Topic: Buying from CoPart/Others

I'm looking to pick up a doaner vehicle for a project I am working on and I am looking to get something salvage. I have been looking into buying from CoPart and it does not really make any sense. Can anyone walk be through the proces? I have read the fees can be as much as $1k. I'm only looking to spend around $1k so that would basicly double my cost.

Has anyone bought stuff from them in the northeast?

Moot Point Racing - 1991 Volvo 240 - #496

Re: Buying from CoPart/Others

I use a buddy who is licensed and he bids for me.  I am western mass and tend to look in CT area.

Re: Buying from CoPart/Others

Forget Copart for cheap cars.  The fees are tolerable for $5k cars you flip for $10k for most dealers.
A local dealer 'friend' will charge me $500 to buy from them, then add the copart fees themselves, which are insulting (internet fee??  lol)

Cheap cars are found on Craigslist.  I just bought a Rx8 donor for $150 a couple weeks ago.
Let me add that the best cheapest are cars located in the boondocks where nobody is willing to drive 30 miles to tow home,
like this Rx8, or the $200 Pinto, or the $800 C30, the $300 Jetski, etc.

Re: Buying from CoPart/Others

Do you have in mind any specific parameters for your donor vehicle / parts?

I have observed the people/resources on this forum generate unusually creative solutions to any number of problems, when given enough information ...

Re: Buying from CoPart/Others

I agree that CL is where to go for cheep cars, however I'm looking for a sport bike motorcycle 1000cc and anyone in drivable condition is like 3-5k, where as crashed they are cheep because just not worth it to repair.

I put a wanted post on CL so we will see if anything turns up.

Moot Point Racing - 1991 Volvo 240 - #496

Re: Buying from CoPart/Others

I too looked at CoPart for a donor sportsbike and found that the fees made the cost not so cheap anymore.  Ended up getting a complete running bike within my budget with patience on CL.  Bike had been painted pink and languished for some time.  The dude was moving and just wanted it gone.

1990 RX7 "Mazdarita"  1964 Sunbeam Imp (IOE 2013 Sears Pointless) 2002 Jaguar x-type (Winner C-Class 2021 Sears Pointless)
Gone bye-bye
1994 Jaguar XJ12 (Winner C-Class 2013 Sears Pointless)  1980 Rover SD1 (I Got Screwed 2014 Return of Lemonites)

7 (edited by nimblemotorsports 2019-01-03 07:16 PM)

Re: Buying from CoPart/Others

mully006 wrote:

I agree that CL is where to go for cheep cars, however I'm looking for a sport bike motorcycle 1000cc and anyone in drivable condition is like 3-5k, where as crashed they are cheep because just not worth it to repair.

I put a wanted post on CL so we will see if anything turns up.

You are going to use it for a Lemons racer?  If so, then wouldn't it be really cheaty?  lol  because it will cost way more than $500.   wink
So something else might be a better choice, and yes that isn't helpful, unless you want a Volvo T5 motor, or a Suzuki 3 cylinder
from a Geo metro, those are almost like a motorcycle engine...

btw, I looked for quite a while to find a bmw 1200 motorcycle engine cheap enough (the flat 2 one), and gave up, never found one for $500
Oooh, I just looked, how about this..https://sacramento.craigslist.org/mpo/d … 16505.html

Re: Buying from CoPart/Others

I've bought 3 times from Copart. All sight-unseen.

If you're careful, you can do really good. If you're not, you can get fucked hard.

First was a run-and-drive. $888 out the door after fees, picked it up personally. Was like $450 for the car itself. 30 year old shitbox Subaru Legacy. Car was actually great.
Second was a run-and-drive. 10 year old Crown Vic shitbox. Paid for shipping for that, which brought the total to a whopping $2559. That was a complete and utter disaster because the car was completely thrashed and not worth a dime.
Third was a starts-and-moves front end wreck. $2013 out the door, picked it up personally. 2015 Subaru Impreza. Aside from the engine eating the front clip and needing some moderate repairs as a result, it's a great parts donor for the 30 year old Legacy.... I overpaid and did Buy-it-now here. According to the guy in the parking lot who buys Subarus all the time, should have been $1400 all told.

Anyway, here's how it works.

You place a deposit with them. This determines your maximum bid. If you don't do a deposit, your maximum bid is $1000. If you DO, it's $1000 of bid per $100 deposited. The first $100 buys you that $1000 that you get for free otherwise so yeah that's dumb. The deposit counts for absolutely nothing. You can't use it to pay even if you want to.

It is, however, fully refundable, and you can have it refunded BEFORE you pay.

You buy the car, and then fees get added. The first fee is the based on the price, and shown on this chart:
https://www.copart.com/memberFees/

Since you're a normal joe without a business, you are in column C or D. If you pay with a credit card or debit card, you're in D. If you're walking in with a pile of cash or a cashier's check, you're in C.

So far I've always paid with a credit card, because the difference between the fees at the scale I'm working at almost all comes out in credit card rewards once you figure in the stupid $30 wire transfer fee from the bank, and I find buying cars on credit cards to be HILARIOUS and I'll never get over it.

If you want to pay in cash or with a check, you can do so at any Copart location, not necessarily the one the car is sitting at.

If you're doing that, though, you may as well pay at the location it's at, because you have 3 business days including the day of the auction or the day you click buy-it-now to pay without encountering a $50 late fee. This is the deadline as the storage fees...

Additionally, there's a $59 "Gate Fee" that you can think of as "Tipping the guy with the giant forklift for not running over your trailer and the nice lady for finding the envelope with the title in it". There is no way to avoid this fee.

There is also a bidding fee. This comes in 3 flavors:
1) If you use the computer in the lobby of a copart to place your bid BEFORE the auction and you somehow win - $0.
2) If you use any other computer in the universe to place your bid BEFORE the auction and you somehow win - Based on the "Non-Kiosk Preliminary Bid" chart.
3) If you participate in the live auction - Based on the "Online Live Bid" chart.

Finally, you have 3 business days INCLUDING THE DAY OF THE AUCTION (or the day you click 'Buy it Now' if you do that) to pick the thing up or get it picked up. This is waived if you let Copart arrange shipping for you (which is silly expensive).

If it sits there longer than that, you'll incur storage charges. These vary by location.


And then if you're far away and/or dumb you can optionally let Copart arrange shipping which costs a ton.

Driver, Pit Monkey, Rod Buster and Engine Fire Starter
Team FinalGear

Re: Buying from CoPart/Others

nimblemotorsports wrote:

Forget Copart for cheap cars.  The fees are tolerable for $5k cars you flip for $10k for most dealers.
A local dealer 'friend' will charge me $500 to buy from them, then add the copart fees themselves, which are insulting (internet fee??  lol)

Cheap cars are found on Craigslist.  I just bought a Rx8 donor for $150 a couple weeks ago.
Let me add that the best cheapest are cars located in the boondocks where nobody is willing to drive 30 miles to tow home,
like this Rx8, or the $200 Pinto, or the $800 C30, the $300 Jetski, etc.

I guess you can't buy all cars from copart website if you are regular buyer and some are only available if you use brokers. I'm using https://abetter.bid/en copart broker to buy cars. Those guys are awesome, never had problems with them and you can buy all cars that you see on copart with them (their website is basicaly exact copy of copart)

Re: Buying from CoPart/Others

The extra fees make Copart unattractive for me.