Does anyone know of any good public auto auctions? What exactly do I need to bring? How does bidding work? Do we get to drive the vehicles?

Also, when buying a used vehicle how do the parties usually come to an agreement to have the car inspected by a mechanic? Would I leave a deposit and take the car to have it checked out or would we have to schedule a time so that the owner can take the vehicle to the mechanic I choose? Also, how much would it cost to have a car inspected?

It depends on the auction place some like this one in San Jose would let you test drive the car before bidding on it the next day. In LA forget it you can only look at the car hours before the bidding then that's it. All cars need to be paid at the end of the auction no ifs but maybes about it. At least that's how it was before maybe they changed some of the rules. It's been a while since I went to one.

Yeah...its the same procedure. 1 hour before auction to visually see/inspect the vehicle (no test driving). After the auction, you pay, then you pray you didnt get a piece of crap. Sometimes good cars come up, but they end up selling for a lot of money sometimes. I had a friend of mine who bought a 2000 Nissan Maxima for $5,500 and the car felt and drove like crap. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

It really depends what auctions you go to. I know the one I'm hitting up on Sunday in Santa Ana there's about a 3 hour viewing period before the auction. I've gone to dealer only auctions and those are nuts (Manheim out in Riverside). Avoid the crowded ones or the ones dealers go to. They'll **** w/ you and bid against you just to jack up the prices. It's hit or miss usually. You may go on a good day where there's not that many people and there's some nice cars on the lot.

Where exactly here in Riverside? Where is Manheim? And you can bid on a car in a dealer auction without a dealer licence? The one I wanted to go to didn't even let us in because we're not car dealers.

Yeah...there are public auctions and dealer auctions where you need a dealer/wholesale license.

Dealer auctions you need a dealer's license. This is something I'm planning on getting once I get a location. Dealers will also go to some more busy public auctions or where there are newer cars, typically 3-4 yrs old at most.