Buying a bike from Copart

[tim0409]

Hi

I just wondered if anyone has bought a bike from Copart? I've seen a number of Youtube channels that purchase and repair cars from Copart, and whilst the fees are outrageous there are some bargains to be had (and no doubt some disasters as well).

I currently have a 2009 BMW 650 Xcountry, which I have just listed for sale on eBay. I've done quite a bit of work on it over the last three years and 20k miles including electric work, and I have (in the most part) enjoyed fixing it up. They are quite sought after with a decent following and sell for around the £3500 mark, which is pretty good for a 2009 bike, and my rational is to sell it and put the money into a project (bigger Triumph or Ducati). I would stay away from structural damage and focus on stolen/recovered.

Any thoughts?

[anyoldcardave]

Not sure about bikes, but there are some real bargains to be had from Copart at the moment, they are overstocked.

You really need a lot of time to get them, do all the relevent checks, take into account the fees, and not get auction fever.

Anything not making reserve in first auction, will be offered to the highest bidder at the price they want, I think you can counter offer, but the best thing is to say no, at the moment.

It will be auctioned again, second time around is when you want to be the high bidder, the same thing will happen, this time you say you will pay your bid, plus the fees, and no more, they will quite likely accept, especially if the bid is around the same amount as first auction, the market has dictated the value, I guess they clear it with the insurance company and the fees are their cut of the deal.

Does not work everytime, and some vehicles have more demand than others.

Personally, I would avoid anything listed as a private seller auction, scumbags love it to shift misdescribed rubbish.

Good luck in your search.

[tim0409]

Thanks, that’s really helpful. Does it specifically mention on the listing if it’s privately entered? I’ve picked a bike at random and I can’t find any reference to the seller type, beyond its category (in this case N). Would it say private here instead of damage category?

I remember watching one of the Salvage Rebuilds UK videos on YT, and they bought a privately entered Copart car, and the seller had covered up some of the fire damage with an undamaged second hand panel……

ETA - just checked, it has an X after the number so it’s an insurance entry as opposed to P for private.

Edited by tim0409 on Monday 5th August 19:37

[KTMsm]

The main problem is that there is frequently more damage than expected

IE mate bought back his van that had been stolen - only found out when it was delivered that the reason they dumped it was they'd hit something that had holed the sump and seized the engine

[seismic22]

I've bought plenty of cars from Copart, so has my Dad and my brother. My Dad has also bought an MT-07 from Copart. Do your research, price up worst case scenario and then bid accordingly on listings ONLY from insurance companies.

Anyone sceptical of Copart is not thinking about it the right way. Your buying something crashed, that is manhandled and lifted by forklifts, has no history and has had plenty of opportunity for people to pilfer bits from it or even fiddle with it to make it appear worse than it is so they can bid on it themselves and win cheap (i dont believe copart staff can bid themselves but obviously they can get around this easily). People increasingly seem to get carried away with their bidding and some of the prices stuff goes for is utterly mad and so close to undamaged stuff that people must be getting stung £££ wise all the time...

Last car I bought from Copart this year had airbag damage and was a non runner. Whilst in my head it was likely just the pryro fuse had blown, I priced it up for needing a lot lot more work than just a fuse to get it going and bidded accordingly.....fortunately on this occassion it turned out that whilst the Pyro fuse had blown (crash fuse) and there was no mechanical damage or issues at all.....what had actually happened was somebody had removed the 2pence starter relay fuse (could only have been intentional.....) ! However.......the undercarriage damage was more extensive than I expected and all 4 wheels were bent when I expected only two to be bent and the front diff or gearbox has an ever so slight wine......fortunately I paid £6.2k for a vehicle that at a private sale undamaged would have been worth circa £19k+. I set a total budget cost (including purchase price and fees etc) for getting it on the road at £10k max and bidded accordingly. The car is now fixed at roughly bang on my budget but with the residual gearbox whine which is unfortunate and slightly bad luck but at least I am circa £9k+ off its undamaged cost and it gives me scope for me to fix it or get out of it unburnt £££ wise....Some purchases I done well with and some I have done less well but in all those myself and my family have bought and run, only I have once lost some ££ and even then it was more because I made a silly mistake in my repairs, not because of Copart or my original budgeting

Go in eyes wide open, dont get carried away and bid like its going to need a lot more work than you think and you will be ok.

Oh and re Stolen/Recovered - these can be the best to buy but equally you will pay a premium for them and so many of them seem to go for money so close to private seller prices where you can at least start it up, look around it in detail etc (and if lucky test ride / drive it) that that you often have to really really hold out to find something worth taking a punt on...

Good luck.

Edited by seismic22 on Tuesday 6th August 09:23

[anyoldcardave]

tim0409 said:

Thanks, that’s really helpful. Does it specifically mention on the listing if it’s privately entered? I’ve picked a bike at random and I can’t find any reference to the seller type, beyond its category (in this case N). Would it say private here instead of damage category?

I remember watching one of the Salvage Rebuilds UK videos on YT, and they bought a privately entered Copart car, and the seller had covered up some of the fire damage with an undamaged second hand panel……

ETA - just checked, it has an X after the number so it’s an insurance entry as opposed to P for private.

Edited by tim0409 on Monday 5th August 19:37

Youtube damage repair videos give a really good insight, most are bought through Copart. This one and the one on this car that preceded it give you an idea of what you can buy, with an educated gamble and sticking to your price and have the time to do so.

https://youtu.be/WDc-N1_9TIA?feature=shared

You have answered your own question, and yes, there are cars with hidden damage, with a bike though, I would have thought this is much harder and an insurance one is you best bet.
There are also those where the damage looks far worse than it actually is, plenty of them, and some that are issued CAT S incorrectly. Due dillegence and knowledge can really pay off well.

