Car Auctions are a valuable source for finding great deals on good used cars. But before you attend a car auction you must first do your homework and understand the process of a car auction.

What is a car auction? Where do they get the cars from?

A car auction is a place where cars are bid on and sold to the highest bidder. The cars at auctions come from a lot of different sources bank repos, mechanics, private owners, car dealers, tow yards and many other places.

Most public car auctions are listed in the local penny saver or the newspaper. You can also do a search on Google for car auctions in your city. Find out when the pre-inspection times and dates are. Usually it's the day before the auction or two to three hours before the auction.

When you’re at the pre-inspection find the cars that interest you most do a visual inspection of the car and take notes write down the year, make, mileage, VIN #, color and overall condition of the car. You won’t be able to drive the car but at least ask if you can start the car. It’s important that you find out about the sale terms when you’re at the pre-inspection. Some places will require that you put down a deposit before you are able to bid. Also, find out what type of payment they will accept, such as cash, credit cards, or cashier checks.

Now that you have a list of cars you like it's time to do some research and find what the fair market value of the car is. You can use Kelly blue book, Edmunds or NADA. All three services are free to use online. To find the true market value of a car I suggest using all three services to compare prices I personally like using Edmunds when buying cars. It's also a good idea to run a free car report online to get the history of the car.

Your home work is all done! Now its' time to go to the car auction armed with all Your information. First thing is to get registered so you can bid on the car you like. Second thing is to look at the car you are interested in one more time and set the max price you are willing to pay for that car. Remember never get into a bidding war set your max price and never bid past it or else you will over pay.