I still remember the first time I bought a used car for sale. I was 17, and I was borrowing a big chunk of the money from my parents. Don’t get me wrong – I worked for some of the money, but my after school job did not make me enough to afford a car that ran. I really wanted to go to a car auction, but my mom wouldn’t let me. She claimed that public car auctions were a bad idea unless you really knew what you were doing around cars. After all, with auctions cars what you see is what you get. You don’t really have the luxury of taking it into a mechanic before you bid on it. You look at a repossessed car, hear a little bit of history about it, and make your bid. The rule at a car auction is buyer beware.
Nevertheless, I was pretty bitter about not being able to go to any car auctions. It was nice of my parents to lend me money, but I knew that if I had been able to make my own purchase I would have been able to get a car without the help. I probably could have afforded something much better than the old beater I got. Still, it was nice to have any wheels all at that age, and I soon forgot about it.
Nonetheless, as soon as I was old enough to do it on my own, I went to a car auction. It was a pretty wild scene – not at all what I expected. There was a huge crowd of people from all walks of life. Some of them were clearly automotive professionals, looking for old cars to either use for spare parts or to fix up. Other ones, I was quite sure, were used car salesman. Some people were there like me – just to get a car to fix up and drive around town.
I didn’t find anything that I wanted at that car auction. There were a lot of cars there, but I was mostly there just to get a feel for the whole process. The next time I was at an auction offering used cars for sale, however, I did make a purchase. I found an old beat up Camaro. It was beautiful. I knew it would require a lot of work, but I didn’t care. I bought it right then and there, and started working on it as soon as I got the chance.
