Public Auto Auctions Are Excellent In Many Ways
So what exactly are public auto auctions? Public car auctions are events where you and dealers alike can purchase cars by bidding on them. You can have a ton of fun doing it, and you can get just what you want and pay just what you want.
Price getting too high? Just stop. You would pay a lot more for that cherry red convertible but no one else is bidding? Fantastic! That’s what common automobile auctions can do for you; you don’t have to be a slave to the demands of the dealer; you can buy the same way he does and avoid the markup.
There are a couple of ways to get a car or truck from public auto auctions. You can be traditional and attend the auction in person. In that case, you would join the others who are interested in getting a vehicle also, and you would raise your bid paddle when you have found the perfect vehicle for you.
Another way to buy from vehicle auctions is live via the Internet. Several auction houses now have real-time online bidding; if the auction is not located close to where you live, you can still bid on what you want right from your home PC, while others are bidding also. This is actual bidding just as if you were sitting there in the bidding gallery; you simply enter your bids via the computer instead of sitting there and holding your bid number up for the auctioneer assistant to see.
Sometimes, you can find a real bargain basement price for a car at truck/auto auctions. Several sites have cars that have been donated and offer those vehicles with no minimum bid. That means if you bid fifty bucks and no one else wants that particular vehicle, you can have your car for fifty bucks. How cool is that? Most of the time there is a reason that cars are donated, of course. They probably need work – maybe even a lot of work – but if you are mechanically inclined, why not?
If you want to add to your collection of vehicles, want to buy cheap and fix it up, need a reliable second car, or want to get a vehicle for any reason, there is no need to be limited any longer. You can buy your car the same way the dealers do – at auction. Public auto auctions are the way to go.
The Decision To Buy Or Lease Cars
It’s the classic dilemma that faces every auto-consumer. Pay cash upfront or forgo the ownership and pay monthly settlements instead? Buy or lease for a new set of wheels? As is the case with every other common dilemma, there is right answer. Each option has its own benefits and drawbacks, and it all depends on a set of financial and personal considerations.
First, your finances. Affordability is clearly key, and you need to ask the question of how stable is your job and how healthy is your general financial situation. The short-term monthly cost of leasing is significantly lower than the monthly payments when buying: you only pay for the portion of the vehicle’s cost that you use up during the time you drive it.
If you have a lot of cash upfront, then you can opt to pay the down payment, sales taxes – in cash or rolled into a loan – and the interest rate determined by your loan company. Buying effectively gives you ownership of the car and that feeling of “free driving” that goes on providing transportation. If you want to get into luxury models but can’t afford the upfront cash of purchasing the vehicle than you’re a good candidate for leasing. Unlike buying, it gives you the option of not having to fork out the down payment upfront, leaving you to pay a lower money factor that is generally similar to the interest rate on a financing loan. However, these benefits have a price: terminating a lease early or defaulting on your monthly lease payments will result in stiff financial penalties and can ruin your credit. You need to make sure you carve out the monthly lease payment in your budget for the foreseeable future, at least for the duration of the lease.
Besides the financial aspect, making a buy or lease decision depends on your own particular lifestyle choices and preferences. Think about what the car means to you: are you the sort of person to bond with the car or would you rather have the excitement of something new? If you want to drive a car for more than fives years, negotiate carefully and buy the car you like. If, on the other hand, you don’t like the idea of ownership and prefer to drive a new car every two to three years then you should lease.
Next, factor your transportation needs: How many miles do you drive a year? How properly do you maintain your cars? If your answer is: “I drive 40,000 miles a year and I don’t really care much about my cars as I don’t mind dealing with repair bills”, then you’re probably better off buying. Leasing is based on the assumption of limited-mileage, usually no more than 12,000 to 15,000 miles a year, and wear-and-tear considerations. Unless you can keep within the prescribed mileage limits and keep the car in a good condition at the end of your lease, you might incur hefty end-of-lease costs.
