Forget about the public auctions. I promise you, that's sound advice. People go CRAZY for prices there. It's utterly nothing like wholesale auction, but it's hyped as such.

There are public sales that you can go to here and there. Mostly charity sales. Some are dealer only, but some are open to the public. Mostly, the charity sales have some serious shrapnel there, but there is the occasional decent piece. You have to look through them carefully.

The problem with auctions is, once you get on the elevator, there's no telling where it's going to stop. You'll hear of some deals, but consider "What Ifs".

What if you started bidding also. How high would it go? Where does it stop?
What if you ended up paying more than you wanted for that car?
What if you have problems with it, that you couldn't verify before bidding?

Are the bids legitimate? Perhaps, but maybe not. You have no way of knowing if someone starts the bidding on a car so that the auction house gets a certain reserve. I could see that happening, so that they have a guaranteed return on their investment.

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chris herbst, five volvos.