bet

YMMV but my 996 was a leased car that Porsche sent to the auction. I bought if from an independent with 1 year of the factory warranty still remaining. Approximately 30k miles and 2 1/2 years later I could not be happier with the car. It has been great. Sure there is some crap that goes through the auctions, but in my opinion to dismiss all cars that have gone through auctions as bad is too much of a generalization. Would I buy a car that has been through an auction, you bet if it checked out with a PPI to my satisfaction.

Piccia

Just to add my personal shopping anecdote, I found my '02 Targa at a higher end (but run from a pretty blah! operation) dealer. It was a 1 owner care leased through Porsche Financial but reposessed from the Dr. leasing it. Went straight to auction and ended up on the used lot. PPI revealed a fixable valve item the dealer paid to have repaired. I walked away in June with a mint 30K mile nicely equipped car that hasn't given me an ounce of trouble so far.

Keep looking for the best car specifically for you. They're out there.

Piccia
'02 Targa

Paul 996

What is this worry about auctions... It is a business. Where do you think all the shiny 2nd hand cars come from on the used car lot (private, affiliated with a new car dealer, etc)? They are not all trades at that respective establishment. A used car dept (to cover all the types) sends it's buyers to the highline auctions to source specific types of cars that they want on their lot to draw people in and sell to. As stated by others, many of the newer inventory is offlease, the rest as explained above (sat too long, isn't selling, wrong type of car for the dealer, etc).

If you are serious, hire a broker to represent you or take you to a real auction. Be prepared to pay them for their time (flat fee or a % of the deal).

4afewdollarsmore

Great info and appreciate every reply. Very helpful to me.
Great forum with great information.

TamiyaGuy

I also worked in the car industry when I was younger and DirtTrack49 has described the situation accurately. Cars end up at auctions frequently because they could not be sold via other means. It is not true that all leased cars end up at auction; only undesirable ones. Either because of overstock, inaccurate residual values or undesirable attributes (accident history).

While it may be perfectly fine, you do run a higher percentage chance that there's some history here. And, now that CarFax reports police records as well (in some states), you can see a fascinating running pattern of:

Ownership
Accident Report
Sold at Auction

When you look at some cars on used car lots. Caveat emptor is always applicable I guess.

Thanks,
Peter

lanny

I am a dealer and I can tell you that all lease cars do not go to auction- the returning dealer normally gets a quote from the lease company and if reasonable and a car they want they buy it. Sometimes if the quote is too high the dealers gamble and let them run it at auction and actually pick it up for less. Just like everything else in life all lease companys have different procedures and the quotes vary so there can be good cars at the autcion but I will agree in general the cars at auction have been wholesaled by a dealer. Most lease companys like to sell them to the dealer they are returned to say that dont have to pay transportation and the auction fees.