48 hours and a used car

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Imp4

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Does anyone have experience with 48 Hours And A Used Car on Facebook?

The concept is that you send him your purchase preference, i.e. 2016 Camry, under 30k miles, color, trim, etc.....

He then goes and buys it at auction and charges $500 more than auction price. Carfax included. Auction receipts included.
Fly to Atlanta to pick it up within two weeks.

This seems like an interesting approach to moving volumes of used cars and it completely cuts out the dealership structure.

Any takers or friends that have tried this?

Thanks in advance!
cheers3.gif
 
That could be a workable model as long as there is a way to recover from seller's mistake if they miss something important and sell you a lemon. What do you do when you are 500-1000 miles away and the trans blows up a month later from something they probably should have caught? Most or many auctions won't allow test drives. Don't see how you would get a thorough inspection at most car dealer auto auctions. You could do no worse than searching within 300 miles of your own home for one owner cars being sold at "auction-like" prices. And you get to thoroughly test drive it and have a local shop inspect it. I guess it all comes down to the skill and reputation of the "flipper" who is scouring the auctions.

Autotrader.com, Craig's List and Ebay also cut out the normal dealership structure when buying from private parties. And in many cases private sellers are more forthcoming than dealerships. Most of my used car purchases have been from private sellers. Out of a half a dozen used car purchases from dealers, I can only recall 1 car that worked out really well.
 
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Sounds like a great outlet for flood cars and other "undesirable" "unsellable" piles, buyer beware.
 
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Originally Posted by Imp4
Does anyone have experience with 48 Hours And A Used Car on Facebook?
The concept is that you send him your purchase preference, i.e. 2016 Camry, under 30k miles, color, trim, etc.....
He then goes and buys it at auction and charges $500 more than auction price. Carfax included. Auction receipts included.
Fly to Atlanta to pick it up within two weeks.
This seems like an interesting approach to moving volumes of used cars and it completely cuts out the dealership structure.
Any takers or friends that have tried this?
Thanks in advance!
cheers3.gif



You have to trust this person's judgement and live with the consequences, not for many of us.
 
Originally Posted by 69GTX
That could be a workable model as long as there is a way to recover from seller's mistake if they miss something important and sell you a lemon. What do you do when you are 500-1000 miles away and the trans blows up a month later from something they probably should have caught? Most or many auctions won't allow test drives. Don't see how you would get a thorough inspection at most car dealer auto auctions. You could do no worse than searching within 300 miles of your own home for one owner cars being sold at "auction-like" prices. And you get to thoroughly test drive it and have a local shop inspect it. I guess it all comes down to the skill and reputation of the "flipper" who is scouring the auctions.

Autotrader.com, Craig's List and Ebay also cut out the normal dealership structure when buying from private parties. And in many cases private sellers are more forthcoming than dealerships. Most of my used car purchases have been from private sellers. Out of a half a dozen used car purchases from dealers, I can only recall 1 car that worked out really well.


The buyer assumes this risk by cutting out the typical used car dealer inspection and refurbishing. My friend sells used cars. He goes to the auction and buys stuff and brings it back to his used car lot. The mechanic looks them over and fixes stuff. Bubble gum and really thick oil. LOL.

You never know what you're going to get when you buy used. Could be someone's pile or it might last. Even if the car has been abused, you still might get your money's worth. Or not.
 
Well,

"I started out as a ringman, became an auctioneer, and eventually became a part-owner of an auction here in metro-Atlanta."

I briefly owned a couple of auto auctions ( and even worked the ring once in a while if somebody did not show up ), ending about fifteen years ago, and, as a used car dealer, I see no reason why he cannot take advantage of his dealer status and modern online technology to register at auctions anywhere in the country, bid on, and purchase the vehicles online, and then have them delivered to his business.

If he is getting cars from the manufacturer sales ( lease turn ins, exec cars, repaired buybacks, etc. ) these would be the best of the bunch of used cars going through the auctions. These are once a month or so events, or they used to be, in the big metro areas.

So, you could get a good car this way; anything less than a manufacturer consignment is a larger risk, but I looked at his page and it doesn't sound like it is any more of a risk than any other means of buying a used car sight unseen ... There is no apparent incentive for him to get a "deal", and a lot of factors working against it, time and transportation particularly, so whether this is a good way for Joe Public to get a car is open to debate.

I would make sure there is a very clear ( written ) understanding of exactly what type of auction sale the car is procured from.

Quote
... and it completely cuts out the dealership structure. ...


No, just another type of dealership structure.
 
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So, you fly to Atlanta and find out the car is not what you expected or you are disappointed. Then what?

I'd wonder how many customers will buy something in order to justify the trip?
 
I'm just not seeing the benefit for the buyer, and a myriad of risks. Including a high chance of hidden self-dealing by controlling a flipper-middleman that buys the desired car at a low price and immediately sells it at an auction for a (now documented) premium price.
 
I wouldn't want to buy any car, even a brand new one straight out of the factory back door, without laying eyes on it first.
 
Originally Posted by andyd
Originally Posted by NYSteve
If it is Steve Lang, I would trust him, if someone else I would not.
X2


I think he's on here as a member and is the one offering this service but not 100% on that. I forget his username but thought I saw a post by him with a link about this buying service recently. But it could have been a link posted by him where someone else is the buyer offering the service. Steve is located in Atlanta so it would make sense. Plus he writes a lot of articles for those not aware.
 
I bought a used BMW off lease from a local guy who does something similar. I was able to view carfax vehicle inspection report including paint meter readings. It was2 years old so still had 2 years of BMW warranty so I had some protection there. Overall a good experience but I was dealing with a standup guy who has a reputaion in dealing in High end cars(usually S-class Mercedes). Probably saved 3-5k but I was looking for specific options namely sports pkg which couldnt be found locally and bought one from other end of the country...
 
I've heard of a few used car lots around here, midwest that are good to deal with. One owner told me how he feels like a charity at times since people bring the well used car back to him years later with an issue. He takes care of them since he has a full time mechanic that works there.

At another lot this guy buys a truck where the owner is a senior citizen that's owned it for a long time. He had an issue with the truck a few months later. The guy(customer) returns the truck and gets a full refund. The older gentlemen shortly after sold the valuable land since the area used to be rural but has since taken off growth-wise.
 
I would not buy one sight unseen. You are better off finding one somewhat locally and test driving it. I am sure right now there are a lot of flood vehicles out there that probably run fine with clean titles. There are just too many things that can go wrong in this type of situation only to save probably 15 percent.
 
I don't see how this would save you any money over a private party. The guy running this needs to get paid. Other than buying new 2x, I have always went the private party route. I usually call and treat that call like an interview. You can usually tell over the phone when you have someone that cares for his car. I might reject 20 cars before I hit a good one. Takes time but it works. If your in a hurry then this will not work.
 
From a September 4th post on 48 Hours and a Used Car:

"About Me: My name is Steven Lang. For 15 years I have maintained a perfect 100% positive feedback rating on Ebay because I go out of my way to be truthful and direct. If you Google my name and 'cars' you will find plenty about my daily work. Also, if you Google 'long-term quality', you'll see a long-term quality study on used cars that I co-developed which now outranks Consumer Reports on several Google searches."
 
Like all purchases, with emotion involved it would be hard. Many times people look at something with rose tinted glasses and then have buyer remorse. There is a reason these auctions are reserved for dealers only, they don't want to deal with retail buyer remorse (and if you are a dealer you know what you are signing up for).

For lease return why would someone pay $500 more when the local dealer can just sell it to you directly (and maybe discount that $500 commission).
 
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