It is easy to overlook Cincinnati GSA auto auctions as a way to buy cheap government owned cars because most people look to other areas in Ohio. While Cincinnati may not be the largest city in Ohio, with the population of just below 300,000 people, however it is the largest Metro area with a total population of more than 2,130,000 people. With so many people in such a small area, Cincinnati becomes an ideal location for the federal government to hold GSA auto auctions. If you haven’t considered this as an option, here’s a quick look at what GSA auctions are, why they allow you to buy government owned cars so inexpensively, and what you can expect when participating in them.
Introduction to GSA Auto Auctions in Cincinnati
The GSA is the General Services Administration for the United States government. Essentially, this agency oversees the business side of running a government. Essentially, they are in charge of making the purchases for the federal government. This includes things like buildings, real estate, products, and services. They also provide solutions for state and local governments as well – normally for law enforcement, firefighting, and rescue equipment. The GSA also sells items once the federal government no longer uses them. As such, they are the institution which will organize and oversee the auctioning of government owned cars.
The General Services Administration takes fleet vehicles that are no longer in use for all branches of government and splits them up into auctions which are held in every state. In Ohio, there are normally government auctions that include federal fleet vehicles every few months. Since Cincinnati is the largest Metro area in Ohio, it becomes an ideal place to hold government auctions for federal property. The goal of the GSA is to pass savings on to the citizenry because it is your tax dollars that were used to purchase these vehicles in the first place. In some cases, state, county, and city auctions can be held in conjunction with the GSA, although they tend to be separate in most cases.
Why Do Cincinnati GSA Auto Auctions Allow You to Buy Cheap Government Owned Cars?
If you don’t have much experience with government auctions then you may be wondering why they are allowing their fleet vehicles to be sold so cheaply. There are several reasons for this. The primary reason is that fleet vehicles that are no longer in use still cost the government money to hold onto. This comes in the form of regular maintenance and storage space. As a result, giving them away would actually be a better financial decision than hanging onto them. For decades, the government has sold used property of all types back to residents in an effort to pass on any potential savings that they could.
The reason that you can buy cheap government owned cars at auction is because they are still not have high attendance rates in comparison to how many cars are made available. Essentially, the supply is much greater than the demand and because it is more expensive for the government to keep the vehicles, they are content to sell them at whatever price the highest bidder is willing to pay. As long as the supply continues to remain high, the prices will always be low. Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean every single vehicle will go cheap. There will always be a handful of used cars and trucks that are only a year to all that have very low mileage on them and they will still receive a lot of attention from bidders. Since the US federal government tends to purchase items, including vehicles, in bulk, the chance of purchasing a few extra vehicles is high. As a result they are quickly sent to auction.
What Types of Government Owned Cars Should You Expect at Cincinnati GSA Auto Auctions?
While is impossible to predict exactly what vehicles will be made available at any particular auction, there are some general assumptions that you can make based upon previous auction listings over the past decade. For the most part, the government owned cars will be from an American manufacturer and will be 5 to 10 years old.
In the last several auctions the most common vehicles listed were the Chevrolet Impala, Chevrolet Malibu, Dodge Avenger, Ford Taurus, and the Pontiac G6. In the auctions held in 2011, most of these vehicles were manufactured between 2005 and 2011. The mileage tended to range between 30,000 and 100,000 miles. In general, compact sedans tend to have a higher mileage because they are used for interstate travel and are the fleet vehicles that are used for traveling as opposed to labor
It is important to keep in mind that by focusing on the types of cars which are most readily available at GSA auctions, you will be able to pay the lowest prices. Any time that an auction listing has a large number of two or three different types of vehicles, those specific models tend to be much cheaper than anything else. The reason for this is that since so many of them are available, most people won’t be willing to get into a bidding war. As a result, each of those vehicles will tend to have the lowest prices.
As you can see, Cincinnati GSA auto auctions are a great place to buy cheap government owned cars. Not only do these vehicles tend to be extremely reliable and well maintained, but they also give you the opportunity to maximize your savings. The key is to target the models that are dominating the listings because they will have the lowest average price since the supply will far out-pace the demand.
