While living in Oakland, California, gives you plenty of sunshine and job opportunities, it is also not particularly cheap. Oakland ranks as one of the most expensive cities in the state with housing eating much of the budget. Owning a car is also not cheap at all.
Thus, if you can have a way to upgrade a car or own a good used one, there is no doubt that you would take it. Luckily, you do have an option. It is called government auctions.
Auto auctions are common in California, but many of these are organized or are meant for private sellers and buyers. Government auctions are different since the assets that are available for bidding come from the various local departments including schools, hospitals, and police force.
If you are wondering how the government can have inventory for an auction, then you need to know that the government is one of the biggest buyers in the country. The US Postal Service alone buys hundreds of thousands of light trucks. These vehicles are essential in rendering service to the public.
Over time, as the vehicles get older and better models are available in the market, the government may choose to upgrade their units, which may then result to an increase in surplus or inventory. These unused cars not only take up a lot of space, but they also require maintenance. The costs therefore can be such a huge burden for the government. Most definitely, these expenses can be redirected for other noteworthy activities.
Selling and Buying at Government Auctions
The government likes to hold auctions since it allows them to unload as many assets as it can within a very short period of time, as short as one to two days. Moreover, the event attracts several buyers, so the government realizes revenue very quickly as well.
As a buyer, you will also appreciate joining these government auto auctions in Oakland. One, you can have a wide variety of choices for cars, depending on your preferred model and make. Further, since these cars are previously owned by the government, the odds that they are in excellent condition and with clean title are very high.
Best of all, you can save as much as half of the vehicle’s book value and cheaper than its trade-in value. This is because the government is not too concerned on income but rather the disposal of the assets.
If you cannot find the car that you want in Oakland, you can easily expand your search to cover like the rest of the Bay Area, even to the other states.
Where to Get Them
One of the quickest ways to learn about these government auto auctions is by using an online auction listing. This is a list of ongoing or scheduled auctions in Oakland as well as in the nearby cities, along with government auctions that accept online bids. The list is updated almost in a daily basis so you have fewer excuses to miss out on these auctions.