1. Auto Auction Guide
Atlanta 2010
How to buy a car at a public auction like a pro!
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2. Auto Auction Guide. 2010 Ed.
Georgia.
AUTO AUCTIONS:
An auto auction is a business that acts as the middle-man between a buyer and a seller. They work
for the seller and not the buyer. There is two basic types of auto auctions, Public and Dealer.
Auto auction houses get their inventory from several sources, below are the main ones:
• Dealer consignment, these are vehicles car dealers own. Car dealers get these vehicles as
customer trade-ins or buy them from other dealers or auctions.
• Salvage, these are auctions held by a local salvage yard and impounds, the vehicles are sold
to collect past due towing and storage fees.
• Repo’s, these are vehicles repossessed by finance companies after a borrower stops making
payments.
• Off Lease, these vehicles are owned by leasing companies and are usually 2-4 years old.
Most of these vehicles are available to dealers only.
• Government, these are vehicles sold by the federal or local government. You can also find
IRS and border patrol seized vehicles.
• Fleet, these are vehicles owned by large companies and are sold after a few years.
• Rental, these are newer model vehicles and were used as daily rentals.
Auction Lingo.
Run List:
List of vehicles that will "run" at the next auction.
Auction Block:
The area at which the vehicle is being auctioned.
Market Report:
List of all previous sales at the auction with the winning bid price.
Bid Price:
Bid accepted from the auction floor or block on that unit.
Floor or reserve price:
A minimum amount that the seller will take for their vehicle.
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3. Lane:
Where the vehicle runs to be auctioned off. Every lane has an auctioneer assigned to it. Example,
Lane A, Lane 1 etc.
Run Number, Inventory Number or lot Number:
Location of vehicle in a particular run, example: A12.
In-Op:
These vehicles do not run. Inoperative.
Clean Title:
No title defects. This does not mean the car does not have accidents, just that it wasn’t bad enough
to be salvage.
Rebuilt Title:
Car has previous salvage history and has been rebuilt and inspected by state and reinstated for
use.
Salvage Title:
Title issued on a total loss vehicle due to an accident.
Buy Fee:
This is an amount charged by the auction house above and beyond the winning bid. It’s usually
proportional to the price of the vehicle.
Bid # or Bidder's #:
Issued at registration and used when purchasing a vehicle, every buyer has a number.
Absolute”
Vehicle that does not have a "floor" price, will sell for the highest bid.
"if" or "verified with seller purchased":
If seller isn't present or not sure, the sale will be pending his approval.
Red Light:
Vehicle sold "AS IS" “WHERE IS” which means they carry no warranty of any kind either expressed
or implied.
Green Light:
Some kind of implied guarantee is attached to the vehicle. Listen for the Auctioneer’s remarks for
more info.
Ride and Drive:
The buyer has the right to drive and inspect the vehicle before paying for it and withdraw from the
sale if major items are discovered.
Ring-man:
This is the auctioneer’s assistant, he collects bids from the auction floor.
Title Attached:
This is actually confusing because it means exactly the opposite. Title is not present at the time of
sale.
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4. Public Auto Auction Houses:
This guide does not include junkyard or impound auctions as we NEVER recommend them. You can get better
deals at regular public auto auctions 100% of the time.
Always call these auctions before visiting them and always pull a run list and highlight the vehicles you are
interested in the most and pull reports on them (see page 6).
ABC Red Top Atlanta
www.redtopaa.com
444 Joe Frank Harris Parkway
Cartersville, GA 30120
770-382-1010
Public Auction Tuesdays @ 6:00PM
Adesa Atlanta.
http://www.adesa.com/Atlanta
5055 Oakley Industrial Blvd.
Fairburn, GA 30213
770-357-2277
Public Auction 3rd Thursday of the month @ 9:30AM.
Athens Auto Auction.
http://www.athensautoauctionga.com
5050 Atlanta Hwy
Bogart, GA 30622
770-725-7676
Public Auction every Tuesday @ 6:30PM.
Blue Ridge Auto Auction
http://www.blueridgeautoauction.com
107 Whitepath Road
Ellijay, GA 30540
706-635-1500
Public Auction Tuesdays @ 6:00PM
Georgia-Carolina Auto Auction
http://www.gcautoauction.com
884 East Ridgeway Road
Commerce, GA 30529
706-335-5300
Public Auction Wednesday @ 7:00PM and Fridays @ 6:30PM
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5. Manheim Metro Atlanta
http://www2.manheim.com/locations/BBAA/events
2244 Metropolitan Pkwy SW
Atlanta , GA 30315
(404) 767-3652
Public Auction 2nd and 3rd Tuesday of the month @ 2:00PM
Oakwood's Arrow Auto Auction
http://oakwoodsarrowautoauction.com/
4712 Flat Creek Rd.
Oakwood , GA 30566
770-532-4624
Public Auction Thursdays @ 6:00PM
Peach State Auto Auction
http://www.peachstateautoauction.com
2970 Highway 78 SW
Loganville, GA 30052
770-466-9000
Public Auction Mondays & Wednesday @ 7:00PM
Southeastern Auto Auction
http://www.southeasternaa.com
1712 Dean Forest Road
Savannah, GA 31408
912-965-9901
Public Auction Every Thursday @ 7:00PM
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6. Online Public Auto Auctions:
These are government websites.
http://www.govdeals.com
http://gsaauctions.gov
http://autoauctions.gsa.gov
Private websites:
http://www.copart.com
http://motors.ebay.com
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7. Before you Bid:
1. Pull a vehicle history report, there is two main sources, www.carfax.com or www.autocheck.com ,
you get 1 free report with this guide. Additional reports are $5 each
2. You can also run a free vin check for salvage title at:
https://www.nicb.org/theft_and_fraud_awareness/vincheck/vincheck
3. Inspect the vehicle, if you know nothing about cars then bring somebody with you.
4. Have an idea what the car is worth. www.kbb.com or www.edmunds.com or www.nadaguides.com
or you can text us the VIN# and miles and we will give you free Black Book Value which is the
most accurate.
5. Look up what others are selling their cars for www.autotrader.com or www.cars.com
6. Make sure the vehicle has GA emissions, you can do this using this website:
http://www.cleanairforce.com/motorists/virreprints.php
7. Don’t be the first to bid on the vehicle you want, but make sure you keep eye contact with the
auctioneer.
You can text us any questions you have 9AM to 9PM. 678-404-0455.
Good Luck.
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