a year, put on one set of brake pads, one set of tires, and sold for $600 to a guy in Missouri
#5 - 1989 Plymouth Voyager SE minivan, 5-speed (yes, a stickshift minivan), purchased in spring 2001 in Dallas Texas, $325, excellent driver, used for work for a few months, then engine/trans mounts sheared off and made it tough to drive, sold for scrap for $275 (vans are worth more)
so this just proves you can do well at auctions for short-term transportation as long as you check the car out...I got lucky with the Lynx and the Datsun...the van I had enough knowledge to determine that I could get some use out of it before the mounts would break off completely (they were bent and cracked when I got it)...the Civic and Turismo...stuff happens
I do plan on visiting some Dallas area impound auctions this summer, going to try and find another minivan under $500 to use for work...