As other posters have detailed, a non runner could be for a myriad of reasons, and they do not detail this, it is just something that did not start on the key for them.
Gearbox faults are sometimes listed, particularly with late automatics, this is often because of low battery voltage

Using an analogy from Salvage Rebuilds, if it crashed it was running lol, Pyro fuses can stop any engine damage even if the sump has been holed. not really applicable to bikes or stolen recovered ones, that is a different gamble, bikes and cars do get " lost" because of engine damage.

Some of the prices at the moment, the gamble can be taken out of them, there are youtube videos of buying two, to make one, you have to be really unlucky to find two blown engines.

[tim0409]

Thanks for all the helpful replies; I have my eye on a bike and have registered to bid (placed a small bid just to check it all went through) so will report back!

The only issue if I won would be the logistics as the bike is at the other end of the country; the cheapest way may be to hire a transit and head down to pick it up and drive straight back although getting it in the back myself might be a challange. The copart delivery option is a tad expensive

[Olivergt]

tim0409 said:

Thanks for all the helpful replies; I have my eye on a bike and have registered to bid (placed a small bid just to check it all went through) so will report back!

The only issue if I won would be the logistics as the bike is at the other end of the country; the cheapest way may be to hire a transit and head down to pick it up and drive straight back although getting it in the back myself might be a challange. The copart delivery option is a tad expensive

It's all these extra costs that you need to factor in if you are going to try and do a few of them.

I know people get the enjoyment of working on things and fixing them up, but you want to be covering your costs at a minimum, other wise it becomes an expensive hobby with the buyers benefitting from all the time/trouble that you have put in.

On the ohter hand, you don't need to be making a fortune, but be nice to get a few pints or trade up your own bike on the back of it after a while.

[seismic22]

tim0409 said:

Thanks for all the helpful replies; I have my eye on a bike and have registered to bid (placed a small bid just to check it all went through) so will report back!

The only issue if I won would be the logistics as the bike is at the other end of the country; the cheapest way may be to hire a transit and head down to pick it up and drive straight back although getting it in the back myself might be a challange. The copart delivery option is a tad expensive

I use the website "Shiply" for every vehicle I have ever bought on Copart (including motorbike).....always seems to find the cheapest delivery solution for me. I am in Devon and have had vehicles from Copart Peterlee delivered down to me etc.

https://www.shiply.com/

[KTMsm]

Collecting from Copart can be a pain too

IIRC you need to book an appointment - a mate had to wait ages for a slot and then they charged him for storage although he'd taken the first slot available !

Many won't collect from Copart as they can have you waiting for ages too

Be careful using Shiply (or similar) if you ask Couriers for their insurance details before they collect, they seem to disappear

[anyoldcardave]

tim0409 said:

Thanks for all the helpful replies; I have my eye on a bike and have registered to bid (placed a small bid just to check it all went through) so will report back!

The only issue if I won would be the logistics as the bike is at the other end of the country; the cheapest way may be to hire a transit and head down to pick it up and drive straight back although getting it in the back myself might be a challange. The copart delivery option is a tad expensive

There are motorcycle couriers running all over the UK and Ireland, google etc will find them. Most of them are very good, But be patient, they probably will not run directly to you with one bike onboard.

Never had a big issue collecting from Copart, turn up early for your allocated slot, grab a coffee and sandwich, arrive a few minutes early get your allocated bay from the office, prepare your truck and a forklift will drop it on. Always seem very organised to me.

[tim0409]

I’ve favourited a few bikes on Copart to get a better sense of how the auction work and what they go for; first up today was a base model 2014 Speed Triple Cat N with front end damage. From what I could gather it needed a new headlight, tank and various bits of trim and maybe a seat. It was bid up to £1100 before the auction started and sold for £1300, so maybe around £350 of fees on top. The same model/year of bike is on eBay for £4kish (no marker), so once I added on the fees, parts and delivery I doubt the bike would have been significantly cheaper once you take into account the cat N hit to the value.

It’s interesting, and I think I will buy as soon as the right bike comes along at the right price.

[s p a c e m a n]

In my opinion copart is more hassle than it's worth, there's a few bike shops on eBay selling salvage though..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/surreymotorcyclesalvage...

Edited by s p a c e m a n on Wednesday 7th August 19:08

[anyoldcardave]

s p a c e m a n said:

In my opinion copart is more hassle than it's worth, there's a few bike shops on eBay selling salvage though..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/surreymotorcyclesalvage...

Edited by s p a c e m a n on Wednesday 7th August 19:08

It can be time consuming, but some African lads on our farm do very well out of it, buying cheap, and re advertising with delivery,no repair work, just buy and sell, with transport, probably exactly what this bike crowd do.

Go direct, cut out the middleman, bargains to be had, if you have the time.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

The one thing that would put me off a written off damaged bike is frame cracks and/or cracked frame head from breaking the steering lock.

Then there's cracked TFL screens etc that are surprisingly extortionate to replace.

[tim0409]

I’ve seen a few cars/bikes with “E” for enhanced at the end of the lot number; this apparently means that Copart are undertaking some form of service to make it more sellable (wash etc) but it hides the the usual X etc designation so I can’t distinguish between insurer/private entires. Is there a way to do this or am I missing something?

[anyoldcardave]

tim0409 said:

I’ve seen a few cars/bikes with “E” for enhanced at the end of the lot number; this apparently means that Copart are undertaking some form of service to make it more sellable (wash etc) but it hides the the usual X etc designation so I can’t distinguish between insurer/private entires. Is there a way to do this or am I missing something?

The vehicle location is a big clue, not at a Copart depot, it will be a private entry.