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Sunday, August 15, 2010

Good Points About The Damaged Auto Auction

By Tim Jackson

When most people pay to get damage to their cars repaired, there are some who spend their money to buy damaged cars. There is one simple reason for this - nothing is as cheap to buy as a damaged car; it may be available at a fraction of the cost of the equivalent new or even second had car.

If you have the interest and inclination to get involved in car restoration, then this could be the best way to get the kind of car you want for a fraction of what it would otherwise cost you. Buying from a damaged auto auction is very different from a general auction - the bidder has to balance his bidding with the expected restoration cost so that the final on the road price of the car is within his budget.

If you are one of those no knowledge of automobile mechanics, stay away from damaged auto auctions - while you may be able to buy a damaged car very cheap, without being able to understand the nature of repairs, you will not be able to control the restoration costs and this will make the whole exercise futile because the end result will be a car that costs more than you expected it to. The first thing to do is to study the list of cars available at a damaged auto auction and make a short list of the ones that interest you - this should be based on the type of car, the nature of the damage and the cost and effort of repair.

The cost and availability of spares for many older makes may be an issue so check on this before finalizing your shortlist. Get second opinions about the nature of the repairs required so that you can be sure that you have not bitten off more than you can chew - this involves getting an expert to inspect the cars you have short listed along with you. Once you have the cars and the repair costs available, make sure that an equivalent undamaged car would not be cheaper that what you will be spending.

Once you are sure that the economics of buying from a damaged auto auction makes sense, make sure that you do not let your self get involved in bidding wars and spend more than you planned - this will affect the final restored price of the car and could make to whole effort a waste of time. If you are willing to take all the time and trouble needed to restore a damaged car, you should be able to have a safe reliable car that will give you years of reliable service.

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