Fairbanks auto auction is a roaring success
Published Sunday, April 27, 2008
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Stumble It!Charles Noble left the City of Fairbanks Public Auction with a 1991 Toyota Celica he paid only $100 for.
The only downsides were the badly damaged front end, one completely obliterated tire and a still-deployed airbag hanging from the steering column.
“You think I’m crazy, don’t you?” asked Noble as he surveyed his new purchase.
Noble hoped to make a profit on the car, however. He thinks he can get $500 for the transmission, and maybe even more for other parts.
“I’m going to make a couple phone calls,” he said. “I think I already have a buyer.”
Whether they were looking for spare parts or a good deal on a new ride, hundreds of people weathered chilly temperatures and muddy conditions Saturday morning to bid on vehicles at the Fairbanks Public Works lot.
The dozens of vehicles on the auction block ranged from a 2003 Toyota Echo with nary a scratch on it to a twisted green Ford with severe damage to all four tires and not a single window still intact. Most of the vehicles were impounded after their owners received DUIs. A handful were also impounded because of parking violations or miscellaneous police investigations.
Garrett Williams picked up a 1998 Jeep Cherokee for $2,600 that the previous owner had rolled after drinking and driving. There was still some dirt on the roof from the accident. It was his first time at an auction, but he said he needed a new vehicle because his wife is pregnant.
“We’ll find out how it runs when they give me the keys,” he said.
Most of the cars and trucks were auctioned off with few competing bids, but near the end of the morning a heated bidding war broke out between two men over a red 1990 Nissan 240SX, raising the price from $2,500 to more than $3,000.
Ford Cullen, a regular at public auctions, was the high bid on the vehicle, actually for his friend, Rick Lewis. Lewis went $100 over what he wanted to spend on a car, but he felt it was worth it for the Nissan.
“It’s good as long it rolls from point A to B,” he said.
Auctioneer Joe Campbell, a 20 year veteran of Fairbanks auctions, warns that people should avoid bidding wars since they usually overvalue vehicles.
“You end up paying more for something that you could get cheaper downtown,” he said.
A 24-year-old man apparently tried to get a really good deal on a GMC pick up truck Friday before the auction started as he allegedly stole his former vehicle at the lot and took it back to his residence. Fairbanks police arrested him a short time later.
“That’s the car someone borrowed last night,” Campbell said as he auctioned it off Saturday, “No keys, well, I guess we have the keys now.”
Community Discussion
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What a carefully planned idea, lets wait until the morning that they have the auction and then go take my truck back, they will just figure that it got sold at the auction. Yeah, yeah, thats what I'll do. What in the world was this guy thinking?
He wasn't thinking, he's brain dead.
Is there a particular reason why they don't let you start the veh? I've always wanted to go to an auction but I want something that runs, I'm sure you can't get a refund if it doesn't start. Sounds like an extreme example of 'buyer beware'. Do they tell you it was running before it was impounded?
Ahh, so wonderful to hear about the Gov't profiting from items that they've stolen from private citizens!
All hail Big Brother!
Those weren't stolen. The offenders knew how to retreive their vehicles. All drunk drivers should have their vehicle impounded. There is just too little respect for the laws. Thanks to all those who say children should not be punished. We used to take guns to school to refinish the wood and reblue the metal, nobody was shooting each other. This gentle way of raising our children has us in a mess.
They knew how to retrieve their vehicles at what cost?
I had two of my vehicles stolen by the city a few years back with less than 12 hours of notice in -20 weather. The ransom to get MY vehicles back was up in the multiple hundreds of dollars, that had to be paid in cash. Dealing with that incredibly rude power-tripping little bureaucrat from downtown was the icing on the cake!
That was so much fun!
All Hail Big Brother!
(No DUI was involved.)
newsreader probably got what he deserved...obviously a law was broken and he had to pay the price. Sounds like justice to me. The City does not steal anything...a crime is committed by these people, they choose not to reclaim their vehicles and the city disposes of them. Sounds reasonable when you look into the facts of how it actually works. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. You can debate the merit of any laws, regardless- they are laws and we must follow them until such time as they are changed.
Chris, you're probably correct...
Regardless, it was one hell of a welcome to living in town!
And, I still like my version of it better. ;-)
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