It is become common to see headlines like “new cars going cheap at Waco car auctions in Texas.” While it is incredibly difficult to find cars that are 100% new, the ones which are available are definitely going cheap around Waco and elsewhere. The key to getting the lowest possible prices on late-model vehicles is knowing which auctions to pay close attention to. Here’s a closer look at some of the different auction types that are commonly held around Waco and how to bring home a nearly new car for as cheap as possible.
Bank Owned Auto Auctions Offers the Greatest Chance of Getting a New Car Cheap
In most cases, your best chance of getting a new car or nearly new car cheap at an auto auction is by focusing on ones which feature bank owned vehicles. At bank owned auctions, you will not only find bank owned vehicles but also recently leased vehicles as well. Both of these offer you the ability to buy cars that are anywhere from a month-old to several years old. Additionally, since these auctions will have a greater number of late-model vehicles, the overall price is much lower than at other types of auto auctions.
Bank owned vehicles are those which have been repossessed because the previous owner could not make their payments. The reason that these types of cars go cheap is because the bank doesn’t want to have physical assets, such as cars, trucks, or houses. They make their living off of liquid assets, more specifically by lending money and generating income off of the interest rates. As a result, it is much more financially beneficial for them to sell repossessed physical assets at a below market rate so they have more liquid assets to let out. While it is true that they will attempt to recoup the entire amount of the loan, it doesn’t have to be done entirely through the sale of the vehicle.
In Texas, as well as the rest of the country, the bank can legally recoup their entire debt from the lender. Once they sell the repossessed car, any remaining balance on the loan must still be paid off by the previous owner. In order to get the cheapest new cars at these auctions try to focus on vehicles which have already been up on the auction block and didn’t receive any bids. When this happens, the bank will place the car back on the auction block a second or third time and lower the opening bit each time. By waiting, you can get these cars much cheaper. The trade-off is that you will have less selection to choose from.
Another strategy is to focus on previously leased vehicles instead of repossessed vehicles. If you have never leased a car before then you may not realize that the dealership doesn’t own the vehicle. Instead, leasing companies will purchase the vehicle outright. Once the lease is up, the owner has an option to purchase the vehicle or give it back to the leasing company. Once it is in the leasing company’s session, they will put it up for auction. Much like banks, leasing companies prefer liquid assets. Additionally, if the lease payments are not made then the leasing company will repossess the vehicle just like a bank would. The benefit to focusing on these vehicles is that they will often have a lower opening bid. Additionally, because formerly leased vehicles are normally a year or two old, they will get less attention at a bank owned vehicle auction then the newer bank repossessed cars.
If you find that the new cars going cheap at Waco car auctions in Texas are still a little too expensive then looking into government fleet auctions might be a solid alternative. The city of Waco actually has ongoing auctions which open and close on a quarterly basis. In fact, they are now held entirely online which means that you can utilize online auto auction websites in order to view these vehicles and place your bids. Additionally, some surrounding cities will send their cars to Waco in order to hold their auctions online as well. Regardless of which type of auction you end up utilizing, you will be able to walk away with a nearly new car much cheaper than if you went through a private seller or dealership.
