Did you know that Georgia is Manheim’s number 1 United States market? It is true. What does that mean for you? It means that buying cars from Georgia auctions can be difficult, competitive, and expensive. Thanks to advances in technology, it is very easy to purchase cars from auction locations outside of Georgia. In this video, we talk about some of the tips, tricks, and best practices when buying cars from outside our state.
Below is a transcript of the video:
A lot of folks don’t know this, but dealers in Georgia or in any state can use auctions in other states. That will increase the cost of transportation and may lead to some unintended legal issues that come across from using auctions out of state, specifically with transportation. Just because an auction is not in Georgia doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad auction or one not to use, it just might increase the transportation costs. This may seem intuitive to a lot of dealers but there are a lot of dealers that are very hesitant to do that and prefer to purchase only from local auctions. That’s simply a preference. There’s no reason why that has to be done. Keep in mind that obviously, vehicles from different areas of the country may have different issues.
I have come across some rust cases here in Georgia from vehicles that were purchased from auctions up in the Northeast. Then when they get down here, the dealer doesn’t perform an inspection, the customer has no idea what they’re looking at, and then a few months later the exhaust pipe falls out because it’s rusted out from the car being up in the Northeast for so many years.
This is something to keep in mind as a dealer considers purchasing from different areas of the country. There may be some things that happen in other states that aren’t very prevalent here in Georgia or don’t happen in a number of other states in the country. One other thing to keep in mind, too, is that Lemon Laws in other states are very different. Some states have very, very strict Lemon Laws. Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Minnesota, and California are some examples of states where a Lemon Law car may qualify for a Lemon Law there, but may not qualify here in Georgia. I know a lot of dealers here that will purchase Lemon Law cars that are only from those states knowing that it’s probably a minor issue, it may not be, but they’ll do that and roll the dice. There are specific disclosure requirements for Lemon Law cars, not for the faint of heart, but it’s just to know that there are some things that are in other states that aren’t in Georgia or aren’t in other states.
For more videos on the Georgia Car Law Authority series, please visit www.georgiacarlaw.com.
For more information and to book a strategy session, click here!
P.S. Have you heard about The Driveway, our monthly legal membership program? Check it out here!
