| It is often dog eat dog when it comes to bidding on | | | | compartment and assess a few things. First, whether |
| cars at an auction. The issue is how do you go about | | | | the car has been regularly maintained or not. Second, |
| knowing what is worth bidding on and which vehicles | | | | whether anything is missing. Third, the condition of the |
| should be avoided like the plague? One strategy is to | | | | frame and what the wear patterns on the tire indicate. |
| bring a secret weapon. | | | | Fourth, whether there is some obvious issue that you |
| An auto auction comes with a preliminary period of | | | | need to know about. |
| vehicle review. You can see the car sitting and | | | | So, how do you find a mechanic willing to do this? Well, |
| occasionally they will fire it up for you. That, however, | | | | you might know one and be able to bribe them or call |
| is about it. You have no idea if there is some major | | | | in a favor if this is a one time deal. If you intend on |
| mechanical issue or the car is in perfect condition. | | | | turning your bidding efforts into a business, you can |
| More importantly, you don't know if the car will just | | | | work a deal where you commit to giving them any |
| need a tune up or some major, expensive work. | | | | repair work on the vehicles. The idea of a steady |
| Without this knowledge, bidding on various cars is a bit | | | | stream of business, particularly in this economy, is an |
| of a crapshoot and this is where our secret weapon | | | | attractive proposition to most people. |
| can take a lot of the guess work out of the game. | | | | So, is your secret weapon a guarantee you will get a |
| What is our secret weapon? It isn't a weapon so | | | | quality car? No. Nobody can know the condition of an |
| much as it is a person. If you are serious about getting | | | | engine and transmission thoroughly without firing up the |
| a good deal on a quality car, you are going to want to | | | | car and doing diagnostic tests. Still, the use of a |
| bring a mechanic with you. Think about it. What is a | | | | mechanic will greatly cut down on the risk of problems |
| mechanic going to be able to tell you? They are going | | | | and that makes it a good move. |
| to be able to look under the car and in the engine | | | | |