You can usually inspect equipment before an auction. Most of the time equipment is at the site several days prior to the beginning of the auction.

 

I see guys at aucions all the time looking for a personal truck and not one to resell, 80% of the time they start bidding with their heart instead of their head and wind up paying as much or more then a private seller or lot would charge.

 

Seems to me that if a guy is to the point of reposession, he probably has been neglecting truck maintenance for quite a while.

 

I'll second that.

 

Yeah...that would be a big concern with buying an auction truck. Just looking it over would tell you nothing about how the engine & other mechanicals were treated. Without an oil analysis and possibly a dyno run a person would literally be rolling the dice with the odds probably favoring a mistreated truck.

I can see it now....hmm I can't make the truck payment but I think I'll pony up for a PM to be done... yea right :?

 

Buying a repo truck can be a decent deal and it can also be a bad deal. We sell repo trucks here. They can come in almost beat to death. I have seen ones with no engines, interior gutted and still others that only need a day at the detail shop in order to make them look good. We send our front line trucks through a recon process before they hit the front line and are ready for sale. Our repo trucks follow a somewhat different path, but they do get checked out in detail. What I am saying is to really look at the truck - inside, outside, engine, drive it, etc before you make the purchase. Auctions are good, but too many times people bid with their hearts rather then their business sense.

Good deals can be had on repo and auction trucks....you just have to do your homework. Good luck with your purchase.

 

Hi LexAtlanta,

It's nice to hear from someone inside the biz. Your input is appreciated.

So is it possible for an interested person to pull oil samples a day or so before the auction from several trucks to have it analyzed for engine condition? Or when you guys do your "recon" process, do you go as far as putting in new oil?

 

When a truck goes through the recon process the oil is changed and the truck goes through an extensive inspection. If we see something wrong with the truck the shop fixes it. By wrong I don't mean a cup holder is missing or there are stains on the carpet but rather something like the radiator leaks, the clutch is bad, the turbo has problems, etc. All of our front line trucks are DOT ready. Plus we put a 30 day warranty on the front line trucks. Repo doesn't always mean 'bad'....just in need of a little love. The repos we sell go through a somewhat different process. Alot has to do with the original condition the truck arrives in. Obviously, we won't sell a truck that is not safe but a repo doesn't go through the same process as a front line truck. Again, do your homework and due diligence when buying such a truck.

I think people think that repo and auction mean 'good deal'. We have good deals on the lot already that are not repos. The important thing to do is to have a dialog with your salesman, not just a conversation. For me, I share everything I know about the truck with the customer...whether it be good or bad. We test drive it and then go back to the office for the final decision.

I can't speak to an auction. The ones I have been to let you in the day before - sometimes - to look around. Others open the doors several hours before the auction begins so you can look around.

In the end, do your homework. We all work too hard to waste our money on a questionable truck.