School me on copart

[aigel]

I have been browsing cars on copart and am intrigued. Especially if I look at older stuff, where you could get a nice drivetrain and make one car out of two etc. I know Tim H. bought an RV there ...

1) Can you buy from them in CA without a business license?
2) Any restrictions for a private buyer otherwise?
3) Do they allow inspection or are you buying solely on pictures?
4) If you buy something, how do you drag it home?

What else do I have to know? Not a big fan of signing up online with my drivers license etc.

Thanks!

[JackDidley]

You can go to the lot and look. California requires a brokers license. I dont know a lot about it but they add some pretty big fees to the sale price. Info here.
https://www.copart.com/how-it-works/

[aigel]

I was worried about that in CA. Are there easy to use broker services? I am sure they add more fees.

[JackDidley]

Originally Posted by aigel

I was worried about that in CA. Are there easy to use broker services? I am sure they add more fees.

Yes, you can get a broker on the Copart site. They charge pretty big fees. I think you would do better if you found a dealer on your own. Auction prices are pretty crazy lately.

[Dantilla]

I have purchased a few from Insurance Auto Auctions Inc
http://iaai.com

Not familiar with California details, but I've attended the auctions in person, where I can look at the cars before they're auctioned.

[Skillet83]

True Copart story. I leased a Toyota 4Runner for my wife as a Christmas present. I turned it back in to Hudiburg in Midwest City, OK (just east of OKC) at end of lease. Bought her a Lexus LS 4 series. She wanted that 4 Runner back. I kept getting notices the car was never returned. 1999 F5 tornado goes through Moore, OK, then the Mid-Del area. 2 months later after more notices I get a letter from Copart they have my vehicle. I think, okay, gonna go get this 4Runner back for my wife. Show up at the Copart location in OKC, present paper work, say I wanna have a look. 10 minutes later they bring it out on a huge forklift. Took a direct hit from F5. It was twisted and mangled, full of sod, mud. Hard to imagine what it once was. Told em you can keep it, settled it with BOA.

[Tim Hancock]

The rules are different depending on the state in regards to what type of license is required to buy salvage vehicles. Some states an individual can maybe buy say an atv but not a car. Or one could buy a boat but not a motorcycle. It is weird and frustrating. There are broker services that will bid for you but they do indeed charge money for their service. Also, there are fees that Copart charges you on every vehicle you win. I won my coach for about $12k but by the time I got it home I had about $14k in it with Copart auction fees, storage fees and wrecker fees. The Copart I bought my coach from in Dayton Ohio only allows one to look at vehicles in person on one day a week and they only let you go out with an employee to look at basically one vehicle you are interested in. Others there to do the same have to wait on that employee to return so they can then go out and look at a vehicle. It is ridiculous. I am guessing it is due to insurance reasons.

I considered at one time getting a used car selling license to allow me to more easily buy cars at these auctions but there are too many hoops to jump through at least here in Ohio.... Unfortunate as I am pretty good at fixing about anything and would enjoy buying many more vehicles but it is just too big of a pain in the ass and if using a broker, the deals often become not deals because of the extra fees. I still look once in awhile, but it is not as easy as I would like it to be. If I had a copart local to me, it would be easier. The one I bought my coach from is over 2 hours drive away so it irequired me to take off work to inspect and then return to buy it a week later.

[rattlsnak]

Don't need anything special in Ga. I have bought 4 cars off of Copart so far, all with good success. Fees were minimal at best..