Buying a Corvette at Auction...3 things you should know

Video Transcript:

hello everybody welcome back to c&s corvettes in sarasota florida and i am lyle and this is my friday podcast for the week over the last couple of weeks i have figured out that it is definitely car auction season here in florida because i've been having cars come in fresh from purchase at the auction they're new owners extremely excited about them and wanting to get a few things done and a few things checked and as every year when those cars come in we sometimes have to give not so great news about what they've actually bought because auction cars not all not even the majority but some auction cars and some auction sellers put cars together specifically for the auction because they know that they're not attaching their name to it their business name to it and as long as it is visually appealing nice paint cool wheels and tires nice interior they tend to kind of skimp on some of the other stuff that's really important to the oh the end owner the person who's actually been using the car again not everybody not even a majority but they are out there so today's video is about not only corvettes but basically any old car you're looking to purchase at auction here are three things you need to do in order to kind of get an idea of what the car actually is and not what it looks like step one in many of these auctions especially the larger car auctions like a mecum or a barrett-jackson you actually have the opportunity to drive the car at least around in the lot okay don't ever buy a car that you have not driven even if it's only two to three hundred feet you at least will know some very important things does the engine seem to run on all cylinders does it stop in a straight line does it roll forward in a straight line are there any weird noises clacka clacka clacka wiggity woogie wiggity these are things that now you won't be able to tell if there's going to be a vibration at 70 in the parking lot and if you do tell that in the parking lot they're probably going to throw you out but you'll at least have a baseline for understanding okay the basic functions of this car start stop roll are good that's number one number two plan on getting dirty folks if you are actually going to buy a car at auction that you know nothing about you need to educate yourself about that car which means getting under the car looking at the leaks from the engine if any looking at the leaks in the differential and transmission if any looking at the frame rails looking at the fuel lines opening the hood get under there and don't often times these are beautiful beautiful engine compartments with with the engine sitting there like a jewel and it's gorgeous look around the perimeter look at the wires are there cut wires are there wires that have just been painted over that you don't know what they do because you can't tell what color they are look at some of the less impressive stuff around the edges because that's where a quick detail job tends to fall apart and you might start seeing some things that make you go hmm okay if you don't have enough car knowledge to crawl under a car or get under the hood and know what you're looking at don't go to the auction unless you're bringing a trusted friend who does know those things who will get under the car and give you the actual truth and their opinion about where that car is at as far as overall condition that is imperative and here's the number here's the number three and the best one in my opinion if you want to know how a car was done you look at the inconsequential things because how somebody does small things is how somebody does big things so find this car that you're looking at a 61 corvette it's gorgeous got an ls3 engine in it cool wheels and tires paints amazing interiors awesome get in the car turn on the accessory power start going through and checking functions does the radio work does it turn on when you're at the auction carry your little 12 volt uh cell phone charger that you plug into in your car because it lights up when you plug it into a 12 volt outlet carry that in your pocket and plug it into the 12 volt access port and see if you have power to your 12 volt okay turn the lights on try the wipers try the horn you check the gauges as much as you can you know obviously you're not going to be able to tell if the fuel gauge is working but you if you start the car you can see the tack work if you do the short test drive we talked about you can see the speedo work if you see if you get into a car no matter how pretty it is and you see that some of these basic things some of these things that are really easy to fix have not been addressed that kind of becomes an indicator that the car you're looking at is something that has been slapped together and prettified for the auction to make it go away if the small details are working odds are the overall treatment the car got is going to be what you think you're buying and what you expect to be buying i can't say enough about these three things guys because if you don't do them you can end up having somebody like me have to walk in after looking at your car on the lift and going sorry man but we need to sit down and talk and i don't ever like having that conversation because i know it's killing somebody's dream and costing them a lot of money that they didn't plan on spending so be thorough if you aren't mechanically savvy or automobile savvy bring a friend who is and check all the small details because small details indicate the overall treatment the car has gotten thank you very much for watching if you do go to the auction remember stay calm don't get caught in the rigmarole and end up paying too much because that's what auctions are for if you have any questions feel free to email me at lyle at corvettepartscenter.com and remember to like and subscribe so i can continue to bring you information like this that's hopefully helpful and insightful have a wonderful weekend and i'll see you next week