| You can get great deals when you buy a car at | | | | Extended warranties have a bad reputation and many |
| auction and the online world allows you to bid on | | | | of them deserve it. Businesses generally make more |
| auctions all over the world. Sometimes these great | | | | money on the extended warranties than they do off |
| deals are suspiciously great deals. How do you avoid | | | | the products they sell, even offering expensive |
| getting burned? | | | | warranties on items with very low incidence of |
| Buyer Beware | | | | breakdown. |
| Though many online auction companies are very | | | | However warranties are still a good investment, |
| honest and reputable, many are not and the | | | | especially on a used item. Rather than going through |
| consequences can be severe. Buyers should never | | | | the seller, purchase a policy through an independent |
| take the dealer's word for anything. There are a lot of | | | | warranty company. Shop carefully and don't |
| scams run by professional-looking sellers and even | | | | automatically choose the cheapest policy; you get |
| legitimate companies can make mistakes. | | | | what you pay for. Get the warranty quote before |
| Always run a history report on the vehicle's VIN | | | | bidding on the car. |
| through a service like AutoCheck or Carfax. Not only | | | | Use a Reliable Car Shipping Service |
| does this show obvious things like title checks and | | | | So you won the auction and you now have a car, but |
| accident history, but it can also draw your attention to | | | | it's a thousand miles away. Now what? |
| things that might not ever occur to you. For example, | | | | Some dealers include car shipping but many won't. |
| after Hurricane Katrina, tens of thousands of cars | | | | Sure you can fly out and drive the car home. That |
| have been salvaged, rebuilt, and sold in out-of-state | | | | means the cost of a plane ticket, a night or two in a |
| auctions. | | | | motel, fuel expenses, plus a lot of wear and tear on |
| Get a third-party inspection. Use a mechanic you | | | | the vehicle. |
| choose not the one the seller might recommend. Don't | | | | Instead, contact a car shipping company and have |
| believe pictures, you don't have proof those pictures | | | | them do the work. They will pick up the car, put it on a |
| are even of the car you are bidding on. Some online | | | | truck, and drive it right to your door. Even if the seller |
| auction sites like eBay offer their own car inspection | | | | offers car shipping, you can probably save money by |
| services. | | | | arranging the auto transport yourself. |
| Get an Extended Warranty, But Not from the Seller | | | | Buying cars online can be a safe experience that |
| Used cars are used cars and, no matter how carefully | | | | saves you money. Use a little common sense and |
| rebuilt, are more prone to breakdowns and other | | | | you'll save yourself headaches as well. |
| problems than new cars. | | | | |