Your oppinions on buying repossesed cars?

[RyanEwert87]

I was looking today at some and found some nice cars that were just examples of what you can get from doing this. They were 2000 and on luxury cars for like 5k. I thought it was some kind of scam or catch at first. I still don't believe in it untill someone here tells me its true. If it is the case I will be looking for an E46 M3 instead of E36.

[gobuffs]

no problems on a repossessed car.....BUT....if it sounds too good to be true it is. Not many luxury cars built from 2000 on are worth just $5k. Banks reposses them but they don't give them away.

[DeanP]

Have you ever watched those repo shows where the towtruck driver hooks the car then drags it down the street to get it clear of the owners property before he picks up on the sling. Just go into the deal with your eyes wide open. Often they are sold as a no implied warranty type sale, as is.

[JTFormula]

I have done repos myself when I owned my towing company. A lot of them were voluntary repos. I had keys and went to the house then drove the cars onto the truck. Some were not which meant I had to grab the car without them knowing. Sometimes it was easy other times I had to drag. The small distance it was moved would not damage anything.

Many banks are only interested in getting back what is owed. I bought a few cars from them for half of what the retail value was. You have to watch some repo auctions though. They will put shill bidders in the crowd to get the prices of the cars up and over the owed amount to make more money on the car. I deal directly with the bank before it goes to auction to save the hassle.

Make sure you get the chance to check it out before buying the car. You will not be able to send it to a shop so make sure you know what you are looking at.

Where are these cars and how did you find out about it.

[Wiseguy ON]

Since when are banks allowed to sell repos directly? Legally they have to be auctioned and anything left over and above the payoff legally has to be returned to the debtor. I'm a dealer.. A large number of the CPO BMWs out there are repos.

[DaneA4]

My dad bought a repo from a contact he had at the local credit union. Generally, a car that is reposessed isn't in perfect shape, or they would have kept up with the payments. Even without a warranty or any kind of mechanical check-up, it can be a very good deal. The car we got only cost us half of dealership retail. The only reason we even considered it was because we know the guy very well and trust him.

It's a risk, but worth taking. I can't imagine that any repairs you might incur would cost more than what you saved.

[JTFormula]

The banks I know sell some of their repos though the company I work for now. I buy from them sometimes for the amount owed. They rarely go through auctions. They work with several dealers they finance with so they can get more money for the cars, or at least get the sold fast for the remaining balance.

[///w3fl3x]

There were a couple e46 m3 that went at the local auction recently for ~23k. Seems to be in good shape. It was posted by a member over at dtmpower.

I'm sure you won't get an e46 m3 for 5k. Maybe an e36 m3 for that price.