If there's anything to note, besides the bid price, there is almost always a buyer's premium (typically 10%) and some "documentation" fees (typically from $50 to as much as $500). The biggest pitfall is that you can't test drive them.

At the worst, I've went to some that were fixed - the company held two auctions on different days ... and I saw the same cars at both auctions. This was a few years back, and that auction company seems to have since closed its doors.

Yes, you can expect it to be cheaper, but at the same time, it may not. And it's strictly AS-IS - what you see is what you get ... and what you didn't see - even worse.

When I bought my '74 at a charity auction, there was an '89 Sterling (Acura complexity, with the added "reliability" of British electronics :) on the block too. Well, after the drive-through, that Sterling didn't make it back to it's parking spot, and just cruised to the end of the strip where it stopped. I felt sorry for the individual who ended up shelling out $2k for a dead car.

FWIW, the roughness of my '74 was not a tune-up issue. It was a burnt exhaust valve.

-- Kane ... but at least I only spent about a day's pay for it.
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Blossom II - '91 745Ti/M46 ... Bubbles - '74 144GL/BW35 ... Buttercup II - ???