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Posts Tagged ‘What This Means’

Impound cars for sale are the result of cars that have been impounded (confiscated) by for example the police or by government agencies. Since the cars have been impounded it is more likely that a bargain will be able to be obtained for two reasons. The first is that goods that are impounded must be sold to the general public and that usually means at a public auction which ‘has’ to be advertised. The second reason is that the general public is often suspicious of these auctions believing that the goods are both ‘inferior’ and ‘tainted’ in some way.

A study was done in in 2002 by a well respected academic establishment that was looking into the purchase motivation that buyers had and one of the findings of the study was that many would be purchasers who could benefit from picking up bargains at public auctions felt in some way ‘guilty’ about the prospect of buying goods from auctions where the previous owner was forced into a distressed sale.

What this means is that bidders at auctions are fewer than what they could have been which means that ‘You’ have got a better chance of picking up ‘that’ bargain you’re looking for!

What will the quality of the cars be like?

To be honest there is a huge range of cars available and yes most of the cars there won’t be worth looking at but that doesn’t mean to say that there won’t be good ones there either. The fact is that many of the cars for sale at the auction will be there because parking fines or speeding tickets will not have been paid and the car has been impounded to cover those debts and usually the value of the car is very little anyway so the previous owner is not motivated to keep the car.

However, many cars are impounded by order of the courts where a large legal bill or fine has not been paid. In this case the cars often are of better quality. Most people would rather have their car confiscated rather than their house repossessed!

It is not unusual to see good marks like BMW’s, Mercedes, even Jaguars for sale in this way and ironically the better the marque the ‘less’ people feel inclined to bid because of the ‘inferiority and tainted’ complex which I mentioned before!

The 3 tips then to secure that bargain!!

#1 Do your homework – Search for an auction.

Search the net for your nearest auction and see when it is and if there is an impound auction there. Check out their website and see if they have listing details for the cars that will be there before you go. If you see a car you like then:

#2 Do more Homework – Check the market.

Look at the Blue Book, check the classified ads get a feel for the ‘normal’ retail level for the car. This way you will get a feel as to whether or not you will be able to bag a potential bargain. Go to the next step:

#3 See the car(s)

Always see what you are going to bid on – check out the interior the engine – see if it has a service history. If you don’t know a lot about cars bring a friend who does. If you’re then satisfied start bidding on the lot when it comes up. Don’t go over your budget. You may end up with a smile on your face at the end of the day.

Where can I get information where these impound cars for sale are?

The easiest way is to join a membership site, usually no more than $35 and it can save a lot of time. Many of these sites list the major auctions, the type of auctions i.e. impound auctions, repossession auctions and give location, time and website details so as you can see what’s being offered!

When it comes to your attention that you want to measure your horsepower for your car. You will want to consolidate with a tuner because almost every tuner or tuning company has dyno. Dyno is a machine that simply measure the horsepower of your car and also used for tuning up the car. The two types of dynos are engine dynamometer and chassis dynamometer.

Engine Dynamometer: The engine dyno is basically done while the engine is remove out of the car. The engine dynos can depict an accurate horsepower reading because they measure the power at the flywheel. So what this means is that the power from the engine is consistent and no interruption from the transmission or the driveline. This dyno is not the suited for the regular customer because it is expensive. It is usually used by the car manufacturer and oem tuners. Car manufacturer use them to test the engines longevity and also performance wise. A racing team would used it for their engines durability and power. So this is not for the aftermarket tuner whose looking to get his car check up for horsepower readings.

Chassis Dynamometer: The chassis dyno is the one that you normally see on the tuners shop. This is the ideal dyno for the car since you don’t have to remove the engine from the car. When measuring the horsepower of your car for the chassis dyno. Its as simple as driving your car to the rollers and then strapped it down so it wont fly when the tuner puts it pedal to the metal. This dyno also has it disadvantages because unlike the engine dyno that measure at the flywheel. This dyno measures it in the wheels, so the driveline, transmission, and tires are affecting the horsepower reading of the car.

So next time your talking about how your car has a lot of horsepower, put it in a dynamometer to see if your claim can be justified. Its good to know the real horsepower of your car so you wont have to pretend to your friends that you claim 400hp when clearly you had less.