Copart Gems from Yesterday's N. Portland Auction.

"maristgrad" (maristgrad)
08/06/2015 at 17:45 • Filed to: Copart, Auctions, Cheap cars

I love Copart.com as my numerous postings suggest. There’s something inherently exciting and addictive bidding on cars that have been cast away by their previous owners or insurance companies. Many consider it a gamble and its easy to get burnt on a car you can’t test drive, but it feels amazing when you pay thousands below KBB and the car actually works as advertised.

I actually trust buying cars off copart more than buying a random car off craigslist. Each lot is slightly different but the Portland Oregon location provides you with as much information as possible and let’s you personally inspect each vehicle for leaks, frame damage etc.

Here are a few of the gems from this weeks auction and what I ended up buying

2005 Toyota Sequoia

Runs Drives absolutely no cosmetic damage, sold for $4500

2013 Audi A4

Runs Drives Front fender damage, no airbags deployment, sold for $11k

2001 Saab

Not really my kind of car but sold for $900 with Run + Drive guarantee

The 2014 Audi q5 or 7 ended selling for $26k

It was missing both mirrors though, maybe previous owner thought it was a smaller q3 and tried to fly through a super narrow alleyway, either way he’s lucky he only lost the mirrors.

And what I ended buying for the price of an used iPhone ($400) a 2005 Chrysler Sebring Touring (with clean OR title!!!)

Sure it’s a pretty basic domestic with a V6 but it runs and drives great and I only paid $400!?!? I dont even know what to do with this car since it was so cheap. I don’t really want to sell it because I would feel guilty selling it anywhere near market price ($2000-$3500), but I don’t really want to just give it away either (I’ll probably end up doing the later after a little hoonage shenanigans )

But forget about me, I’m sharing this information so you all know, you can pretty much buy any car you want for a fraction of it’s price if you’re willing to put a little elbow grease into it. I’ll keep you guys posted on what I end up doing with the Sebring and I still have this sweet 2004 S80 T6 twin turbo

from last week’s auction so I really need to slow down on buying cars but it’s soooo much fun. So if you’re into having fun in affordable unwanted cars, Copart is your best friend.

DISCUSSION (16)

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > maristgrad
08/06/2015 at 18:01

$400? What’s even wrong with it?

Decay buys too many beaters > maristgrad
08/06/2015 at 18:04

Ive been meaning to play a bit with copart, do you only bid on “pure sale” auctions? Or do sellers come down on the “on approval” listings

maristgrad > Decay buys too many beaters
08/06/2015 at 18:07

I usually go for pure sales with run and drive guarantees for the best deals, but sellers often do come down in price if you’re willing to come up a little and hold firm.

Master Cylinder > maristgrad
08/06/2015 at 18:11

Nice buy - $400 for just about any running car is almost never going to be a bad deal. I’ve looked at CoPart before but have never bid on anything. It strikes me as a great way to get an engine for a swap - get the motor and all the electronics and accessories, part the rest, and maybe even break even or turn a profit.

maristgrad > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe
08/06/2015 at 18:11

That’s what I’m trying to figure out, I’ve only driven it 30 miles to my house. I’m going to comb through it this weekend. The only thing I can guess it maybe it’s close to replacing the timing chain but I need more time under the hood to figure it out, there aren’t any stickers certifying timing belt work. It doesn’t overheat (so far) transmission is smooth, so I don’t know if Im just lucky or if this car has a really fucked up problem that isnt obvious.

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > maristgrad
08/06/2015 at 18:13

Sounds like you did get lucky for the most part. Either way, for $400, you’re not really out too much.

pjhusa > maristgrad
08/06/2015 at 18:16

Dang. Too bad they don’t have this in the East Coast.

I would sacrifice my iPhone upgrade for a freaking automobile!

And still have pocket change.

maristgrad > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe
08/06/2015 at 18:17

My thoughts exactly, I can eat a $400 loss if there was a catastrophic problem, and realistically I could just part it out to recoup the money and break even. Ill take it by DEQ for emissions testing tomorrow, that’ll help with clear up any questions as well.

maristgrad > pjhusa
08/06/2015 at 18:34

They have lots in every state, but not every state lets you bid on auction cars without a business license. Check out their list of locations here http://ww2.copart.com/US/Locations

pjhusa > maristgrad
08/06/2015 at 18:37

Never mind, after a quick check on that site, there are a few locations in NY! great!

I searched for Copart before and never found one here, hmm strange.

Unless that was a different company.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > maristgrad
08/06/2015 at 19:04

400 for a drivable car is NP NP NP... squared to the cubed power.

And it looks like it has no real cosmetic damage, just signs of useage... jelly.

E92M3 > maristgrad
08/06/2015 at 19:04

Interesting...I was under the impression every car they had was totalled by an insurance company. I wonder where that Sebring came from?

Alex B > maristgrad
08/06/2015 at 19:56

I would totally buy that Q7 for 26K assuming the mirrors are the only thing that has been damaged.

AM3R shamefully returns > maristgrad
08/06/2015 at 21:14

I would have absolutely snagged that Q7... Easy $40k car. Looking to get my mom into one soon.

maristgrad > Alex B
08/06/2015 at 21:15

That was the only thing listed in the damage report but it doesn’t say if it was from vandalism or if it was an actual accident

Tyler5447 > maristgrad
08/06/2015 at 23:22

I went in to our local copart yard to see about selling some wrecked vehicles from the fleet at work. I had to turn around and run before I got myself in trouble dragging cheap vehicles home. I checked out the website and found so many cheap old cars.