Are Bank Repo Cars Good Or Bad?
by Joshua Rose Platinum Quality Author
Like many things in life, repossessed cars come in all
forms ... the good, the bad and the ugly. What? There are actually nice
repos in good condition?
Of course there are. True, there are many to be avoided as well. In fact,
many people are frightened off from purchasing a repo because of the long
standing public perception that all these vehicles are "beat-up clunkers".
But the fact remains that there are many "almost new" cars available that
have also been repossessed.
It's simply in the law of numbers. For whatever unfortunate reason, a
certain percentage of car buyers will be unable to make their payments soon
after purchase.
How do I know this? Well, our company has bought and then resold literally
hundreds of vehicles that had been taken back by their lenders. We once
purchased a repo with less than 400 miles on it ... and have purchased many,
many more with less than 5,000 miles. Every one of them had an absolutely
clean CarFax Report and were under full Factory Warranty. But the prices we
paid were fairly extraordinary.
Why the bargains? First of all, the car value depreciation factor is
eliminated. A new car usually depreciates by somewhere in the range of 20%
as soon as it's driven off the lot. So, this is immediately deducted from
the price. But more importantly, lenders such as banks and credit unions are
not in the car selling business. They want a quick sale to reduce their loan
loss (the original car buyer is still responsible for the difference). This
typically leads to pricing that is difficult to match anywhere else. But
don't expect to pay $100 as is so often hyped on the internet. Excellent,
money-saving buys in the thousands of dollars? Yes. Nearly free? Just plain
silly.
The problem with saving thousands for consumers, however, is actually
locating these vehicles. Vehicles that have been taken back by a car
Dealership are simply resold on a lot at normal secondhand prices. But cars
that have been financed by local banks and credit unions present the best
opportunities. Again, they are not in the business of selling cars. And in
many jurisdictions, there are legal obstacles to their reselling cars
because of licensing and zoning issues.
Many of these lenders use outside companies that specialize in reselling
these cars at car auctions. And because they are often sold well below their
trade-in values, this is where the real money-saving opportunity lies.
Josh writes about how to locate car auctions (many can be difficult to
find), making sure any vehicle you're interested in is, in fact, in good
mechanical condition (even for the non-mechanic), what to expect from car
auction websites, and more at Bank Repo Car Opportunities.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joshua_Rose
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