fairly new cars on a used car lot

[T77911S]

when you see (especially an expensive car) a fairly new car on a used car lot, and especially a a lot that does not have any cars in it s class, do you think the car was a real lemon and the owner just wanted to get rid of it?
you know it doesn't even have to be an expensive car. if you see a car that is 1 or 2 yrs old on a used lot, does it make you wonder about the reliability of the car.
I know I would be less likely to buy a 2 yr old car off a lot than I would the original owner.

[GH85Carrera]

I have always assumed someone bought a car they always wanted and then discovered making large payments was not worth the price of owning that car.

I know of one friend's 20 something kid bought a new Corvette and after a few months realized that the car payment is just step one. Insurance was horrendous for him at his age. And he had to park it outside at the apartment he lived at. He learned an expensive lesson in economics. His dad told him flat out he was not going to bail him out. The kid insisted he was an adult and would buy the Corvette because it was a good deal. He was mistaken.

[id10t]

Former rentals or lease trade ins. Dumb parent bought a new driver a fancy car, kid screws up - drugs, tickets, bad grades, knocks up girl friend, whatever - and car is taken away.

[Norm K]

Consignment is always a possibility.

_

[Gogar]

The owner of the lot bought it at auction for kicks and drives it around with a dealer plate and doesn't have to pay taxes on it.

[masraum]

former rental cars, totals and accident victims that have been fixed, lemons, etc....

It also may be that the lots like that got a really good deal due to one of the above and are putting those up there as bait to get people on the lot.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by Gogar

The owner of the lot bought it at auction for kicks and drives it around with a dealer plate and doesn't have to pay taxes on it.

Mostly this

[legion]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

I have always assumed someone bought a car they always wanted and then discovered making large payments was not worth the price of owning that car.

This is probably pretty common among more "responsible" adults. I also had a friend who bought his dream car, drove it for three months, loved it, and found out his wife was unexpectantly pregnant. He sold it at a loss (basically ate his down payment) to get rid of the car payments.

Among the less responsible, some probably also get repossessed, some get recovered after they are "stolen", etc..

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by Gogar

The owner of the lot bought it at auction for kicks and drives it around with a dealer plate and doesn't have to pay taxes on it.

Yup, this.

[Paul_Heery]

Doug DeMuro covered this topic last week on Oversteer
Why Are There So Many Used Cars With Less Than 5,000 Miles? - Autotrader

[aigel]

Originally Posted by Paul_Heery

Doug DeMuro covered this topic last week on Oversteer
Why Are There So Many Used Cars With Less Than 5,000 Miles? - Autotrader

The answer is: Yes, they do. There are people who get bored with cars very quickly, and they swap them out constantly, frequently, several times a year. My friend Jordan is like this -- He'll text me and ask me what I think of the BMW X3, and then 4 days later we're driving it to dinner. I am in awe of this individual. He also has a boat.

HAHA!!!

Another one we have in the Bay Area is people that are here limited time for work assignments. You aren't going to bring that convertible back to BFE after the CA stint is up.

Personally, I would be suspect of a used car lot deal unless it is the dealership. I wrote recently about looking at a 1 year old GTI with 14k miles. Tempting ... and the car still is there too!

G

[onewhippedpuppy]

If the car is 2+ years old, the odds are that it was a lease. Take a look at the short term lease options that are out there, it's amazing how much people will pay to drive a car for a short period of time. At the end of the lease the cars are turned in and they go to auction, thousands every week. The vast majority of late model used cars are lease returns.

[T77911S]

Originally Posted by Gogar

The owner of the lot bought it at auction for kicks and drives it around with a dealer plate and doesn't have to pay taxes on it.

sure, but what is a 2-3 yr old corvette doing at an auction

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by T77911S

sure, but what is a 2-3 yr old corvette doing at an auction

Easy, the original owner had expensive insurance to start with, got a few tickets and the insurance went to more than the car payments. Time to liquidate.

[ckelly78z]

Lots of small town used car dealers buy cars from a big city auctions. Who knows where these cars came from unless you ask, and perform a title check/history/carfax. It makes you wonder if they're flood cars, or recovered stolen property that were taken to the auction and wholesaled, with title corrections.

[gshase]

I thought about this when I saw a High End used car dealer selling Porsche, Jaguar, BMW and Vets......They had 8 Hellcats all with less than 2K miles. Several had less than 500 miles. Who buys a Hellcat and only puts 1000 miles on it?

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Paul_Heery

Doug DeMuro covered this topic last week on Oversteer
Why Are There So Many Used Cars With Less Than 5,000 Miles? - Autotrader

This explains why there are so many low mileage cars on the market, but it doesn't answer why they are at auction.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by gshase

I thought about this when I saw a High End used car dealer selling Porsche, Jaguar, BMW and Vets......They had 8 Hellcats all with less than 2K miles. Several had less than 500 miles. Who buys a Hellcat and only puts 1000 miles on it?

My son is a sales manager in a dealership that handles Dodge. He sent one of his older, more responsible guys to pick up a Hellcat. When he got back, guy said he would never drive one again, apparently rather terrifying.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

This explains why there are so many low mileage cars on the market, but it doesn't answer why they are at auction.

Pretty much all lease cars go to auction, period. The lease is through the national finance arm of the OEM and not the dealership, auction is how they sell the cars. Most big dealerships also only keep inventory for a certain number of days and then take it to auction as a matter of policy.

[johnsjmc]

I bought a 2012 Boss 302 with 1200 mi on it The original owner bought it but he had bad or no eyesight in one eye He found the large "A" pillar to be a problem and traded it in on a new Corvette. I burned the tires off it all summer and traded it for exactly what I paid for it (now 4500 mi) on a deeply discounted F150 at years end. I decided to keep my 1966 Mustang fastback instead.