Buying used cars at auction; Toyota Corolla LE

This is the third article in my "buying used cars at auction" series. This time I am going to profile a 2003 Toyota Corolla LE with 129,699 miles on it, which sold at auction for $4600. That is really on the high end of the scale for my taste, but that's Toyota for you, they always fetch top dollar! Looking back on my two previous articles, the 2001 Civic LX with 191k miles on it sold at auction for $3000 against a KBB suggested retail value of $5,662^*. The 2000 Focus ZTS with 159k miles on it sold at auction for just $1600, with a KBB suggested retail value of $4,760^*.

So what did the auction buyer get for $4600 in terms of KBB suggested retail value. In this case, the 2003 Corolla has a Kelly Blue Book suggested retail value of $7,901*. Remember, that's the price a used car dealer would very likely price the car at as "retail". As with any retail price of a used car, you would expect the used car dealer to put some money into it before trying to sell it on a used car lot. The usual things a high mileage used car would need, tires, brakes, exhaust, tune-up and most certainly a really good detailing. So even they sink $1000 into it, they are still only at $5600 could easily turn it around for $7000 or so, and make a nice profit!

If you were shopping for that same 2003 Corolla locally using the newspaper, craigslist or whatever. According to KBB, the private party values* are:
Excellent $6,276
Very Good $5,951
Good $5,776
Fair $4,926

When searching KBB for a 2003 Corolla for sale in my local area, I found several. There were three with similar mileage on them, one with 118k miles listed for $5,998, one with 124k miles listed for $6,975, and one with 119k miles listed for $7,995. There we also several with under 100k miles, 85k-95k miles, and ranged from $8000 to $9000. Evidence that the Corolla really leads the pack on resale value!

In terms of trade in value, those numbers are up there on the scale as well. Most everyone knows Toyota's hold their value very well, so if you are the person with the trade-in, hold firm on what you are asking for on trade!

Here are the Kelly Blue Book Trade-In Values*:
Excellent $4,406
Very Good $4,306
Good $3,956
Fair $3,206

Remember, do your homework and take advantage of all the online research tools available, CarFax history reports, pricing guides, make and model specs, even recall and technical service bulletins (TSB) are available for all cars today. You may very well do the whole thing from the confort of your home, research, bid, and have the car delivered. Though personally, I like to see and feel what I'm buying, so it's always a good idea to at least go to the auction "preview" first. Public auctions take place all over the country weekly if not daily. Though some states may require a used car dealer permit or some nonsense, there are some that do not. Most if not all allow you to browse the inventory either the day of the auction or days running up to it, so you'll get the opportunity to touch the car if you want.

There are a lot of good cars at auction regardless of your budget. From $1000 to $10,000 and up, you can find what you are looking for and save a lot of money in the process.

Next up in my buying used cars at auction series, I'll look at the next class of cars, see what the bigger sedans are going for. Camry, Accord, Fusion size sedans.

.rd

Article References

Interstate Public Auto Auction, Salem, NH

Kelly Blue Book

* Article publication date 01/16/2012, data collected from Interstate Public Auto Auction of New Hampshire and Kelly Blue Book between Dec 28 2011 and Jan 16, 2012. KBB and other pricing data are based on the author's local zip code and are subject to change.