The federal government is possibly the biggest car buyer in the country and has a clear cut procedure for disposing of its old cars and trucks.  Over 300 government car auctions are held in various part of the country each year and all types of vehicles are put up for sale.  Participation in these auctions is free and is open to anyone who has a driver’s license and is over 18 years of age.  A government auto auction can be done in various forms ‚Äì live auctions, internet auctions, sealed bid auctions, drop by sales, fixed price and negotiated price are some of the methods used.  Payments by successful bidders are normally accepted in the form of cash, credit card payments, money orders and cashier’s checks.

Government auto auctions are conducted by the General Services Administration  and, on an average, over 30,000 cars and trucks are sold in this way every year.  While some of the older cars may have seen heavy use and may not be worthwhile buys, many of the vehicles for sale have surprisingly low mileages and have been used by a single person during their period in government service.  All vehicles sold at government auto auctions are carefully detailed before they are placed on sale and many come with extras and options that add significantly to their value.  This doesn’t however, mean that a person can blindly buy a car for sale at a government auto auction as these are all used vehicles and so there will always be some element of risk involved in buying them.  While each vehicle is thoroughly detailed before being put up for sale, they are sold without any warranty and any problem that may occur once the payment has been made will have to be rectified at the buyer’s expense.

But since these are government auto auctions with no personal profit involved, there is no chance of being deliberately cheated and so the risks of buying from here are much less than in private auctions.  However, the bidder needs to either be knowledgeable about cars, or have the services of someone who is, to help him in picking the cars he should bid on with the hope of getting a great bargain.  Many people make the mistake of being tempted to buy a car only because it is available at a price they did not think possible ‚Äì what they wind up with is a cheap car, but one that does not meet their requirements.  Another source of government auctioned cars is the U.S. Marshal Service which auctions off vehicles that have been seized by law enforcement agencies.