I've seen a few posts here that mention about cars from Copart, I'm very curious if anyone has actually bought cars (or bikes or whatever) from there and how easy was it?

I *almost* got a motorcycle from there, when I was looking the exact model showed up at a Copart lot right near my house, somehow they let me in without ID and I got to check it out, I tried bidding only to realize you have to jump through hoops to bid with a licence or something, so I missed out. Would have been a great deal too.

I'm very interested because the lot is so close to my house, and if I found a car that I could take my time fixing at home it might be a really good deal. I wouldn't buy a porsche there (I don't think) but wifes car is potentially getting long in the tooth...

 

You are definitely buying a box if chocolates. I wouldn't buy a car from copart that I planned on putting back on the road. For starters, 99% of them will have a salvage title. Lots of flood cars. If you are looking for a shell for a track car, that might work out.

I went through the effort to set up an account with copart when I thought I might bid on a wrecked 911, but I found the fees to be high if you are not a dealer set up with them. It made the final price less attractive.

 

I have purchased 6 or 7 cars from Copart. Mostly E36 M3s that I was parting out. Bought them all without every looking at them. I also bought a 2000 C4 from Copart after I blew my engine. The buying process is pretty straightforward, although a majority of the cars you need to be a broker to purchase. You can use a third party broker for about $250 so it is not that big of a deal. You can also just sort by cars that you don't need a license for.

I have had some of the cars shipped to me, and I have picked some up (with a trailer). It is like getting take out. You just pull up, give them your info, and in a couple of minutes it comes out on a huge forklift and they set it right on your trailer.

The fees can add up, so make sure to calculate that into your price, but on a $3,000 car, you will have close to $500 in fees.

If you can go look at the car beforehand, even better. Since I was always buying cars to part out, I never really cared. I have also had some great surprises with the cars. Lots of mods that were on the cars, that I did not know about, and the best one, the C4 I bought had 118K miles on it, but when I pulled the engine, it was a new engine from Porsche with all of the upgraded 997 pieces, that could not have had more than 30,000 miles on it. It also had a roll bar and GT3 Euro Seats (but I knew that when I bought it).

But I suppose you can get a real heap too, so if you are planning on putting a car back together, expect that it will need more work than you think, and be happy if it doesn't.

The amazing thing about some of these cars (including 996s) is that it takes very little to total them, a fender, wheel and 2 control arms and a radiator is what totaled the C4, also had an M3 that needed a bumper cover and hood that was totaled, so with a little know how, and picking the right car, you can get a great value. Of course the car will always be tainted with a salvage title, but if you are buying something to have fun with, fix it and have fun.

 

Yeah I found when I tried to buy that motorcycle I had to jump through lots of hoops and the broker fees were too high to justify for a cheap bike, it worked out a significant % of the final price would have been fees

The way my wife treats cars I wouldn't mind giving her a salvage vehicle, as long as it was safe.

EDIT:

Something like this might be good:

https://www.copart.com/lot/39969228

 

Just make sure it has the battery pack still.
Some vehicles get stripped of expensive parts before being dumped.
Google "Youtube Tesla Copart battery pack" and see what's happening with wrecked Teslas.

 

Oh good catch, I've heard about shady stuff happening at car auctions but I'm a bit of a newb. I should research more..

 

X2. I bought a wrecked Tacoma for the driveline (the Toyota 5VZ-FE and R150 trans are bulletproof). I found a fellow who buys salvage title vehicles, fixes them and sells them, and he agreed to let me use his copart number to bid and pick up. The car was in WV, but I was able to do the paperwork at a local Copart, then drive up there and like you said, show 'em the papers, they fork it onto your trailer and are done with you. Copart is good to deal with, but you gotta know what you are doing with the vehicles or you can easily overpay.