Over the past few years, there have been an increasing number of Illinois government car auctions that sell cheap cars. This is not dissimilar to other states across the country. Illinois has been a leader in terms of embracing the internet as a useful tool for vehicle auctions. It is used for auctions held by the state and local governments as well as any federally sponsored auctions within Illinois. Here is a closer look at how these auctions operate within the state and how you can best take advantage of them.
All of the state auctions in Illinois are managed and administered through the CMS (Department of Central Management Services). Along with handling state-level auctions, they are also overseeing local surplus auctions that contain fleet vehicles used by the federal government. In most cases, all of the surplus property will be housed in warehouses which are located in Springfield. This means that when you make a purchase at Illinois government car auctions that sell cheap cars, either at a live auction or online, you may need to arrange transportation from the Springfield warehouses.
In most cases, government car auctions held by the counties, cities, and towns will be separate from a state auction. This is beneficial to car buyers because it means that you will be able to find a much greater number of upcoming auctions. It also provides you with the maximum opportunity to find cheap cars that are still of a high quality. If you are looking for the least expensive option than surplus auctions will normally be the place to start.
Aside from surplus/fleet auctions, the other option is to look into government auctions in which the ownership of the vehicle was transferred to the state or city. These types of auctions are most well-known as police to impound auctions. These auctions take place because people get their car impounded or abandon it. If your car is impounded and you don’t claim it within a certain amount of time, the city or state has the right to claim the title and sell it in order to recoup the costs associated with storing it. The reason that police impound auctions tend to be a little more expensive is because there are rarely multiple vehicles of the same make and model. As a result, if three or four people are all looking for a specific vehicle then they will all be bidding against each other because only one will be available at the auction. On the other hand, at surplus government car auctions, there will normally be multiple vehicles of the same make and model. This means that those same three or four people could all purchase their own preferred vehicle without really needing to bid against each other.
Using the Internet to Find Illinois Government Car Auctions That Sell Cheap Cars
There are a variety of online auction sites which have teamed up with state and local governments across the country. As a result, you can use these websites to either find detailed listings about upcoming auctions or place a bid yourself. Depending on which online auto auction website you choose to use, the listings can provide a variety of useful information. To give you an idea as to what these listings include as well as some of the cars that will likely be available, here are a few listings from recent auctions.
If you are targeting surplus vehicles which used to be used by the federal government, but are now sold in Illinois then there is a standard format in which the listings will use. Some of the more important information that you will receive includes the Vin number, make and model, year, and mileage. There will also be a bevy of additional information that will help you assess the value of the vehicle. This includes factors such as engine type, type of transmission, air conditioning, interior fabric and color, type of radio/CD player, exterior color, number of seats, and much more. Additionally, these listings tend to provide this information in a fact sheet format. This makes the information easy to download and sort through using Excel. Plus, depending on the auction website that you are using, you may be able to filter this information online to get more precise results.
If you are more interested in state or local Illinois government auctions then the listings tend to be a little more casual. Instead of using a fact sheet style format, you will tend to find a paragraph or two which provides all of the information that would normally show up in a fact sheet. You will also get additional information as to the overall working order of the vehicle. For example, a recent listing of a 2003 vehicle noted that it did start, but may need a new battery because it had to be jump started It also stated that there were some holes on the interior where the equipment had been removed. Is this additional information which makes placing your bid much easier, because with more information it becomes easier to accurately determine the value of the vehicle. Another thing to keep in mind is that federal auto auction websites tend to only have one or two pictures of the vehicle, while state and local auctions tend to have many more.
