Government car auctions are a great place to get your next vehicle. Here are a few reasons:

1.) Open to the public! Most auctions are only open to dealers, but government auctions are open to anyone, all you have to do is show up and register to bid.

2.) Lots of great cars for sale. Many government auctions have hundreds of cars for sale, many that are newer with low mileage.

3.) Great deals. Car sell at auction for much less than retail price. It is not unusual to get a car well below it's TRADE-IN VALUE! I have even bought cars so cheap at auction that I was able to sell it in the newspaper later for a tidy profit.

So where are these auctions? Well, there are auctions taking place each week across the US. In fact, there are regular auctions in every state in America, so there is almost surely an auction near you coming up soon. The easiest way to find the auctions is to check out a directory, like this government car auctions list.

After you have found the auction you plan on attending, all you need to do is show up early to the auction for the "viewing period." During this time you can walk around and look at all the cars and decide which ones you might be interested in bidding on. You will have plenty of viewing time, so make sure you look the cars over carefully and take good notes, once the auction starts you will not have time to look at the car closely.

Next you have to register as a bidder. Sometimes you will be required to put down a cash deposit to become a bidder, which is refunded to you after the auction or when you decide to leave.

Then, all you have to do is bid on the cars you like. It is likely that for some cars there will be a heated auction match and the car will go for a high price. For other cars there will be less interest and you can get a great deal. Try to wait for the good deals and pass over any cars that have too many bidders competing.

When the auction is over you will need to put down a deposit for the car (the rules about this deposit will be available before the auction.) Then you are given a period of time to get a money order or cashier's check and return to pay for and pick up the vehicle. Its really that easy to save thousands of dollars on your next car.

Auction Tip #1: Many of the bidders at auction bid on lots of car until they buy one, then they leave. This means later in the auction there will be less bidders to drive the price up, and sometimes you can get a better deal.

Auction Tip #2: Bring a blue book to the auction, like Kelly Blue Book or the NADA used car price guide. Then you can ensure you are getting a good price.