by Joshua Rose
Well, there's really no short answer to this question. The fact is, there are really nice repossessed vehicles and there are really lousy ones as well.
It's like most things in life. There's both the good and the bad. Many people won't even consider buying a repo car because they assume all of them have been abused and are in very poor condition. But such generalized thinking doesn't match up with the facts.
On two occasions, we've purchased bank repossessed cars with less than 500 miles on them. One was a Honda Civic. The other was a Kia Rio. We've also purchased many others, too many to list, with less than 5,000 miles.
All of these vehicles were under full Factory Warranty, had clean CarFax reports and were in excellent condition. And all of them were purchased at 40% to 60% below their original prices. So, yes, there are some great deals out there on these vehicles.
Sure, we pass on 9 out of 10 of the repos we look at. There is indeed a lot of junk out there ... older, neglected and beat-up cars that we are just not interested in. These are the cars most people think of when they think of repos.
But the truth is, unfortunate as it may be, that it is simply in the law of numbers that a certain percentage of new car buyers will fall on unforeseen hard times and stop making their payments. While this is truly a sad situation, the fact is that these vehicles have to be resold and will make another car buyer very happy.
The problem may have been caused by a lost job. Perhaps a serious health issue arose. Or maybe a Dealership was too aggressive in their selling and never should have gotten a loan for an "at risk" buyer in the first place.
The bottom line is that repossessed vehicles can't all be brushed with the same stroke. There's the good, the bad, and the ugly. And for car shoppers in the market for late-model, low-mileage used vehicles at significant savings, a repossessed car can be a very real option.
Well, there's really no short answer to this question. The fact is, there are really nice repossessed vehicles and there are really lousy ones as well.
It's like most things in life. There's both the good and the bad. Many people won't even consider buying a repo car because they assume all of them have been abused and are in very poor condition. But such generalized thinking doesn't match up with the facts.
On two occasions, we've purchased bank repossessed cars with less than 500 miles on them. One was a Honda Civic. The other was a Kia Rio. We've also purchased many others, too many to list, with less than 5,000 miles.
All of these vehicles were under full Factory Warranty, had clean CarFax reports and were in excellent condition. And all of them were purchased at 40% to 60% below their original prices. So, yes, there are some great deals out there on these vehicles.
Sure, we pass on 9 out of 10 of the repos we look at. There is indeed a lot of junk out there ... older, neglected and beat-up cars that we are just not interested in. These are the cars most people think of when they think of repos.
But the truth is, unfortunate as it may be, that it is simply in the law of numbers that a certain percentage of new car buyers will fall on unforeseen hard times and stop making their payments. While this is truly a sad situation, the fact is that these vehicles have to be resold and will make another car buyer very happy.
The problem may have been caused by a lost job. Perhaps a serious health issue arose. Or maybe a Dealership was too aggressive in their selling and never should have gotten a loan for an "at risk" buyer in the first place.
The bottom line is that repossessed vehicles can't all be brushed with the same stroke. There's the good, the bad, and the ugly. And for car shoppers in the market for late-model, low-mileage used vehicles at significant savings, a repossessed car can be a very real option.
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