That particular bank has a contract with that auction, some banks require a repossessed unit to be offered to the general public, which is a holdover* from the old days. So the bank won't take it to another auction. They will however have a debt owing against that car. Say the remainder of the loan was $15000. They know they won't get that much for it, but this file is looked after by some guy sitting at a desk at the bank, he has an amount owing and an amount recovered. He knows he won't get $15k for it, but before he shows a loss, he will always run it more than once at the auction, just so he can show his boss that he tried his best to get the most for it. And yes the first bid can be the most they'll ever get, but that guy doesn't want to look like he just got rid of it at a loss without trying, so they will rerun it if it's not close to what's owning, even though that could result in them getting even less for it the second time.
*Repo 101 in B.C. Canada if you are interested* - repo rules vary province to province here. In B.C., we are "seize or sue", so if I owe $15000 on my car and I'm not paying, the bank can either seize the asset from me, or sue me for the $15000. If they seize the car, and only get $5000 for it because I destroyed the thing, they can't come after me for the remaining $10000. By taking their asset back from me, they let me off the hook. It will trash my credit rating but at least the debt is gone.
In other provinces, banks can do both. So if I owe $15000, they repo my car and only get $5000 for it, they then can sue me for the other $10000. This is where the rule about the auction being open to the public comes from. If the auction value of the car is only $5000, the bank needs to show the courts that they made every effort to get as much as possible for it before coming after me for the rest. So some put the clause that the vehicle needs to be available to the retail public in order to cover their asses on it. So even though that rule doesn't apply to B.C. residents, the banks are all based in other provinces, so they just carry that blanket rule over all their repos, even the ones in B.C..
Dang I'm just full of useless info I tells ya haha
