I go to a lot of car auctions, both dealer only and ones open to the public. People often ask me what kind of deals you can get at an auction, and my answer is simple - it all depends! Don't ask me on what it depends, as if I could figure that out I would be retired by now, but here is one that surprised even me. 2006 Civic Hybrid with 100k miles (160k KMs). It got towed through the auction as it has no brakes. There was some issue with the master cylinder. Now generally, a hybrid on a tow truck that you can't test drive is worthless at the auction. I have seen a 2011 Prius sell for about 1/3 what it was worth in that situation. I figured I'd buy this Civic for less than $3500. Nope, sure didn't - $7000 it sold for! That's way more than the 2011 Prius with 12k miles sold for! Retail on that Civic here is about $8000, and that's with no issues! Even the dealer selling it figured it was only worth about $2500. Just goes to show how carried away people can get at an auction! So if you go to one, my best advice is to do your research on the car you are interested in, and decide on a price ahead of time. Then stick to that price, don't get carried away by the action of the auction!
