People love cars. And most people want bargains. Kicking the tires and talking down the price, people really love getting the best price on a car. Places with impounded cars for sale have some great bargains. That's known as an auction. And if you play your cards right, you can end up with a steal (pun intended.).

Where do the auctions find the cars? Often the police impound cars that belong to criminals or that were used in committing a crime. Laws are in place to allow authorities to take all the possessions away from drug dealers, for example. The city or state then has lots of cars, sometimes luxury cars, that they want to sell. Tickets also generate a lot of these cars. If the owner doesn't pay to reclaim the car, it's offered for sale.

Dealerships often sell or in turn auction off cars they purchase at auctions. They might also be purchased and then re-auctioned for a higher amount. It's no matter. A smart buyer can get the car for a song when its up for auction. But beware of some pitfalls of purchasing cars via auction. You can as easily end up a dissatisfied customer as a successful bargain hunter.

The first thing to keep in mind is these cars are generally sold with no warranty. All sales are final and it's up to you to do the homework”. In other words, the car is “as is”. It's not illegal to utilize puffery. Puffery is making unspecific claims about the benefits of the car such as “ideal for the daily commute.” There are even some tricky words involved in puffery such as “clean” or “in great condition.” The law says these aren't warranties even though they sound like it. But they're pretty meaningless.

The wise thing to do is go in with knowledge and expertise. Take a good look at the cars. Bring a mechanic with you if possible. Take advantage of the test drives most auctions offer. There may be bargains when there are impounded cars for sale. But remember that if it seems too good to be true it usually is.

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